The free SK ii facial treatment essence gift was missing from a copy of marie claire in a newsagency yesterday so I checked other copies. None of the three copies of the magazine had the free gift.
It amazes me what gets stolen sometimes. The SK ii product is a premium gift, at the high end of magazine gifts with purchase. It would be interesting to track this type of theft.
It frustrates me the number of newsagents I speak with who say their staff have trouble balancing at the end of shift yet they take no action to rectify the situation. I am usually met with a shrug of the shoulders and what can I do? question.
What you can do is provide leadership for your newsagency by respecting cash for what it is, the lifeblood of the business.
If your end of shift is not balancing here is what I suggest you do:
Balancing at your end of shift is a serious matter. Ignore it and the cost to your business could be considerably more than the few dollars you appear to be out every day or so.
I was working with a newsagency recently where one employee offered up different excuses a couple of times a week for the cash being out. Over time the pattern showed they were either stupid or stealing. Either way, the only option for the business was to cut their hours.
This is serious.
With winter sports finals in full swing at local and state levels, now is an ideal time for newsagents to show their colours to both support local teams and to show customers and passers-by how we can help them show their support for local teams.
From crepe paper to cardboard to balloons, newsagencies are the go to places for showing team support. But we need to promote this more. The key to making this work for your business is to show off your engagement – in supporting a team and in showing what you have to sell and maybe the services you provide.
The newsagency channel can promote sports team support far better than the major retailers. This is an opportunity for the newsagency channel to shine. Show people your local credentials and why they should shop with you.
Harmony Bracelets have not worked for us. While we have sold 35% of our stock, the rest has sat for close to two months. This morning I made the decision to get out of the remaining stock this weekend and put the $9.95 bracelets on sale at $1.00. Now, less than three hours in they’re selling very well. We should be done by the end of tomorrow. This frees floorspace for us, giving us an opportunity for a new product story.
Too often I see newsagents hold onto product for the sake of hoped-for margin in the future rather than discounting and taking the cash today. Okay so we have lost money on the bracelets. The loss I am realising today is less, I suspect, than the loss because of non-performing product taking up floorspace.
You can’t bank margin from products that don’t sell.
So, when I decide to quit an item I set pricing for it ti actually sell out. The usual starting point is between 33% and 50% off. next is 75% and finally we move to a $$ price point. In the case of the Harmony Bracelets, their recent performance was such that I felt I needed to go straight to the $$ price point. hence the $1.00 price. It is also helping that school holidays have just started.
One customer bought 14 bracelets.
I’ll be joining South Australian newsagents at the annual ANCOL trade show tomorrow to talk about future opportunities for the channel.
Here is magazine returns packaging advice I published here in July 2012 in a post called How to avoid being fined by Network Services. I wrote the post after hearing from several newsagents about claims against them by Network Services about magazines not being returned to the Network warehouse.
This advice remains best-practice advice today:
How to avoid being fined by Network Services
Magazine distributor Network Services operates as victim, prosecutor, judge and jury in the handling of disputes arising from magazine returns. While they will say that statement is unfair, it is how it is. It is how newsagents who have experienced a dispute often feel.
While I have seen Network act fairly in some situations, I have also seen them act unfairly in others. The frustration felt toward their handling of disputes is magnified since they relate to products over which newsagents have very little control thanks to the push model of magazine distribution in Australia.
Here are my suggestions for newsagents to be better able to deal with a magazine returns credit dispute:
- Make sure that you understand and carefully follow the current Network process for packaging and shipping returns and returns forms. Do not ask another newsagent what the current process is, ask only Network. Get it in writing.
- Keep a copy of all forms, emails and other documents relating to returns in a separate date-sequenced file for Network.
- Create a log of returns shipping activity noting the date you sent returns, the courier used, number of packages and the name or the person who completed the returns at your end.
- Photograph each Network returns package – clearly showing the label.
- Get a receipt from the courier you use to deliver your returns to Network.
- If you deliver the returns yourself, take a photo of your packages before you leave the distribution depot.
- Make notes about any phone call relating to returns. Include the full name of the person you spoke with plus the date and time.
The better you are able to prove what you did and when in the event of a dispute the faster the dispute will be resolved.
The process outlined above will also show some newsagents mistakes which led to credits being denied.
I urge newsagents to print this advice and train their employees to follow it for Gotch and Network returns.
It’s been good to see the ANF listed as one of the industry associations supporting the Australian Retailers Association campaign against the fuel discount programs of the Coles and Woolworths supermarket duopoly. It’s good they are holding the new federal government to account for their election promise about the supermarkets.
I’m pleased we took the floor display unit of 2014 Astro Diaries from Universal Magazines that I blogged about recently. We have the unit on the shop floor between the magazines and newspapers and the sales counter. We also have stock placed with our other diaries. I like the product because it feels worth the $19.95 price, is a newsagency channel exclusive and should sell for us.
International magazine publishers using airfreight magazine distributor Speedimpex ought to check where they are placing their promotional stickler on magazine covers. Six different magazines I checked in a newsagency yesterday each had the stickers placed such that it was hard to tell the cover subject – devaluating the cover as a sales tool. Nuts!
Angelina Jolie is in Australia for the next few months directing a film. This is a good reason to give the current issue of Mindfood some time in the spotlight as she is on the cover. Placement with weekly magazines would be good or with newspapers. It’s important the full cover is shown.
Newsagents wanting to use the QR code generating and content hosting site QRki, my newsagency software company has launched can do so for free using BLOG as a voucher code. This will be give you free access until December 31, 2013.
You can use QRki to create a QR code to access your Facebook page, Twitter feed, LinkedIN profile, website or some other web link. This type of use will always be free.
You can also use QRki to access a video you load – like a product demo – or a competition entry page or a brochure document or other copntent. This type of use will cost $1.00 for a month from Jan 1 next year.
The idea behind QRki is to give small business retailers QR code accessible content publishing facilities like those now widely used by major retailers in the US, Europe and Asia. QR code use in these countries is huge but small businesses often get left behind because they don’t have the web infrastructure. This is where QRki comes in.
You can tell from it being free now and the $1 for a month pricing that it’s not a commercial activity for me. Small business retailers are important to Australia and I’ll do everything I can to help provide tools that help them more effectively compete.
Since I first wrote about this yesterday plenty opf newsagents have created QR codes to promote their Facebook pages and to access other things.
Pacific Magazines yesterday announced a sales competition for K-Zone, Total Girl and Girlfriend for newsagents who are part of their Nexus marketing program. $3,000 in cash is up for grabs.
I like that sales growth is the determining factor. I also like that there are prizes per title and for all three combined. Indeed, the combined prize is a smart move by Pacific as it gets us looking at the three titles as offering a common opportunity.
Smart newsagents will jump on the opportunity and use it to refresh their approach to these three titles while we have a different mix of customers walking past and into our newsagencies.
I was in Coolangatta yesterday and called a taxi to get back to the airport. Just before the taxi arrived I received a text message telling me it was close by and giving me the taxi number. I had the same experience a couple of weeks ago when on the Gold Coast. The image shows both texts I received.
This is excellent customer service from the taxi companies. In each case they didn’t even ask for my number. It shows them as being attentive. Oh, and they have not sent texts after the trip, no spam.
These text messages are an excellent use of technology. We do a similar thing with magazine putaways and have done for many years – customers love it. We also do it with special orders. In fact, I’d jump at any chance to provide feedback or an update to a customer by text or email or some other tech based service.
The taxi experience is particularly wonderful given that they can be notoriously late or not even show. The text message gives you certainty. I love it.
The experience yesterday was a reminder of the importance of connecting with our customers.
Our focus on impulse items is delivering a deeper and more valuable shopping basket. One customer earlier this week brought a $5.99 greeting card to the counter and added items on impulse valued at more than $36.00. Yes on impulse.
Our customers are older yet these funky items sell well – because they’re buying for younger people.
Our gift strategy includes traditional gifts, gifts based on themes and impulse items among other things. The more broad our gift base the more valuable it is and the more we are insulated against trend changes.
One recent break out impulse line for us is these spike laughing balls. They light up and laugh when you play with them. At more than 50% GP and a very fast turn, they’ve been a valuable addition to the impulse item mix.
From Mediaweek yesterday morning I was pointed to a report published at gannett Blog in the US about anticipated sales declines for USA Today as a result of a hefty cover price increase for the newspaper.
As its restructuring enters a second year, USA Today is bracing for a 35% drop in newsstand sales when it doubles the single-copy price to $2 on Sept. 30, according to internal company documents.
While the newspaper cover price increases in Australia have not been double, they have been of such a magnitude that newsagents say price is not hurting sales. It’s a fine line for publishers. Personally, I prefer a price that more accurately respects the production and distribution costs.
The team-lead in one of my newsagencies is promoting the business Facebook page with this QR code on the bottom of customer receipts. It’s another way of reaching out to customers – to create a stronger connection.
QR code use is massive in the US and Asia. It’s growing here. It’s an easy way to get customers connecting with your business.
My newsagency software company has launched QRki, a QR code generator and content hosting platform for small business. Some QR codes are free while others for accessing hosted content cost $1.00 a month. Any newsagent who wants to try the whole thing for free can email me for a voucher that will give free access for the rest of 2013.
I funded the creation of QRki to provide small and independent retailers like newsagents with another big-business like tool with which they can compete.
I was reading at The Telegraph online about the Official Starships Collection, a new partwork in the UK from Eaglemoss. The information in the report coupled with local magazine sales data and the success of non-circulation science fiction products provides us with enough information to set our expectations about sales of this new series – months or even a year before it reaches Australia.
It’s frustrating newsagents are not part of the conversation. I’d love to talk with Eaglemoss about what we could do with partworks if the scale out and distribution were better handled. So many missed opportunities.
Here’s some of the report from The Telegraph online that I found interesting:
The launch of The Official Starships Collection has been long awaited by some, Eaglemoss began test marketing the collection in May 2012 and was due to officially launch in the UK and Ireland in February of this year but due to extraordinary demand for the publication as well as other manufacturing issues, they were forced to delay the official launch until August 21st 2013. Retailer WHSmith sold almost 7000 copies nationwide within the first 2 days of the first issue being available.
Eaglemoss has not officially announced how many issues will be included in the collection, however the first 30 have been confirmed and include a number of Federation vessels, from all series in the franchise, as well as a Borg Sphere and several of the more common Romulan and Klingon ships. Those hoping for a Borg Cube will have to subscribe to the publication, which is at this time rumoured to be running to a total of 70 issues (R.R.P. £9.99), which could set the most avid collector back almost £700.
Thanks in part of the prime location display featuring Pink created by the in-store team, we sold more copies of the latest issue of Women’s Health in two days than we usually sell in a month. If we can get the stock we should be able to achieve triple our usual sales.
Yesterday I completed another newsagency performance analysis, this time for a regional newsagency. It’s an interesting business with some terrific innovation (coffee, old style lollies) helping yet traditional products (stationery, magazines, newspapers) pulling them down.
The challenge is breaking free from a traditional and externally controlled past and creating your own future. It’s a common challenge newsagents face.
Here are my thoughts:
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to comment on your figures. I’ve done some research to ensure I have context and can see your local population is 2,500 and you’re almost 700k from the capital. I can see from Google street view that you’re in a high street situation with windows ion the street. The images suggest that heritage is important in the area.
I can see in your data comparing June through August 2013 with 2012 that business is tough.
- Overall revenue. Down 8%.
- Customer traffic. Down 7% or 2122 sales over the period. This is the biggest concern in the data. Traffic is the lifeblood of a broadly bases regional newsagency. What are you doing outside your business to bring new shoppers in?
- Cards. You sold 973 cards over the three months, an increase of 15%. While this is good, the changing nature of traffic generation for newsagencies means you need more from cards. When was the last time you refreshed your range? I can’t tell too much about what’s happening since most of your card sales are in unknown category – meaning the software has not been told how to allocate stock you bring in. This can be easily fixed.
- Cigarettes. Sales are down 13% and you’re doing around $2,500 a week in sales. Are you managing stock carefully? i,e, are you recording based on sales using the reorder report. It’s easy to do.
- Confectionery. Your 71% increase in revenue to well over $1,000 a week on the back of your old style lollies is working a treat. I also love your 339% increase in coffee sales to 1,160 units in the three months. These are two excellent moves you need to continue to drive harder. They are points of difference for you in your area – what are you doing to promote to passers-by on the street?
- Lotto. 27% increase in sales. Excellent result. Keep up with what you are doing – having fun and providing a good shopping experience (I can tell from your Facebook page).
- Magazines. Even though your sales are down 8%, your numbers are line ball with the average. What makes it hared to assess any further is that you don;t appear to be bringing in invoices electronically. This dumps all magazine sales into one category. It can be easily fixed so that there is more meaningful data for you to use. magazine sales data can guide plenty of other business decisions.
- Stationery. Sales are down 10%. Based on your sales your total stationery stock holding should be around $10,000. If you;re higher then either sales need to increase or your stock holding needs to decrease.
- Toys & Gifts. This is a break out success story with an 85% increase in revenue to over $500 a week. Note: I;d separate reporting of toys and gifts into separate departments. By not using meaningful categories I can’t comment too much more other than to note that based on your card sales I think you could grow gift sales by more than 100%. You can do this by using your =card category sales data to guide gift buying opportunities.
I’ve also looked at the full year on year comparison report you sent. I can see that revenue including lottery commission is around $680,000. Once I take into account your agency business (bus tickets, visa cards, postage etc), I estimate that your overall gross profit is between 27% and 30%. This is not enough.
Sometimes a business with less revenue but a considerably higher GP is more valuable.
If I were you I would sort out the data issues and get products into meaningful categories. I would then assess sales at the category level with a view to increasing gifts, toys, plush and stationery. At the same time I would also review my pricing policy and charge as much as I could for what I sell. You’re a remote business meaning you have a cost of doing business that should be reflected in your pricing. I would also make bold strong use of the shop window. Plus I would work to find a way to letterbox all homes within easy access to the shop to send flyers every two weeks promoting the business – especially coffee, confectionery and gifts.
It can be hard in a small town with a small business and limited financial resources. I have a graphic design person full time in my software company and would be happy to create flyers free for your use to help you market the business. The rest comes down to good product selection and hitting the footpath promoting the business.
In considering what to sell you do need to look at who is nearby you that you may hurt with expanding your range. I think you need to look at them thinking that it’s more important for you to survive than them.
I hope the comments help. I apologise for being blunt. Let me know what you think and send through any photos for specific display or other suggestions.
Many newsagents are in businesses that are being impacted by changing economic conditions as well as changing conditions around products being sold. It is important we chase change ahead of the wave. This business is doing that in several areas and while this work is delivering results, they need more.
We’re in an economy and retail channel that require is to be more vigilant than ever. We have to be the change agents in our newsagency businesses. No one else will do this for us as valuably as we can do it for ourselves.
While Asians in Australia love funky stationery shops like Kikki.K, Typo and Smiggle, in Guangzhou the only stationery I saw being sold was at this almost warehouse-like shop. Setup for space efficiency and volume sales. It’s located on the street in a busy business residential area. I walked past a couple of times and it was open day and night. Population size and labour costs drive this.
Also in Guangzhou – a guy moving stacks of newspapers on his bike. I took comfort from this sight and many magazine retailers on the streets of this massive city (20+ million + people). Print media is popular even though mobile us is very high.
I was talking with a newsagent yesterday who is in the middle of a challenging finance review with their bank. The bank had a bunch of reasons to reduce the funding line to the business and the newsagent had not countered with anything. They are a distribution business and advised the bank abut the News Limited announcement. having now done their their relationship manager feels they can make a case in favour of the business.
Every newsagent should advise their bank about the News announcement at the appropriate time.
I’ve been in Guangzhou, China for the last few days on business and looking at retail. I was fascinated by the way they sell instant scratch tickets – on the street in this stall. I passed several. You sit, make your purchases, scratch and collect. There’s a community spirit around it. The games are run to raise funds for community charities. I love how the scratchie shoppers were engaged and not making a quick in and out purchase.
Footnote: business being what it is I connect with my newsagencies and other businesses while on the road so I don’t come back to a backlog.
Newsagents planning to attend their first Gift Fair in Sydney in a few days need to plan in advance. Read the access rules at the fair website and be prepared. If you turn up without the required identification documents you will not be allowed in. I mention this as a newsagent was turned away in Melbourne recently because they only had one form of ID.
I participated as a judge for the Maggies this year, the second year in a row. The Maggies recognise magazine covers of excellence. The judges choose the shortlist from submissions and the public can then vote on the winners. I cast my votes yesterday after careful consoderation of the finalist magazine covers in a range of categories. I like the criteria provided to the judges for selecting covers that:
I am grateful to represent retailers including newsagents as a judge.