Newsagents in shopping centres often have no choice but to open every Sunday, either working themselves or paying crazy penalty rates. The government owned Australia Post outlets in the same centres get dispensation from centre rules and are usually closed for the day. This is further evidence of the abuse of government protection for these retail businesses which continue to aggressively chase small business newsagency business.
We have been selling reading glasses in-store for a year now and they are working a treat. We move the stand around to combat store blindness but always keeping it reasonably close to our magazine and card departments. People will think of glasses when they are reading text on a page.
Through the reading connection we are able to sell a product line that a few years ago you would not have expected to see in a newsagency.
We need to do more of this in our newsagencies, bringing in products that fit with existing products without sucking the life out of them.
There is a risk and that is filling your newsagency with too many leech products, products that do not generate traffic on their own and rely on traffic generators like newspapers, magazines, cards and stationery to achieve sales.
I like to limit the number of leech products I carry. My preference is to grow the traffic generating products and every so often bring in a leech product that is understood by our shoppers and easily added to the purchase of destination items.
Newsagents need to have a structured approach to quitting stock left over from seasons or specially purchased offers, so that shelves do not become cluttered with remnants.
Once a range is done, because it does not sell or because it has run its race, we put it through a four-week cycle:
Four weeks and we are done. There is no point keeping old stock hanging around. It wastes space, provides a conflicting message and can be frustrating when you walk past it.
Your newsagency software should be able to help you with all this.
I’d encourage newsagents to document their markdown and exit strategy and train all employees in this so that they can follow the policy without having to refer it to you. Building this into the operational structure of the business will provide certainty and free you to concentrate on more important business matters than stressing over when to quit a range which is at the end of its useful life in your business.
The more consistent we are on these things the better for our business and those who work in it.
I’d be interested to read what other newsagents do about this.
I feel for Australian magazine publishers who see a title achieve a sell through of 80% in newsagencies where there have been no early returns yet have seen more than 47% of stock early returned either the day of on-sale or within the first week or so in other newsagencies.
A decent chunk of the 47% of stock early returned would have sold had it been left on newsagency shelves.
Some newsagents are using poor settings on their computer systems to drive early returns while others run businesses with processes that permit poor shop floor early return decisions.
The data I have just been shown is irrefutable proof that some newsagents collectively cut themselves out of more than $15,000 in revenue. These same newsagents are probably complaining about declining magazine sales. Well, magazine sales will decline if you make ill-informed decisions about early returning.
I’d note that my concern here is early returns the day of on-sale or within the first week for a monthly or two weeks for a title with an on-sale of eight weeks.
I pulled several titles off early on the weekend. In each case they had been on the shelves for more than 75% of the on-sale. My decisions were based on the sell-through to that point and demand for space.
I don’t early return using settings in my computer system. I prefer to make a decision based on more factors than a computer system can allow for.
I pay special attention to Australian titles and titles supported with strong mastheads and publishing houses which add value to our businesses.
That’s Easter for another year and what a terrific Easter it has been. Excellent sales, terrific year on year growth. Bold displays packed with compelling product sells. The hero product for us was the Beanie Kids … just brilliant! Double digit year on year growth feels good. Now it’s time to make the most of school holidays.
For those following the training being professional Visual Merchandising training undertaken by Renee, the manager of one of my newsagencies here is the latest project completed in class. This is called a line display … for obvious reasons.
I love the simple approach of using colours to make a product like tubes of pain such a hero.
Canson would have to love this display.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Not only has the Girlfirend branded One Direction one shot sold its socks off over the last two days, the Total Fanzine One Direction poster distributed through Network Services sold out in a day.
While most customers have been the teen and tween girls who are the target of the marketing experts behind the by band, customers have included their parents and grandparents as they know what their girls like and right now it is One Direction.
Beyond the sales of One Direction related product is the additional sales to the new traffic generated by this phenomenon. We are certainly seeing it with half the people attracted to the 1D display purchasing other items.
Who knows how long this will last? They’re a boy band with a massive marketing army behind them. Maybe they will last as long as their current fans are into boy bands so I figure we have a few years of opportunities – as have been the case with Justin Bieber products.
The point of all this is that our businesses are well positioned to become 1D destinations. Right now is the time for us to decide this and chase all the 1D product we can. This is what smart retailers would do. We should not be sitting around waiting for suppliers to send product to us.
The Metcash story in all the newspapers yesterday, that they are culling 400 jobs and closing a bunch of Campbell’s cash and carry outlets is a further wake up all to Australian newsagents along with all independent retailers.
While Metcash fingers the fight between Coles and Woolworths as the reason for a decline in business from independent retailers, like milk bars, and therefore the need to slash their operation, it is important to look at what is behind the Coles and Woolworths battle.
Retail has fundamentally changed. Coles and Woolworths get this. Indeed, they got it before most retailers in this country.
Whereas in the past we saw them as supermarkets duking it out in a traditional rivalry, the fight is not being waged from the milking shed to the smallest high street and even rural shopping situation.
Beyond the retail trading brands we know today, the two major supermarkets have their eyes firmly set on a greater proportion of retail purchases in Australia. It is the early stages of this causing pain for the traditional Metcash customer and what should be of interest to newsagents.
I’d urge newsagents to go back to yesterday’s newspapers to read the Metcash story carefully, especially the coverage in The Australian Financial Review as this provides the analysis which I think will interest newsagents the most.
The question for us is: how do we respond? We respond by leading our businesses, owning our situation and making our own success. Yes, this is possible. Indeed, I am seeing it in the data newsagents are providing the latest Tower Systems newsagency sales benchmark data I am gathering.
My concern is that not enough newsagents are pursuing their own success.
I talk about this in my Newsagency of the Future series.
Gotch earlier this week released cookbooks to newsagents which, in my view, could be early returned. These titles have no brand connection for us and are overpriced compared to similar titles in our newsagencies. The titles, Healthy Switch and Soups, Sauces & Marinades add nothing to our magazine shelves. We have a full suite of food titles, even in these niches, so why add more stock to us? Gotch would know that we are full yet they send the stock anyway.
So, for me, these two titles are a good example of the few titles which could be legitimately early returned right away.
The better approach would be to ask if we want the titles.
When it comes to niche food and other titles I look for an existing masthead connection for relevance or for some other evidence of support for the newsagency channel through collateral, advertising or some other activity to drive traffic. These very generic titles from Gotch have none of that.
What frustrates me more is that I can go to the cheap book outpost near my newsagency and see almost identical titles for under $5.00.
I appreciate that some people will read this as a confusing message about early returning. It’s not for the reasons I explained above.
We sold 40 copies of the One Direction title released yesterday by Pacific Magazines. While we have two thirds of our stock left we expect this will only last until early next week so we’re chasing more already, to be on the safe side.
This title is an excellent example of the perfect one-shot. Perfectly targeted at an audience which will spend on what it loves. the execution is excellent too, giving the fans exactly what they were looking for.
The photo is the display which has already worked so well. With just two posters supporting the title, the team made the rest of the collateral and placed it right at the front of the newsagency, failing into the shopping mall.
I think a key to the success of the display is the placement by the team of it in a location by itself, without any other products pulling focus.
With school holidays in full swing we are chasing a sell out in a few days … and loving it!
Mad magazine has been launched for the Apple iPad continuing the stream of titles being released for this rapidly expanding network. I think this is a title which could grow readership on the tech platform compared to print given its demographic focus.
There is no doubt that retro is popular across a range of retail businesses. In our newsagency we have had terrific success with retro tea towels, mugs, coasters and magnets. Now we are enjoying retro activity books, like these invisible ink books. It’s the parents and grandparents who see them as retro items and this is generating the best sales. The success of these and out other recent retro items has us looking for more.
Retro is a product theme newsagents can do well. I think it fits with the nature of our business and the shoppers we attract. There are plenty of suppliers offering retro products.
The One Direction one shot arrived in-store today, under the Girlfriend masthead. I’d urge newsagents to NOT early return this title. Place it at the counter as this is a title which will be purchased on impulse. Treated well within the store it should sell out. That is our plan. Indeed, we are ordering more stock based on what we think we can achieve with the title based on sales of Justin Bieber titles.
One Direction is a UK boy band that has teen and tween girls in Australia going nuts. If you have these shoppers in your shop or can attract them or those who buy for them, here is a great chance for you to make some good money. Contract Gotch, check your supply numbers, make sure you are getting enough stock.
I have added more dates to the Newsagency of the Future series, this time in regional centres.
It will be good to get to Townsville, Geelong, Newcastle, Albury, Launceston and the Gold Coast. Click Click here to download the flyer with details.
There is no cost to attend and anyone is welcome- newsagents, would-be newsagents and suppliers.
It is vitally important that newsagents engage in a discussion about the future and consider an action plan to step into the future. This is why I am offering more of these sessions. The first round has gone well judging by the follow up calls and emails I have received.
These are 100% educational sessions … no sales pitch. Take time from your business and work on it by considering the future with me.
I have been approached by newsagents over the last couple of weeks about an apparent increase on pressure from News Limited to get the newsagents to convert newsagent-won home delivery customers to direct with News Limited subscribers.
In one case, a newsagent claimed that they would lose money as more than one hundred direct home delivery customers switched to the cheaper and lower margin News Limited subscription packages.
Other than pressure from News why would a newsagent switch a customer from a long term arrangement to another which provided a lower margin?
I can understand the News mission, they think that every newspaper home delivery customers is owned by them and they would therefore want a direct relationship. This is what gives them flexibility for the future. If the newsagent controls the customer relationship they have less flexibility.
Penalty rates were introduced in Australia back when the weekend was, well, a weekend, when the majority of the population did work Monday to Friday. Now, with so many businesses open seven days a week, it is time to look at the penalty rate structure.
Overtime should be for people who work beyond the usual, or what is expected in their situation. A casual employee, a university student, working Sunday because it suits their schedule, should not get a 100% hourly rate bonus. They are not doing anything extra. retail businesses, like newsagencies, can’t charge extra to cover for the significantly higher cost on a Sunday. Indeed, the sunday penalty payment makes retail businesses worth less for these trading days.
I am watching the campaign by the banks on this issue closely. I am sure other newsagents are too.
This is not about trying to rip employees off. No, it’s a matter of making use that everyone is treated fairly. As it stands today, most newsagencies operating under management would lose money on Sundays.
Check out the display created for the new Men’s Fitness Eat Fit display at my Knox store on Monday.
I love what they have done with the before and after shots and the slab of meat in between. Very effective and fun. I love that the team used the collateral and then punched up with something they found for themselves.
This type of display separates us from other retailers.
Click here for a copy of the report released by the ANZ reporting 5% year on year growth for small business retailers in the twelve months to february. This same store retail sales data comparison is based on data harvested by the ANZ through a range of their transactional services.
Non retail businesses tracked 11.3% growth for the same person.
The retail figure of 5% is interesting since this is what ANZ will compare newsagents against. For years this didn’t happen because we were looked at as being protected. Now we are just like any retailers. This is good thing.
Newsagents need to know their year on year performance data. If it’s below 5% for the year to february 2012 you have to look at what you have and haven;t done to create your result and set about making changes immediately. This goes to the core of what I am discussing in the Newsagency of the Future series.
I’ve seen the TV commercial being run promoting the latest issue of Australian Traveller magazine – out today. It’s a good commercial and directly names newsagents as a go to place for the title. the commercial is airing from today to the 12th nationally, mainly on the nine network. This is a good reason for us to promote the title – place it with your weekly women’s magazines as well as with newspapers are my tips.
I would urge newsagents to NOT early return this title which is out today.
Check out the report at SmartCompany about online retailers in the same category as Gerry Harvey’s Harvey Norman who are reporting sales success. This report is further evidence why retailers should ignore what Harvey says.
Following discussions with a range of magazine publishers in Melbourne and Sydney, I have set dates for newsagent / publisher meetings. My goal here is to provide a forum where small and independent publishers can talk with several newsagents around issues of mutual interest:
There will be opportunity for other topics to be covered. Here are the dates: Melbourne: Friday May 4 @ 10am. Tower Head Office. 3A Lynch Street Hawthorn. Sydney: Monday May 7 @ 10am. City location TBA.
Small and independent publishers wanting to participate should email me at mark@towersystems.com.au.
We are experimenting with a new feature magazine display in our men’s magazine area.
Our men’s magazine space is located to the rear of the store and has resulted in double digit growth in men’s magazine sales since we set this up in September last year … a terrific success story based on our magazine relay.
For some time I have wanted to leverage the traffic in this space and see if we can drive impulse purchases of titles not usually displayed here. So, using a free-standing display unit, we are giving the My Kitchen Rules cookbook 2 a shot in our men’s magazine area.
As the photo shows we are taking a simple approach – placing the title in the middle of the floor space, kind like a speed hump. We are supporting this with little collateral. So, it really is abot interrupting the flow and hoping that this is enough for guys and those shopping with guys to take a look at the off-location offer.
We will track sales based on pocket counting. Our plan is to try a series of titles over the next month to see if the placement of this unit on the shop floor works for us.
Click on the image for a larger version.
I have started harvesting sales data from newsagents for the January – March 2012 newsagency sales benchmark study. Plenty of newsagents have already sent their data in. I plan to have the results published by the middle of next week.
This study pulls data from the community of 1,780+ newsagents who have partnered with Tower Systems for their newsagency software.
We are promoting the latest issue of Cosmopolitan magazine with this display at the front of the newsagency. We also have the title on show in its usual location in-store … so we’re giving it plenty of support.
Magazine publishers in this space need to break out of the traditional when it comes to gifts. Model Co. gifts have been common, or at least feel that way. I’d love to see something completely different to drive better shopper engagement.
With the AWW Easter TV show on the 9 network last night, the magazine is certain to be top of mind for many shoppers this week. I’d encourage newsagents to place co-locate the title in the busiest location in-store for the next few days.