The ad stuck on the front page of The Daily Telegraph yesterday not only obscured the headline of the page one lead story of the day as well as part of the newspaper masthead, it was promoting home delivery – something many retail only newsagents make nothing from.
No wonder stickers like this get removed before customers see the newspaper.
My work with newsagents sees me get involved in many changes of newsagency ownership situations. Often, the involvement is sought to help get to the bottom of a dispute. If the purchaser undertook reasonable due diligence many of the disputes I see could have been avoided.
Here is my incomplete due diligence list. I say incomplete as it is what I suggest you do which is so often forgotten – in addition to the usual:
This list is by no means complete. I have listed items which tend to be overlooked. My goal is to help purchasers purchase based on accurate business data.
There will be some newsagents who are not happy with me publishing this list. If you have nothing to hide then why worry? Transparency around a good business can only add value.
Footnote: I have published a list like this several times here. This latest version reflects learnings following recent purchases.
Check out the copy of Reader’s Digest received by one newsagent yesterday. The Chinese edition I think. Odd, especially given their sales history. No justification for this action by Network Services.
Did anyone else receive this issue of Reader’s Digest?
Following success late last year, we are having another go with the dog grenade – a fun gift for people with dogs.
We are passing on some of the additional discount we achieved with our buying and still achieving above 50% GP. early indications are that the dog grenade will be a repeat hit for us and we’re happy about that.
Q-Sure now has the ability to cover NSW Lotteries Indemnity. $620.00 with $20,000,000 Fidelity Cover and $30,000,000 Errors and Omissions. Qsure can place quickly and notify NSW Lotteries direct to save time. I mention this as a service. I have no commercial arrangement whatsoever in relation to this. I mention it here to help newsagents save money.
Contact: Peter Sheedy Dip. FS(Brok), Q-Sure Insurance Brokers, AFS Licence 246 526. PH 07 3835 0302. Email: mailto:peter@qsure.com.au.
I received a call a couple of weeks ago from Mick Baker of Rochester Newsagency. He’d just sold his business with settlement scheduled for the end of this month.
Mick has been using newsagency software from my Tower Systems company since 1987. This has been a long term business relationship.
In selling up, Mick has decided to pursue other interests with his life. He’s looking for a new career. Plus he’s writing poetry and has already had some published. I wish him all the very best with what he does next.
Mick has been an exemplary newsagent, offering excellent service to the people of Rochester and those who pass through. He’s seen his business change and the channel change and through all the changes he was cheerful and positive. That’s what I love about Mick, his positive nature, his focus on moving forward and that he is an unsung hero.
After Mick called to say he’d sold, I found myself thinking about other people like him I’ve encountered in this channel over the years, positive people who genuinely contribute in their local community and to the community of newsagents. There are plenty of Mick Bakers but not enough.
I saw the premiere of the Stephen King mini-series Under the Dome last night. Early in the show a resident in the town where the show is set confronts the editor of the local newspaper about a story lead. During the brief interaction the resident says she doesn’t read newspapers, that she gets all her news online. Even though it was in passing it was delivered in a biting way, as a stand out message.
Not only are we dealing with actual falling sales of newspapers, we are dealing with perception surrounding the medium. Oh, and we’re dealing with poorly engaged publishers.
I’ve heard from several newsagents since the news of the photo shoot of the Prime Minister knitting in the latest issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly dropped yesterday. In each case they passed on negative comments from customers and wondered if this would be the worst selling issue of AWW.
Regardless of your political leanings, there is no doubt that Australians have a firm, if not ignorant for some, view of Prime Minister. I hope the photo shoot drives sales.
The launch of the three-part MasterChef mook has been odd with little warning for newsagents and little in the way of in-store support. It’s like they don’t expect it to be a success. The supplied quantity is low too. Oh, and a six on-sale with no delayed billing. I’m not sure what they are thinking here in terms of supply to the ‘selected’ newsagents.carrying the title.
In a promotion released yesterday to its customers, online lottery business Oz Lotteries is promoting tickets in Saturday’s $30 million superdraw at a 5% discount. This move is certain to further frustrate newsagents on the back of recent developments such as the approval of a trial to sell Tatts products in selected Coles petrol outlets. See a related post here.
You can read more about the Oz Lotteries special offer here.
The VANA owned N-Stock is now promoting ink, just as you’d expect to see from a newsagency marketing group or a newsagency supplier. VANA and associations partnering with N-Stock is doing this at a time when they are asking the marketing groups and newsagency suppliers to help fund association activities. The associations supporting N-Stock can’t have it both ways – it can’t offer marketing group and or supplier products and services and expect other marketing groups to give it money for it to invest in developing its own marketing group services.
Association Directors supporting N-Stock need to sort our whether they are an industry association fearlessly and independently serving newsagent members first or a marketing group or a supplier, a commercial entity. It’s a choice that needs to be made. They can’t have it both ways.
Newsagent suppliers need to consider what they are supporting, whether they are supporting a competitor.
Now before any VANA director calls to complain about what I have said and to question my support for industry associations I’d say – man up, look at this as a supplier and consider your position in commercial terms. You can’t look at what you are doing as an association. That’s my point.
Footnote: In doing this VANA’s N-Stock is using the latest version of the industry owned N – I wonder if they are paying a royalty for that.
The science of magazine allocations continues to amaze me. We did not sell any copies of the launch issue of World of Knowledge. Believing in the title, we promoted issue 2 as I documented here. We sold out our allocation, ordered more and sold some of the extra copies – ten copies of issue 2 all up. Network Services, demonstrating its allocation prowess, sent us 3 copies of issue three. This is despite them knowing that sales of issue 2 were strong for us by the time they did (or should have done) their allocation. Three was never going to be enough. We’ve ordered more and are awaiting approval for that. We’ve sold one copy and should sell the other two in the next day or two.
This is a story for magazine publishers. Take control of your allocations and use current sales data from newsagents when setting the allocation. Better still, give newsagents control – we want what you want … more sales of magazines. I am sure if I had control for my newsagencies magazine sales would increase.
Following the discussion a few days ago about the location of newspapers in newsagencies, here’s a story passed on by a team member from one of my newsagencies from this past weekend:
Another interesting customer story – a lady picked up a couple of cards, then asked if we had the newspaper. I directed her to where they were, and she ended up buying teddy bear, turning a smaller sale into one totalling over $50. And she was also thrilled to get a discount voucher…
This is the type of story I love, one indicating planning working and delivering incremental business. not all shoppers are of a mind to look at what’s in front of them as they head to a destination. However, for those prepared to shop we try and make it worth their and our while.
OfficeMax and Staples (formerly Corporate Express) continue to pitch to newsagents, chasing wholesale stationery sales. Both businesses are US owned. Both businesses also sell direct to the customers or newsagents. Strengthen them and you strengthen your competition.
It doesn’t make sense to me that newsagents would support OfficeMax or Staples. They are our competition. Strengthen them and you strengthen your competition.
While GNS can be challenging, it is a business in the middle of transformative action. It’s different today than a year ago and will be even more different in a year’s time.
Here’s why I think GNS matters and why newsagents should support it.
Newsagents have a choice where they source stationery. Those who support GNS support the newsagency channel. Those who support the US companies are, in my view, shortsighted and selfish – they are not supporting the newsagency channel.
I’ve written this of my own accord and without encouragement from or knowledge of anyone in or involved with GNS.
I have written this because of a catalogue I received last week from one newsagent, an OfficeMax catalogue rebranded for their franchise / marketing group. Newsagents pitching this can’t, at the same time, saying to their local shoppers support us as we’re an Australian business. Okay, they can because their newsagency is Australian owned. However – this same business prefers to support a US stationery wholesaler over the Australian, newsagent owned, stationery wholesaler.
Following my post last week, other newsagents have let me know that they, too, have been contacted by Optus. Here’s the text of the email received by me and plenty of newsagents last week – newsagents who had not signed up with Optus despite what the email says.
Welcome to Prepaid Services (PPS), we are delighted to announce that you can now order stock directly from us.
Thank you for your decision to continue as an Optus Prepaid Mobile retailer, we are committed to working with you and our team is looking forward to bringing you a high standard of service, along with great value Optus Prepaid offers. At PPS we believe that customer experience is paramount and we are looking forward to working with you closely.
As a thank you for signing up you will receive 2 x$29.95 SIMs and 5 x $2 SIMs from us in the next 30 days.
We would also like to confirm some great changes to our stock policy and payment options including:
- Removal of the restocking fee when returning any Optus Prepaid products
- Free shipping on any orders until 30th September 2013
- Additional payment options including credit card online or over the phone Bpay® coming soon
Getting Started
You can order stock from us over the phone on 1300 307 979 or via the website:www.prepaidservices.com.auTo order online please login using:
Email address: XXX@XXX.COM
Password: &^%$#&^To order over the phone please quote your PPS Account Number:
Place a web order before 30 September and receive a $30 credit on your account
- No minimum order value
- New customers only
- Limit 1 credit per customer
- Credit is non-refundable
- Credit will be applied to your account within 30 days of your first web order
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a friendly member of our team.
Click here to download the PPS How to booklet.
Kind Regards
The Team at PPS
This failed communication is another misstep by the company since terminating the relationship with Jenlist. These missteps challenge our confidence.
News Limited has again shown how little it values news with the coverup today of the headline of the main news story of the day – on the front page of the Sunday Herald Sun. Every time this happens it disrespects the news, annoys customers and leads to trash.
Newsagents have easy access to magazine sell through data data through the Magazine Sell Through Rates Report with which they can make a case on oversupply by a magazine distributor.
Using industry standard calculations, a Magazine Sell Through Rates Report identifies the titles that are failing to meet minimum performance levels.
Magazines delivering a sell through of lower than 50% are, in my view, under performing. These titles are titles that I would label as over supplied.
The sell through is the percentage of the stock supplied that was sold.
The image shows one page from a magazine sell through rate report from a newsagency. I’ve obscured their identity.
My management tip for newsagents today is to run the Magazine Sell Through Rates Report. Look at what it shows for the last year. If you have titles consistently below 50% sell through this is evidence you ought to send to the ACCC as proof of poor treatment by your supplier.
Magazine distributors say to the ACCC that newsagents have control. This is not the case, not with certainty and not for the long term.
This report offers further evidence to magazine publishers as to why newsagents sometimes early return a title without apparent justification.
With more and more retail sales involving one or more searches online, newsagents ought to consider engaging in advertising on Google. You get to choose the search keywords you advertise with, the amount you spend, the geographic area you target and the duration of advertising.
I’ve used Google Adwords for a number of retail businesses with success. It’s a good fit for newsagents. The keywords I suggest you targeting, coupled with your geographic location, are: stationery, magazines, greeting cards, gifts and any other services you care to promote.
Ads are running almost immediately. Given the control you have over the spend it’s easy to control the financial exposure to the business.
This is not something for the channel to do, it’s best done at a local store level. But make sure you have somewhere to send them – a website or a page on a website.
Check out the range of urban ears products I saw at a WH Smith store in Melbourne last week. The name is excellent but it’s the colour co-ordinated packaging that really makes the range stand out. I’m yet to hunt down the supplier. Any newsagent in a transit or CBD location could do well with this range or similar.
WH Smith stores are constantly bringing new ranges into their stores, keeping the overall offer fresh – well worth checking out by other newsagents. Click on the image.
Following my announcement here on Monday that Tatts has commenced a trial with Coles selling lottery tickets in petrol outlets, NANA, the NSA / ACT newsagents association has launched a fighting fund, asking newsagents for money. The fighting fund will be: tasked to combat the very real threat of unfair competition, arrest the rate of the loss of retail customers going on-line, block any misuse of market power, negotiate a new win-win business and contractual arrangement with Tatts Lotteries, as well as the future legislative framework of who can and cannot operate lottery terminals with the NSW State Parliament.
This is a national issue and should be tackled uniformly by the ANF and the lottery agents association working together. The last thing any association shold be asking for right now is more money from newsagents.
The associations should have seen this coming – ever since 7-Eleven put lotteries into petrol following their takeover of Mobil. Indeed, they should have started lobbying back then.
Newsagents facing lottery refits right now are the ones who should be most concerned as this Tatts move goes to the value they can derive from the capital investment Tatts is asking them to make.
Every couple of days I hear new stories about how shoppers are engaging with the Discount Vouchers we are using in place of the old VIP card points-based loyalty program. Each story shows changed customer behaviour. Here are two stories from the last couple of weeks:
A chap purchased a bunch of AFL card packs and a Discount Voucher was printed on the receipt offering cash off his next purchase. He said he’d be back as a result of this. This chap was not a regular. A week later he was back and purchased more cards, using the voucher for a discount. He received another voucher and said he’d be back again. What started as a once off purchase is now regular business for us.
A first time customer purchased three greeting cards and received a voucher offering $1.50 off their next purchase. They explained they don’t live in the area. Our brilliant sales expert asked if they had a printer at home – they did so we showed them our deal on ink. They bought two cartridges and received an additional $2.50 off the already good price. They received another voucher, for $3.50. They bought a door stopper for $29.95 and got $3.50 off. No more they said with a smile. They gave us the voucher from the door stopper to give to someone else.
These true stories show how front-ending loyalty can change shopper behaviour in an immediate and valuable way. Shoppers love the transparency of the Discount Vouchers. As a retailer I love the incremental sales.
The newsagency business model needs changing at the store level and nationally. The nature of our businesses and the channel is such that such wholesale change is unlikely. The Discount Vouchers offer a practical way for us to change at the store level, to play outside the field of the old and less trusted VIP and points based loyalty programs.
We recently stopped doing business with a supplier who regularly swept our bank account based on sales using a direct debit facility. Several weeks after closing the account they swept our account twice for money owed by another business in our centre.
This is a cautionary reminder to newsagents to shut down direct debits if you cease doing business with a supplier.
These horror skulls are a heap of fun. They are squishy in a skin crawling way. The skulls are oozing with maggot like worms. Customers who pick them up pull a face and then, usually, smile.
We are using the horror skulls at the front of the shop to attract kids. Kids bring parents. Parents buy them for their kids and often browse the shop.
It’s basic retail and it’s working for us.
I am guessing other newsagents have received the email from Optus advising that their new account is now active and pitching gifts and offers – when newsagents have not signed up for Optus.
Optus is not handling going direct to retailers well. Indeed, this latest unsolicited communication is demonstrating poor management or dreadful presumption.
We do not have a traditional newspaper stand in any of my newsagencies. Newspapers located on retail shelving in the rear third of the store.
I was in a newsagency earlier this week where they had the old newspaper publisher mandated stand at the front of the shop, stacked with newspapers.
While this space is profitable, because of current volume, the sales trend will see it be loss making in the next few months. The newsagent is reluctant to move newspapers because it’s my bread and butter. I argued it’s also the bread and butter of the two local supermarkets, three petrol outlets,a nearby convenience store and national brand convenience store. Newspapers are not the point of difference they used to be.
The newspaper stand could be repurposed into a feature gift, homewares, plush or stationery display. Done well, featuring unique product, it could generate considerably more GP than current newspaper sales.
Prime real estate in a modern retail newsagency needs to call out, promote, what the business stands for.
Given where newspaper publishers have placed their products for sale, it is appropriate for newsagents to reclaim the old-style newspaper stand at the front of the shop for making a more relevant and valuable retail statement. Newspapers work fine in less expensive less high profile space. Such a move can be done without losing a single sale.
Where are newspapers in your newsagency?