A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Author: Mark Fletcher

Reviewing the XchangeIT EDI roll out

My newsagency software company, Tower Systems, is participating in the review of progress to-date of the new XchangeIT platform.  I requested a review to assess some customer service issues and, in particular, the timeliness of support and newsagent communication.  I am glad that XchangeIT agreed to the request.

Newsagents, magazine publishers, magazine distributors and newsagent customers all rely on the service and software provided by XchangeIT. Enough newsagents are using the new platform to make a review of this and the supporting infrastructure to be useful.

If anyone has feedback they feel would be useful, please email this to me directly at mark@towersystems….

Hopefully, the review will facilitate continued improvement of the new platform and benefit those newsagents yet to switch.

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newsagent software

Promoting That’s Life

fhn_tl_aug2609.JPGWe are enjoying good success from increased promotional investment in That’s Life.  Our goal is to build our regular customers – That’s Life responds well to these promotions.  This latest That’s Life display is at the front of our newsagency, heading toward our main lottery counter.  We have taken the opportunity to include the latest That’s Life Bumper Puzzle issue in the display.

We will leave this display up until Friday.  I was talking with a newsagent yesterday who said there is not enough time to change the displays as often as we do.  There is if you develop a system to make the displays efficient and if you track sales results and focus on displays which make you money.

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magazines

Dolly and the free Twilight magazine

fhn_dolly_sep09.JPGWe are very happy promoting Dolly magazine and The Unauthorised Twilight Fanpire magazine which comes with this issue.  With Twilight such big news and with the associated products (books, games, jewellery etc) this issue of Dolly is sure to sell well – but we need to pitch it to shoppers who would not usually venture down the aisle to our teen girl magazines.  At the counter, where we have this display, we expeect good impulse purchasing.

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magazines

Promoting Gourmet Traveller 2010 Restaurant Guide

fhn_gourmet_sep09.JPGWe are promoting Gourmet Traveller (out today) and their 2010 Restuarant Guide.  The display is situated in a premium location, facing shoppers leaving our two main magazines aisles.  This is the back of the ACP basket Builder stand – space which many do not use.

Given the publicity for this issue, it makes sense for newsagents to place it in a high traffic location.  We are hoping for reaching 50% sell through in a few days.

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magazines

What makes a great shopping experience

Wharton University in the US has published  “Discovering “WOW” – A Study of Great Retail Shopping Experiences in North America.  Click on the link for the executive summary.

Reserach results from the study were outlined in Getting to “Wow”: Consumers Describe What Makes a Great Shopping Experience published at  Knowledge@Wharton.  What is interesting in this article is their list of five major areas that contribute to a great shopping experience:

  • Engagement: being polite, genuinely caring and interested in helping, acknowledging and listening.
  • Executional excellence: patiently explaining and advising, checking stock, helping to find products, having product knowledge and providing unexpected product quality.
  • Brand Experience: exciting store design and atmosphere, consistently great product quality, making customers feel they’re special and that they always get a deal.
  • Expediting: being sensitive to customers’ time on long check-out lines, being proactive in helping speed the shopping process.
  • Problem Recovery: helping resolve and compensate for problems, upgrading quality and ensuring complete satisfaction.

Great shopping experiences are those we talk about to others.

Retailers trading under a common shingle – the various newsagency brands or just the word newsagency – need to collectively agree standards and strategies which drive great shopping experieences and commit to relentless pursuit of these standards and the implementation of the strategies.

Too many newsagencies are run by people who prefer process work over business leadership, people who have bought an income and not a business.

The strength of our future as a retail channel depends on how many of us want to provide a great shopping experience.

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retail

Prevention magazine sampler

Click here to download a copy of a sampler of Prevention magazine, the new title launching from Pacific Magazines in two weeks.

Prevention is the big magazine launch of 2009. It presents a great opportunity for us to build sales in the stong women’s health segment.  Getting in early with this launch is important for all newsagents.

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magazines

Our photcopying price list

copying.JPGClick on the image to see our pricelist for copying and related services at newsXpress Forest Hill.  I am publishing this here because of questions from other newsagents about what to charge for these services.  We review our prices every year.  Last year, we found we were too low in some areas and too high in others.  Copying is a good margin service offered by newsagents.  It is also a good traffic generator.  Getting the pricing balance right will determine the longer term viability of the business.

With copying the most common sold-alone service in newsagencies – based on recent shopping basket analysis – we need to ensure that we have offers around the copier which speak to those who use the service.

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Newsagency opportunities

Extra space for Famous magazine

fhn_famous_aug24.JPGGiven the impressive sales growth achieved by Famous magazine in the latest audit results we have increased the retail space allocation in our newsagencies.  The circulation results are useful tool for newsagents when assessing the performance in their store compared to the rest of the country.  Titles with break-out growth present us with an opportunity to change our approach and leverage growth for ourselves – if we are not supporting the growing titles already.

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magazines

Little House on the Prairie partwork out now

little_house.JPGWe are excited by the launch of  the Little House on the Prairie partwork series which launched yesterday in newsagencies.  This is a perfect fit for the traditional newsagency customer.  The TV series will be remembered by many.  We will promote Little House with a strong display in a good location, to leverage the TV campaign.

The only challenge was confusion over pricing – the product was priced at $4.95 while the distributor (Gotch) website told us the price was $7.95.

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partworks

Apple playing in the e-reader space

There are rumours flying around that Apple is working on reading devices which could be useful for reading digital books, magazines and newspapers.

The race is certainly on to release the device for print to match the iPod impact on music distribution.

Newsagents need to think twice before agreeing to a shop fit which includes inflexible newspaper and magazine displays.  We make our own luck in shopfit decisions.  Now if the time for the most flexible shopfits you can imagine.

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Media disruption

When the association does not answer the call

I have received calls from three newsagents over the last few days about different issues but with a common factor.  In each case, they contacted their newsagent association and sought guidance on dealing with the serious business issue they faced. In each case, the newsagent association had not got back to them.

These are lost opportunities for the associations involved.  The newsagents have another reason, from the lack of response, to think twice about remaining a member of an association.

Newsagents call associations every day for all sorts of matters.  The challenge is to prioritise each call and ensure that each is responded to in a timely and professional manner.  Had this happened in each of the instances I mention above I would not have received the call.

The associations involved understand the challenges yet prefer to focus their attention on other matters than the core of their operation – customer (member) service.

While I am happy to help any newsagent in need, I would prefer to see associations focused on serving their members on association matters.  The newsagency channel would be healthier for their attention.

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Newsagent representation

Free donuts and coffee with New Idea

fhn_new_idea_aug24.JPGWe are promoting New Idea and the offer of free coffee and cinnamon donuts at Donut King at the counter of each of our newsagencies this week.  With Donut Kings in our centres it makes sense to promote this bonus offer at the counter.

This offer is an excellent opportunity for us to contact the Donut King operator and see what newsagency offer they could promote at their business – since we are promoting their business.

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magazines

Moving Better Homes and Gardens

fhn_bhg_aug24.JPGFollowing a good weekend of sales, we moved Better Homes and Gardens to the front of our newspaper stand as we needed the counter space.  We will leave it here for the week and create another display for the weekend.  While this seems like a bit of work moving stock around, it delivers what we want in terms of sales.

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magazines

When do you reorder cards?

Card company representatives usually reorder cards for newsagents. Unless told otherwise by the newsagent, they set the criteria. Some reorder when a pocket has three cards left, others two and few on one. The best way to see if this works for you is to look at your card pockets and count how many have more than six cards.

If you have many card pockets with more than six cards, record the details: the number of pockets with seven, the number of pockets with eight and so on.
Next, check your card storage area – the back room, drawers and elsewhere. How much stock do you have which is not on display?  How long has it not been on display?

Some newsagents doing this will find oversupply others will find a card supply model working for them. A better approach is to treat this as a business challenge – meet with your card suppliers, agree on ground rules and become engaged in the card department.

While the card department is one of the best margin departments in a newsagency, it is often the one receiving the least attention from the newsagent.  This needs to change.  The more we engage with our greeting card suppliers, usually the better the performance off the department. This is a great turnaround opportunity.

To answer the question at the top of the post, look at your card sales. Most newsagencies I see could cope with ordering when down to one card in a pocket. Just this move alone will improve cash flow.

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Greeting Cards

Father’s Day window

fathers_day_window.JPGGlobes are the feature of our Father’s Day window display. We bought these for an excellent price and have them on offer as our hero Father’s Day gift in all of our stores. We have globes available pre-wrapped as a bonus service to make selecting them as a gift even easier. The window display fronts our Father’s Day gift table, cards and Dad’s Bags – it faces Dick Smith.

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visual merchandising

Newspaper home delivery trials

I understand that there are at least two new newspaper home delivery trials underway (or about to get underway) in Australia where flat pack delivery is being (or to be) trialled. Outside of the physical challenges of delivering newspapers flat is the challenge about who owns the bag.  The bag in which the paper is delivered is valuable in the hands of a smart business person.

Five years ago, the ownership of the bag, regardless of who paid for it, was non negotiable.  The newspaper publishers made it clear that they controlled the bag, what was printed on it and what was delivered inside the bag with the newspaper.

For entrepreneurial newsagents to make the most of the home delivery opportunity, they need to have mechanisms through which they can add value.  A flat pack bag is one such mechanism – the OH&S and time challenges of flat delivery notwithstanding.

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Newsagency challenges

Loving Freddo

fhn_freddo.JPGFor years our only confectionery offer has been Darrell Lea because we felt it offered a crucial point of difference.  Also, we had outlets nearby which offered the traditional impulse confectionery and gum products.

Several months ago we extended into gum and products from the Natural Confectionery Company.  While they have done well, the introduction of Cadbury impulse lines – Freddo and Caramello Koala – has been considerably more successful.  We currently have these located on the corner of our counter, near our busiest lottery terminal.  We know we will need to move these around so that our customers notice them.

Experts in the confectionery area tell me that the market for these bite-sized items is strong in businesses like newsagencies where the shop is located near a car park (as we are). Shoppers are more likely to buy something to snack on as they walk to their car when leaving a centre than when walking into a centre.

We still promote Darrell Lea on the stands and at our counters.  The range continues to drive destination business as well as impulse business.

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confectionary

Playstation World closes in the UK

Future Publishing just closed Playstation World magazine in the UK due to falling sales according to Magazine Death Pool.

There is no doubt that some magazine segments are challenged and that others are buoyant.  This is why we need to continuously reallocate space and focus in our newsagencies, in response to sales.   We see trends ahead of publishers if we take careful interest in our own sales data.

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magazines

Embedding video in a magazine

An upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly in the US is to include a video advertisement in the magazine.  While an move bound to bring a lot of attention to the title and the print medium, it is not game changing.  Game changing will come in the form of a device for print which consumers embrace like they did the iPhone for music and audio content.

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Media disruption

Supermarket promotion of US magazines

Magazine Publishers of America and supermarket groups Weis, Wegmans, Darrenkamps and Mattsons will participate in a magazine promotion that will give customers a $2 store discount on their next purchase when they buy 2 or more magazines in a single trip.  Read details of this promotion here.

This is an interesting move but maybe not as relevant here given the strength of the newsagency channel – magazine publishers have nothing like us in the US.

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magazines

Promoting Diabetic Living

fhn_diabetic_sep09.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of Diabetic Living magazine as the anchor product to a display at the front of our newsagency for this and other health related titles. Diabetic Living performs well for us – hence the use of the title out the front of the newsagency to draw in shoppers in the mall. We will leave this display up until at least Monday -longer is the sales warrant.

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magazines

Darrell Lea Dad’s Bags herald Father’s Day

fhn_dadsbags.JPGFather’s Day preparations kicked up a notch for us at newsXpress Forest Hill this week with the arrival of our supply of Dad’s Bags from Darrell Lea. Even though the majority of Dad’s Bags are sold in the last week of the Father’s Day season, we like to get them out as early as possible to signpost the Father’s Day gift area. The bags are featuring in plenty of media outlets – making them well known. See the Austereo website fand the Baby News website for two examples of this.

For those who have not seen the Dad’s Bags, they have a selection popular Darrell Lea items. In our store we have two price points – $20 and $30. They are a very easy gift.

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confectionary

Magazine management training popular

The magazine management online training workshop offered by my software company, Tower Systems, continues to be the most popular training we offer.  Run every two weeks, these free sessions continue to be booked out well in advance.  The next session, Tuesday August 25 at 2pm filled up today.  Another session is scheduled for September 1 at 11am.

The magazine management training session covers not only the latest XchangeIT related training but also magazine distributor specific training on electronic returns as well as operational improvement opportunities for the back office processes around magazines.  The session is run by a former newsagent with excellent IT skills.

We newsagents complain a lot about amgazines.  The latest IT changes give is more opportunities to drive change than ever before.  This training aims to help newsagents make good progress on this.

Any newsagent, regardless of the software they use, is welcome to participate in the magazine management workshop.

It is great to see newsagents embracing magazine management training and even better to see them embrace online learning.  We will run over 300 free online workshops this year – that is a tremendous amount of free education.

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magazines

Promoting Better Homes and Gardens

fhn_bhg_sep09.JPGWe are pitching Better Homes and Gardens at the counter over the weekend with the display we put up this morning.  BHG always works well for us on weekends in this location as an impulse purchase.

It’s an easy display to do – we used a poster, four sheets of black card for backing and six colour copies of the cover.  The display was completed in less than five minutes.

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magazines
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