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

Newsagency of the Future workshop tomorrow in Perth

Screen Shot 2015-03-18 at 12.26.48 pmIf you’re in Perth and are interested in considering what your future could be, I encourage you to book for the first Newsagency of the Future workshop. It’s on in Perth next Thursday at 10am. Attendance is free.  I promise you will be challenged and encouraged.

Perth. Thursday March 26. 10am.  Country Comfort Inter City. Great Eastern Highway Perth.

Any newsagent is welcome to attend.

Click here for the booking form, or email your details to bookings@towersystems.com.au.

This Perth event is the first of a national series that will include Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart, Cairns, Townsville, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Newcastle, Parramatta, Geelong, Launceston.

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newsagency of the future

Why a newsagency is a good business to buy #3

This week I am going to publish a different reason each day on why a newsagency is a good business to buy – in no particular order.

#3: you’re part of something bigger

Even though newsagencies are independently owned and operated, vary significantly in range, service and location, trade under different brands and vary in terms of local community connection, they are all part of something bigger.

Whether this connection is seen or unseen, at the very core of every newsagency is the common connection of newspapers, magazines, cards and stationery and for many, lotteries. These product category cores provide newsagents with reasonable base traffic today and this is what you can leverage for success.

This about it. Buy a retail business selling gifts and you have one category on which to rely. Buy a newsagency with gift or one you plan to add gifts to and you have a base on which you can build thanks to being part of something bigger.

Even with declines in some categories we carry, being part of it is better than being in a retail category without this. I know of retail categories which would love even half the daily traffic of an average newsagency.

So, yes, newsagencies are part of a bigger, sometimes unseen, network and this can be leveraged to our success.

Newsagencies are good businesses to buy. We newsagents need to do more to demonstrate that this is the case. It starts with us making our businesses more appealing and is assisted by stories we tell about being a newsagent.

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buying a newsagency

If you sell Easter eggs in your newsagency

colesukchocolateIf you sell Easter eggs in your newsagency and you compete with Coles, make sure you staff know that the Thorntons range sold by Coles is imported from the UK. Know the source of your eggs. If they are made in Australia, pitch this and have your staff ready to let customers know. Locally made eggs are better for our economy that the Thorntons eggs from the UK.

I am finding shoppers more engaged than ever with locally made products in certain product categories. Food is one such category. You can drive this engagement with promotion of locally made.  Even a simple sign LOCALLY MADE = LOCAL JOBS works a treat. Coles can’t say this with their Thorntons products.

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Newsagency management

Good gift with purchase for It Girl

itgirlgiftI like the bookmark gifts with the latest issue of It Girl magazine. The gift is slim and does not hinder display of the host product. It encourages reading. The designs suit the target shopper. Kudos to everyone involved in selecting gift to accompany It Girl. Newsagents: have the full cover on show to leverage the gift in-store.

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magazines

Time called on selfie sticks

I have noticed a couple of newsagency suppliers have recently started offering selfie sticks – for use with your phone to take photos. Early-adopter newsagents started offering these more than two years ago. Getting into this space now is late in the day. Plus, there are challenges with more venues declaring their use unsafe.

If a supplier is pitching selfie sticks to you as the next big thing, be suspicious as they were big between a year and two years ago. Today, they are another readily available gadget.

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Newsagency management

Why a newsagency is a good business to buy #2

This week I am going to publish a different reason each day on why a newsagency is a good business to buy – in no particular order.

#2: there are processes to guide you

Newsagencies are structured businesses at their core. Lotteries, cards, magazines and newspapers have considerably structure around them. You can learn from suppliers so you operate within the required structure.

Stationery is less structured but there is structured support if you seek it.

Gifts and other more general retail items, which not structured, are supported through suppliers who can guide and advice.

If you want help, it’s there.

If you are new to retail, there are plenty of sources of assistance and advice if you seek it out.

Buying a newsagency you are buying into a business for which there is as much support as you seek.

If you are someone who likes to complain you will have plenty to complain about in terms of structure, training and support – but that would be a choice you make. However, such complaints are not justified in my view given what is available for you out there.

For an independent small business channel, newsagencies offer more structure than most This is good news for buyers!

Newsagencies are good businesses to buy. We newsagents need to do more to demonstrate that this is the case. It starts with us making our businesses more appealing and is assisted by stories we tell about being a newsagent.

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buying a newsagency

A free-standing paper stand ideal for newsagents

nstandHere’s a free-standing newspaper stand I saw in Auckland yesterday. I like that it is easily moved and easily reconfigured. Note the unit for magazines hung off the side – a bonus use of the space.

Newsagents who put this type of stand in own the space for themselves. This is better than a newspaper publisher owning a stand controlling placement of product on the stand.

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Newspapers

Smens helps newsagents take stationery out of the stationery aisle

smensSmens from GNS are the type of pen I’d expect to see in Typo. They are pens which smell. You can choose the scent you want. It’s a cool idea appealing to someone who is probably not looking to purchase a pen.

I am writing about Smens today for two reasons: to show that GNS offers products that appeal to the Typo shopper (and I understand that range will expand) and to illustrate how we can sell more stationery in our newsagencies to people who are not shopping for stationery.

We have opportunities in our newsagency supplier relationships often beyond what what we assume. A bit of research can unlock these.

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Stationery

The value of a Lay-By service in the newsagency

laybysoldWe have sold three items via Lay-By in the newsagency over the last five days – with a total sale value of over $800. That we offer Lay-By makes selling more expensive items easier.

The Lay-By facility enables the shopper to see a $500 item as $50 a week rather than $500 paid at once. This makes the product accessible to more shoppers.

I expect any newsagency software would have a Lay-By facility through which you can properly manage the process and meet your legal obligations.

FYI: we leave the items in the cabinet with a SOLD tag. This helps us get more value from the item until it’s paid for.

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Newsagency management

Why a newsagency is a good business to buy #1

This week I am going to publish a different reason each day on why a newsagency is a good business to buy – in no particular order.

#1 – A newsagency is a good business to buy because of the community connection.

Small and independent retail business struggle for relevance in a local community. Your local newsagency fares better than move because of the regular traffic for everyday items like newspapers, magazines, cards, lottery tickets and home stationery. While some of these categories may face challenges, sales continue to be strong, traffic continues at a level other small and independent retailers would love.

Newsagencies are traffic rich. Smart newsagents are leveraging this to the max and chasing new sources of traffic.

Ask anyone in town where the local newsagency is as they will know. This is an awareness base on which you can rely.

Anyone buying a newsagency can leverage this awareness, they can build on it. This puts you ahead compared to if you purchased some other local independent retail business.

At an ANF conference on the Gold Coast a years ago I asked the question of newsagents what do you stand for? The vast majority said being community connected in the most important point of difference. This is true for many today and it is a good reason to buy a newsagency.

Newsagencies are good businesses to buy. We newsagents need to do more to demonstrate that this is the case. It starts with us making our businesses looking more appealing and is assisted by stories we tell about being a newsagent.

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buying a newsagency

Shaun The Sheep opportunity for newsagents

shaunthesheepI received a unit of Shaun The Sheep flockstars from Network – timed to connect with the release of the movie. On their own these may do okay. Add to them the Shaun The Sheep merchandise from Jasnor and I can tell a story.

This is an example of opportunities newsagents can leverage, ways we can connect products from multiple suppliers to drive a 1+1+1=4 result.

Promoting products around a movie release can be terrific for driving new traffic as well as driving impulse purchases. Your marketing is easier thanks to hype and marketing for the movie. I saw this with the first Despicable Me movie and more recently with the Paddington Bear movie.

Of course, Frozen is the best example but everyone was in on that. What I like about Shaun The Sheep is that it is not as big and as widely available as Frozen product. This presents us with an opportunity.

I first saw the Shaun The Sheep opportunity last year. This new product from Network arrived at a good time.

if you are not convinced about the appeal of Shaun The Sheep – the brand has 2 million fans of facebook.

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Newsagency

Disappointing to see the AFL support Coles

colesaflI have complained to the AFL over their exclusive promotion of Micro-Figures with Coles timed for the start of the AFL season. Local newsagency businesses are key supporters and sponsors of local grass-roots football teams. The AFL should be careful about supporting Coles as it will make us wonder about the respect given to our local team support.

Given its reliance on local teams to feed passion for the game, the AFL should focus on local businesses for retail partnership.

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Competition

Lucky Dips help sell magazines in the newsagency

ldipWe are leveraging Lucky Dip promotions for K-Zone and Total Girls with full cover placement next to each other. My thinking is that placement next to each other makes sense as they have a similar promotion. Our placement respects that this issue is different.

Whereas our competitors operate in a robotic way when it comes to magazine placement, we can think and act locally based on title cover and other local factors. This is part of what separates us as magazine retailers, it is an opportunity for us to show off our point of difference to shoppers and to magazine publishers.

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magazines

Delayed billing does not make a magazine title more appealing to newsagents

oztop100We received two copies of The Australian Top 100 Graduate Employers. We have early returned this title as it sits in a  segment which does not work for us, we do not have a spare pocket and it’s expensive. I made a judgement call on these factors and knowing what I need to name from each pocket each week to pay for space.

The delay of billing for the title to June did not enter into my consideration and nor should it. The value of a magazine title to any newsagency is profit and not the timing of payment for stock.

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magazine distribution

Foreign newspapers thicker than home town newspapers

nk1With the shrinking in size of some capital city newspapers we are seeing some days when foreign language newspapers are thicker. This is a reminder of the importance of these newspapers to our businesses. Some foreign language titles are stronger than ever, not suffering the same sales decline of the major dailies. Their success is all too often unnoticed by newsagents.

This is great news as newsagencies are the prime retail outlets for foreign language newspapers. Foreign language are an opportunity we ought to embrace for our profit. They are an excellent example of good news in and for ur channel, good news which is too often overlooked.

Footnote: I included an image of this weekend’s Neos Kosmos because I like their front page tribute on the passing of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

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Newsagency management

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: introduce yourself to someone you don’t know

The most valuable shoppers in your business are those who have not shopped with you previously, those who rarely step into your business.

Think about how to reach those people. The best place to start is your front window, your window on the world which passes by. Use that space to call out to those people who do not shop in your type of shop. Invite, through your display, new traffic. Surprise them with your products and your display.

Another place to connect with people who do not shop in your business is to talk with them.

I have heard newsagents talk about individuals and even sections of their community and say they don’t shop with us. It’s said as a negative. I say, flip it around and consider it a challenge, an opportunity, to get those who don;t shop with you shopping with you.

Introduce yourself to people you have never talked to. Attracting new traffic starts with making a connection. Your hello personally or through a fresh looking window could be all it takes.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency management tip: make your back room inspiring

First up – I think back rooms are not good in retail businesses. They attract stock, paperwork and people – all three of which should be on the shop floor. That said, I understand most newsagencies have one and the owners probably think a back room is vital to the business.

No matter where it is – at home or the shop – make your back room a place of inspiration. On the walls have images, posters and other items to inspire you. On your desk have items that inspire you. These could be photos, cards, postcards, clippings from newspapers or magazines, items you have collected on your travels.

The items on your walls and desk should be personal, reminding you of thoughts, moments and experiences from which you draw inspiration and optimism.

A back room with the right items can be a great place to work on your business.

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Management tip

Terrific gifts with Yours magazine

yoursbagI like the gifts of tea and a Mills and Boon book with the latest Yours magazine. They fit well with the title in my view. This is an example of where bagging the magazine works. We have Yours in its usual location as well as on the aisle end – pointing into the dance floor.

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magazines

Some newsagents actively embrace training opportunities

Screen Shot 2015-03-20 at 5.45.13 pmOne comment I from several suppliers at the newsagency suppler management forums I hosted this week was that newsagents don’t embrace training. While this could be said for some newsagents, I know of plenty who do embrace training. I see it myself with the newsagents who do the free training offered by my newsagency software company.

Take the Cut your magazine bill session scheduled for next week. It has only three spots left. The week later, the Loyalty marketing session is full.

I encourage more newsagent suppliers to host free online training. The engaged newsagents will take it up, learn and benefit. The unengaged will ignore it and, eventually, complain that others are treated differently to them.

To suppliers I’d note:  days of dealing with all newsagents the same are over. Newsagents who are more engaged are more valuable to themselves, their employees and their suppliers. This is not about size, it’s active engagement in transforming your newsagency to a brighter future.

Engaged newsagents embrace training and other engagement opportunities from any supplier and all you need for this to be successful is a small pool.

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Management tip

Checking out your competitors

Screen Shot 2015-03-20 at 4.20.20 pmSocial media makes it easy for us to see what competitors are doing without becoming a stalker. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and elsewhere. Don’t think it’s odd as they probably already follow you.

Following a competitor on social media can be inspiring – not so you can copy them but more to inspire you to do better yourself. This is true with the kikki K Twitter feed – it’s an excellent example of a feed to follow and from which to gain inspiration.

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Competition

WH Smith announcements coming?

With senior management from WH Smith in the UK here to meet Australian franchises – Wild and Supanews – I’m told there will be announcements relating to these businesses and maybe other business activity they are considering for Australia.

My expectation is there will be movement on their Australian retail footprint as the Wild and Supanews footprint is not sufficient a retail footprint for the WH Smith model of wholesale supply to work as they expect. While I have no inside information, I speculate that they would need around 500 retail outlets here to achieve the level of efficiency in the supply chain they should be looking for. If I am right, considerable more acquisition or new store activity would be needed.

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Newsagency challenges

Strong Darrell Lea branding drives sales

dleeI like the Darrel Lea Easter packaging this year. It’s bold and colourful. It cuts through visually in a way which works for the season – separating it from other Easter products this year.

Darrell Lea lost plenty of newsagent outlets when the company was sold and their retail footprint considerably expanded. I know of some retailers who started stocking the product as changes from new management flowed through and a more compelling retail offer emerged.

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confectionary

Fairfax article presents inaccurate message about newsagencies

The article published this week by Fairfax with the headline: Do we still need newsagencies? is inaccurate and reflects poor research. It is written with subtle support for newspaper home delivery, a part of many newsagency businesses which loses more money today than years ago.

There are quotes from newsagents which are not supported by evidence. I am surprised Fairfax editors let them through – but they do support the pro newspaper stance. For example:

but I would say that in the last 12 years magazine sales have fallen approximately 50 per cent, way more than newspapers

I don’t see this supported in the data I see in my benchmark studies.

Another newsagent is quoted as saying:

People are buying cards rather than gifts.

If this is the case the business needs to look at its card supplier and its gifts mix. I know of plenty of newsagencies where dollar for dollar gifts match cards and both are experiencing double digit year on year growth.

A real estate anger is quotes as asking:

It is a dying industry and unless they find a way to re-invent themselves, I can’t see the traditional newsagent surviving.

I agree with this 100%. However, reinventing should have started ten years ago.

Later in the article is an ignorant quote from a newsagent:

For 10 years I have been in the business and the trend now is move more into the gift business,” he says. “There are higher profits and higher margins.

No, gifts are not a trend now, they were a trend ten years ago and more. Now, the trend is beyond gifts.

The article finishes only with a supporting statement about home delivery. Newspaper home delivery is declining. Newsagents make less in real terms today than five years ago thanks to paternalistic publisher behaviour.

Newspaper publishers have a history of selfishness when it comes to newsagencies. This narrow-focussed poorly researched article reinforced that view.

Do we still need newsagencies? Yes, but not for the mixed message reasons Fairfax outlines in this sloppy article.

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Newsagency challenges
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