I stumbled across this shop by accident, and I am glad I did. It is based on a common suburban Japanese stationery shop from years ago. They were everywhere, serving local communities.
This shop is a reminder that expensive shoplifts are not necessary for retail success.
While I love a good freebie with a magazine, this metal sign is way too big for us to display it effectively.
We continue to see Covid related bloat in parts of the supply chain, especially where products are sourced from China and have been unable to easily ship over the last 2 years.
From what I have seen, it appears most common with lower end gift and homewares products, from lesser known suppliers.
I think it’s important to be aware when considering product purchases – to ensure you’re looking at current design rather than products from two years ago.
MichaelWestMedia published this AAP story outlining ALNAs involvement lobbying on the paper shortage situation.
Paper shortage pressures school stationery
Parents shopping for back-to-school stationery could face price hikes and empty shelves, as logistics and materials pressures cause suppliers to ration goods.
The Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association has called on the federal government to ease white paper import duties, after timber shortages blocked production at Australia’s last white paper mill in Victoria.
“There’s some rationing sort of going on around the amount that we can order but at the moment we’ve still got product on shelves,” association chief executive Ben Kearney told AAP.
“I’m concerned that down the line we might start to see that situation where there’s there’s a lack of availability.”
White paper production at Opal Australian Paper’s Maryvale mill was impacted in late December due to timber shortages after state-owned supplier VicForests was ordered to scale back harvesting in parts of Victoria.
The Victorian Supreme Court found VicForests failed to adequately survey logging coupes for two protected possum species.
VicForests is appealing against the decision, with a hearing in the Court of Appeal on March 23.
Office product companies have also called for an end to white paper import tariffs, as shortages push them towards foreign paper, Office Brands chief executive Adam Joy said.
“The tariffs were there to stop injury to the Australian manufacturing market, but there is no Australian manufacturing market at the moment but we’re all paying the tariffs,” Mr Joy told AAP.
The association and Office Brands said they were supportive of workers at Maryvale mill and hoped the supply disruption would be resolved as soon as possible.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Industry Ed Husic have been contacted for comment.
The CFMEU is calling for an audit on the amount of white paper available in the country.
The manufacturing union flagged a potential shortfall in paper products including doctor scripts, exercise books and government services documentation.
“We don’t have a sense of how much white paper is actually available in the country at this point in time,” secretary of the pulp and paper workers district Denise Campbell-Burns told AAP.
“People could be going to the doctor and the doctor can’t print their script.”
Ms Campbell-Burns said removing tariffs would do nothing for sovereign capability.
“To not make any white paper products in our country anymore, it’s a real risk,” she said.
The CFMEU wants the Victorian and federal governments to intervene to reinstate production at Maryvale.
The disruption at Opal has led to 49 production workers being stood down, but their pay will be guaranteed by the Victorian government until mid-February.
Opal, owned by Japan’s Nippon Paper Group, said no decision on further stand downs had been made, but it was considering “scaling down” white paper manufacturing.
The company says it continues to consider different operational scenarios for the longer term, in case possible alternative wood sources are not feasible.
On Wednesday, Victorian Environment Minister Ingrid Stitt said talks were continuing between the government and Opal.
Image from @craigthomler at Twitter.
The feedback from suppliers and newsagents to my series a few weeks ago of newsagency businesses that look nothing like newsagencies has been terrific, leading to good, retail-focussed, conversations.
It’s a store within a store, with the shingle: news agency, which I found kinda odd. It’s convenience focussed, with a few magazines.
The compressed newspaper wall at the entrance is cool but unnecessary.
I don’t get why they have done this. I mean, it reads as if they see value in the shingle, but then the shop inside has very little connection to it.
Now that the traditional calendar discounters have closed for the year they rest of us in this space can hold to SRP and make good margin as those buying calendars now really want them.
I am seeing good calendar sales, especially now that Aussie homes and businesses are gearing up for the year.
Like with magazines, niche titles are working particularly well. This is a reminder as to the value of specialty focus. The supermarkets and others are the generalists. We can be the specialists and feel less price pressure as a result.
If this year is like others, calendar sales will continue to be good for another month or so.
Even big businesses. In this short video I talk about Reddy, a pet shop unlike any I have seen, and share my surprise about the business behind it – showing how important innovation is.
How does this connect to newsagents? Retail is retail. Reddy focusses on millennial pet parents. Not pet owners. Not pet lovers. But pet parents. It treats them like that. And this makes a big difference in the engagement, and sits at the core of their success.
What Reddy is doing is, to me, and example of the need to play further outside the usual, and to do this in a local scale.
Whalebone on Bleeker Street in New York is a fascinating shop (?) to visit.
Once you step into the shop you are in their world, and what a wonderful, happy and warm world it is.
You just want to wander through, and explore.
This is fun retail, different retail, community engaged retail.
I am glad to have seen Whalebone while looking at innovative retail in New York in January 2023.
For some who pass by this place, this short video about Whalebone will hold no interest. I have shared it because it is magazine related and because it shows different retail, retail that plays outside the usual, and that’s very on trend now in local – playing outside the usual.
Based in my experience over the last month, Nine Media’s newsagent billing processes are broken, with them billing for products not requested or delivered. The process to fix this is even more broken. I’ve given up trying.
But in the meantime, Nine Media ads clog my feed.
This is a terrific promotion of newsagents by the publisher of Bird Watching magazine to their 71,000 Twitter followers.
Did you know our new issue is out? You can get your copy in all good newsagents or by ordering one here: https://t.co/ENMk5GrMaO pic.twitter.com/wGh6z74XAq
— Bird Watching (@BirdWatchingMag) January 16, 2023
My only issue is with the in all good newsagents bit. It’s cliche, lazy. Of course, we can’t choose what we carry.
I’m in the US for the Atlanta Gift Fair as well as to look at innovative retail while the National Retail Federation conference is on here. Yesterday, I got to visit the Player’s Club, a fresh approach to lottery retail. I shot a short video about it just now:
I’ve heard from several suppliers recently that new newsagents are not aware of electronic invoices. While some handle their magazines with electronic invoices, apparently they say they did not realise they were electronic invoices and did therefore not think of this for other supplier situations.
This is a basic problem in the channel, for newsagents and suppliers.
There needs to be a co-ordinated effort to get more newsagents online with electronic invoices from the many suppliers that offer them.
Through my own newsagency POS software company, Tower Systems, we pitch it regularly, offer free training, offer a free stock file and invoice check service as well as working with suppliers to get them on board. It’s a time consuming process to bring a supplier on board. We work with their tech people, account management people, accounting and others as there is often a misunderstanding as to what is involved and the value for their business.
My newsXpress business is involved, too, as it tends to work with newsagents who are not traditional suppliers to our channel
I think one area where we (newsagents, software companies, newsagent suppliers and newsagents) need better engagement is when newsagents sell – they need to do a better job of training incoming newsagents.
Every time you type details of a new stock item into your computer system or manually process an invoice for stock you have received, it costs labour time and could result in data mistakes, which could lead to bad decisions.
Electronic invoices save time, and they cut mistakes, they help newsagents make more money.
Opinion masquerading as news.
Lottoland has launched KenoGo in Victoria.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out. The move follows the company winning a 20 year licence.
Ukulele magazine is a perfect example of a traffic driving opportunity we have in magazines. I suspect people interested would go out of their way to pick up a copy, and, people who know ukulele players or lovers would mention it to them – offering a word of mouth opportunity for us.
It’s in the fringe special interest space that most newsagents see magazine sales growth, a space where we have no competitors.
So, with this title, we have it placed with music magazines, and we pitch it on social media, in to hope of attracting new shoppers. This is what interests me about fringe, special interest, magazines. The right title can be that valuable traffic driver we want. And, we can build around the title other sale opportunities.
Yes, yes! I get that 25% GP is appalling. It really is. But that doesn’t stop me leveraging what I can from the category.
CAEM's complementary Newspaper, Magazine and Snack Displays are perfect additions for store shelving within newsagents, or for anyone wanting to display literature (for example, in estate agents or travel agents): https://t.co/M4IwRDZiOR #retaildisplay #retaildesign
— CAEM Group (@wwwcaemnet) January 9, 2023
Individually, these strategies work, in any retail business. Done together, and consistently, the profit value compounds. I say compounds as each of the three strategies feeds into the other.
It’s easy in local small business retail to get caught doing stuff when what really matters is those things you can do ton drive profit, which increases the value, today and tomorrow, of your business.
Rather than the usual function focus of stationery, newsXpress has released a batch of digital collateral to its newsagency members designed for social media that pitches everyday, and some forgotten, stationery lines in a way that is fresh and, I think, fun.
I mention this today because it is easy for shoppers to forget we stock these everyday lines. We need to engage with pitching them, to capture sales that can otherwise go elsewhere, including online.
Everyday we need a fun and fresh pitch on social media, and every so often we need to promote these to get them in front of people outside those who already know about us.
Posts like these are easy to make and of the marketing groups can do them, and even individuals can do them. The time investment is not considerable.
While for sure what you do in your business is up to you, and I know no one will retire on the proceeds of these posts. But, they are a good small step no cost approach to making the store relatable, and fun, and that does count for something.
I guess the other point I’d make is these posts are not what one might expect from a bug business competitor, and that matters.
Newsagents are reporting a surge in instant scratch ticket sales in the lead up to Christmas 2022.
In our small country town shoppers prefer Powerball and OzLotto. But this Christmas something happened and scratches were all the go.
Around 20 newsagents I have spoken with say sales doubled, some tripled and a couple even quadrupled.
Last year I sold 44 scratchie packs, this year I sold 160 gift packs
I had no idea as I don’t have lottery products in my shops. The feedback was fascinating.
It started in November. We ordered more stock. December was huge. And it didn’t hurt our regular gift sales.
Several sold out of all scratch ticket stock completely.
I sold out completely. They were a more common Christmas gift than I’ve ever seen.
I’ve not heard a bad story about scratch ticket sales for Christmas. But, the sample size is small.
Talking with a group of newsagents the other day, I wondered if it was an economic indicator. Back when I did have lotteries in one of my newsagencies, there were customers who would buy one of the $10 scratchy tickets as a gift because they felt the gift was worth more than the ticket price.
I’ve not noticed any change in marketing for scratch tickets. So it’s hard to be sure as to why sales this Christmas were so strong. My hunch, though, is that economic factors, or concerns, did play some role in the apparent sales surge.
It will be interesting to see sales results from The Lottery Corporation, to see if they match anecdotal comments so far.
My Westfield Knox shop closed December 21, 2022. All suppliers were notified.
The newspaper companies were problematic though. Both delivered papers after the last agreed delivery date. news didn’t;t bill. Nine Media did. They wen on to bill a week later, after we have left the centre.
Like most comms from Nine Media newspaper offices, responding to their auto generated emails is challenging.
The processes look and feel broken. They are certainly time consuming.
Not only to they treat newspaper home delivery customers poorly, they treat retail newsagents poorly.
It’s pathetic really.
Footnote: The lease was up mid 2020. we advised the landlord in late 2019 that we did not wish to continue, explaining that our focus had shifted to more successful high street settings. They asked us to stay given the centre was undergoing development. They made an offer to cover just over a year extra, which we accepted. The departure was planned, amicable and structured months out.
A magazine relay takes a few hours and you are sure to sell more magazines as a result. January is a good time to do a relay because your’re probably less busy than usual, unless you’re in a beach location.
In my experience doing relays for many years, the return for a few hours work is many times over in a short time, usually within a m month.
So, why do a magazine relay? because you will make more money.
Now, to the how:
Typically, a relay of 1,000 magazine pockets can be completed in 4 hours. If you have 250 titles, you should be don in under an hour.
DO IT YOURSELF, DO IT ALONE.
A magazine relay is a statement about the business, a marketing and management activity. It sets the tone and says this is who we are, what we do and what we stand for. Doing it yourself is a leadershipstatement. Doing it alone means less conflict, less noise. And remember, the relay is not a destination … because regular change in magazine layout is essential.
PLACEMENT.
Magazines are best located on a wall of the shop, and not in a centre fixture taking up premium retail space best allocated to higher margin and business differentiating products.
VISUAL NOISE.
Magazine covers are colourful. Adding more noise, such as product headers, detracts from the products. I say don’t use headers.
FULL FACING OR NOT.
Full facing is a term used in 2 ways: where 100% of the cover of a magazine is shown (true full facing) and where you have 1 magazine title per pocket in a tiered magazine fixture.
If you have the space on a wall and have less than 500 magazine titles, true full facing, showing 100% of the cover, can deliver best results.
In tiered fixtures, while full facing, one title per pocket works best, fitting 2 or 3 titles in a pocket can work with low volume special interest titles people will seek out.
BEACON BRANDING.
This is the process of using magazine mastheads to draw attention to a category of magazines. Use the top 2 or 3 pockets for a single title, allowing it to draw attention.
DOING THE RELAY.
Start at one end of a fixture. Take off all the titles for between 6 and 12 columns and rebuild, with purpose, to draw attention, tell a story and drive sales.
As you build up a column, take off magazines from another 4 to 8 columns, always keeping empty space between where you are working and the old layout.
Look ahead, read the categories on display and think about where you are at compared to where you are headed.
ADJACENCIES.
This is a bit of secret sauce. It is where you can make editorial decisions, business decisions to guide your shoppers. What works best with what. You don’t know, not for sure at least, how can you. Ok, there is basket data you could read … but that only tells you what is happening. What about what could happen? Who knows. Experiment!
For example, should you put model plane magazines next to flying magazines? Or, should model plane magazines be in a distinct section of all model titles?
Do puzzle shoppers shop by brand or puzzle type? Publishers want you to layout based on their brand whereas your shoppers are, in our opinion, more likely to shop by interest. For example, all sudoku titles could work better together, or all large print titles could work better together.
ADJACENCY SUGGESTIONS.
Here are some adjacency suggestions. They are not rules. They are shared here to help you think of your own.
EASE OF SHOPPING.
If you have a tall fixture, think of your customers. There is no point placing titles targeting older shoppers up high or down low as reaching or bending could be challenging for them.
HAND OVER.
Once you are done, walk the new layout with others working in the shop. Explain your decisions. Given them a response for customer comments. Make sure that everyone in the business is on your page.
WATCH AND MEASURE.
Next, watch shoppers and listen for feedback and, after a couple of weeks, look at the sales results. The results could guide adjustments, or not.
…
Footnotes:
This is an update to advice I have publishers here several times in the past. I share it again as it is an easy in.
And, yes, I get that we make too little from magazines. In my view, we either quit the category or make the most of it. I’m choosing to make the most of it because I know a relay helps me do that.
I have started receiving data for a 2022 vs. 2019 newsagency sales benchmark study which I emailed newsagents about on January 1.
New newsagency benchmark study.
I am collating data for a new benchmark study, comparing 2022 to 2019.
- How to participate.
- Please run a Monthly Sales Comparison Report for 01/01/2022 – 31/12/2022 compared to 01/01/2019 – 31/12/2019.
- Tick the category box. IMPORTANT.
- Tick to exclude home delivery and sub agent data.
- DO NOT tick the supplier box.
- Preview the report on the screen. Save as a PDF.
- Email these reports direct to me at mark@towersystems.com.au.Read the report yourself and see what it shows you about your business.
I will email the results to all participating newsagents and publish the results on the Australian Newsagency Blog as a service for all newsagents.
I have chosen to compare to 2019 because that will give us the best indication of where we are at today compared to pre-Covid.
If your 2019 data is blank it is likely because you have archived it. You can unarchive, or compare 2022 to 2021.
It is vital that you look at the report as it will offer insights into things you can do this year to make 2023 better for you and your business.
Thank you for participating. The results will benefit the newsagency channel more widely.
I am excited to see how the channel has fared.