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

Kudos to Gordon & Gotch for their handling of the Bauer / Network IT failure

Magazine distributor Gordon and Gotch was impacted by the IT meltdown experienced by Bauer Media’s network Services last week. Kudos to Gotch for sending out this email to newsagents:

Dear Valued Retailer,

Due to the Network / XIT problems last week a number of returns claims sent last Wednesday /Thursday (30th and 31st July) were not received at Gordon and Gotch by month end cut off.

You are a store that has been impacted by this and when you review your month end statement this claim will be missing.

The amount of any July claim submitted on time but missing from your statement can be deducted from your August payment.

If you are not sure of the amount or would like to speak to our Credit Department please phone 1300 650 111 and they can talk you through the process.

This shows Gotch being on the front foot while Network spent last week, the weekend and even this week on the back foot dealing and not dealing with their IT failure.

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Customer Service

News Corp. David Attenborough DVD promotion to soften impact of newspaper price rise

attendbThe same day the the cover price of the Herald Sun and other News Corp. newspapers increases the company is launching the David Attenborough DVD series in a marketing campaign that is expected to be successful in driving sales as people collect the coupon that is necessary for getting a DVD.

Shopper interest in the DVDs is strong and we are still a few days away from launch. Key to achieving maximum success will be access to enough newspaper and DVD product. Some parts of News Corp have a good track record with such promotions while others have a poor track record. In this regard, I’m happy I’m in Victoria.

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Newsagency opportunities

Very cool date-based card range

articoI love these year-themed birthday cards from Artico that have at the Melbourne Gift Fair this week. They tap into the strong interest in nostalgia. They make for a wonderful gift. Each CD has 20 hits fro the selected year.

While spinners can be challenging, this one has a small footprint and is easy to locate in different locations in-store. I can see the range working in a card department, with magazines and elsewhere.

I don’t see this range as competing against an existing card range but more complementing it.

The folks at Atrico have not asked me to blog about this.

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Greeting Cards

Gotch magazine returns audit crackdown

Newsagents have told me about a crackdown by magazine distributor Gordon and Gotch on magazine returns claims. They are cross-checking supply and sales data against returns claims and going back to newsagents where the data does not add up.

While Gotch has spot checked returns for years, they now appear more attentive. Newsagents over claiming returns are more likely to be caught.

While there is plenty wrong with the magazine distribution model, consistent over-claiming of returns is not justified and could result in criminal proceedings if Gotch decided to take it that far.

My advice to newsagents is to have a structured transparent process for scanning returns as well as for arriving and selling stock. Fudging figures to get a bigger credit that is not justified in supply and sales data will result in you being caught.

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Ethics

Gold Coast Bulletin souvenir edition not in newsagencies

News Corp’s Gold Coast Bulletin published a special edition yesterday commemorating the handover of the Commonwealth Games. As their own report indicates, this special edition was not available in newsagencies.

News Corp has passed up another opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the newsagency channel.

The company for years has said newsagents are important to them – their actions do not match their words.

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newspaper home delivery

Information can be more valuable than a discount

snakeInformation is key to being able to sell products. Indeed, information can help us generate more money in the bank than a discount off invoice when purchasing a product.

By that I mean: a discount is only valuable when you sell an item and information is what can help you sell an item.

Take this snake. I have found out from the supplier – Wild Republic – that it sells well in garden centres for people wanting to put in their garden. I’d only ever thought of it as a toy. Now I see it as more than that. I have new customers I can pitch it to. Plus I have new visual merchandising ideas.

While I can buy the snake at a terrific discount off invoice, it is the information about the other customers for the snake that is of more use for me as this is what will see a greater financial contribution to the business from sales of the snakes.

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Gifts

Crosswords with weeklies work

magscrosswThis photo shows how we place the That’s Life and New Idea crossword and puzzle titles with That’s Life and New Idea. We sell more of these from here than in our crossword section. Making the extra space is funded by the additional sales.

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magazines

Coming of age at the Melbourne Gift Fair

giftsIn two days at the Reed Gift Fair and the Home & Giving Fair in Melbourne on the weekend and talking with many wholesalers, not once did someone say they do not supply newsagents, not once did someone criticise our channel. Indeed, man suppliers talked about enjoying dealing with newsagents because of the healthier traffic we have compared to many gift shops.

The reception this year for newsagents is the best I have ever experienced in many years coming to these fairs.

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Gifts

Showing to sell

donutvmI love this photo I took at the Home and Giving Fair at the show grounds in Melbourne yesterday as it is a reminder of the value of showing off a good product.

The donuts are soap. Left in the retail packaging they look good. Taken out and placed on a tray they look stunning. I’d expect a tray of donuts out on display like in the photo would sell far more product that boxes of the products on display.

Visual merchandising experience in the traditional newsagency has mainly been with magazine displays. What a modern newsagency sells today requires smarter and more creative engagement. Indeed, this is essential as we grow our gift, toy, plush, jewellery, fashion and other higher margin category sales.

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visual merchandising

Learning from the Total Girl TV ad

I caught an ad on TV last night for Total Girl magazine and learnt a bit about the title that can help with merchandising decisions.

Newsagents are assaulted every day with e-mail, mail, calls, faxes and reps all wanting attention for they products. I’m sure I’ve read a flyer about Total Girl magazine. This ad last night, seeing it unexpectedly and when nothing else way vying for my attention, it got through. It made me think about the challenge for our attention.

That Total Girl is being promoted on TV is enough of a reason to get it in the spotlight, to leverage the TV exposure.

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magazines

Reaching out beyond the magazine fixture

magreachoutWe have clipped several of these fixtures on magazine shelves to call out titles we want to feature. This week we have chased New Idea Jumbo Puzzler for special treatment. the simple acrylic gives is an additional spot, holding plenty of stock and easily noticed by shoppers.

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magazines

If you work for Bauer Media or Network Services…

Many newsagents have reported that they have not received electronic invoices from Network Services for magazines due to arrive tomorrow. The files should have been received by now. No one at Network Services is responding.

Given the IT meltdown that occurred at Network this week, the company should have taken extra care with files to be sent Friday plus they should have had help desk staff working Saturday.

Unless there is something I and many newsagents are missing this looks like appalling customer service by Network. Publishers with titles coming out Monday will suffer.

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magazine distribution

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: create your own season

marshmallowseasonI had never heard of Marshmallow & Coconut Season and I can’t find anything about it online – except for the season declared (and owned) by Haigh’s Chocolates in a brilliant marketing move.

They promote it in-store with A3 posters.

You can declare your own season around which you can create your own events relevant to what you sell – through which you can engage with your community.

Just as Haigh’s have done brilliantly for their deliciously tasty (yes I tried it) Rocky Road, you can give a product or a range of products a push with marketing you create specifically for the purpose.

While there are plenty of seasons around which we already drive terrific results and other smaller seasons around which we could achieve more, there are one-off seasons we can make up for our own businesses, seasons we can own and through which we can build our business profile and sales.

I love what Haigh’s have dome with Marshmallow & Coconut Season not only because it promotes a terrific product but because it gives the product time in the spotlight and in front of people who might otherwise have missed it.

Now before you say you don;t have the month to do this. If you can print A3 posters you can do this. Have a crack and HAVE SOME FUN!

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marketing

Sunday newsagency management tip: keep your display stands full

emptystandA stand with empty pockets or hooks where products were located can be off-putting to shoppers.

Messages they could take away from seeing this is: oh the best items have been sold or the business can’t afford to top up their stock or that’s a messy & incomplete stand.

My experience is a full stand works better than a half empty stand. This is why it is good practical to keep a stand of good-selling items at ear full capacity.

A full stand also presents a more positive vie wot the business.

While I understand the challenges of managing cash and that it can be necessary to not always order when we want, it is important to prioritise the buying that will give you the best return. This is where knowing your business performance data comes in.

I took this photo in a newsagency where they had delayed ordering replenishment stock for items that had sold out in a few weeks because they had spent money on new speculative items. Replenishing the items on this stand would have provided a more certain return on their investment.

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Management tip

And so it begins

giftfairAcross multiple venues and under various names what we all call Melbourne Gift Fair starts today. I’m spending today at the convention centre at the Reed Fair. Tomorrow I’ll be at Home & Giving. Monday will be back at Reed getting back for more time at places of particular interest and Tuesday I’ll be back at Home & Giving spending more time on the stand my software company has.

Every year at least five years now the number of newsagents attending has increased. I expect the trend will continue this year. The best advice I can give a first time attendee is: You are not your customer.

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Gifts

A book exchange in the hotel foyer

hotel1Another different feature in a hotel I saw last week was a free book exchange, a service whereby you can borrow a book or leave a book behind and take another.

For regular travellers this is a very cool service and not something I;d expect to see in a hotel where you are usually charged for every extra they can get you for.

Seeing the free book exchange changed by view of this hotel – The Diplomat in Canberra. It left me thinking about free services we could provide to get customers thinking of us differently – beyond the obvious idea of a free book exchange.

How we see our businesses and therefore his our customers see our businesses has to change otherwise we are not seen as moving with the times.

We are being confronted with more and more niche businesses chipping away at our core and unless we chip away at ourselves our relevance will fade to nothing.

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Newsagency management

Another different hotel foyer

hotel2Further to my previous post, here is another very different hotel foyer I have seen in the last couple of weeks. This foyer, too, looks like you’re in someone’s home. It looks like a warm and lived-in space – very different to the usual hotel foyer.

Hotels have been the same for decades. The two examples I have written about today offer a fresh approach, one we can learn from as we think about how our businesses look.

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Newsagency management

A different looking hotel foyer

hotel3For inspiration on how to approach business differently, here is the foyer of a hotel in Brisbane. It looks like someone’s lounge room – welcoming, warm and lived in.

It looks different to the usual sterile and cavernous hotel foyer.

I have stayed at this hotel plenty of times and this is a very different look for them. They say its a response to changes in guest habits. It makes me wonder about how much we are changing the look and feel our businesses to keep up with trends – beyond product changes.

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Newsagency management

Promoting magazines and newspapers

nexusmagspromoHere’s how we are promoting the Pacific Magazines Win a $5,000 Shopping Spree with newspapers in another newsagency this week. The two stands are on our dance floor in front of the counter – further forward than newspapers are usually.

From replenishment we know for sure that the magazine floor display unit is working. I am sure some purchases of magazines are on impulse by people coming in for a newspaper.

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magazines

Another good crisis related magazine cover

magstimeI love the cover of the current issue of Time magazine and the topic: COLD WAR II. It’s another good crisis related magazine cover. Unfortunately, the sales won’t be what they would have been twenty years ago when Time content was, well, more timely. Most interested in this topic will have read this or similar content online.

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magazines

Network Services update

All should be okay for newsagents accessing netonline today as per this update from the company this morning:

All systems are now pretty much back on track. The delivery files due this morning for Monday’s onsale will be going out through the normal gateway channel in the next hour or so. Yesterday there were also a few customers who had still not downloaded their early file for yesterday’s onsale, but these have now also gone out.

Any returns files submitted via XIT should now also have come through to us – there may be some processing backlog on these, there will be a confirmation email sent once these are processed.

Our Netonline website is also back online.

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magazine distribution

Does your poo stink?

pooSometimes a direct approach works best. That’s what we are trying our front of store display of Poo Pourri.

The headline, Does Your Poo Stink? shocked when I first saw it. Now I realise our team member who created it did so for attention-grabbing value.

The goal of the headline is to get people to see the video – the video I posted yesterday which pitches the product in a humorous way.

I also like the display and the headline as it has us playing outside what shoppers would consider is traditional for a newsagency.

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Newsagency management
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