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

No space for Street Commodores

We found ourselves with two issues of Street Commodores because of an overlap in supply. We had one pocket allocated to the title and so decided to early return the oldest issue.

Newsagents can’t create space out of nothing. Especially at Christmas – there is no room at the Inn. Magazine departments are full in just about every newsagency so a publisher putting another title into the channel is trying to grab space which does not exist.

Think about this all publishers please. Even playing with on sale dates leaving a title on sale for a couple of weeks longer creates a space problem.

While magazine sales are down year on year, actual supply to newsagencies is not.  This is one reason newsagents get angry about the supply model.

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magazine distribution

Enough Pat Callinan!

We received this issue of Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures for the third time and I said enough is enough. The second delivery came in when we still had stock of the first. This third delivery, while bagged with a bonus DVD, is too much. The title has been on the shelves too long. It’s not paying the rent and has not paid the rent then entire time we had it. So, we have early returned the stock.

This is an example of magazine distributors abusing the trust of newsagents.

I should be able to set supply criteria for each of my newsagencies and this should determine whether a title is sent a second or third time.  That I cannot control this and therefore my indebtedness to magazine distributors is evidence of an unfair relationship given how accountable we are held for what we owe.

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magazines

Attracting new shoppers vital to the Newsagency of the Future

This is a photo of the front of one of my newsagencies from Saturday.

Looking from left to right you can see how we target groups of shoppers. We have our plush department gently spilling out the side of the store then we have our diary story followed by boxed Christmas cards and some selected gift lines then we have an interactive toy offer on the far right. Click on the image to see the detail.  Each product grouping is in a defined space, targeting specific shoppers.

The displays are low profile. Shoppers drawn to these can easily see inside and a broader range of products.

The time we spend on the front of the store, facing into the mall, is like a marketing investment for us. We see this space as a living catalogue or flyer … designed to attract new shoppers to our business. Hence the attention on connecting with a range of demographics.

Shoppers can enter through three points. Pushers, trolleys and wheelchairs all fit, just.

I have talked a lot here and elsewhere this year about the Newsagency of the Future. This store is my living version of it. But it’s a work in progress as any newsagency should be. We like to have at least two items and / or product categories at the front of the store, facing into the mall, that shoppers would not expect to see in our business. This is our way of bringing them on a journey of change with us.

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newsagency marketing

Newsagency robberies on the increase

Every few days I hear of another newsagency being robbed for cash and products that can be turned into cash. Check your insurance cover, make sure that it is right for your situation. Check your security arrangements and make sure that you and your employees are protected. Check your video security system, ensuring that it can caputure images of anyone stealing from you. Make sure your safe is appropriate to your needs.

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theft

Burke’s Backyard to go?

The Australian is today reporting that Burke’s Backyard could be the next magazine to be closed at Bauer (ACP).  While the garden magazine space has some good titles, including Burke’s, it does not have a genuine hero title around which newsagents can build a strong in-store presence. This sees the category receive insufficient attention.

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magazines

Newsagency marketing tip: interactive products drive impulse counter purchases

We have had these Chatter Munks at the counter for just on a week with one of them turned on so customers can experience them first-hand. It is terrific seeing someone purchase one on impulse, extending the basket with an excellent margin item.

What is even more exciting is the opportunity to say to a customer if you like this you’ll probably like … – I saw that happen yesterday and the suggested item was purchased as well. All up, $35.00 added to the basket on impulse – all because of this cute little Chatter Munk display at the counter.

So here is my tip: try low to medium priced interactive products at the counter. They work better for us than candy.

Anything you do at the counter should have a week, maybe two, to run. If it does not work for you, try something else. The keys to success I have found are: de-clutter so that the product you are targeting can be seen, make sure it is easily understood, love the product, train your team, make sure its relevant to your shoppers.

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Gifts

Newsagency management tip: know your basket size

Good newsagency software gives newsagents easy access to the average number of items in each shopping basked and the average value of purchases in each shopping basket.

The current newsagency channel average, not taking into account lottery product sales, is 1.53 items per basket. This is low compared to any of our peer retailers. Do you know what your figure is and whether it has changed this year compared to last? Go find out, it’s important since your most important competitor in terms of business performance is you.

My own newsagency software provides basket size data on several reports, so we can easily see how we are tracking compared to last year, last month and for other times. Growing basket size is one of a series of growth KPIs we have for our businesses as part of what we call a small steps strategy.

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Management tip

The TURDAY AGE

The masthead of The Saturday Age was partially obscured yesterday by an ad stuck on, over the masthead, promoting catch of the day – one of the many deals sites selling things cheap – an odd product to advertise in a newspaper.

It is disappointing to see such a respected brand trashed in this way. Yeah they need every dollar they can get. But to do it at the cost of their own brand? Nuts in my view. If their brand, their masthead, really does have value, they need to protect it and do to it and with it only what adds value to the brand. Instead, with these ads stuck over it, they trash it and dilute its value.

Years from now, university and other students will write reports and papers about how newspapers managed their brands through this period of transition. What is being done to the brand of The Age will not be a positive story.

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newspaper masthead desecration

Using the Better Homes and Gardens display unit

We have the Better Homes and Gardens floor display unit a metre in from the lease line, facing into the mall. This is one of three locations from which we are promoting the latest issue and the prior issue of BHG. We are also promoting Feast and the BHG Christmas Cookbook on the stand.

While space is at a premium, we are committed to keeping this stand in this location for the next couple of weeks. It’s sturdy and therefore not prone to shopper damage. But more important than that, this stand works, it drives incremental business for us.

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magazines

Jail sentence over Bill Express

SmartCompany is reporting that Enzo di Donato has received a suspended jail sentence of one year for matters related to Bill Express, the bill payment system promoted to newsagents from 2003 to 2008 by the ANF.

While claiming another scalp is good news for the regulators, they are yet to bring to account enough of those involved in what I’d label a scam that stripped newsagency businesses of more than $70 million.

Newsagents were used to fund other activities of the group. We were pressured to sign leases costing around $25,000 over term for equipment worth just a few thousand dollars. Promises were often made by company representatives that were not fulfilled. The handling of the matter split industry associations and newsagents. While some of us were telling newsagents to stop paying their leases, the ANF advised newsagents to keep paying. The company collapsed around a year after this and outstanding lease payments were not pursued.

There are directors and others of the business who I’d like to see brought to account.

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Bill Express

The perfect merchandiser

The merchandising unit for one of our Christmas items has a LCD screen on which plays a commercial for the item. This is the perfect merchandising unit. The video attracts shoppers. In a minute they see how the product works and who it appeals to.

The sound is not intrusive – just enough to attract shopper attention.

The video is a key factor in achieving sales of 15 in just over a week.

Showing products to shoppers is key to retail success. The video playing does this without costing is labour. This is where the unit with the LCD screen works a treat.

This screen is similar to what we used some years ago promoting a paper cutter from 3M.

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Gifts

Terrific small business campaign supported by American Express

I like the look of Small Business Saturday, a promotional campaign being run by American Express and supported by many corporations in support of small businesses in the US. Amex claims that last year one hundred million people shopped in their local communities in support of the event.  Check out the website and see the support materials available.

This reads like a terrific event, one I’d like to see one of our banks in Australia get behind. Plenty of media outlets are supporting the event including local outlets like the Hampshire Review.

 

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retail

Connecting with Twitter interest

We are promoting the new Twitter Guide by placing it across a row in our business magazine section. The magazine have been placed in a way so that it is seen down the end of our women’s magazine aisle. If this doesn’t see sales in the first week we will try the title with newspapers. People won’t be shopping looking for a twitter magazine – hence our work on chasing impulse opportunities.

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magazines

GQ worth promoting

The latest issue of GQ is worth giving attention to since it is the Man of the Year issue and has been subject to excellent media attention. We have the magazine in its usual location as well as with women’s fashion magazines where we hope to pick up some impulse purchases.

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magazines

Interesting numbers for Supanews $1M promotion

Franchising magazine today published a report on a consumer promotion run by Supanews. The contest attracted more than 110,000 entries and 14,000 Facebook likes over six weeks. Impressive numbers and even more so if the group leverages the database into more shopper traffic and sales.

The promotion is interesting in that the winner gets to participate in a game of chance which has a a one in fifty chance of winning a $1 million prize.

Building and cultivating a shopper database is important in today’s retail world.

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marketing

The Submissive – an opportunity for newsagents

1,200 newsagents are set to be sent a small quantity of stock of The Submissive, an erotic novel in the vein of Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s being allocated to Nexus newsagents and some other key newsagent accounts through Gotch.

This is an excellent commercial opportunity: 50% margin, sale or return and delayed billing. Cover price: $16.99. Newsagents will get stock at launch.

The Submissive is set to get excellent media attention at launch. It’s covered in New Idea this week. It has received some excellent reviews overseas.

I like that we have an opportunity to offer a product to Fifty Shades fans and to do this on terms equal to book retailers. I plan to pitch this as a Christmas gift.

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Book retailing

Spree of bulk magazine thefts in Melbourne

Several newsagents in Melbourne have experienced the theft of magazine bundles on different days in recent weeks. In at least one case, accompanying in-store promotional collateral was stolen.  The nature of the thefts suggests someone is in need of bulk magazine stock for distribution.

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Ethics

Connecting with local promotions

Just Cars magazine is promoting Geelong revival, a two-day car racing event for Geelong in two weeks. What interests me about this is the magazine brand tie-in and the opportunity for newsagents in the region to get behind the event and to use it to help drive magazine sales. I hope that those involved have connected with newsagents.

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magazines

Promoting Better Homes and Gardens and Grand Designs Australia

We are promoting the Christmas issue of Better Homes and Gardens and the latest issue of Grand Designs Australia with newspapers in addition to the usual locations for these titles. This placement between out two major daily newspapers is important as it’s the best impulse purchase location for magazines and has been in newsagencies for years. Both titles will see a sales lift as a result. For us, it’s easy bonus margin dollars as copies will be purchased which otherwise would not have been.

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magazines

Promoting Dolly and the free hair kit

We are promoting the latest issue of Dolly magazine and the free hair kit with the latest issue of the magazine. We have this aisle-end display as well as active promotion in the usual location for the title. The One Direction and other teen traffic generators at the moment should heighten interest in Dolly for us.

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magazines

Newsagents missing in the race to multi channel

Newsagents are nowhere in the race by major retailers to the multi-channel (or omni-channel) world where you connect with a shopper regardless of where they are – online, mobile or in-store.  OfficeMax in the US has just announced their moves in the space and a commitment to own the office products shopper.

Given the ownership structure of newsagencies it will be a challenge for a channel wide multi-channel solution as this would require central ownership.  I expect that some entrepreneurial newsagents will emerge as leaders in this space.

We already did it in one of my stores six or more years ago, as I have written previously, in the ink space. With the OfficeMax move in the US and the Staples moves here in Australia, newsagents need to be responding either online or redefining their in-store stationery pitch.

It all comes down to knowing what you are good at and leveraging that to success you can achieve with your resources.

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Newsagency management

PMP share price drops 34% in a month

The PMP share price is now at 16.5 cents, that’s a decline of 34% since mid October and a drop from 50 cents in May.  PMP owns magazine distributor Gordon and Gotch.

While the share price is a reflection on the overall business, it will concern suppliers to and customers of Gotch. It concerns me and makes me wonder if we will end up with one large magazine distributor. I understand we have IPS but their growth is tied to the future of Fairfax.

There have been some share register changes at PMP that could have impacted the price. But that was weeks back.

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magazine distribution

Newsagent supplier alert: fraud by a newsagent

There is a newsagent in Sydney who had defrauded two suppliers to the tune of $40,000 in the last two weeks, $20,000 of that this week. While I will not go into details here, if you are a newsagent supplier and you want details, call me on 0418 321 338. I’ll gladly give you a store name.

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Ethics
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