Check out the newsstand I saw on a main road in Beijing yesterday. This is the first newsstand I have seen here. It reminded me of what I have seen throughout Europe. In convenience stores, supermarkets and other outlets so far – no newspapers or magazines. Nor on the streets but then I have seen but a tiny fraction of the country.
For those interested in commentary and discussion on the future of newspapers and the future of journalism (two different things), check out the article at gigaom about an interview by New York Times media writer David Carr.
The article reports on an interview with Carr on CBC Radio in Canada. You can listen to the interview here. It’s a fascinating consideration of the future of journalism and touches on the future of newspapers.
Interviews and articles like these are useful since the challenges of disruption faced by print newspapers and professional journalists are not dissimilar to the challenges we newsagents face in the traditional model of our businesses.
The range of Moshi Monster plush we have in-store is working a treat for us – just like the Moshi Monster magazines and cards. Moshi Monsters is a money-making brand for newsagents and since our plush sales are so strong – $1,000+ a week – it made sense for us to extend our reach of support for the brand.
The other thing to like about Moshi Monsters is that while the brand appeals primarily to kids, there is a growing adult support for the brand. Oh, and once someone is engaged with the brand, they talk about and this sends their family and friends looking for Moshi Monster themed gifts.
While the items in the photo are part of our plush offer, I class them also as collectibles – a segment of our business on which we seriously focus because of the value we get from it.
We are promoting the Women’s Health Training Guide in front of Women’s Health magazine. We know from previous issues of the Training Guide that this is the way to do it. We usually sell out without any difficultly, before we have to pay the invoice for the magazine.
Timed for Spring, we are planning for the Training Guide to feature in our Spring promotion in a couple of weeks – for this we are bringing products together from several categories for a bright and fun display.
News Limited outlets reported last week that retailers in Queensland claim a 70% increase in shoplifting (theft) over the last six years. Russell Zimmermann of the Australian Retailers Association was quoted:
“Retailers end up having to put the cost of theft into their business and it then behooves the public, if they realise there could be theft going on, to alert the retailer.”
Queensland has the third highest rate of shoplifting in Australia, behind NSW ($2.3 billion) and Victoria ($1.9 billion).
While I have not seen the 70% increase reported, I have seen an increase – not only of shoplifting but also fraud by employees. Indeed, tracking employee fraud is something I am often asked for help with by newsagents. Some of these cases are shocking in their magnitude.
Through the newsagency computer systems there are steps newsagents can take to track and protect against theft. My challenge for newsagents today is: what are you doing about managing theft in your business? If it is not part of your management plan it needs to be. Talk to your software provider and get their best practice theft management advice.
From a theft policy to regular spot stock takes to password management to tight cash control, there are steps newsagents often ignore that could save tens of thousands of dollars in business expenses.
This is something completely within our management control.
We have been promoting the ParcelPoint parcel pick up service at the sales counter with the placement of this brochure. It’s generating interest, letting shoppers know that we can be a collection point for online purchases.
If consumers ask their online shopping suppliers to offer ParcelPoint collection then we can expect to see parcel business grow. Being freight company agnostic means parcelPoint can develop more relationships and therefore get more coverage for the hundreds of newsagents in the network.
I understand the value of a good gift with a magazine to help drive sales. It is especially useful in drawing attention to one title over a competitor. Sometimes, the gifts all look the same (even if they are different), thereby losing the point of difference factor in driving sales of one title over another.
With the gifts associated wit the current issues of Madison, InStyle and Harper’s Bazaar all looking the same I wonder what shoppers think. Of course, publishers can’t co-ordinate gifts, I understand that. When we encounter what we have today on the shelves we try and separate the titles – if space permits.
I want the sales lift a good gift can bring.
Newsagents are being called today and have been called over the weekend and asked to print our a Ukash voucher. Some callers say they are from ePay. This is a scam.
There is a good Tumblr site with more about Ukash and related topics such as scams.
I am in China this morning, in Beijing and about to head out for the first event in a Trade Mission organised by the Victorian Government. My software company was invited to participate in pursuit of sales opportunities to independent and small retailers here. There are 600 delegates here from 400 companies. Plus the Premier and several ministers. It’s the biggest ever trade mission from Victoria and my first.
We will be covering five cities over the next five days before a couple of days in Hong Kong and business elsewhere in Asia for three days. So, blogging could be light. I have racked up some posts ready to go on topics I think will interest newsagents. I’ll be in daily contact with my newsagencies and other colleagues and will try and publish posts to help facilitate the conversations we have here.
Here is part of what Business Victoria has published about the trade mission:
The Super Trade Mission to China is the largest ever to leave Australia’s shores. China is Victoria’s largest trading partner and is a major engine of global economic growth. As China’s economy grows and its appetite for sophisticated consumer products develops, Victorian organisations offer a safe and superior range of goods and services for the China market.
This historic mission allows participants to gain a first-hand understanding of China’s market dynamics and give them the opportunity to showcase their organisation and forge new connections with potential qualified customers, business partners and investors.
This mission strengthens the Victorian investment relationship with China significantly and generate substantial new opportunities for both economies, as well as additional exports and jobs for Victoria.
Participants represent industries of strategic importance to both Victoria and China including: automotive, aviation and aerospace, cleantech, education, food and beverage, ICT, life sciences, mining equipment and technology services, professional services (including financial, carbon markets and healthcare), sustainable urban design and tourism.
While I am here for my software business, I also plan to take in the retail situation and learn from the opportunities in this rapidly growing economy.
We had a customer, a grandmother, in last week wanting to purchase one of our posters promoting The Blob – an iPhone / iPad / sat. nav. stand sold exclusively through newsXpress. She wanted the poster because her grandson is (lovingly) called Blob. She wanted the poster for his room as a gift.
We sold her an A1 poster for $10.00. She was thrilled. We were thrilled too.
I know we are not the only newsagency to be approached by customers wanting to purchase marketing collateral. We’ve had it before ourselves with One Direction and Bieber themed posters. This time we were especially excited as it’s a product no one else has and this request boosted the hype have been nurturing.
We have sold more than 110 copies of the Cake Decorating partwork and are contemplating ordering more stock as we are very close to selling out. We are making the most of the opportunity by placing additional food titles next to this second location of the partwork near newspapers.
I firmly believe that we create our own success and that this starts with personal accountability. These beliefs see us use highly advertised products, like cake decorating, to sell other items. We do this by their location in store and product adjacencies. The result is a higher return from the launch issue prices at $1.99. Promote only the $1.99 item and you get a $1.99 sale. Promote it with other items appealing to the same consumer and you drive far more efficient business from the $1.99 appeal.
We have been promoting the latest issue of Grand Designs magazine with this placement with weeklies. Yes, the issue is more than a month old. We know from the launch issue that it sells through the on-sale … hence our continued promotion.
Too often, newsagents only promote a title early in the on-sale – some respond eight and more weeks in.
Newsagents push a bunch of different brands through their businesses and I am not talking here about branded products. Think about shopper bags, uniforms, name badges, the shingle above the door, the floor mat, in-store signs, magazine headers, department place signs, business cards, vehicles, in-store radio, receipts – what is the brand on all of these. It should be the one brand on all, the brand under which you trade.
I have seen a newsagency recently promote their business under three brands across the mediums I list above. This confuses shoppers and dilutes the brand message of the business.
I was fortunate to hear Jamie Nordstrom, of the great Nordstrom department store group ($10B in annual sales) speak at the shop.org conference earlier this week. He was there to talk about their highly successful engagement across a range of platforms and formats, to share insights into tech strategies they are using in their omni-channel model.
But it was not the tech stuff that engaged Nordstrom the most. He was his most passionate when talking about customer service, something Nordstrom has been known for for decades.
For the most part, Nordstrom does not have unique products . The Nordstrom point of difference is customer service. It’s embedded in their DNA.
We don’t have unique products in our businesses, only unique customer service. Nordstrom attributes its exceptional growth to their focus on customer service. Each experience have had shopping there was memorable.
The question I ask myself and all newsagents should ask themselves is: what can I do to improve our customer service?
Nothing earth shattering, nothing new here. However, the extraordinary same store growth at Nordstrom suggests they are getting this customer service thing right.
We are promoting the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine along with Best Ever Recipes with newspapers for the next week.
This is a prime location for us in driving impulse purchases. We know BHG works a treat here. Our hope is that Best Ever works just as well – this is a challenge because of the high cover price but it’s more of a book than a magazine.
We are giving some food related titles additional support with this placement directly below weekly magazines. This is a category that works well for us so extra coverage is certain to help achieve incremental business and that;s what we want from the additional commitment.
We have selected titles for this spot that people will not be seeking out – we are chasing impulse purchase business.
We’ll leave this up for two weeks.
Ever since the David Marr report about Tony Abbott in the latest issue of Quarterly Essay made the news this week we have had the title in prominent display with newspapers. We will sell out of the initial allocation and have ordered more stock.
We made a sale today to a customer who had come to us after another newsagent had told her they had not heard of the title. While I am thrilled we won the business, I am disappointed to be connected to someone who did not even take the time to provide even basic customer service.
This story represents the weakness of our shingle, that our business is tied to another providing such poor customer service. Businesses with the shingle are only as good as the worst operator. We let ourselves down yet we ignore this and complain about our suppliers as the cause.
The Sydney Morning Herald today has the headline promoting a story about champion racehorse Black Caviar covered up with a stuck-on ad from Citibank. I can’t understand why they would promote a story on page one of the newspaper if they are going to cover the promotion in this way with an ad. I feel for the folks who worked on the Black caviar story and for the retailers who lost sales because people who may have purchased the paper for the Black Caviar story missed it. No matter, the story is free online.
I am grateful to a colleague for sharing the picture.
I was interested to see news coverage yesterday of consideration being given by Myer to close some stores on Sundays because of the high cost of penalty rates to the business. While Myer was part of the problem many years ago calling for Sunday trading, I am glad to see the company talking about the debilitating cost of penalty rates to efficient retail trade.
Retailers operate in a global economy. More and more our competitiors are worldwide. Just as politicians understand, and tell us, that Australia needs to be competitive on a global stage, they need to legislate to enable our businesses to be so competitive. The current penalty rate arrangements for weekend casual employees harms our productivity and sales.
I am certain that if newsagents and other small business retailers did not have to pay penalty rates for casual employees we would employ more people, improve customer service and sell more product and therefore pay more tax.
Read this: I support Nick Xenophon’s proposed penalty rate change.
Check out the gum dispenser I found in a newsagency a week back. I like this a lot as shoppers will notice it as they hand money over and accept change.
This type of unit has been used for used for instant scratch tickets.
Ideally, the unit could be used for different products every few weeks – sharing the high-traffic space with other items.
We take care with our magazine adjacencies. This placement of vegetarian titles is a good example. By taking care to get common niche titles next to each other we tend to drive multiple purchases from the same niche.
It can be a challenge to get this done when putting magazines out – so we run through the department later in the day, tweaking placement solely to drive multiple title purchases.
We are have been promoting the Pacific Magazines Win a holiday in Fiji competition this week with this display at the counter. I love these displays by the team at the counter around a single promotion or theme. It drives shopper engagement and connects us well with the prize on offer – in this case the Fiji holiday.
We love promoting great competitions as it reinforces a a good value proposition.
We have been promoting the latest issue of Dolly magazine (and the free nail kit) with this aisle end display plus a waterfall placement in the usual location for the title. Both allocations will run for the first week of the on-sale.
In week two we will pull back to the waterfall and maybe a promotion elsewhere space permitting.
Days into his presidency, early in 2009 US President Barack Obama signed into a massive tax hike on tobacco. The result is a historic reduction in people smoking. George Bush twice rejected a tax hike on tobacco. The cost to the health system and lives as a result of the lack of a tax hike years is immeasurable.
It is data like this that will spur governments to adopt the Australian plain packaging laws and other measures on tobacco product sales.
Regardless of your position on tobacco, newsagents who sell tobacco need to think about exiting the category. It’s in decline. This will increase on the back of the amazing US result announced a few days ago and the expected result of plain packaging here. There will come a time when tobacco products are not paying their way – for the space and labour the require.
I quit the category in 1999 when our sales were around $1,500 a week. We didn’t skip a beat.
Beyond the issue of social responsibility is the matter of business performance. With governments around the world closing in on big tobacco there is little upside for retailers, especially when there are many other uses for time, space and capital.
I expect hundreds of newsagents will get to the Reed Gift Fair in Sydney this weekend – if previous years are anything to go by. My sense is that newsagent attendance is up each year by more than 10% as the channel looks for new products to offer in-store. It’s well worth checking out if you can get there … I’d even say mandatory for newsagents who have never been.