The bagged copies of Jamie magazine we received on Friday were unmerchantable in our view. On full view from the front of the pack was an old copy of Jamie magazine with the old price label on it. This would confuse shoppers. Some of the labels were of a poor quality and they detract from the professionalism of the product. We made the decision to early return all stock. These products should not have got through QA at Network.
It is now almost seven weeks since the first One Direction one shot appeared on our shelves and sales relating to the boy band continue to be good enough to warrant prime position for One Direction products we have.
We have become known as the One Direction go to retailer in our region. This has been helped by our promotion that we will have the 2013 One Direction calendar in-store a month ahead of any other retailer nearby.
Right now while we have three one-shot titles in store it’s the Girlfriend One Direction Aussie Tour one-shot that is selling well. I put this down to excellent social media coverage by Pacific and by fans.
The new traffic being generated by One Direction interest is playing out across the business with parents who accompany their kids looking at other products we sell and the kids themselves occasionally purchasing other items.
I look forward to the Lindt issue of Delicious magazine, when they bag the magazine with a block of Lindt chocolate. My only frustration is when it sells out a day or two after the on sale and we can’t get more stock. It’s happened with the latest issue. We could have sold four times usual supply if there was stock. We’d promote it at the counter where it would work a treat.
Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett yesterday said on radio 3AW Neil Mitchell’s top rating program yesterday that newsagents are struggling in the face of media consumption moving from print to digital.
I didn’t hear the comment but it’s been confirmed that he said we are struggling. Hmm. here are my questions for Jeff:
There is no doubt that we are seeing people shift their news andy information consumption from print to digital. This has been happening for years.
While some newsagents are standing still while the tsunami of change rolls in around and even over them, many newsagents are not. Indeed, many newsagents saw the tsunami way off the coast and started changing their businesses for a new era.
We are in the middle of the most significant shifting what a Australian newsagency is. We don’t need Jeff Kennett tell us or make ill-considered and ignorant comments about this.
Jeff Kennett’s comments remind me of Bill Shorten’s equally puzzling and ignorant comment on Q&A in February which he has not has the guts to deal with since.
I’d like to meet Jeff Kennett and discuss his thoughts about newsagents and share with him some financial results which will challenge his perception.
The Australian newsagency is vital to country towns and city shopping strips. We provide a mix of products and services which are important to the community. We are price competitive and service competitive. We are not protected in any way. We are locally owned businesses serving local families, meeting local needs and helping local communities.
An important difference between small business newsagents and big retailers is that we don’t have their marketing budget, we rely on word of mouth. Thanks Jeff Kennett.
We have come out of Mother’s Day with this display of funky gifts at the front of the newsagency, facing into the shopping mall.
The table is full of cool items targeting shoppers from their teens through to their early thirties.
This is part of our plan to stretch our gift shopper demographic down the age scale. Newsagencies easily attract older shoppers and we, through this display, and a range of other initiatives, are targeting younger shoppers for gift purchases.
It is challenging trying to appeal to a demographic which is not your typical gift buyer, especially with gifts which you would more likely see in a gift shop in Newtown in Sydney or Acland Street St Kilda in Melbourne. I think we have to try this though and show that we’re not a typical newsagency.
We had some of these items prior to Mother’s Day and they worked a treat. I had one customer in his early 30s purchase a Rubik’s Cube mug for his Mum because when he was a kid his Mum would complain when he would play with the Cube at the dinner table.
We have chosen funky gifts which are easily understood, fun and could be given for current appeal or nostalgia value. More than half the gifts reflect respected international brands. This connects with our solid brand commitment.
The moves outlined here are part of our Mother’s Day through Father’s Day strategy. We are working on turning what is usually a flat retail period into a time of fun and sales growth.
I was in Darwin earlier this week and saw these three magazines we don’t get in any of my newsagencies in a newsagency in decent quantities. It was a reminder of the diversity of magazines available for sale. It reminded me of the challenge we have when we want to expand range, the challenge of selecting new titles.
I was pleased to see a new artwork launch this week. While The Hood will not be another Baked & delicious, the launch will hopefully bring in some new traffic from fans for this type of build your own partwork.
As newsagents are the go to retail outlets for artworks, I hope that this launch will be promoted on TV or in some other forum which taps into the interests of the likely customers for the title.
I’d remind newsagents that artwork shoppers have historically been more efficient for us, delivering a deeper basket than non artwork shoppers.
We are promoting Madison magazine and the free umbrella which comes with the title with this high-profile aisle end display.
The umbrella is clearly the eye-catching feature thanks to the bright colour and that the team has opened it above the display … leading to the usual superstitions.
The umbrella is a good gift at an ideal time – certainly here in Melbourne. It’s already driving good sales for the title.
I am disappointed that newsagencies are not tagged in more TV and other advertising for magazines. Promoting a title without publicising where to purchase it benefits newsagency competitors more than us. Is that what publishers want?
We have taken some time to look carefully at the performance of our Mother’s Day gifts and the category this year compared to last to be sure of the results. We achieved year on year sales growth of more than 200% off an already good base. This year we offered more than the traditional, sourcing some very cool left-field Mother’s Day gift items. It worked. The sales results are stunning.
What is important to note here is that we grew gift sales without impacting traditional newsagency product sales. Through the Mother’s day season, stationery, magazines and other more traditional product categories fared well, delivering excellent growth.
While newsagents need to broaden the range of products sold and do so beyond the traditional newsagency margin and beyond targeting the traditional newsagency shopper, we also need to respect the welded-on traffic we have for traditional items and ensure that we do not turn this traffic away.
While growing gift sales 200%, we also grew magazines through the Mother’s Day season by well over 10% thanks to a concerted effort to pitch magazines as Mother’s Day gifts.
Growth from each season results in return business as shoppers attracted for the first time come back beyond the season now they have a feel for what we sell.
Cats and Dogs, the special edition of National Geographic just out should get star treatment from newsagents since we know that customers will buy just about anything featuring them. Calendars, cards, gifts, books, address books – you name it customers love it if there is a cut cat or dog on the front of the products. This is the kind of magazine cover where the full cover needs to be on show.
The makeover of BRW magazine from Fairfax has resulted in terrific sales growth as the recent audit results showed. The latest cover is terrific for a business magazine. It makes the magazine look more appealing than the usual business fare. It’s bright and appealing. This is what will get people who don’t usually reach for a business magazine to pick up the title and browse.
We are promoting four magazine titles from Pacific Magazines at the front of the newsagency facing shoppers as they enter the business – in a sturdy yet easy to move floor display unit from Pacific.
This promotion is part of the WIN A CAR promotion currently running with Pacific. It’s been a tremendously successful promotion … you can see the results in the sales data comparing similar titles. If shoppers are to purchase one title and perceive little difference between them, the one with the compelling competition opportunity gets the sale.
With the PMP share price back down at 39 cents from a recent high of 60 cents the market appears to doubt that the qualified offer for the company is unlikely to proceed. Time will tell. In the meantime the operations of Gotch appear to have settled following recent departures. It would be good to see them competitive from a newsagency supply perspective again.
In this period of consolidation in the newsagency channel we are seeing activity unlike any we have seen before. One possible trend which has been mentioned to me is the purchasing of a rural or regional newsagency by a fuel outlet, the running of the newsagency without change for up to a year and then the merging of the newsagency into the fuel outlet, losing much of what defined the newsagency as a newsagency along the way. The question put to me was whether such business purchases were being done to access a lottery licence as this is the only fuel outlets cannot get easily.
I call this a possible trend as only a couple of people have mentioned it and between them only three examples were provided. I am curious as to whether others have heard about this and whether they think it is a trend.
There are a few issues at play here for me. People selling their newsagency businesses will want to maximise their exit price. I understand and respect that. Towns want a newsagency and maybe more depending on population. Seeing a business close is not an ideal situation for many towns, especially if some newsagency specific services and product ranges are lost to the town. Rules and goals around the types of business which offer newsagency services like lotteries have been put in place for a reason and I wouldn’t want those skirted without transparent discussion.
There is no doubt that consolidation is afoot and that change is the order of the day. This is ultimately good news for newsagents and their suppliers. Those of us who embrace and pursue change can come out the other side with stronger and healthier businesses.
New Idea Jumbo Puzzler is our top selling crossword title this year by far. The title sells itself through simple tactical placement – here next to New Idea in our women’s weeklies section as well as a full face display with our crossword titles. We don’t do any other major promotion. It is this location next to New Idea which works the best for us as it drives impulse purchases.
I am learnt over the years that impulse purchases are vitally important to driving crossword sales. Giving up a few pockets with weeklies works well for us, easily paying for the premium retail space.
I’d encourage other newsagents to make this move – place New Idea Jumbo Puzzler in a pocket of next to New Idea. Count how many you ut there. See if it works for you. Our obsessive pocket counting teaches us plenty about which locations work best when we collocate.
While our magazine competitors – supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol outlets – do just what they are asked for and paid to do – smart newsagents engage and drive sales as a result.
I don’t know if Real Living magazine has a new look or not. To me it looks like it has. I like it. We are running the current issue as a half waterfall between Better Homes and Gardens and Grand Designs Australia. We have created this deliberately to present what we’d call a power message to shoppers in this aisle. The three titles together like this do stand out in the aisle and that’s the first step to getting browsers to notice them.
This category of magazines continues to perform well for us. year on year sales are up well above 10%.
Morrison Media, the publisher behind Frankie and Smith Journal, launches White Horses today. White Horse is a magazine of stories and ideas for surfers, thinking surfers. It looks lavish, something readers will want to keep. See more here. There is a video introducing issue #1 plus a couple of posters newsagents can download and use.
I urge newsagents to NOT early return this title. It is targeted at a demographic which is important to us, one we need for our future.
Late yesterday I watched security camera footage at one of my newsagencies from Sunday afternoon when two people stole several hundreds dollars worth of products.
It is always easy to judge what allowed a theft after the event. This is where having the footage is helpful, so that everyone at the shop can learn and hopefully avoid such theft in the future.
The key items stolen were boxes of AFL footy cards. The two people knew what they were doing, where the cards were and when to hit. A few seconds of distraction at the counter is all it took. Once they had what they wanted they were out and away.
Given how they ‘cased’ the shop, I suspect that had we made our use of a security system more obvious they would have not hit us. We have an excellent security system but do not show this off in-store. We don’t have monitors up for shoppers to see in this newsagency.
In another retail business I have all shoppers entering are faced with a screen shooing their face. I am confident that the two who hit us Sunday would have left empty handed had they seen their faces on a screen.
These people who stole from us are scum. The best we can hope for is that the police catch them the courts mete out justice.
In an extroardinary result, Mother’s Day card sales were up 39% year on year in one of my newsagencies. This wonderful sales growth is reported across most Mother’s Day card captions. I note that we only have Hallmark cards in this newsagency so it really is a like for like comparison.
Mother’s Day gifts were up as well, well over double last year thanks to better buying and better displays.
Looking at the last two weeks, Mother’s Day cards accounted for 47% of call cards sold.
Overall traffic in the newsagency for the same period is static between the years.
The other interesting data is the boost in magazine sales. I have no doubt that many mums opened gifts on Sunday which included magazines. Newsagencies are the perfect place to drive sales of magazines as gifts.
It’s terrific having the sales data so close to the end of the season.
We have been promoting the GoodFood Comfort Food title next to Good Food itself in with our food titles. We have these two at the front of the section so the covers are on full show at eye level – this is important.
While the photo show’s the latest Australian Good Food, we had the Comfort Food title next to the previous issue until yesterday. That said, the latest issue of Australian Good Food fits well next to the comfort food title given both covers show off comfort food.
Comfort Food has sold so well that we have ordered more stock, more than our initial allocation from ACP. This is great news! While magazine sales are challenged, smart newsagents can find sales growth opportunities by understanding the titles in-store and leveraging these in clever ways.
Now is the time for comfort food titles and covers. As we receive more comfort food titles we will give them their own space within food.
The latest issues of both Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire have bonus gifts with fold out pockets which require them to take twice the shelf space.
We have reclaimed space from other titles so we can fold them out and fully display the gifts. I don’t see the point in folding the gifts to the back and therefore hiding them from browsers. My experience is that this hinders sales.
We are promoting the launch issue of new magazine title International Traveller – from the publisher of Australian Traveller – with this double pocket display with travel magazines. We also have the title with our women’s weeklies. We will co-locate for the first month of the on-sale to help find customers for the launch issue. I have read the magazine, there is nothing like it from an Australian publisher. This is one reason I’m happy to support it with space. I also expect it to sell so there is a commercial imperative for me too.
Melbourne is the next focus of the people creating the ParcelPoint parcel pickup service for newsagents. This newsagency software integrated service will make it easy for newsagents to offer and manage the service from within their software. Parcel Point gives newsagents an Australia Post competitive offer. It costs nothing to take on and the space requirement is minimal.
I’d urge newsagents to watch this introductory video and then Express your interest here. If you are in the Melbourne suburban area now is the time to move. ParcelPoint will use other retailers in areas not covered by newsagents.
Newsagency awards dinners should be relaxing events with the focus solely on the award nominees and recipients. On this one night of the year, nothing else should matter, nothing else should pull focus from the newsagents to be recognised.
Unfortunately, the VANA awards dinner on Saturday for a while was like a newsagents meeting with a couple of business presentations. The awards dinner was the wrong forum and the content not as noticed as a result.
Stephen Kaye, Circulation Director of News Limited’s Herald and Weekly Times delivered a speech about changes to the newspaper distribution model. He started by criticising talk in some quarters that News Limited was in crisis. Um, Stephan, that comment was directed at me and a blog post I published on February 21. Immediately after the post News used several channels to any the claim, they used newsagency associations to put out their spin. I’ve not officially heard from News Limited. I stand by what I said including this…
There is a crisis gripping News Limited on the future of newspaper home delivery in Australia. My understanding is that there is disagreement between circulation executives in some News Limited state offices and their bosses at Holt Street in Sydney on the future model of newspaper home delivery and whether newsagents are part of the model.
The crisis in had its genesis in 2009 when somewhere between 100 and 300 newsagents handed their newspaper home delivery businesses back to News, claiming that they were not financially viable.
I didn’t make it up. People in News said it to me.
Why Stephen Kaye felt he needed to comment on this at the VANA awards dinner months after I made the statement is beyond me. Odd.
But Stephen was just starting his speech – he went on to tell newsagents that change was coming and that it would start in Queensland where more newsagents have handed their runs back. Reading between the lines, one could take Stephen’s words to suggest that there is a crisis in Queensland.
I wish I had been able to take notes as the speech had plenty of information which newsagents would find valuable, information they would want to reflect on away from an awards dinner environment.
In his speech, Stephen Kaye said that Victorian newsagents are not waiting for the News Limited changes in Queensland to come to Victoria. He observed than some Victorian changers were not what News Limited wanted. Hang on, News Limited has been at this change thing for close to three years, watching what is happening in Victoria among newsagents and he says that some of the changes newsagents have been leading may not be what News Limited wants. That’s odd.
Are newsagents is a master servant relationship or is this the era of deregulation.
All newsagents want is contracts so that they can go about commercially structuring themselves as they consider mot appropriate. It looks to me like News is trying to control too much of the operation. This is not what one should see in a deregulated marketplace.
If I was running VANA I’d ask for a copy of Stephen Kaye’s speech so it could be published to all newsagents. It contains information all newsagents need to hear. I would also bring into the open for all newsagents as a matter of urgency open discussion about what is known of the News Limited plans. I’d actively engage with South Australian newsagents who have gone through aspects of the News Limited plans already. Their experiences would be invaluable despite what some in News might say. South Australian newsagents have a lot to share with their eastern seaboard counterparts.
While I disagree with their process, I agree with the overall goal of what News Limited is working on. The problem for newsagents is that the company is pursuing considerable change in its relationship with newsagents while at the same time finally addressing the state based silo management style in which it has operated for decades. News in a year or two will look very different to the company we know today.
I suspect the scope of change facing newsagents is far more than any but a small few expect.
News needs to stop jumping at shadows and trying to discredit anyone they think is challenging their position.
The VANA awards dinner was good. I appreciated the opportunity to catch up with plenty of newsagents as I did in Hobart a week earlier. Brisbane next week…