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

Excellent example of attracting shoppers with a ‘deal’

cleverimpulseI passed a WH Smith store in Melbourne last week and they were using this 2 for $8 promotion to attract shoppers in-store.

While the deal was not good value in my view, the actual promotion was done in such a way so as to make it feel like a good deal.

The stand itself is excellent, ideal for this type or promotion. The supplier collateral, tailored to the stand, helps give shoppers confidence in the offer promoted.

There is nothing stopping newsagents who want to play in the c-store type space running deals like this on a stand like this.

With WH Smith expanding in Australia, expect to see more of this type of unit and promotion.

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Impulse lines

Launching Simpublica

simpublicaWe are supporting the launch of Simpublia magazine with prime placement in our science / news / related area. Simpublia is a good looking special interest title targeting readers of value of newsagencies – hence our support for the launch.

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magazines

Newsagency marketing groups / franchises and marketing funds

I’ve been asked a couple of times recently about marketing fees they pay to their franchise / newsagency marketing group and the obligations of the groups to disclose how the funds are spent.

One business owner told me their group, which operates under a franchise agreement, has refused to provide any visibility of marketing funds collected from members and how they have been spent. The group in question is collecting well over half a million dollars a year.

The law is clear on marketing funds for groups that fall under the franchise code of conduct.

Here is what the Trade Practices (Industry Codes – Franchising) Regulations 1998 says about this:

17            Marketing and other cooperative funds

(1)   If a franchise agreement provides that a franchisee must pay money to a marketing or other cooperative fund, the franchisor must:

(a)    within 4 months after the end of the last financial year, prepare an annual financial statement detailing all of the fund’s receipts and expenses for the last financial year; and

(b)    have the statement audited by a registered company auditor within 4 months after the end of the financial year to which it relates; and

(c)    give to the franchisee:

(i)    a copy of the statement, within 30 days of preparing the statement; and

(ii)    a copy of the auditor’s report, if such a report is required, within 30 days of preparing the report.

(2)   A franchisor does not have to comply with paragraph (1) (b) for a financial year if:

(a)    75% of the franchisor’s franchisees in Australia, who contribute to the fund, have voted to agree that the franchisor does not have to comply with the paragraph; and

(b)    that agreement is made within 3 months after the end of the financial year.

(3)   The agreement referred to in paragraph (2) (a) will remain in force for 3 years, and franchisees must vote, at the end of that time, in accordance with paragraph (2) (a), for the agreement to remain in force.

(4)   If a franchise agreement provides that a franchisee must pay money to a marketing or other cooperative fund, the reasonable costs of administering and auditing the fund must be paid from the fund.

If you are in a marketing group or any franchise group and contributing to a marketing fund, they have an obligation to report to you. If they have not been doing this you can report them to the ACCC.

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Ethics

Newsagents: beware scams

I’ve heard of several newsagents in the last few weeks being targeted by scammers. In one case it was an advertising scam where the caller asked if they wanted to continue with their charity magazine advertising – there was no magazine. In another case, a newsagent was contacted by a scammer posing to represent an energy provider.

It’s important your employees know what they can an cannot agree to on the phone. Be clear in the rules and avoid being hit by a scan. The ACCC Scamwatch website has excellent information on this. Be sure to look at the small busyness section.

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Ethics

Attracting geeks to the newsagency

raspberrypiThe Raspberry Pi is a cheap computer that has achieved mass appeal including with geeks. The Ultimate Guide to Raspberry Pi Magbook is a good title for promoting where geeks can see it and see your business as worth visiting. We are using this as a title to pitch relevance to a shopper who might otherwise not find products or titles relevant to them.

There are plenty of products we can pitch to the Raspberry Pi fan: activity packs, geek-themed impulse lines, Dr Who products and plenty of licenced products. These and others are opportunities whereby we can use a magazine to attract a shopper who could be considerably more valuable to us than for the magazine purchase itself.

Check out the Raspberry Pi website to learn more about the customer – it’s fascinating.

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magazines

Woolworths retailer features Frankie at the counter

frankiecounterduxCheck out the very simple yet visually effective approach being taken by an outlet of the Woolworths owned Thomas Dux supermarket to promote the latest issue of Frankie magazine.

Note the lack of clutter at the counter –  this is a very smart, and I suspect effective, way of achieving impulse purchases of the popular magazine.

The Thomas Dux approach is different to what most newsagents would do. We can learn from this.

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magazines

Tatts promotes online purchases with competition

tattsplaymoneyTatts is running a competition that seeks to educate customers about purchasing entries online. Their $1,000 Play Money competition pouts you in the running if you purchase or renew your Tatts card, buy a ticket – and you’re in the running. The website seems to indicate that the buying of the ticket is done online – look at the tab: Buy online.

A check of the rules indicates that any ticket purchased using an eligible registration card gets you in the running. It’s a pity their website did not actively promote the retail network for this promotion.

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Lotteries

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: show the outcome to inspire sales

eifelShowing an outcome is common in advertising and marketing in all sorts of businesses. It can work just as well in a newsagency.

Take the humble jigsaw puzzle. By erecting the 3D Eiffel Tower and placing it as a centrepiece of our new Ravensberger jigsaw puzzle display we have attracted new shoppers, people who have not shopped with us before.

What products do you have in your newsagency that you can assemble or otherwise setup to show the outcome your customers can achieve? Expect to increase sales! 

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marketing tip

Sunday newsagency management tip: know your benchmarks

What percentage of sales revenue do you spend on rent, labour and marketing. These are three key business performance indicators yet they are often not top of mind for newsagents. Labour should cost between 9% and 11% of revenue, rent should cost between 11% and 13% and marketing should cost between 2% and 5% if you are to be competitive.

If your costs are lower, good. If they are higher, you have work to do.

FYI, when I talk about revenue it is revenue from all products and commission from all agency business.

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Management tip

Publishers ought to price newspapers based on the shelf life of the product

rushourThe shelf life of a daily newspaper is less now than at any other time in its history. Indeed, news stories are often out of date by the time the press machines start rolling.

While the price of other products with a limited shelf life, such as fresh food, is reduced as it nears expiry, newspapers hold their price until returns for pulping.

We ought to price newspapers on a sliding scale – the later in the day the cheaper they become. We could modify newsagency software to set a price based on time of day and to report sales by time direct to publishers.

While some will wait to get a few cents off the price of a newspaper, I doubt those who purchase newspapers for the full experience will care.

I’d suggest full cover price until 2pm at which time its drops to 25% off and then for the last hours of the trading day it drops to 50% off. A trial could test if the timing and the discount quantum is right.

The goals need to be zero returns plus more people purchasing newspapers.

My core  interest is in getting more print newspapers in the hands of shoppers who pay something for the privilege. A stand at the front of the newsagency, facing into the mall, offering The Age or The Herald Sun at half price at, say, 4pm could achieve just that. I’d expect getting fifty cents in the dollar is better value for the publisher and their advertisers than copies being returned unsold and having to be pulped.

Given the challenges facing newspapers including falling over the counter sales, falling subscriptions and falling advertising revenue, it is time to experiment with creative solutions. This idea of pricing that accepts a newspaper has a diminishing value with time is the type of fresh idea we need to consider. As a retail only newsagents it’s an idea I’d embrace. It is certainly more interesting to me that the forever promoted subscription deals that try and lure my customers to get their newspapers elsewhere.

I took the photo at the fruit salad counter of David Jones in Sydney, half an hour before they were to close for the night a couple of weeks ago. In this last half hour they slash the price of fruit salads to get rid of them, so they can start fresh in the morning.

Seeing the popularity of the counter at this time of the day is what started me thinking about this idea for newspapers. If I’m in Sydney close to closing time for David Jones I head down to the fruit salad bar and pick up a tub for less than half price. Delicious!

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Newsagency management

Herald Sun covers up front page drug lab story photo

heraldsuncoverupNews Corp. is showing today how little photos on the front page of a newspaper matter to driving newspaper sales. They have suck a post-it note type ad for their unlimited digital and weekend home delivery subscription over the photo for the lead story of the day – and they did not cover up a celebrity photo on the same front page. Nuts!

Like I just wrote about air fax – I don’t want to encourage my customers to switch to home delivery.

If the people leading News wanted to grow sales, they’d engage with proactive retail newsagents.

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newspaper masthead desecration

The Age newspaper covers up lead asylum seeker story

theage-coverupShame on Fairfax for their cover-up today of a story about asylum seekers on the front page of The Age newspaper.

The placement of a post-it note type ad stuck over part of the lead story on the front page of the newspaper demonstrates a disregard by Fairfax for news.

I don’t want my customers to switch to home delivery.  I hope one day Fairfax will realise that retail newsagents can help them increase sales.

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newspaper masthead desecration

Jungle Ants a fresh take on an old toy product

kidsholidaysjungleantsWe have brought in Jungle Ants in time for school holidays as part of broader story we plan to tell on activity related gifts / toys.

Ant farms have been around forever and it’s terrific to see them packaged in a fresh and enticing way as these Jungle Ants are. We’ve got a whole new generation of kids to introduce these fun things to.

Planning ahead for school holidays is more important than ever for newsagents as we compete more with toy shops and gift shops. School holidays and excellent opportunity to entice new shoppers into our stores. It’s the time for fresh – non-traditional – window displays that speak to the kids and young families who are out in force during this time.

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Gifts

Focussed on the Tour de France

bikemagsWe have reduced space allocate for World Cup magazine titles and given it over to Tour de France titles. With the official guide dominating the space, we are using the lure of this to promote other terrific bike magazines. Everyone entering our sports and guys reading area will see this without fail. We also have the Tour guide placed next to daily newspapers.

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magazines

Promote the latest issue of Time Out

ribsmagRibs are an in food in Australia – making the latest issue of Time Out Melbourne a magazine we should promote away from the usual place for the title. We have it with newspapers and with food magazines. The word Ribs should get people considering (but not browsing as it’s bagged) the title.

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magazines

Did you pull Archer magazine from your newsagency shelves?

The publisher of Archer magazine reports that some newsagents have pulled the magazine from their shelves. Someone apparently connected with the title also tweeted: Bunch of newsagents being jerks, refusing to stock the amazing new sexual diversity journal, . I responded noting I’d be happy to stock the title.

As magazine specialists we are not censors. If we were we’;d have to stop carrying any daily newspaper with ads promoting prostitutes where their services are illegal. Our job is to offer our customers what they want within the law. Archer looks like a good special interest title.

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magazines

Knitting title attracts shoppers

knittitleThe poster for Your Knitting & Crochet Collection from Pacific Magazines, published under the Better Homes & Gardens brand, is proving to be a ripper of a success for us. Plenty of the success has come from the poster placed facing into the mall. Customers have come in specifically asking for the title, mentioning this poster. We’ve ordered more stock as we’re close to selling out.

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magazines

A newsagent owned startup seeking to compete with GNS?

A group of newsagents met in Perth Wednesday night to hear a pitch that they invest money money, rumoured to be $3,000, to fund the importation of pens and some other stationery items from China for their businesses.

The pitch to newsagents is that the imported stationery can be marked up 200% to 300%. The promotional information mentioned the China products as competing with products from Pilot, Papermate, Bic and Uniball. It suggests newsagents consider increasing stationery sales and increasing gross profit.

While increased gross profit is enticing, it is not the only benefit newsagents should consider when assessing supply options. Newsagents are supported by the ilot, Papermate, Bic and Uniball brands with in-store collateral, in-store rep visits, out of store marketing, newsagency channel event support and other activities that support newsagents and drive traffic to their businesses.

The financial support for newsagents by branded pens and stationery is considerable.

This China import strategy seeks to replace the brand name products with unbranded products and give newsagents margin that would otherwise have been used to support their businesses in a variety of ways.

Newsagents considering the cheap China product need to think through the implications.

Newsagents will only grow stationery sales if they promote stationery. In fact, I suspect individual newsagents will need to spend more than the additional margin they will make to achieve the growth claimed that they could make. If this is right, newsagents will be financially worse off.

Some newsagents would not chase gross profit, they would price the China stationery at a lower price, hoping that this will increase sales. Anyone who has been involved in cheap China stationery in the past will know that products are cheap for a reason – poorer quality raw materials, cheaper manufacturing, less quality control, less back-end support for the retailer. this will matter to some newsagents, but maybe too late.

The best place for newsagents to own part of the supply chain is through ANCOL in SA and GNS nationally. It’s a newsagent-owned business with a strong national footprint. Why newsagents would consider importing pens and stationery to cut out GNS(and ANCOL in SA)  is beyond me. And why newsagents would think they can do better with an unknown brand against branded products also does not make sense.

Since we’re in a free and competitive marketplace, newsagents can do what they like. This post reflects my opinion. Please, contribute and lets have a good open discussion about this.

Footnote: I have no commercial agreement or arrangement with GNS other than as a newsagent who buys stationery from them.

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Newsagency management

Bauer updates newsagents on Reader Rewards

Bauer sent Connections newsagents an update this week on the reader rewards program:

  • In the first 14 days 500 customers have earned Reward Stars in Newsagents
  • 23% of Newsagents had customers using the app in week one
  • Already 17 Bauer titles have advertised with a combined audience of 8 million consumers
  • Facebook posts have directed over 170,000 followers to download the app
  • Click here to view a few examples of social media support
  • A lucky Queenslander bagged $1000 by promoting Reader Rewards
  • A fellow Maroon won a MacBook Air, but will they get up tomorrow night when it really counts?

Reader Rewards is only just beginning and is starting to pick up pace into Week 3. We continue to deliver MORE CUSTOMERS, create MORE LOYALTY and drive MORE SALES, it’s vital that we have your support to take this all the way.

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Newsagency management

Exclusive AWW cookbook offer at Woolworths

bauerwoolwawwA colleague sent me this photo from a Woolworths store of an exclusive AWW cookbook offer. The pitch of a $25 discount for the AWW cookbooks gives Woolworths an opportunity to pitch its value proposition ahead of other retailers selling AWW cookbooks at full price.

While I understand publishers need to run different promotions in different channels, it feels sometimes like newsagents, who sell around 50% of all magazines in Australia, don’t get 50% worth of the deals.

At some point, promoting more value propositions in the two major supermarket chains will play out by making the participating publishers more reliant on these supermarkets just when they flex their muscles seeking better deals from the publishers. That won’t go well.

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magazines

Optus and Vodafone outages

Several news outlets are reporting widespread outages affecting Optus and Vodafone networks. A few minutes ago Optus took to Twitter to advise:

We are aware of an issue affecting some Optus customers at the moment. We’re currently investigating the problem and will keep you updated.

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Newsagency management

Lotterywest helps its retailers improve their businesses

I was fortunate last night to experience first-hand the help Lotterywest provides to its retail partners. In their Perth head office last night, Lotterywest hosted a workshop on newsagency management for a small group of their retailers.

This session covered loss prevention, supplier management, newsagency management and a range of other topics. It was 100% about how to run a more successful business and not about selling more lottery products.

Lotterywest are to be commended for their support of their retail network in organising and hosting sessions like this and other business management sessions through they year.

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Lotteries

Why colour blocking is important for newsagents and how to do it

colourblockingAt the Christchurch Gift and Homeware Fair at the start of this week I saw another excellent example of effective colour blocking that is as relevant to a retail newsagent as it is at a Gift Fair trade display.

This gift / homewares supplier laid out their stand by colour, taking care to place colours next to each other that enhanced the impact – following a chart. The result was a series of stunning displays that many stopped and looked at.

Taking time with product placement and placing items which complement each other enhances impact. By compliment, I mean the two colours are on the opposed of the colour spectrum. This is why the orange and the blue in the photo work so well when placed next to each other – far more effectively than blue and green together or orange and yellow.

Colour blocking for impact and drive shopper engagement and this can attract new shoppers to your newsagency as well as getting existing shoppers engaging more with what you sell.

If you have lottery and newspaper customers who purchase nothing else, could it be that you are not doing anything stunning with your displays to drive their engagement?

If you don’t get lottery shoppers purchasing anything else stand at your lottery counter and follow with your eyes their exit from the business. What are you doing to grab their attention – tactically or visually through, for example, a colour blocking strategy.

What we achieve in our newsagency businesses comes back to us. The more actively and thoughtfully we engage the better the outcomes for us and for our customers.

It would be easy to dismiss this blog post as being about homewares and not relevant to us. Rather, it is completely about how we manage our newsagency businesses and the current-day professionalism we bring to the retail stories we tell through our displays.

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Colour blocking

Local business card rack a great idea

buscardsI love this idea I saw of a small rack of business cards for local businesses. A newsagent keen to better connect with local businesses and better serve the local community should find a place for a rack – with newspapers, near the entrance – somewhere shoppers can see the cards. The support back to the businesses by the businesses should make this a valuable marketing step by the newsagency.

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Customer Service

Newsagency card pockets overloaded

cardoverloadI counted more than thirty card pockets in a newsagency with ten cards or more in each. Some pockets were so full that the product looked stuffed in rather than well-presented. Newsagents need to actively engage with their card suppliers to ensure commercially appropriate supply. Pockets like the one shown in the photo do the business and the product a disservice.

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Greeting Cards
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