We have been promoting the latest issue of marie claire magazine with this display at the entrance to our women’s magazine aisle. Most copies sold of this issue have been sold from this location. It has been working a treat for us, especially over the last few days.
We have been promoting Prevention magazine on the aisle end. This the second promotional location for this issue given the terrific publicity it has received thanks to the belly melt diet book. The issue is selling well from here as well as the usual location for the title.
An the ad from Woolworths promoting Weet-Bix covers the main page-one headline of the day in the Sunday Herald Sun newspaper today. Okay so AFL fans would say the story about Geelong was the main story of the day. It wasn’t. The page one news story of the day was about sex education being provided to kids as young as five. If the editorial team decided this was the lead, why take money from Woolworths to cover up the headline? Nuts.
My rant about the cover-up aside – Woolworths is smart is calling the promotion a Sticky Special. This gives the mechanism for delivering the promotion greater relevance.
In case you missed it yesterday (and don’t scroll down the posts here), click here to read the warning about the tub of glitter with the first issue of the cake decorating partwork.
Newsagency software has passwords for good reason. Too often newsagents do not change their passwords. Password abuse is a common factor in employee fraud. Regularly changing the highest level password and not sharing this with people is one of the best steps newsagents can take to protect their data and their cash. How well are you protected?
Up-selling is a challenge for many in retail, especially in the local newsagency. To many, it feels uncomfortable and forced, a chore employees often do only because they have to.
Those most successful have usually found how to inject themselves into the up-selling process. It can take time to find the words that work. Smart retailers provide their employees time and encouragement to discover this for themselves.
To force it and demand a pitch be made across the counter can do more harm than good.
Here are some example or up-sell scripts. Some are full scripts while others are the opening words. They are designed to kick start your own ideas.
Asking for extra business is half the battle to getting extra business. Retail employees are more likely to engage if you have good offers to pitch. Find items of relevance and price them for efficient selling. The best items are those which fit with the most common items you sell – like fries fit with burgers.
Allow your team the time to develop the words which work for them to turn your good ideas into extra sales.
Remember, up-selling is personal.
The tub of glitter packaged with the launch issue of the Cake decorating partwork now on sale in newsagencies (and 30 Woolworths outlets!) contains glitter that is NOt edible. Given that this is a care decorating product I would have thought that the glitter was edible. That is what some customers thought as newsagents have already told me.
To warn customers, the team at one of my stores created a warning notice. It’s the black on yellow notice in the photo. Click here to download a copy of the glitter warning notice.
Network aServices and DeAgostini should have strongly warned newsagents about this. The risk of litigation in the event of harm caused y the glitter is considerable given the very hard to read warning on the lid of the glitter.
Amazon’s launch of the new Kindle Fire yesterday with new models and more competitive pricing kicks off a season of product releases taking the digital access platform options to a new level. The new launches from Amazon, Apple and others will give consumers experiences to challenge the love many still have for reading works and looking at pictures on a page of paper. The disruption of the print channel gathers pace with these releases.
At least one major insurer is refusing to renew insurance coverage for retailers in Far North Queensland in response to weather related claims over the last two years. This is a challenge as these businesses need coverage to meet lease and other obligations.
Insurance companies are in business to assess and fund risk. This is what they do. For a company to refuse coverage, it fails in its core business.
I feel for the retailers now left without insurance and a week or two to organise coverage.
On Thursday, the federal government released the report from the Low Value Parcel Processing Taskforce. The taskforce was a government initiative as a result of from last year’s Productivity Commission report on the Australian retail sector recommending that while the low value threshold should be lowered or removed, it shouldn’t happen while the costs compliance outweighed revenue gained. This taskforce report identifies how the government can make the collection of revenue more cost effective and provides a roadmap for getting there. I like the recommendations put forward. They make sense. However, there is a long road ahead if they are to be implemented.
Why does this matter to newsagents? We are losing sales to online, especially overseas online. Any measure that can be taken to ensure an equal regulatory playing field for all retailers ought to be welcome.
I usually place Organic magazine with gardening magazines. When I saw it is a shop earlier this week with food titles I realised I had been making a mistake. This is a magazine foodies will purchase, especially if they are into organic food. So, I am changing location and following the better location – with food.
I am told that UK publisher DeAgostini has agreed to a trial in Woolworths outlets for the Cake Decorating partwork which has launched in Australia. While only a trial in 30 Woolworths stores, this is a move set to hurt newsagents, long term supporters of partworks and the only retailers capable of handling the customer service queries and requirements around partworks.
Shame on DeAgostini and Network Services for this.
I have heard from Network Services that Eaglemoss appears likely to agree for newsagents to sell the chess board for the DC Chess Collection about which I wrote earlier this week. I expect the chess board to be available on a firm sale bases. Newsagents could pre-sell the board to mitigate against customer orders not collected.
I have been asked by many newsagents over the last couple of days about whether the purchase of ACP (and Network Services) by Bauer is good for magazines and the newsagency channel. As I noted a couple of days ago, I see the purchase as being good. Here’s why:
As with any takeover, there are bound to be changes. I’d expect them to be focused on driving sales and thereby the return Bauer achieves from their ownership.
I like the consumer flyer provided by ACP to support the launch of Women’s Fitness magazine next week. This gives newsagents something to hand to shoppers promoting the title and its availability in-store.
I like the ability for stores to include their details. I have suggested to ACP that next time this is a fillable PDF – i.e. newsagents could type onto the flyer rather than stamping each copy.
A newsagent who sells National Geographic was base aware of a local tourist accommodation venue nearby being given many bundles for giveaway. It’s hard to compete with free.
The latest issue of Rolling Stone is an excellent opportunity for newsagents thanks to the Michael Jackson cover celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of Bad. Many who would not usually purchase the magazine will consider this issue. To grab their attention we need to pitch the title outside its usual location: newspapers, the counter or at an aisle entrance. Grabbing sales is about tactical placement rather than a billboard display.
The DC Chess Collection partwork from UK publisher Eaglemoss is being sold incomplete through our channel. It turns out that customers who want to complete the collection with the chess board can only do this by subscribing direct.
This is appalling, an abuse of our channel.
The requirement that you can only get the chess board by subscribing through Eaglemoss is disrespectful of newsagents who so strongly support partworks.
That we have a magazine distributor that could allow newsagents to be abused in this way is disappointing.
Unless Eaglemoss recants, this is one partwork I will no longer support.
A concern for many newsagents is the potential for changes to magazine distribution arrangements as a result of the News Limited T2020 project.
Gotch and Network have each said they are looking at how T2020 will impact their businesses. The big questions for retail newsagents is whether there will be operational and margin impacts. These are questions also being asked by people looking at purchasing newsagency businesses.
I have spoken with Gotch and Network and neither is making any statement at the moment.
I’d be interested in hearing, by way of a comment here, from newsagents about experiences with magazine returns to network or Gotch. With returns often dropped to what could appear to be an unstaffed location, I’d be curious to hear if newsagents find this challenging for getting the credits they expect.
I was thrilled to see the writing on the blow-up trophy used in a display in our newsagency.
No. 1 Newsagency.
I like fun of the statement and the pride behind it. Being a good business starts with everyone involved believing in the business.
The trophy gives us something to live up to. That the team did this without being asked makes me happy.
We have the just-released Christmas ornament Keepsakes at the front of the business, facing shoppers as they enter.
I like these products for several reasons – quality, the Hallmark brand and their appeal to collectors. It’s the appeal to collectors that is most important here. Collectors are valuable shoppers – their purchases over time and their excellent word of mouth promotion of products they like and collect.
We have plenty of other collectibles in-store and they work a treat too.
I like that this Hallmark Christmas ornament Keepsakes range is not available to everyone.
This is another display we have in-sore promoting the FIJI trips on offer thanks to a competition being run by Pacific Magazines in newsagencies.
We are promoting the competition in several locations to make the most of the opportunity – here, next to newspapers and with the magazines themselves in their usual location.
It’s our experience that promoting a major prize in several high-traffic locations in-store at once works better than one big display. This is more likely to deliver the sales uplift we want.
Newsagents should be ready to make the most of coverage of the latest issue of Prevention magazine on Today Tonight tonight. As the flyer from Pacific Magazines says, coverage like this leads to a terrific sales spike.
This is an opportunity for newsagents to embrace.
Place Prevention with your weeklies, at your counter, next to newspapers – where you get the most eyeballs.