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

Is a newsagency a good business to buy in Australia?

It’s January 2024 and a good time to consider this question: Is a newsagency a good business to buy in Australia?

The answer on whether a specific newsagency is good for you to buy will depend on the newsagency, it’s past performance, it’s specific situation, the prospects for the region, your resources and your own retail skills.

But considering the question Is a newsagency a good business to buy in Australia? broadly, I think the answer is yes.

While what newsagents have traditionally been known for has changed, there is plenty of upside for engaged retailers prepared to play outside those now blurred lines of tradition. There are also excellent opportunities within plenty of product categories, including:

Stopping looking like a newsagency. Aussie shoppers have an expectation that a shop that looks remotely like a newsagency will sell what they think a newsagency should sell and will therefor not visit or visit depending on their assumptions. I’ve seen newsagents grow their businesses by not looking like a newsagency.

Gifts. This is easy and the opportunities are considerable. Whereas in the past gifts in newsagencies tended to be lower priced and bland, newsagents I see having success play in higher value niche spaces, and they do well from this. It takes investment, passion and commitment.

Stationery. Plenty of newsagents are reporting growth in stationery sales both in traditional stationery and with impulse purchase must-have stationery such as fashion forward journals and cool pens. It is in this second area of stationery that there is opportunity for even more growth if you engage with trends and stop thinking about stationery as purely functional.

Cards. With millennials and gen z shoppers we are seeing good card sales. But to win them you need to engage with the category in ways that some of the older card companies in Australia struggle with. I see plenty of newsagents growing card sales by being innovating in terms off where they pitch product and the ranges they offer.

If your question is whether a traditional newsagent is a good business to by where traditional to yo0u means lotteries, newspapers, magazines traditional functional stationery and cards then, I’m likely to say no as that type of business with an overall gross profit percentage of between 28% and 32% is flat or declining. But, that type of business can offer good bones for innovation away from the tradition. Again, the key is to pay a fair price based on the actual profit and loss numbers for the business – beware add backs that don’t make sense.

Newsagencies are changing hands, the businesses are selling. There are sellers and plenty of willing buyers. I think 2024 is a good year to buy a newsagency.

Footnote: I’ve not mentioned newspapers and magazines because these poor margin categories are of less interest to me. Newsagents have little or no control over the range of products they stock, no control over the sale price and are burdened with product management requirements that are rooted in practices that were out of date thirty years ago. These poor practices dictated by suppliers add to the cost of business and suppliers are yet to demonstrate an appetite to modernise despite years of promises and the often repeated claim that newsagents are important to them.

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Newsagency management

2023 vs 2022 newsagency sales benchmark study under way

I have started collecting data for a 2023 vs. 2022 newsagency sales benchmark study. While I am doing a whole of year comparison this time around for the whole of channel study, I’ll do a last quarter only study for a smaller group for anyone interested.

My goal for the main study is to get data from at least 120 businesses as this will provide sufficient a dataset to consider the total channel results.

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Newsagency benchmark

Predictions: 2024 and the local Aussie newsagency

Hey, Happy New year.

I think 2024 will see change continue in our channel. It will impact our businesses and the businesses of our suppliers. The changes will be driven by a range of factors including but not limited to the continued rolling disruption of print media, growth in the use of social media, further decline in engagement with appointment TV and radio, AI, AI and AI, migration of more over the counter transactions to online, settling in of work from home for many and more suppliers going direct to consumers.

That’s my (incomplete) list of drivers of change. Now, to the changes I think we are likely to see in the channel.

  • A significant increase in online sales. More newsagents will have websites. More revenue will be put through websites run by businesses in our channel. I expect 2024 to be the year of biggest online revenue growth for our channel that we have see.
  • More newsagents selling products that have not been been traditionally associated with our channel. While this will be especially seen in businesses selling online, there will be some physical shops that pivot to niche specialty with the newsagency part of the business a smaller pert.
  • Continued decline in print newspaper and magazine purchases.
  • Somewhere between 100 and 200 newsagencies closed (for a variety of reasons).
  • Greater growth in online lottery product purchase than over the counter.
  • New suppliers entering our channel to replace revenue lost in other channels.
  • More direct from manufacturer opportunities as general wholesaler models are challenged.
  • More use of AI in content preparation, business performance assessment and customer contact assistance.
  • More collaboration events to drive traffic spikes.

This list is irrelevant as it’s speculation. What matters is what you are doing in your business to make the most out of 2024. Only you can figure that out. Or, you can choose to do nothing and let the year happen as it happens. This would be a mistake I think. Given the changes we can see, I think it is vital to embrace change, to ride the wave, rather than be dumped by it. This is why thinking about what might be in 2024 is useful. It lets you think about what might be so you can be ahead of the wave.

I was to finish by mentioning AI again. I think its impact on newsagencies, business generally and society more broadly will be far greater in 2024 than anything we can possibly imagine today. Some impacts will be good, while some not so good. Those less negatively impacted will be those who engaged with AI early to be aware of the rapidly evolving tools, to know what to watch out for.

Hey, Happy New year.

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newsagency of the future

Newsagents handing back their newspaper home delivery runs need a service contract for dealing with poor newspaper publisher service

The two main newspaper publishers in Australia, News Corp. and Nine Media (Fairfax) have a poor track record managing newspaper home delivery they take over from local newsagents, regardless of whether it is a forced takeover or a voluntary hand back.

They replace what has been for 100+ years a local personal service with corporate impersonal processes.

Whereas newspaper home delivery customers could speak to someone locally with direct knowledge of the delivery situation, in the publisher driven model customers have to navigate impersonal and broken processes that pay little regard to the local delivery situation.

I think newsagents deserve a service contract to cover the first year of post home delivery option. This contract could include the following fees payable by the publisher to the newsagent:

  • $5.00 for each email contact by a home delivery customer to the newsagent asking about home delivery such as where is my paper.
  • $5.00 for each in-store contact by a home delivery customer to the newsagent asking about home delivery.
  • $10.00 for each phone contact by a home delivery customer to the newsagent asking about home delivery.
  • $25.00 additional fee for each engagement where the customer is angry.
  • $25.00 for each call or email contact with the publisher for matters not covered by the above.
  • $25.00 for each call that has to be made or email that has to be sent to the distributor asking where the papers are for the shop.
  • $50.00 per title for each day a newspaper is not delivered to the shop by 8am (or any other time as stipulated by the newsagent based on their early morning trading). The amount could vary based on the usual number of papers sold where the penalty should be double the usual GP$ for the day.
  • $100.00 per title for each day a newspaper title is not delivered to the shop. The amount could vary based on the usual number of papers sold where the penalty should be double the usual GP$ for the day.
  • 250% GP penalty for each newspaper given to a home delivery customer who missed a paper, the publisher cannot rectify and a replacement paper is given from the shop.
  • A flat insert or giveaway fee for each time the newsagent is asked to give something away with the newspaper where the fee is at least 10% of the cover price of the accompanying newspaper and is paid weekly as an automated credit to the account.
  • A fee of $50.00 per 15 minutes for any in-store visit by a newspaper pub lister representative.

I’d make reporting simple with no opportunity for dispute by the publisher for such claim and with payment monthly by direct debit initiated by the newsagent entering contact details (date, time, customer name) into a web portal setup, maintained and paid for by the publisher.

Of course, these fees will seem over the top to most reading them. I have suggested the figures I have so they act as an incentive to newspaper publishers to do better. I reckon can predict some of the reactions people will have reading this.

No publisher will agree to this.

Newsagents have to be kidding themselves if we’d agree to this.

This list is nonsense.

Who do they think they are.

I’m just happy to have given up home delivery, I don’t want to rock the boat.

I’ve moved on.

The response by publishers will be silence. They will ignore the suggestion. They’ll read it here and mutter about it to each other, but we will hear nothing because any request like this from newsagents has been treated this way, with silence.

I started thinking about the list when I saw a query from a long-term home delivery customer to the newsagent who used to deliver their paper to a nursing home. The newspaper publisher had not actioned a change request and the customer was becoming distressed after 4 attempts at contact. They reached out to the newsagent who ultimately organised for the issue to be fixed. They did this in service of a long-standing customer and because they understand personal local service. The newspaper publisher had let the customer down because of the corporate processes put in place to manage home deliveries.

Recently, we did not get the Australian Financial Review in one of my shops that ended home delivery a couple of years back. Two phone calls produced no result. Then, a couple of hours later, the distributor called a number not on the registered contacts list to say it would not be supplied at all. The person with that number had to call the shop. Next, the shop staff had to deal with customer queries and agitation. There were several unpleasant exchanges.

All of this costs money.

The newspaper publishers control the production and distribution of their product, yet they continue to expect local small business newsagents to provide free customer service to cover for their failures.

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Newspaper distribution

The Boxing Day opportunity for retailers

I see the Boxing Day sale as an opportunity to ditch dead stock and clear out any products we are discontinuing for whatever reason.

For me, it’s about decluttering the shop ahead of a reset for 2024, readying to lean into new opportunities in pursuit of new shoppers.

So, we price to quit. If the items on sale have long been paid for, the sale is about freeing cash for the business more so that chasing a profit. Stock sitting on the shelf not selling is not profitable.

With so many retailers doing sales this time of the year, it makes sense to ride on the back of their marketing coat tails and run a sale, even if in your location Boxing Day sales are not a thing.

There are people who have waited for this opportunity, and I’m happy to sell to them. Already this morning, up til 9:35am, $2,200 in sales of sale-priced items with nothing spent on marketing other than a bit of time on an email and some posters. The street is not busy, but people out are keen for deals.

On our street, we compete with Australia Post in the gift and greeting card space. They’re closed, which is good.

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Newsagency management

Online shoppers are powerful

Online shoppers tend to be savvy, and vocal if things go wrong. Being on the front foot with communication is key. This story was viral online well before A Current Affair picked it up. Now, on social media since the ACA story, the pile-on has surged.

While their comms could have been better and their back-office more organised, plenty of responses go too far.

In the last two weeks our own online businesses have shipped thousands of orders with half of those sent Express Post because of a supplier screw up that saw product arrive late.

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Newsagency management

The British relationship with magazines is so different to ours

Check out this video from Twitter a few days ago showing magazines featuring Doctor Who and (5) TV related titles in a UK newsagent.

I’m not pining for change. Rather, the difference fascinates me. I think it reflects a different relationship with print over all.

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magazines

Will the Boxing Day $90M OzLotto jackpot impact sales?

Several lottery retailers have contacted me to discuss this. The thing is, we won’t know until the day.

Boxing Day sales are bigger in some states than others.

In locations where it is a big sales event, lottery customers may impact store traffic and this could dampen sales results.

In locations there Boxing Day sales are not a thing, the jackpot presents an opportunity.

If I had lotteries and was running a Boxing Day sale I’d prepare the shop layout and register placement such that any lottery traffic bounce did not hurt hoped-for Boxing Day sales.

I’d also try and leverage each opportunity for the other.

Lottery jackpots are a terrific boost sales, but unwelcome when they hinder better margin business.

A Boxing Day sale has more opportunity for return business that a lottery jackpot I think.

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Lotteries

Pitching Christmas to younger card buyers

It’s terrific seeing Gen Z and Millennials buying Christmas cards. Their preference from what I’ve seen is humour and relevance to what interests them.

Outside of the regular card department we have around 60 Christmas cards and ornaments selected to appeal to them. We have them situated so they can be easily seen from outside the shop, on the street – we do this to attract them inside.

While not for everyone’s taste, it’s important we play outside tradition if we want to reach more shoppers and, after all, we are not our own customers.

Here are some of the cards from this range.

We started playing in this space two years ago and it’s grown since, without any negative imp[act on traditional card sales. We play in this space all year round now and it’s delivered more than $15,000 in additional card revenue this year.

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Greeting Cards

The Lottery Office advertising push

I saw The Lottery Office being promoted on a huge billboard at Essendon Fields in Melbourne a few days ago, promoting huge jackpots. Going to their website they are pitching prices bigger than current Australian lottery jackpots.

I recall politicians saying they would ask on overseas lotteries being promoted in Australia yet here is The Lottery Office as big as ever, representing their global ownership.

The Lottery Office is Australia’s ticket to the world’s largest official lotteries.

The Lottery Office, established in 2018, is fully Australian owned and operated, licensed and regulated by the Northern Territory Government of Australia. With its Head Office in the Northern Territory and a Service Office in Gold Coast Queensland, The Lottery Office is a market leader in the global lottery industry making it the smartest way to play online with real tickets, no bets.

The Lottery Office operates under the parent company Global Players Network Pty Ltd, licensed and operating in Australia since 2003. The lottery draws and business systems are continuously audited by the Northern Territory regulator with regular processes and financial reviews.

While Lottoland may have retreated from this ‘betting’ space, The Lottery Office has not. Theirs is not a betting pitch like Lottoland.

When a player purchases a lotto ticket online in one of The Lottery Office’s official Government licensed lotteries, The Lottery Office purchases a matching ticket with the same numbers in an overseas draw. In the event of a win, The Lottery Office collects the prize amount*, and then pays the winner the exact same amount collected, guaranteed!

If I was a lottery retailer with The Lott, and gee I am glad I am not, I’d be angry at what The Lottery Office is doing since it is expensive to be a franchisee for The Lott.

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Lotteries

$1,000,000 in sales in last week benefited newsXpress retailers

80 newsXpress retailers participated in the launch of the $2 coin Anniversary set release with the Royal Australian Mint. The $235.00 collection sold out in under a day.

Total sales = $1,010,500.

80 stores participated in the opportunity. While some took way more than others, the smallest did $10,000 in sales and achieved close to $3,500 in GP. There were newsXpress stores with shoppers queued out the front from 4am. The phones rang hot and emails poured in. While the traffic spike was challenging, the easy revenue was wonderful.

All of this for no risk, and the invoice for stock will not be due until February 2024.

The actual value of the release is greater given what else shoppers buying the coin set purchased and how many of those will return to the now discovered newsXpress businesses.

This is a terrific good news story, and example of a new revenue stream for newsagents brought to the channel by newsXpress.

This latest coin drop is one of many in 2023 from which participating newsXpress members have benefited in terms of revenue, new in-store shopper traffic generation and online sales for those with websites.

newsXpress is sourcing for its members not only coins from the Royal Australian Mint but also Perth Mint, NZ Mint and the UK Mint. Coin collectors, especially those in regional and rural Australia, are loving easier access to mint coin releases.

Coin collectors are wonderful customers to attract. They are loyal, and they purchase other items.

newsXpress is a marketing group that helps newsagents transform their businesses to be more relevant in-store and online serving shoppers today, to attract new shoppers and to run lean.

Nothing newsXpress pitches is mandatory. As you can see from the success with this latest coin release, it is easy for newsXpress members to profit well from opportunities newsXpress brings to the table. This is what a good newsagency marketing group offers.

While newsXpress works with traditional newsagency suppliers, the majority of its supplier relationships are outside what has been traditional for the channel and outside what other newsagency groups offer.

The 2024 calendar is already filling with con releases and other shopper-attracting opportunities for newsXpress members. The goal is simple: to help local newsXpress members run more enjoyable and valuable businesses.

Disclosure: I am a director of newsXpress.

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newsagency of the future

Newspaper publishers are one reason newsagents are time-poor

The Australian Financial Review did not arrive at the newsagency a couple of days ago.

We let the distributor know, and gave them the number of the shop for contact.

An hour later, someone from the distributor called a different number, a mobile for someone not at the shop and not listed as a contact, to advise they didn’t;lt know what happened, there were no spare copies and that we would have to lodge a credit request with the publisher and not them.

To put in the credit request we have to log in to the publisher portal and put in a claim.

What a broken process and waste of time. It should have all been dealt with in one call or, better still, notification via a distributor website rather than what happened.

So out of date.

So, yeah, this is another example of newspaper publishers using poor business practices to steal time from newsagents.

A modest investment in technology could improve this situation considerably. It would save time in newsagencies and help them improve customer service. I expect it would save time in newspaper distribution businesses too.

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Newspaper distribution

Christmas in the newsagency

People are loving how Christmas flows deep into this shop in suburban Melbourne. The manager of the store has done a wonderful job delivering a true treasure hunt experience. From the moment you step into the shop you have options.

This is my shop in Mount Waverley. I am so grateful for what christ has created.

The photos do not do justice to the ease of shopping and the inviting experience.

I love how he has used multiple trees for visual merchandising dining. We know that if shoppers can see a outcome they are more likely to purchase.

Over on the left wall you can see our full face card wall. This is our third iteration of this approach to card retailing and it is working a treat.

A key goal in this shop is to welcome shoppers into a happy and friendly space. We know from shopper feedback that they appreciate it.

If you’re in retail, I hope Christmas is tracking well for you.

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newsagency marketing

If you rely on Buy Now Pay Later in your business…

It seems more sales that Afterpay makes – the more challenging financially it is for the company:  Revenue $2Bn (From $43Bn transactions) – Merchant fees $1.65Bn – Late fees $211Million (Up from $87Million) Net Loss $615Million Bad debts $475Million.

The recent launch of the AfterPay credit card  and the clean out of the merchant and customer books will mean that AfterPay will look very different in 2024. It is expected to evolve into a more traditional consumer lending business with Buy Now – Pay Later being merely a feature.

Zip Pay has a big challenge in that it has to refinance $1.76B in debt next year and commentators say this will be a challenge for them. This article from 2 days ago is worth reading: https://www.bankingday.com/zip-refinancing-burden

So much for disrupting credit cards. 

Meanwhile, LayBy continues to be available from many local retail businesses. It is easy to manage in the software and can help people purchase from you within a cashflow budget.

The challenge with LayBy is that the purchase can be easily cancelled. But that is manageable if you factor it into your forecasting.

Through my software company I know of many retailers offering LayBy with terrific success. There are some doing thousands of LayBy transactions each year.

LayBy setup and management is easy, structured, dependable. While there is state / territory based legislation to follow, the business you can win makes offering LayBy worthwhile.

LayBy is another way local small business retailers can differentiate their businesses from big business competitors.

Given the continuing noise in the media about the economy, offering LayBy could be a a response from your business that resonates with some.

My advice is to ensure you have your processes down and your rules in place, and that they sit within the regulations for your jurisdiction. Consider a LayBy establishment fee. This can qualify the participants. What you do here depends of the products you offer and the margin with you operate.

If you compare LayBy with Buy Now Pay Later offers from AfterPay and Zip, it can look good for you.

Do your homework and see if LayBy could be good for your customers and for your business.

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Newsagency management

Opportunity for small business retailers in the IR reforms

The IR reforms passed by federal parliament give small business owners an opportunity overlooked in much of the commentary in the media. They impose requirements on big business that take away advantages they have leveraged for years. The reduce competitive advantages of big businesses in some areas.

While we in small business, especially in retail, have had the award as our guide, plenty of big business competitors have negotiated agreements that lower their labour operating costs.

The reforms passed, as I read them, reduce the opportunity for this. Click here to see the comprehensive explanatory memorandum.

Also, since many small business retailers have fewer than 15 employees, they are not obligated under some of the changes.

Too much of the media coverage has regurgitated talking points from lobby groups, like the Australian Industry Group, Australian Retailers Association, Australian Energy Producers, Master Builders Australia, Minerals Council and some others representing big business. I don’t feel any affinity with these organisations.

If you go to the source materials on the Parliament website you can read the specifics and form your own opinion.

While there will be concern around changes relating to casuals, I think the changes are ok, fair.

COSBOA, an organisation that claims to support small business, was party to a statement Friday that included:

In addition, the changes to labour hire, also rushed through, will increase costs and complexity for business.

This will hit many small businesses and drive up prices, risk jobs and comes at a time when there are already many pressures on the economy.

I am not aware of any small business retailers who use a labour hire firm.

I can’t see anything in the changes that will drive up prices in small business retail.

I can’t see anything in the reforms that will put jobs at risk.

The changes were not rushed through. They have been on the books for months.

I get that representative organisations need to reflect the wishes of their members and be seen to be doing something. The joint statement from COSBOA and others on Friday reads to me a shouty and lacking detail, being worried for the sake of being worried.

How big businesses have used labour hire arrangements to circumvent awards is problematic I think. It has provided labour at a lower cost, disadvantaging small business competitors who did not enter into such arrangements.

Some media reports and commentators and others have complained that there was no consultation. A quick search online shows that the changes were forecast months ago. Submissions were sought and consultation opportunities were available.

From a small business perspective, if you have less than 15 employees, you’re unlikely to be impacted. If you pay according to the award, you’re unlikely to be impacted. The most contentious issue will be if a casual wants to transition to a more permanent arrangement. It you appreciate them, it’s a good think I think.

But let’s go back to the topic of labour hire arrangements by big businesses. This is about containing the cost of labour to maximise business profit. I’d rather employees have more money in their pockets than the big businesses they work for as the employees are more likely to spend their money in ways that local small business retailers benefit.

My advice to anyone who may think they have an opinion about the IR reforms, read the source material and form your own views on that rather than taking what you read from a news outlet.

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Social responsibility

The all important window display in retail

I am grateful for the opportunity to see the Christmas window displays at Galeries Lafayette in Paris last week while there for a retail tech innovation conference. Here are some of the many highlights on show at this stuffing retail business.

These displays caught my attention, as any good window display should.

Travel is wonderful for broadening your horizons. This is especially true when looking at retail in Europe. Their aesthetic is quite different to what is common in Australia.

While the videos and photos I have shared here are from a large department store, in local indie retail I saw some excellent window displays and shop floor promotions.

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newsagency marketing

Newsagents ripped-off by News Corp Taylor Swift magazine terms

Newsagents selling the Taylor magazine from News Corp from this Saturday, December 9, for $9.95 make just 10% out of which we have to cover labour, retail space, EFTPOS and theft costs.

Depending on the payment method, newsagents can lose between 1% and 6% of a purchase price in fees. At the high end it would leave 39.8 cents, 4%, from which to cover labour and theft.

Labour on circulation products sits, on average, at 12% of overall revenue and theft sits at somewhere between 3% and 5%.

The Taylor magazine will be loss making for plenty of newsagents. Thanks News Corp.

What News Corp. is doing here setting a 10% commission / gross profit percentage is disrespectful of local small business newsagents. It does not allow newsagents to even make a living wage from selling this title.

All of this from a company heavily invested in shouting (yelling) at the federal government about cost of living. Yet, here they are financially harming newsagents in terms of cost of living.

I wonder how Taylor Swift and her organisation feels about the financial arrangements imposed by News Corp on local small business newsagents and their use of her name and brand to do so.

I am confident the News Corp. has it within its business capacity to treat local small newsagents more fairly with this Taylor Swift title. For a company so opinionated about others and their masthead commitment of we’re for you, their actions speak other words: selfish, uncaring and certainly not for local small business newsagents.

Their pitch to newsagents is gushing:

Taylor Swift fever has swept the globe during her epic Eras Tour, and now it is nearly time for Australia to bask in her glittering glory.

Celebrate the iconic singer with this special 100-page souvenir edition magazine with bonus poster inside.

Ahead of her concert dates in Melbourne and Sydney in February 2024, the Taylor magazine is packed with 100 glossy pages of details about the Eras Tour, the evolution of the singer from sweet country star to global sensation and a deep dive into her music.

Also in the souvenir edition magazine Taylor:

  • Discover how big a Swiftie you are with our Taylor-made pop quiz
  • The men (ahem, Travis Kelce, Harry Styles and Joe Alwyn please step forward) who have played a starring role in her life
  • Her jaw-dropping red carpet fashion moments
  • Plus, the records she has smashed as one of the world’s top entertainers

Taylor magazine is on sale from Saturday, December 9, for $9.95 at participating newsagents, Coles and Woolworths.

I wonder what the terms are for supermarkets Coles and Woolworths. While their margin may be the same, is News Corp. paying their a ranging or stocking fee, a promotion fee or offering some break in ad rates to compensate as I doubt that these supermarket giants would sell this for 10% only without any other financial benefit for them.

Taylor Swift has a track record of doing good where she travels and performs, helping local charities. her generosity has been well documented. If only News Corp. seeking to profit from Taylor’s fame was even modestly generous to local small business newsagents when it comes to the sale of this special Taylor magazine.

News. Corp is treating newsagents as if it is the 1950s. It is disrespectful. It demonstrates a lack of care for our channel.

If News Corp did care about newsagents they would offer this product at a considerably better margin.

49 likes
Social responsibility

Is For Arts Sake back in business?

It looks like it. I went to an online b2b trading portal on the weekend and was able to view product, add it to a cart and pay. I didn’t;t pay, of course – I was interested to see how far the transaction might go.

The page from which I can access 3,164 For Arts Sake products looks and feels like the For Arts Sake that sold to newsagents for years before being wound up in August this year following a creditor petition.

From that same page I could access more about the business.

Now, it could be that the listing at the b2b portal is old, but that would be out of character for the proactive portal, especially given that the For Arts Sake business was liquidated months ago.

If the listing is current, and stock available under this brand, it’s a resurrection to match that of Lazarus.

1 likes
Suppliers

Some newsagents are missing out on sales by ignoring this free marketing opportunity

The advice in this post was written for and shared with newsXpress members last year. newsXpress regularly provides tactical business advice to its members.

I shared this advice with ALNA a few months ago, so they could share it with their members. I share again here today to reach more newsagents.

This is free advice that costs nothing to implement and is likely to attract shoppers to your business.

Research by several organisations in Australia suggest that more that 75% of in-store purchases include at least one online search. Having a current Google Business Profile is one key element in being found online.

Google Business Profile. Steps you can take to be more easily found.

Having an up to date Google profile is more important than ever. Google uses profile content to deliver search results.

Google‘s own data indicate that 46% of all searches have local intent. Use of Google Maps is common by people looking for something right now. Maintaining your Google My Business profile is the most important step to indexing well in local search and map results.

Google preferences Google My Business content in providing search results since it is verified content.

Sharing posts via Google My Business is possibly more important than what you share on social media.

Okay, so where do you start, what do you have to do? Here’s a simple to follow list. I have done this over the last few days for 2 of my businesses to ensure the advice is current.

  • Do a Google search for Google Business Profile. It should bring you to: https://www.google.com/business/.
  • If you don’t have a Google Business account, create one. If you do have an account, log in.
  • Once in your profile, if your business is not listed, click Add business (top right), search for your business and request it be added. If someone else ‘owns’ the business listing it could take a few days to be released to you. If your business is not found in the search, add it manually.
  • Do not rush this. Make sure you review everything.
  • Click on the pencil icon to edit your profile.
  • Choose your business category. Too often retailers select one. Select as many as apply to your business.
  • Description. Make sure you describe your business. Use at least 500 of the 750 words allowed as Google uses this in search results.
  • Hours. Make sure they are accurate.
  • Location. Make sure your business location is correct. The service area is the area you serve. Choose wisely. You can put in multiple locations. So, put in your town first, then, put in the bigger city you are near if appropriate.
  • More. Click on every option available under more as they matter in Google results. For example, noting the business as woman owned, if true, will help with results.
  • Add a profile photo if you do not have one already.
  • Click on the create post icon – it’s the third icon, next to the camera. Create a post.
  • This should be about a product.
  • Include at least one photo.
  • Start with a headline.
  • Write text. Aim for less than 200 words. Think about what people will search for. Have a good headline. Use paragraphs.
  • If you sell the product on your business website, use the add a button option to add a link to the product on your business website.
  • Google will check and approve the post.

Once you have done this, you should see the profile and post online in less than a day. Once that happens, the Google door is open for you.

Our advice is that you add a post at least weekly. Each post should be about a single product or single brand, something people are likely searching for. Keep the focus narrow. Write as you. Be relaxed. What is it you love about the product? Who is it for? Be grateful about having it available.

If you are just starting, consider a post a day for the first two weeks to get your content up and running, to encourage Google to notice you.

On the posts themselves, they should be more informative than, say, an Instagram post. remember, you are writing for people on their phones searching.

Google will preference profiles that offer fresh content. This is why I say posting weekly is important.

Your Google business profile works best for you when you have a website as that facilitates shopper browsing.

The other benefit of creating and maintaining a Google business profile that reflects your businesstoday is that suppliers will see it. This could help suppliers who pigeonhole you as a newsagency realise that you are not.

We appreciate some of you may have read this and thought it’s the last thing I need – more work to do. The thing is, more shoppers today search online than not.

Footnote: if you are thinking of paying someone to do this for you, I advise against that. This is your business. You know what you want people to find, and buy. A marketer or a friend will do more of what they want, and that may not match what you and your business need.

Now, we asked ourselves some questions for you:

  • Can I use content I put on my business blog? For sure. Google may see it as duplicate so maybe trim it for your Google profile.
  • How long should a new post be? Given that this content is most often accessed on the phone, 200 words is considered the max.
  • How long do posts last? Currently, 6 months. It used to be 7 days. Google will continue to play with this.
  • Should I always include a photo with a post? Yes.
  • How many photos should I add? At least one. My suggestion is 4.
  • How detailed should the photos be? Each photo should be one product, clearly visible.
  • Should I use hashtags? Hashtags serve no purpose on these posts.
  • Can I schedule posts? Yes, by using an external platform like Loomly, Sendible, OneUp or similar.
  • What else do I need to do with the profile? Engage. Respond to reviews. Answer questions. Show the business as engaging.

Of course, it’s up to you if you create a profile for your business. It costs nothing and is likely to help people find you, and visit.

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Newsagency management

What a terrific promotion of independent retail in Chichester, West Sussex

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marketing
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