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

AFL Record publisher supports newsagents

Screen Shot 2015-02-09 at 7.01.14 pmThe publisher of the NAB AFL Fantasy AFL Record has promoted newsagents on Twitter tweeting that it’s out now at newsagents and Coles nationally. While I’d prefer them to only promote newsagents, getting mentioned  along with Coles is better than not being mentioned at all.

I responded to the tweet with: But buy it from your local newsagent. Support small business and not the giant Coles. Other newsagents on twitter could do this too and gain more attention for our channel. It’s not a rude response – merely a reminder that newsagents are the retailers to visit for this title.

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Competition

Supermarket access slows newsagent traffic for Disney promotion

disTraffic in newsagencies for the first part of the Disney book promotion supporting News Corp. newspapers was down on previous promotions according to newsagents who have contacted me. They say the availability of the books in supermarkets slowed newsagent traffic.

While it is too early for an assessment, my own experience is that for part one there was not the frantic rush we have seen in the past. I’m not concerned about as shoppers purchasing a newspaper elsewhere and coming to us for their freebie or subsequent low-cost parts were not commercially valuable. Indeed, some were angry that we had somehow forced them to walk the extra distance to our shop.

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Newspapers

WH Smith take over of Kennys Cardiology incomplete?

kcsmithsThe take over of Kennys Cardiology by the UK WH Smith group appears to not have been as complete as first thought. This photo is from the Kennys store at Westfield Southland in Victoria from the weekend. The card display has looked like this for several months. The gaps are not something WH Smith would have allowed to continue – especially in such a high-profile location. I suspect we will hear more about this at some point.

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Competition

How are your One Direction themed titles?

1dmagsI’m finding One Direction is not selling magazines like they used to. Right now, however,we have four titles with One Direction on the cover – so magazine editors disagree. Maybe sales will pick up. I’d like to be back at the peak when we could sell 150 copies of a 1D featured title. How is the band performing for other newsagents?

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magazines

Editorial choices in promoting magazines

snotTeaser headlines on the cover of magazines are important in encouraging browsing. The folks at UK magazine Chat must know who they want to attract. I say this because of the headline: YUK! It’s raining snot. Again – I’m not my customer but I did notice the cover!

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magazines

Oh, Oprah

ohoThe cover of O magazine looks surreal. You have Oprah Winfrey draped across the cover in a pose with a lion. Odd. It looks like the cover of a romance novel. But, hey, what do I know – I’m not the customer. But it is working because I noticed it.

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magazines

Good old That’s Life cash

tlcashThe cash promotion running with That’s Life is a rerun of a promotion run many times in the past. It’s a hit. Customers engage. We make the most of the opportunity with the full cover on show – so shoppers can see the cash promotion.

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magazines

What small business can learn from #libspill

For all their talk about leadership, politicians rarely demonstrate this trait. Instead, they focus selfishly on themselves ahead of the needs of those they claim to serve.

This focus on self preservation is evident in Australia this weekend in the lead up to the vote on the spilling of leadership position of the parliamentary Liberal party. Watching it unfold yesterday and today on TV and online, I have been thinking about what we in small business can take away from this. Not much I think.

The same is true of the the various leadership challenges in the Labor party over their recent years in government.

Our ‘leaders’ are not leading. Despite their spin, they look after themselves first and in doing so lose direction. Here’s my small business perspective on #libspill:

  • Knowing what you stand for and clearly articulating this and why is vital. You need to know why you are in business, what your business stands for and to speak to the narrative supporting this. In business, this is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). What sets you apart from the others. Taking others ion your journey in pursuit of this is even more vital.
  • Disunity is death. This is as true in politics as it is in business. If everyone on your team is not behind your mission they put your mission at risk.
  • This is the era of conversations. We are talking with each other more than ever, especially in business. Yet the Prime Minister through #libspill has held one-way press conferences with no two-way communication.
  • The world has changed. Tony Abbott referred to social media as graffiti. Some newsagents mock social media. Anyone dissing social media is out of touch with the people and ignoring how people communicate today.
  • Trends can start anywhere. A good hashtag on Twitter is all you could need to get noticed. Social medial is a platform where small businesses can be as noticed as big businesses – yet it is a platform many small businesses do not use. Hashtags take on a life of their own – #ImStickingWithTony
  • People know what they want. Whereas in the past you would pitch or offer something and people would respond. The world today is about giving people what they want and this starts with them engaging with you before you even have your products in-store. This is a consequence of a more connected world. Success will come sooner to those connected with this world and giving people when they want. No, that does not mean turning at every demand. Good leadership is about communicating so people learn what they need which may different from what they want.
  • People appreciate strength. Like him or not, John  Howard commanded respect. This is vital to leadership. A small business that leads will be more noticed and respected than the small business that follows. While leadership has risks and challenges, it is the place from where you can set the agenda.

What we are seeing among the federal Liberal politicians is poor leadership, self interest and ignorance of the world today. I suspect these are reasons for poor polling. In small business if we lead well, focus on our customers and connect with the world we are more likely to be successful – and show the politicians how it is done.

Footnote: I am frustrated with the business representatives media outlets interview at times like this. They claim to speak for business yet rarely do they say what I would like them to say. They should clarify their statements with a disclaimer that they represent the big business end of town and not the vast majority of business owners.

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Ethics

Position vacant: newsagency staff at Knox

staffwantedWe have a vacancy for a casual employee – offering good hours each week – at our newsagency at Knox City Shopping centre. While we have a sign out the front, I figured it’s worth mentioning the vacancy here. Click on the image for how to apply. It’s a busy shop with a non-traditional newsagency offer … a great place to learn innovative retail.

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Hiring employees

Sunday newsagency management tip: think before accepting the hospitality of coffee and lunch

I’m not a fan of business lunches and meetings over coffee. I’m more practical in how I like business to be conducted – straight to the point, based on the facts, make decisions and implement.

Some people think this approach is aloof, rude even. Maybe so. However, business efficiency involves efficient communication. I have found the most efficient and honest communication is that which is not sugar-coated with coffee or a meal.

While I accept there can be a place for relaxed discussion between newsagent and supplier, too often in the newsagency channel I see suppliers treating newsagents to hospitality and the decisions made during or as a result of this not as in the interests of the business as they could be.

For the benefit of clear-headed business outcome focused decisions, my management tip today is to say thanks but no thanks to hospitality invitations an that you instead focus 100% on business. Let any decision you make be made on the facts rather than in appreciation of a mean, a nice bottle of wine or the hope of more hospitality.

I keep hearing that business is tough for newsagents and for suppliers. If this is the case we should all walk that tough road and spend less time and money on hospitality and more on building better businesses.

Back when I was a director of the ANF (Australian Newsagents’ Federation) for a year I was critical at a board meeting about the money the directors spent on a bar tab. Most other directors disagreed saying the $400+ bar tab at dinner was justified to facilitate their discussions with each other – doing good work for newsagents. One director privately said to me I was a wowser for complaining – saying newsagents should take all hospitality they can get. I resigned from the board shortly thereafter.

Maybe it is wowser-ish to we should push back on hospitality offers. The point of this post is to say – don’t expect it, don’t seek it out. If business can be done faster and with less cost than with hospitality then do so and expect to see a benefit on your business bottom line.

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Management tip

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: your counter is the most impulse purchase location in-store

counterpitchWhat are you pitching to your customers when they are at your main sales counter? What is it they see in those seconds prior to and during the sale transaction?

Go on, take a look from your customer’s perspective.

This photo shows what we have behind the counter at the moment. We’ve had this up now for a few weeks. last week, this range generated close to $1,000 in revenue. Around 30% of those purchases were as a result of the counter display. However, since the counter can be seen from the mall, we think it generated traffic beyond the purchases we noticed.

Two of the items we are promoting are exclusive so the collector will be especially attracted. Collectors talk and that drives word of mount. So, the promotion behind the counter generates results beyond the immediately obvious.

We prefer to use the counter for brand-focussed offers that are easily understood and highly appealing. The return on space, time and inventory investment is excellent.

Take a look at behind your counter – is it pitching a valuable marketing message for your business?

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marketing

The Liberal leadership spill shows how much newspaper reading habits have changed

satpaperOne customer commented to me today that they are not buying the paper for the news as they’d read that already. They wanted one of the lift-out sections. They said they were more up to date on the Abbott leadership woes than they paper could be – holding up their phone to illustrate the point.

Following the hashtag #libspill you can be served news, gossip and opinion in a stead stream of tweets, some of which have links to more in-depth reporting and analysis. Print newspapers can’t keep up with such a fast moving and multi-faceted story. Their best opportunity is at analysis, as is the approach of The Saturday Paper. But even analysis is readily available on mobile devices and from people not previously published in mainstream news but getting attention as commentators of interest.

This morning over breakfast and using my iPhone I was able to get a more up to date and diverse perspectives on the #libspill stories and opinions than I could have got reading two or three newspapers.

Timely relevance is an extraordinary challenge for the old print medium. This is where promotions play a crucial role to reconnecting people with the habit-based purchase. It is also why we need to embrace change to drive our own relevance.

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Newsagency management

Set to go with Disney promotion

p1setWe have the first part of the Disney book set News Corp. promotion ready for tomorrow. The stock is unpacked, ready for what we expect will be a rush from when we open. We are used to leakage from supermarket newspaper sales so it will be interesting to see how it plays out this time. It all depends on how well others with this in our shopping centre are prepared. Our stock is behind the counter so customers can see and to make it easy to show a sell-out if that is what happens.

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Newspapers

To newspaper publishers who want to know how to sell more newspapers

agecTo newspaper publishers who ask how can we help retail newsagents sell more newspapers I say stop using us to switch our customers away from our businesses. The deal stuck on the front page of The Age today is a good and frustrating example.

While I understand the role of discount home deliveries in the mix, stop using my shop to attract these customers. Instead, work with me on driving over the counter sales.

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Newspaper distribution

Amazing customer service from Shirtscope online t-shirt store

tI bought a t-shirt online recently and placed on top of it in the package I received was this note.

What terrific customer service!

I don’t recall being given this advice in such an obvious and friendly way when buying t-shirts from a high street retailer. Sure, some of this information is on care instructions inside the garment – not presented in this obvious way or with the same friendly style.

What I love about the postcard the most is that it was unexpected. I was delighted to see it included and with the information shared.

High street retailers argue that their service is more personal and more connected than online yet with this t-shirt purchase I have received better and more personal service than is usual when purchasing t-shirts offline.

Smart online retailers will take business from high street retailers if they provide a more valued experience. That’s what I have had here.

On the back of the note was a bold yet simple Thank You! 

I bet they thought about this long and hard at SHIRTSCOPE.COM – about how to provide an experience to the online shopper which is better than they would experience from a high street retailer. It shows in their execution from the website to shipping to how the product was packed to the customer care from this note.

We need to understand

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Customer Service

Take care with your Valentine’s Day exposure

woolvalNewsagents promoting chocolate roses for Valentine’s Day need to be careful about their stock holding and price positioning given what I have seen in Woolworths this week. Take the product in the photo – $10 for 12 chocolate roses. It would be hard for any newsagent to beat this, especially if they were to create their own roses by wrapping chocolates themselves.

The photo is from a Woolworths in Melbourne. the display is at the main entrance – you can’t miss it. The product itself is a compelling offer, one many Valentine’s Day shoppers will find compelling.

While newsagents can compete with supermarkets for Valentine’s Day gifts, doing this depends on the product mix and the narrative – like shop local or shop small business – supporting them.

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Competition

Bauer sends unwanted gluten free cookbook

bauer-glutenJust what we need, another gluten free cookbook. We have plenty of gluten free cookbooks in our newsagencies already, more than we need – yet Bauer decided we needed this $24.95 Australian Women’s Weekly branded title. If I had control I’d have said o thanks – place your stock elsewhere, where it might be more likely to sell. We early returned the title as we have better value cookbooks from others for which we are achieving better margin.

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magazines

Feast magazine supports newsagents in TVC

featsnewsKudos to SBS and Pacific Magazines for continued support of newsagents when promoting Feast magazine. Every month they do this while other publishers have dropped mentioning newsagents in their ads.

This is a reason to give Feast prime placement in your magazine newsagency department. Go on, support this title as a thank you for their support of us.

Feast is a specialist title for serious food lovers and those who love the food journey. It is a wonderful title around which to pitch food related gifts and homewares.

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magazines

XchangeIT announces survey on magazine label replacement

Mid last year I was approached by XchangeIT about their consideration of changes to IT infrastructure to facilitate the elimination of labelling magazines.

I explained to XchangeIT at the time:

  • Smart newsagents did not label weeklies or high volume monthlies.
  • Labels provided a vital role in shop floor management of magazine inventory.
  • Labels provide for operational consistency – barcodes placed by publishers are not placed in consistent locations.
  • The alternative was time expensive.

The XchangeIT representative put to me that newsagency software companies, like my own, profited from selling labels. I explained that while we do sell labels at Tower Systems, the margin is slim and the overall contribution to revenue less than 1% of annual sales. So, no, my thoughts are not commercially related.

If XchangeIT is concerned about newsagent productivity it should invest its time and money in ensuring fair and equitable supply of magazines. The largest overhead on a newsagency today is the labour, paper and retail space waste of oversupplied magazines. With an overall average sell through rate of around 50%, the cost to newsagents of too much stock and too many titles is clear. It is frustrating that XchangeIT remains party to management of newsagent supply in such a way that disadvantaged our channel.

This sticky label project is a distraction from the real issue at hand, the only issue at hand – to gross oversupply of magazine product to newsagents.

The XchangeIT suggestion that newsagents use additional hardware in their businesses does not make sense – it is something else to learn, that can break and that has a cost.

I see the sticky label project as a possible barrier to early returns as there is this suggested extra technology involved. The current approach is easy, lower cost, fail-safe and easy of immediate action on the shop floor.

XchangeIT is owned by the magazine distributors. Not sure about today but the ANF was also a shareholder in one XchangeIT business some years ago.

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magazine distribution

Coles and News Corp. agree on newspaper returns processing changes

Distribution newsagents in Queensland have been advised by News Corp. of changes to the processing and handling of News Corp. newspaper returns. An outside party has been contracted to handle returns processing from the physical to the data aspects.

The change is significant as it contracts out work previously done by owls and newsagents to a third party, considerably further removing the newsagent from providing services previously core to their function. However, News says there will be no change to commission.

The good news for newsagents is that whilst the new process essentially means less work for you, there is no change to your distribution commission for Coles Supermarkets.

It does not make long term commercial sense for News to pay for work not being done.

There is no indication which party, Coles or News, is paying for the externally supplied services.

News explains the reasoning for the move with:

Coles Supermarkets recognise the complexity and challenges for both store staff and the servicing Newsagents. Appointing a third party enables one individual person the responsibility for the entire returns component thereby minimizing the risk of non-compliance. The appointed third party also brings a technological solution to eliminate paper forms, faxes, manual data entry, etc.

It is disappointing News has not taken up the opportunity to eliminate more paper forms, faxes and manual data entry for newsagents.

Download a copy of the News Corp. announcement here.

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Newsagency management

No appointment sick certificates for employees

I’m in Perth and drove past a pharmacy offering no appointment sick certificates for employees – on a billboard on the main road.

I thought it was a joke. It is not. Pharmacists can issue medical certificates for minor conditions. This pharmacy is promoting that service in a way that appears to encourage sickies.

I wish I had a photo to show you it. The billboard is bright, like they are selling the day off. It is also situated on a road you;d travel to a nice beach, very convenient.

Sick days are are right but they need to be respected. Make it too easy to get the day off and the right can be abused as employers can find with some employees magically using the exact number of days available just in time for the anniversary.

While don’t think we need to reduce the sick/personal leave allowance, there should not be promotion of an easy route to getting a medical certificate. Further, I’d be happy for pharmacists to not have the right to produce these.

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Ethics

Some newsagents concerned about lack of Disney story book collateral

disI’m opening this thread for a newsagent concerned about the collateral received from News Corp. for promoting the Disney story books. They say the one blow up character and two posters are not enough for what appears to be a big promotion.

My advice if you’re concerned about the collateral received is to contact News.

If you comment here and want more collateral, include your store details so News Corp. people reading this can contact you.

This is the first time I have noticed the blow up collateral. It’s a good idea but challenging to display if you don’t fill it with helium as some are finding.

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Newspaper marketing

Good counter pitch from Hallmark

hmkcompThe counter decals provided by Hallmark for promoting the picnic hamper giveaway for Valentine’s Day are terrific as they provide us with a reminder at the point of purchase of the promotion. We have ours placed next to the hamper – to help us pitch the purchase of Valentine’s Day cards.

Have you bought a Valentine’s Day card you – you could win this picnic hamper – this is the type of pitch that could help you drive Valentine’s Day card sales.

One of the best ways to increase sales is to ask. Too often in Australian newsagencies we do not ask.

One way to make it easier to ask is to have an opportunity. In our case this Valentine’s Day, the opportunity to win the picnic hamper is an ideal opportunity.

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Greeting Cards

A small but good gift fair – ideal for newsagents

melgiftThe Melbourne Gift Fair which ended Tuesday was a small event, a fraction of the size other Melbourne and Sydney fairs – but it was good value. It was easier to get around, less crowded – meaning one noticed more. I found it particularly useful for talking to suppliers of products you rarely see in a newsagency. As the fair was not as busy they were open to conversations about the type of business we are trying to create and why they need to consider us outside of what they think the shingle stands for.

I am a fan of smaller trade shows as they are easier to digest. If I had my way, events the size of the recent Melbourne fair would be done in Adelaide, Perth and Tasmania – as newsagencies, gift shops and homewares stores in those states would support them.

The massive Sydney and Melbourne fairs are challenging, particularly to small retailers looking for change for their businesses.

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Gifts
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