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

Author: Mark Fletcher

Newsagency marketing challenge: sympathy cards

You don’t often see retailers, including newsagents, actively promoting sympathy cards. Maybe, they don’t want to be seen to be promoting or making money off of death. Maybe they don’t like what they have to sell.

Sympathy is a card caption where the card itself is critical to striking the right tone the card giver wants for the situation. This is why range is critical and why people take more time choosing a sympathy card than some other captions.

The thing with expressing sympathy is … it is hard to do, hard to get just right. This is where we retailers play a key role, if we engage.

Too often, the only marketing activity newsagents engage in with sympathy cards is having them in the appropriate pockets in the card department. While this is okay for serving destination shoppers, it misses the opportunity with those who might otherwise, this time, not give a card.

For the sympathy category to help people express themselves, we need to reach outside the card department, in-store and elsewhere, and shine a light on expressing sympathy,. showing different cards, difference voices, through which ti can be done. We need to do this in a way that is respectful yet retail outcome focussed – we are in business after all.

Here his one way I ddi this with newsXpress recently, using video, for social media…

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Greeting Cards

The balanced promotion

I like the product balance in the promotion I saw running at the newsagency outlet at Melbourne Airport.

What I especially like is the balance of products in the display: water, candy, magazines, books snacks, games, journals and more. By balance I mean breadth of range.

Of course the $1 million prize opportunity is eye catching. From a marketing perspective, this is a whole of store opportunity, hence the range.

The breadth of products is a reminder to take a broad approach in creating a display – the more product categories represented the better. Suppliers who ask retailers to create a display featuring only their product should take note – that does not usually serve the needs of the retail business.

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marketing

Celebrating the anniversary of the moon landing

Customers are loving the coin sets celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing from the Royal Australian Mint that we have in stock. It is part of a broader range of boxed collector sets we have from the Mint.

You know you are on a winner when a customer planning to spend $5.00 on an everyday item spends $195.00 on a collectible coin, and then they say they will be back for more.

This is a perfect product for our type of store. We are using social media to help us attract new shoppers.

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Newsagency opportunities

Excellent growth in games and puzzles for newsagency businesses

I have seen industry wide sales data for the toy category for the year to May 2019. It is interesting to see a good result for games in this as it is a category with which newsagents can easily engage.

Diving deeper, it is fascinating to see terrific diversity in the games mix. While well known titles like Monopoly and Cards Against Humanity are doing well, lesser known, niche, titles are working well too. Table top games are proving to be especially successful.

I see strong opportunities in the games space, opportunities for a permanent (or as permanent as can be) space allocation in store for games.

What is interesting abut the games shopper is that they are loyal, appreciate product knowledge, appreciate range and will participate in in-store events. These are all attribute we can lean into in newsagency businesses. We can leverage them and drive greater success.

Core to success is shop floor engagement. This means having a table setup with a game on it for people playing. This simple move drives impulse purchases, even if people do not often play the game as setup. I see it every time. Put in a table with a gameosetup and sales lift, immediately. If you are in the game space, do this. Even if you don’t have room. Make room and see the sales growth.

if you are not in the games space, consider it. However, success depends on the right range, displayed well (not necessarily;y pretty), pitched on social media and backed with occasional in-store events. It is an interactive product category after all.

Thinking of my work with newsXpress, there are seven suppliers offering range, competitive pricing, first to market opportunities and terrific product knowledge … enabling indie retailers to compete with major retailers as well as the top franchises.

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Newsagency management

The Harvey Norman hardly normal coverup of The Age

Denise Scott, an awesome Melbourne based comedian and Aussie legend makes the case here…

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newspaper masthead desecration

Newsagency marketing tip: Christmas in July

I first wrote about Christmas in July here eight years ago. What was a good season then is even better now. Here is a refreshed list of tips for making it a success.

  1. Run the Christmas in July campaign over no more than two weeks in July. One week could be enough.
  2. Choose dates which are away from any other promotion – it works best with little competition.
  3. Get all team members engaged.
  4. Set aside spoke front of store, in their face.
  5. Dress the team and the store to suit the Christmas theme.
  6. Display any spare Christmas stock from last year.
  7. Play Christmas music.
  8. Choose a day for an extra special celebration and make this an all-out focus.
  9. Have a competition for the kids around the theme.
  10. Create a giant Christmas stocking which one lucky customer can win.
  11. Use the event to discount any slow moving items. It its a perfect opportunity to quit stock.
  12. Promote on social media.

Christmas in July is an excellent opportunity to get suppliers on board.  Maybe they could provide products for you to give away as gifts – I.E. every shopper gets spending over $10 a ‘Christmas’ gift.  Suppliers could use your promotion as an ideal time for trialling products and getting your customers engaged.

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marketing

Big W quitting magazines is good for newsagents

I first heard about Big W planning on quitting magazines earlier this year. It was good news but I wanted to see it happen before commenting.

Now, newsagents near Big W stores are telling me they are seeing a bump in magazine sales. This is good news.

The decision by the group to quit magazines is another in a series of decisions as they recalibrate their business. The magazine category is not the only one to see significant change. However, it is the category that directly affects our channel.

If your newsagency has a Big W nearby, now would be a good time to pitch magazines, especially the depth of your range, to attract people who may have shopped at Big W and not at your store for magazines. If you run a loyalty program, promote that too as it could entice the Big W shopper to engage with you.

Newsagents were in magazines long before Big W and we are still win the category after they quit. This is a good message for small business retail. 

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magazines

Good result for Bauer

From Mediaweek (referencing a story at The Australian, which is behind a pay wall):

Bauer back in black: Cost-cutting key to magazines making a profit

The company, which publishes magazines including The Australian Women’s Weekly and Woman’s Day, swung to a net profit of $6.3 million for the year to December 31, despite a 13.7 per cent drop in revenue to $224.3m, according to its 2018 financial report, which was lodged with corporate regulator ASIC on Wednesday.

That compares to a net loss of $11.3m in 2017.

Bauer’s editorial expenses dropped to $58m last year, from $72.6m in 2017, with marketing and ad expenses falling to $46.4m, from $54m. Its administration expenses fell to $45.6m, from $55.3m.

Of the group’s $224.3m of revenue, about $142.1m came from the sale of magazines and $48.8m from advertising.

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magazines

New financial year suggestions

Here is a list I have put together of things small business retailers could reasonably consider at the start of this new financial year:

  1. Change your passwords. Share them sparingly.
  2. Review your department and categories. Ensure they accurately reflect your business and how you want performance reported.
  3. Review system use to determine if fraud is an issue. Our help desk team can help business owners (and only business owners) with this.
  4. if you are not using Discount Vouchers, consider it as it continues to be the easiest and most effective revenue and return visit building tool we have see.
  5. Review your opening hours / roster based on a revenue by time assessment.
  6. Take a look at workflow at the counter. Look at steps you can take to streamline the experience. More efficient sales will help drive sales revenue.
  7. Set aside every invoice that you currently enter manually. Email a copy to us at support@towersystems.com.au along with supplier contact details. We will reach out to them for you, encouraging them to provide you with an electronic invoice, which will save time and improve data accuracy.
  8. Consider cloud based backupfor faster, safer, backups.
  9. If you have a website, consider an SEO campaign to lift its profile. If your website is more than two years old, consider a refresh or replacement.
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Newsagency management

Inspiration

I talk with newsagents every day in all sorts of situations. This clip of past of a speech by actor ohn Krasinski at Brown University, which came upon win my Twitter feed, speaks, I think, to the challenges many newsagents face today. I hope you find it interesting. Oh, by the way, the full speech is online too.


I especially love these quotes…

Remember to be scared.

Take chances, fail big, and take chan yes again.

Before you do something special, just do something.

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Optimism

Magazines. Keeping newsagents unique.

Click here to see Magazines. Keeping newsagents unique. a terrific guide published by the MPA, Magazine Publishers of Australia, in June 2003.

As you will see in throughout this document, the MPA offered comprehensive advice on magazine range, display, promotion and management, advice that was ideal for that time.

My first every magazine relay in-store flowed from this MPA work.

While magazines play a lesser role today in terms of foot traffic and financially, I see value in a similar supplier driven document that draws on shopper and other data, to help newsagents what remains an important category.

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magazines

Single touch payroll now required

Single touché payroll compliance is now required for businesses with 5 to 19 employees. Click here to read information from the ATO about it. Included is this information on how it works:

STP works by sending tax and super information from your payroll or accounting software to the ATO as you run your payroll.

When you start reporting:

  • you will run your payroll, pay your employees as normal, and give them a payslip
    • your pay cycle does not need to change (you can continue to pay your employees weekly, fortnightly or monthly)
  • your STP-enabled payroll software will send us a report which includes the information we need from you, such as salaries and wages, pay as you go (PAYG) withholding and super information

You will be reporting super liability information through STP for the first time. Super funds will also be reporting to us. They’ll let us know when you make the payment to your employees’ chosen or default fund. This is an important step toward making sure employees are paid their correct entitlements.

The way STP information is sent will depend on the software you use. STP reporting will be offered in one of the following ways with:

  • an end-to-end solution, which allows you to run your payroll and send the STP information directly to us from your software
  • a solution which allows you to run your payroll and send the STP information through a third party sending service provider (SSP) which is integrated into your software
  • a solution that allows you to run your payroll and requires you to send the STP information through a third party sending service provider (SSP) outside your software.

ATO systems will match the STP information to our employer and employee records.

Your employees will be able to see their year-to-date tax and super information in ATO online services, which can only be accessed through myGov. Their data is updated every time you report (each pay day for most employers). Without STP reporting, employee data is only reported at the end of the financial year.

If you make mistakes in your STP report, you can correct it in your following report. We won’t penalise you for making mistakes you correct.

At the end of the financial year, you’ll need to finalise your STP data. This is a declaration to the Commissioner to state you have completed your reporting for the financial year.

It is important newsagents are across this and live already.; Putting it off is not an option.

For what int is worth, in my own shops our POS software is connected to Xero and Xero manages STP requirements.

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Newsagency management

Small business pledge in UK leadership race interesting

Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to scrap tax for a bunch of small businesses is an interesting and practical pledge to support small businesses, UK high street businesses. This, from The Telegraph:

Jeremy Hunt has pledged to exempt hundreds of thousands of firms from business rates if he becomes prime minister, in a bid to save Britain’s ailing high streets.

In an extension of Philip Hammond’s £1.5bn plan to regenerate town centres across the country, the Tory leadership contender intends to scrap taxes for nine out of ten high street shops.

The move will save newly exempted businesses up to £6,500, and will benefit an estimated 24,500 businesses based in Birmingham, Manchester and three other large English cities.

The announcement builds on his recent promise to cut corporation tax from 19 percent to as low as 12.5 percent, the same as Ireland, a policy which is set to cost an estimated £13 billion a year.

Plenty of Aussie retailers would agree with this:

“It was once said Britain was a nation of shopkeepers. But if we don’t act this will no longer be the case

“Too many small businesses are being put out of business by tax bills they can’t afford to pay. “While many people choose to shop online, there is a clear demand for a local choice too.

“And the current system leaves the taxpayer out of pocket, shopkeepers out of a job and can deprive local people of places to spend time with friends and family.”

What I like about this announcement is the specific detail. It goes beyond  the usual platitudes of small businesses are the backbone of the country during cam pains followed by years in government of inaction.

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Social responsibility

Macquarie Bank bans use of cards of gambling products

The AFR reports that the Macquarie Bank has bans credit cards for gambling.

The changes, to start on July 1, will mean any transactions classified under the merchant codes as gambling will be blocked when the card holder tries to pay.

The move is in response to growing regulatory and government concern, both in Australia and overseas, about easy access to credit by problem gamblers.

Other card providers, including ANZ, Bankwest and CBA offering cash advance rates on credit cards, typically charge interest rates of more than 21 per cent. It is not known whether these, or other banks will be introducing a ban.

This story will continue to evolve. A benefit for physical shops is that they can easily take cash as a form of payment. Also, software used in shops that sell items from multiple categories does not differentiate what is in the basket.

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Lotteries

Blyeshyft crypto in the news

ROGUE BOT: Australian exchange loses, then recovers, $1 billion in crypto

An Australian exchange has lost more than $1 billion worth of crypto in an hour – but the owner of a trading bot kindly gave it all back.

CEO Kain Warwick responds to billion dollar loss

“There are currently a number of trading bots actively trading on Synthetix.exchange using different strategies, one of these bots was able to detect this price error and exploit it to trade into and out of sKRW during the window where the API was incorrectly reporting the price,” said founder Kain Warwick.

Warwick, who is also the CEO and Co-founder of Blueshyft, added, “This resulted in several trades with profits of 1000x, resulting in over $1b in profit in less than an hour.”

Blueshyft allows customers to purchase cryptocurrencies on exchanges like CoinSpot and BinanceLite over the counter at over 1300 retailers across Australia.

Click here for the story.

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Social responsibility

Delivery knows no bounds

With 7-Eleven now offering a delivery service to more than 2m000 hot spots such as beaches and parks, the gig delivery world just expanded.

The retailer told The Associated Press that more than 2,000 7-Eleven “hot spots” including New York’s Central Park and Venice Beach in Los Angeles will be working starting Monday. Customers need to download 7-Eleven’s 7NOW app and select “Show 7NOW Pins” to find a hot spot near them.

The chain foresees eventually having 200,000 hot spot locations, said to Gurmeet Singh, 7-Eleven’s executive vice president and chief digital information and marketing officer.

See the Dallas News story here.

The company says there’s no minimum order required. The same fees apply to both delivery services. The chain charges a flat delivery fee of $3.99. And for orders under $15, customers pay an extra $1.99. For all orders, it promises average wait time of 30 minutes. For both services, the orders are fulfilled from its 9,100 stores.

This move from 7-Eleven is extraordinary and demonstrates the power of having a phone that pinpoints your location for delivered of even something as simple as a Slurpee.

The gig economy is alive and well. Maybe 7-Eleven could take over paper delivery with this service. Hang on, US$3.99 per delivery indicates not. That US$3.99 figure reinforces that newsagents price their delivery service too low.

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Newsagency challenges

Beware LayBys in retail

While LayBys have been around for decades in retail, the rules are not what they used to be. This came home recently to a retailer I know who was left with a $550.00 value item that a customer had been paying off over two months but then changed their mind. This issue for the retailer is that the item was of launch interest for that licence. They will struggle to get half the retail price now.

Click here to access the ACCC advice on LayBys. See this advice on termination fees:

You can only charge the customer with a lay-by termination fee if they cancel the agreement.

There is no set amount or percentage for a termination fee, but it must not be more than your ‘reasonable costs’ relating to the lay-by agreement (for example, storage and administrative costs that apply to the lay-by agreement). What is ‘reasonable’ will depend on the circumstances and you should be prepared to justify that your costs are reasonable.

If the customer’s lay-by instalments do not cover the termination fee, you are entitled to recover the outstanding amount as a debt. This should be clearly stated in the lay-by agreement along with any other details of termination fees so that your obligation to have a transparent lay-by agreement is fulfilled.

Apart from the termination charge, you are not entitled to damages or any other remedy for the termination of the lay-by agreement.

And this on a LayBy agreement:

An agreement is considered to be a lay-by if the consumer:

  • pays for the goods in at least two instalments (when the agreement is called a lay-by), or
  • pays for the goods in at least three instalments (when the agreement is not specifically called a lay-by), and
  • does not receive the goods until the full price has been paid.

Any deposit paid by the consumer is an instalment.

You may have obligations under the laws about lay-by agreements even if you do not call the agreement a ‘lay-by’.

If you offer LayBys, check your agreement, ensure it is referred to on your LayBy receipts and ensure that you follow the ACCC guidelines. Alternatively, go with another approach that is less risky for your business than LayBy.

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Newsagency management

Buy Now Pay Later options for small business retailers

With the tough two weeks for Afterpay, several retailers have asked be about alternatives.

While Afterpay is the name in this space of buy now pay later, Humm (formerly Oxipay) and Zip Pay (and Zip Money) are all worth a look.

Humm is part of the ASX traded Flexi group.

Each of these platforms can be integrated with your POS software as well as with any website you run. Plus, you can integrate more than one of them.

I suspect we will see more news about the buy now pay later model, in addition to the wash up of the current challenges reported for Afterpay. As retailers, it is important we keep our options open and that me make shopping easy for our customers.

There is some interesting reporting on those who use buy now pay later. Millennials are interesting to us. hence, our need to offer this and to o9ffer brands shoppers trust.

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Newsagency management

Free shop local video

I make videos for Tower Systems and newsXpress for social media and other marketing. For some I use original video and still image content while for others I use premium stock videos. Through Tower we also offer unbranded visited for any retailer to use to provide brief entertainment fun content for use on social media. Here is a new one from last week. It’s designed to be simple, fun something people will watch to the end. I find short fun videos work well, and by well I mean customers comment in-store and, yes, new customers can be attracted.

Click here to download.

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marketing

Forward leaning newsagencies popular with landlords

I have noticed a shift in what landlords of small, medium and large centres are looking for from newsagency businesses.

Whereas in the past they sought restrictions to control the businesses to traditional offerings, today more are wanting to partner with retailers who are actively playing beyond the traditional boundaries.

This is especially true in regional centres. They want businesses that are focussed on generating valuable traffic for the centre beyond their businesses. Whereas in the past papers, magazines and lotteries did that job, today I am often asked what a business might bring that is unusual, that shoppers could be willing to drive an hour to see.

In the last week I have received approaches from three landlords with such requests. They want newsagency businesses, but ones that genuinely add value from what has been traditional for the channel.

This is a good trend in my view, line that encourages optimism.

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newsagency of the future
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