I am surprised by how many companies are offering screen based advertising solutions to newsagents. I have looked at some and decided for the moment that this medium is not for me.
My preference is to have control and certainty over everything promoted in my newsagency.
I am also not keen on taking on an advertising platform which takes me and my team away from the core business of retail.
The operating system and other changes from Apple this week have made purchasing magazines from the Apple store in the US easier reports PaidContent. These software changes accompanies by continuous hardware changes facilitate the growth of the digital distribution channel.
I am grateful to Hank Spier for chasing the following notes with me on the issue of the EFTPOS fee increase engineered y ePAL, the body controlled by the major banks plus Coles and Woolworths.
In February 2011 EPAL announced a new multilateral interchange fee regime to replace the existing bilateral arrangements. EPAL is made up of the banks and Coles and Woolworths. EPAL’s reasons for the changes is to get additional moneys for technology upgrade of the Eftpos network.
For those members of EPAL which opt into the new multilateral interchange fee model, the following fees will apply to the banks involved in an Eftpos transaction,
- for all purchases of less than $15 (where no cash is withdrawn) there will be no interchange fee.
- for all purchases of $15 and over, there is a fee of $0.05;
- for each cash withdrawal (whether combined with a purchase or not) there will be a fee of $0.15.
The effect of the new regime is where there is a purchase of $15 or more, combined with a cash withdrawal there will be a fee of 10 cents. To add to the cost impact fees of 4-5 cents rebate previously paid to the merchant’s bank has been abolished.
Normally such agreement between competitors will be subject to ACCC scrutiny but in this case the ACCC has not jurisdiction as the Reserve Bank has the regulatory role. The RBA has been generally supportive of the fee changes. The Federal Government has refused to get involved despite requests from small business.
There was much opposition to the changes from small business especially from the AHA and newsagents associations. ALDI took EPAL to the Federal Court alleging misleading conduct, namely that EPAL had been saying that it is unlikely that consumers would pay any more. The emerging facts were very different. ALDI won on 29 September. EPAL will have to place corrective advertisements in the national press. The AHA and newsagents associations assisted in the ALDI action.
The new fee regime came into effect on 1 October. It is up to individual banks what they do in relation to passing on costs to retailers. As a result of the opposition and the ALDI case two banks have backed off, the CBA has promised not to pass on the increased costs to retailers and NAB will limit the costs to be passed onto small businesses. St George has said that it will pass on increased costs.
Where banks do charge it is up to business to assess whether or not they pass on the costs to consumers, if they can.
Where the banks do pass on costs I suggest that,
- business approach their bank to see if something can be done about the increase,
- Trade associations look at collectively bargaining with those banks on behalf of businesses affected.
The individual fee increase involved is not high but will add up in high transaction volume businesses
While some banks have said that they will not increase fees, I don’t see this as their long term position. They are banks after all.
I’d encourage newsagents to take Hank’s advice.
At Page One at Hong Kong airports a couple of days ago I noticed this display of magazines. The stack is so high and each magazine bulging because of the free gift included between the pages of the magazine.
Each magazine was wrapped separately to facilitate easy stacking – essential in a high volume business like this where each title has its defined space and cannot go beyond it and where their will not tolerate having to clean up junk which falls out of titles.
Of course, in high traffic transit locations shoppers don’t spend the time browsing titles that we would experience in newsagencies back in Australia. While I complain from time to time abut the space magazines with free gifts can take to display, being able to show off the gift can deliver a far better sales outcome for us.
This counter unit display of bean bags is proving to be a winner leading into Halloween. It’s a low cost nice impulse purchase opportunity. I like it because it connects the sales counter with the bigger Halloween offer elsewhere in store. On weekend especially when parents are accompanied by kids these things move nicely.
We track the efficiency of our counter space, leveraging every opportunity possible to deepen the basket and deliver the best commercial outcome for us.
Just as the iPod released the single song from the album, so is the iPhone, Kindle, Nook, iPad and other devices releasing the single article or topic from the magazine. Check out the report published yesterday at PaidContent on E-Singles at magazine publisher Hearst in the US.
When I first wrote at this blog about tablets years ago, back when some in the newsagency channel said that they would not affect print, I said that the single article or single topic item for purchase will revolutionise the purchasing of content. Now, thanks to Hearst and others, we get to see if this is the case.
Until now E-Singles have primarily been the domain of book and similar content publishers. The Hearst move drives legitimacy for the format. I’m told the some newspaper publishers are playing in this space too.
What does this mean for newsagents? Simple, it means we have to work harder to attract and keep our shoppers. It also means that we need other products and services to attract shoppers to our businesses. This latest E-Singles move intensifies the challenges (I’d call them opportunities) we face.
Kudos to ACP Magazines for turning around a tribute to Steve Jobs in a reprint of Rolling Stone magazine to go on sale this Friday. Promoted properly, this issue should sell out, especially in newsagencies where we are positioned to treat this as the special edition that it is.
Click here to see the Rolling Stone Steve Jobs Consumer Flyer from ACP. I love the place left for the newsagency stamp. Smart newsagents will have this on their counter already.
I was at the newly opened (just this past week) Apple store in Hong Kong at the weekend and was surprised to see the make-shift shrine created by Apple fans in honour of Steve Jobs. Click on the photo to see what I saw in detail. What the photo does not show is the constant stream of 40 or 50 people standing in silence, some taking photos.
I passed the new Apple store at the IFC Centre several times over two days on the weekend and every time it was busy in front of this wall of messages.
Apple users and non Apple users are fascinated with Steve Jobs. This issue of Rolling Stone will become a collectors item for these people. I’m already chasing extra stock.
On the back of excellent sales for the first issue of Smith Journal, thanks in part to good support from some newsagents, Smith Journal from Morrison Media is to go quarterly from next year. Check out the announcement from Morrison Media on this.
Our sales for this title have been excellent. Even at this early stage it looks like another frankie and our magazine sales can sure use that.
We have been promoting the latest issue of Home Beautiful magazine with this terrific feature display at one of our aisle ends – leading into the aisle with the title on display. We also have the title in an excellent location in the aisle, giving shoppers in this space at least two views of the title while in the store.
It’s good to see the long form poster … anything to break from the usual when it comes to magazine collateral.
The ad I noticed on yesterday’s copy of The Asian Wall Street Journal was done in a way which is okay. While it did cover editorial, it was not stuck on. On the side it was stuck but no adhesive on editorial content. The ad was easily flipped across.
Also, there was a perforation at the glue line making removing the ad a dream. The other aspect of this ad placement was that it did not interfere with the masthead.
While I remain unhappy with ads which block access to headlines, what I saw on The Asian Wall Street Journal better than what I see in Australia.
Magazine publishers are engaging with newsagents this year more so than ever before. Positive changes at Universal Magazines early this year and changes at Express over the last few weeks are two examples of publisher engagement which is benefiting newsagents.
Morrison Media, United Media and some other smaller publishing companies are also engaging in a more proactive and commercial way with newsagents.
It is terrific to see these changes.
The challenge is where publishers do not engage directly and they leave it up to the distributors to completely manage the relationship. This usually does not work for newsagents. Overseas titles is an area of particular concern.
Once Australian publishers settle into their new level of engagement with newsagents, it would be in their interests and ours for them to work on the issue of overseas titles from distributors. We continue to receive too much junk, titles with sell through rates consistently at 50% or less. Anything less than 60% and many of us are losing money.
Tighter newsagent / publisher relationships can be leveraged to fix other parts of the distribution problem.
We are promoting the latest issue of Feast magazine with this feature display on a column facing onto the dance floor of the newsagency.
Feast continues to perform well for us … it’s a welcome addition to the food segment of magazines even though it is not a traditional food title.
We are also supporting the title with promotion at the front of the newsagency facing into the mall as well as placement in the food section.
I love the poster they have provided for promoting this title, it’s different (or at least feels different) to what you usually see for a magazine … less noisy and an effective call to action with the on sale now tab.
We are promoting the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine with this aisle end display. This is one of the titles to benefit from our magazine relay, lifting sales now that it is in a better and more logical location for the Men’s Health shopper.
This aisle end is seen by most shoppers entering the store. It sits between magazines and stationery and will be seen by guys as they walk to our new men;s department and by girls who are equally likely to buy the title for their guy.
Fashion magazines are going through the roof following our recent relay. We are giving the latest issue of In Style magazine terrific treatment with this in location display. It’s the only magazine being promoted this way in the women’s magazine aisle at the moment so it is highly visible to all who enter the space.
Titles we have promoted this way in this aisle since the relay have sold out or come very close to selling our. I’d expect this issue of In Style to do the same for us.
If you are tenant, in a shopping centre or not, it is vital that you keep your landlord appraised on what you re doing as a retailer which adds value to their centre.
Shopping Centre landlords are especially selfish and only care about the value of their property. This is why it is essential that you share every good story you have. Here are some suggestions for landlord communication, there are items newsagents ought to send to Centre Management:
The more you communicate with your landlord about what you are doing in your newsagency the more valuable a body of evidence they will have should they be approached by another party to open a newsagency or take over your tenancy in the centre.
Banging your own drum to your landlord is a smart and vital move for any newsagent.
Some newsagents I have discussed these and related ideas with have expressed concern that they should not have to go after their landlord in this way. The reality is that you do, it is vital to achieving better positioning when it comes time to discuss a new lease. A proactive retailer is more valuable to a landlord. Some landlords will not for themselves how proactive a retailer is.
We are accountable for the perception our landlords have of us.
We are seeing terrific sales of boxed Christmas cards, earlier than in other years. We are supporting the opportunity with a table full of boxed Christmas cards as shown in the photo. We are pleased that every single pack raises funds for a charity – this was proven to be very important last year when charity boxed cards sold faster than boxed cards without a charity connection.
If previous years are any guide, we will sell boxed Christmas cards up to and including the post Christmas sale. It is a highly lucrative component of our overall greeting card offer.
I have tried boxed Christmas cards on shelves, in display units and on tables. My experience has been that tables work the best. That said, the Hallmark display units for Christmas 2011 look excellent – good to see them embrace black as it makes the products stand shine.
We will move our boxed Christmas card several times over the next few months to make the most f changes in traffic floor and to combat store blindness by our regulars. Such moves always drive a lift in sales.
eWeek is reporting on a product announcement by Adobe which makes publishing single use or issue content. While touted as a way of publishing brochures and the like, I am sure we will see this, and similar innovations, as a platform used by start ups to enter the digital publishing space.
So, as devices become easier to access, software makes engaging with mobile devices easier too.
With convenience stores stronger than ever – they are enjoying excellent year on year sales growth in a range of categories including magazines – and with supermarkets being shopped in a convenience way more than ever, it is to be expected that confectionery sales at newsagency counters are flat or declining.
Check your year on year counter confectionery sales. Are they up or down? Are they delivering a reasonable return on the space?
In a shopping centre newsagency you would need annual confectionery sales of around $8,000 just to pay for the retail real-estate. Add a portion of labour and other business costs and you’d need to be selling closer to $20,000 a year to be making money.
So, are you making money from confectionery? If not, consider quitting and going for something completely different.
It may be that you stay in the confectionery space but sell more relevant and short term products. Like the Smurf themed Kinder Surprise. This was the most popular single product on the counter in terms of unit sales for two weeks.
I think that we have to ask these questions, to challenge ourselves. Too many newsagents resist change and this holds their businesses back.
I have put together some questions newsagents could ask themselves to self-assess whether they are doing a good job running their business. There is no judgment intended with these questions. No, I genuinely am trying to get newsagents to look at their businesses objectively …
These are important questions we all should ask ourselves regularly. If we are not doing these minimum things in our businesses then we cannot call ourselves professional retailers.
Too often I see newsagents demand a certain level of professional courtesy and treatment by suppliers yet refuse to manage their own businesses respectfully and professionally.
There are some high-quality, professional, newsagents out there. There are also some who complain about suppliers yet run poor businesses. This checklist is designed to help you see where you are and to challenge you.
We need to be accountable for our own business situation and business performance. Often, success or otherwise comes back to how we run our businesses and how much we respect business data.
I’ll gladly help any newsagent work on their business. You can reach me at mark@towersystems.com.au.
Newsagents who receive unsolicited emails can complain to ACMA about such SPAM. Under the Spam Act 2003,
it is illegal to send, or cause to be sent, unsolicited commercial electronic messages. The Act covers email, instant messaging, SMS and MMS (text and image-based mobile phone messaging) of a commercial nature.
Lodging a complaint about SPAM email is the best way to complain about your business email address being obtained and used for unsolicited emails. Click here to go to the ACMA page for lodging a complaint.
The other thing I’d suggest newsagents do is emailing the spammer and letting them know that you are complaining to ACMA.
We are promoting the latest issue of RUSSH magazine with this terrific aisle end display created by our team.
This is a cool magazine which attracts a younger demographic so it’s nice to take the opportunity to give it some time in the spotlight. This is an important segment to newsagents if we want to attract new magazine readers to our stores.
We’ll keep the display up for a week or longer depending on space demands.
While it is not yet a month old, the complete relay of magazines which I did in one of my newsagencies about which I blogged recently is driving at least 25% in overall unit sales growth.
I have double checked the numbers and allowed for sales trend in the months leading up to the relay. There is no doubt in my mind that the relay is delivering excellent growth.
The sales of some categories are exploding as a result of the relay. For example, some categories have achieved 200% in growth. This is extraordinary in the climate of flat or declining magazine sales. In Craft & Hobbies, for example, sales are up 245% off a reasonable base. Crosswords, a category which we have consistently pushed and achieved growth from, are up 80%.
The return I am getting from less than a day’s work, including planning time, is extraordinary.
Beyond magazine sales growth, there is a knock-on effect through the store. The relay is keeping magazine shoppers in the store longer and any retailer knows that the longer shone browses the more likely they are to shop.
It is particularly gratifying to see well-considered adjacencies deliver excellent sales growth.
The best approach to a magazine relay is to start with a blank canvass, completely empty shelves. Place your weeklies first and grow out from there. Create shopping zones: women, men, kids, food, garden, special interest etc.
Build the display to serve your customers. If you are unsure in your planning, spend time watching your customers browse and shop. Talk to them as well. Their insights could be the key to excellent sales growth.
Approach the relay with as few barriers as possible. I have done relays with some newsagents who have all manner of excuses on why some locations should not change. They want sales growth but are not prepared to engage in necessary risks to chase this.
It is important to remember that changing magazine locations is easy. If you discover that you have made a mistake, you can easily change it again.
Seven years ago the MPA (magazine Publishers Australia) published a handbook and video to guide newsagents on undertaking a magazine relay. While that content is a bit out of date today, it would be a useful guide to newsagents unsure of where to start.
I’d urge every newsagent in Australia to undertake a magazine relay at least once a year. Be sure to measure the results. Let me know how you go.
PS. I used my newsagency software to look for opportunities when planning the relay.
In a bold and welcome move, Express Media Group (EMG) has announced to newsagents the dropping, permanently, of full copy returns. This cuts the cost of returns for newsagents. It also demonstrates that ENG accepts accountability for a commercially viable scale out to newsagents.
This move on top of the 75% margin for the first stow re-launch issues of Truckin Life, the two-month trial of higher margin for all EMG titles and the switch to four weeks on-sale makes for a package of bold and welcome changes for newsagents and their relationship with Express
Here’s a to do list for newsagents to maximise the opportunities:
Newsagents have an excellent opportunity here to demonstrate how much they value a publisher engaging with them. Other publishers are watching the moves by Express and how newsagents do or don’t react. Please don’t let the channel down.
I and others and been highly critical of Express. Their moves in recent weeks show that they are prepared to listen and change.
News Magazines has announced the launch of Donna Hay magazine on the iPad. Mumbrella has the story.
While much has been written abut the sad passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, for me, the message of his life for newsagents is to face challenges and innovate through them.
Steve made computers cool, music devices fashion items and the mobile hone, well, plenty more than a phone.
He turned an uncool business channel into something relevant and valuable.
For an insight into the man, watch this video of his commencement address at Stanford University in 2001.
Inspirational.