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

Blogging at 30,000 feet

This is pretty cool. I am on a flight from Dallas to New York and have wireless internet access.  It cost me US$9.95 which for a 3 hour and 30 minute flight is good value in my view.  I have caught up on emails for work and news from home.  In the five other seats near mine which I can easily see three others are using the service.

The access speed is excellent.  Indeed, better than I get back in Australia with a wireless card when I am on the road.

The offering of the service speaks to the importance of connectivity in today’s world.  While some near me are using access for entertainment surfing, others, like me, are using it to catch up on business.

To me, this service reinforces the importance of easy access to a fast internet connection right around Australia.

Okay I am off now to catch up on Australian news and to make some scrabble moves.

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Blogging

US Postal service pushing for online business

I visited the US Postal Service stand at the CES show in Las Vegas yesterday and discovered that they are in the middle of a major push to attract shoppers online and away from post offices.

They say that online shoppers cost them less to process.  I can understand that given the cost of retail real estate and labour.

They have significantly improved their online services to make a more compelling appeal to online shoppers, and to cut their costs.  They are not only chasing volume businesses but also small businesses and individuals.

While we have seen this trend by lottery companies, publishers and some others in Australia, I had not expected to see it in the postage space.  But it makes sense when you think about.

While the USPS stand at CES was not as busy as most other stands, that they were there with the message of shop online rather than at a Post Office it pretty interesting and telling.

I’d like to know where Australia Post as at in this space, particularly given that of the 3,500 or so licensed post offices, many are in newsagencies. While I wouldn’t blame them if they did have a plan to migrate over the counter business to online, I would want them to fully inform current and potential franchisees early in their consideration.

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Australia Post

Refreshing the bike magazine offer

Last weekend as part of a series of adjustments to our magazine department I changed how we display bike related magazines. We created this separate, bordered space. It’s within easy reach of the bike enthusiast and brings together a range of bike related titles in a way which should drive sales even further than the current double digit sales growth we are seeing.

Like all the changes, we do them and then measure the impact on sales.

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magazines

In the electronic cigarette a cigarette replacement?

Over the last couple of days at the CES show here in Las Vegas I have seen four companies selling cigarette alternatives. They are variously called chemical or electronic. While health professionals appear to be divided on the risks and benefits of these products,they are at the Consumer Electronics Show this week and being promoted as safe and healthy.

Given that tobacco products have such an important component for many newsagents over the years, not mine thankfully, and giving the new plain paper packaging laws, researching these electronic cigarettes might be a good move.

All of the companies I have spoken with are from China,  There is where the technology was developed around forty years ago. The products being offered now were first commercialised around seven years ago.

I’m not so sure they will take off. They look and feel weird and at least two I saw required the recharging of what looked like a chemical. They said it wash;t but could not tell me what it was. Odd.

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retail

A newsagency at the Las Vegas CES show

I was surprised for a few seconds when I saw this newsagency on one of the stands at the CES show. Even though it looked out of place in this mega trade show dedicated to today and tomorrow’s digital life, here was a representation of a US version of our type of business … well how it looked years ago.  In fact, this stand was showing off a 3D TV screen. The newsagency like set was to provide colour – to show off the girl and her flowers in full 3D.

As for the show itself. It really does capture the digital life of today and provide a sneak peek into the digital life of tomorrow.    Along the way I have seen products which newsagents could sell and products we should know about. It is also answering some questions I have had but more on that another time.

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Media disruption

I am not involved in the NSW newsagent meetings

An email has been circulated in NSW this week with a document attached which I wrote to help newsagents to trade through tough times. The email was encouraging newsagents to attend a meeting organised by NANA to look at some issues they are concerned about.

I am not involved in this or any related meeting.  I don’t endorse the meeting or any of the topics being discussed.

I was not consulted before my document was sent out. The version of my document appears to have been reformatted from the original.

My document should not have been sent without explanation from me as to its intent.  It is part of a package of information I have prepared to assist newsagents to improve their businesses. I didn’t write it with any political agenda in mind or for any political purpose in our channel.

I’ll help any newsagent doing it tough. But they have to want to help themselves. This starts with being accountable for your position and continues with focussing on driving business efficiency and decision quality and evolving the business to serve today’s needs and not yesterday’s history.

It would be a mistake to think that others need to fix out situation. If we are doing it tough we have to fix it ourselves. We have to be selfish about our businesses. We have to run our businesses for profit today and not in the hope of what someone might be encouraged to pay tomorrow.

Why am I writing about this here? I have received calls from NSW newsagents asking about my involvement in the meetings. ass I noted, I am not involved, I was not consulted.

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Newsagent representation

Creating more space for Fishing magazines

Last weekend, as part of out approach of continued improvement of our magazine offer, we moved our fishing magazines, creating a separate, bordered, space in the magazine department.  While we don’t have as many fishing titles as many other newsagencies, what we have sells well and is delivering growth.

In moving the section, we made it more accessible., easier for our customers to shop.

Grouping the titles in their own section in this way makes a stronger statement in my view than leaving them in among the broader magazine range.

We look for moves like this to make every week., to continually adjust the magazine offer … to keep it and us fresh.

 

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magazines

Why the increase in supply of Metal Hammer magazine?

Check out our supply and return figures for Metal Hammer magazine. At best we sell three copies of each issue. Somehow the magazine distribution experts at Gordon and Gotch think we need seven copies.  Based on our sales data we should get four copies of Metal Hammer and no more. This is a title which should sell out for a couple of issues at least before we get more stock. It sucks cash. If Gotch want us to be responsible for the cash they should give us responsibility for controlling what we get.

Gotch representatives, when challenged about the magazine supply model, say we can return stock. Sure enough. But what a waste of space, time and cash. The better approach would be for them to supply fairly, based on sales data.

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Magazine oversupply

Calendars selling well at 50% off

I was surprised to see a newsagency selling calendars at 75% off earlier this week.  We have the majority of our range at 50% off (in my stores where we still have calendar stock) and they are selling very well. The only exception is a range of calendars we purchased at $2 and we are selling these at $4 – their RRP is $24.95.

We plan to keep our main calendar range at 50% off through January.  For us, the decision to go beyond a 50% discount is more to do with quitting the category.  Once we get below 25 calendars we will want to be out of calendars so we can use the space for something else.

Our diaries remain at full price.

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Calendars

Tapping into the Back to School shopper

We have this simple display at the counter of one of my newsagencies, promoting educational posters.  While not directly a Back to School item, the posters play into the minds of shoppers thinking about educate for their kids.

We figured why not give the posters a go in this prime location – they rarely get time in the sunshine.

Hopefully the prime placement delivers some sales. At the very lease the poster placement lets shoppers who only visit the front portion of the store know that we carry these items.

Too often the wall behind the sales counter evolves into a miss mash of offers and products in a newsagency.  Wd prefer to keep a clean wall, a single product or category focus. It’s something we have done for several years and it pays off. It gives customers at the counter just one thing to look at … besides our beautiful faces of course.

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newsagency marketing

When magazines cover other titles

It frustrates me when a magazine uses a card insert to grab space from another magazine title – as is happening with the imported Weight Watchers Just Say Yum title.  They are using my space to sell membership to their weight loss program.  When I noticed this on the shelves I took out the blue card (after taking the photo).

I don’t mind the stick-out cards for a higher profile title which is waterfall displays – like Good Health – as they are only blocking their own cover.

Magazine publishers need to respect that they share space with other magazines and that this is space we newsagents own. Stealing space from another title is disrespectful, especially if you are using it to sell something from which we do not benefit.

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magazines

Promoting Home Beautiful magazine

We are promoting the latest issue of Home Beautiful magazine with this display facing the dance floor, at the entrance to our main women’s magazine aisle.  I like the poster, it is eye catching.  Personally, I like this type of poster which looks quite different to the cover of the magazine as it offers better visual cut through.

Home Beautiful is a title which responds well to promotion – either in this type of location, at the counter or with newspapers.

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magazines

Take care when buying a newsagency

I have been contacted by another newsagent this week who is considering taking legal action against the vendor and broker for the newsagency they purchased from and through not so long ago.  They think that they have a case based on the financial data presented.

In this case the business was purchased based on sales data and ‘standard’ margins by department.  The due diligence was arranged by the broker.

Anyone buying a newsagency should only do so based on audited financial accounts.  While this will frustrate some newsagents, it will ensure that you are purchasing the business based on real numbers rather than numbers based on assumptions.  Newsagents with nothing to hide will welcome this suggestion.

Buying a business based on profit assumptions made made by ‘standard’ margins is dangerous.

Anyone buying a newsagency should never buy a newsagency based on due diligence organised by the broker.  The broker has a conflict of interest.  They have a contract to represent the buyer. They are paid a success fee on completion of the sale.  Common sense should tell any purchaser to get their own due diligence. A small investment in independent due diligence could be the best investment ever made.

There are plenty of good newsagency businesses on the market. Take your time, do your research and buy well for the future of your business and the future of the channel.

Now is a good time to buy a newsagency, there is upside in the model and there are good opportunities for growth for a proactive business person.

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buying a newsagency

Making lemonade from lemons

Check out how Allan Wickham at newsXpress Eli Waters turned around the situation of massive lottery payouts last week.  By promoting how much they paid out, they promote the money their business has put into the pockets of local shoppers. This helps the business deal with the higher than usual payouts in a more positive way than just complaining about the amount of the payouts.  Who knows, the sign could top the trick and get someone buying a lottery ticket to be part of next week’s payout.

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Lotteries

Placing People’s Friend titles together works

Placing the People’s Friend Autumn Special with People’s Friend magazine drives sales of both.  We are set to sell our of the Special and I think this is primarily die to placement above the magazine itself.  This is an opportunity for newsagents to drive sales of both titles.

I love People’s Friend because it is what I’d call a habit-based title. readers are loyal. Once they know you have it in stock they come in every week. This weekly traffic is vital to our businesses today and in the medium term.  We each need to be aware of magazine titles which fit this habit-based criteria so that we can make the most of them. Hence my obsession about titles like People’s Friend.

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magazines

Promoting ACP cookbooks at the front of the newsagency

We are embracing the opportunity of holiday shoppers and promoting a range of ACP cookbooks at the front of the newsagency.  While sales are lower than those leading up to Christmas, they remain strong enough to justify using the stand in this way.

We have given best positioning to titles related to weight loss and health … it is the time of the year for considering these after all. More than half the people entering our shop pass the stand in its current location.

We like to change the offer in the ACP basket building stand every few wells as well as changing the location of the stand.  It only takes a couple of minutes and the effort is usually rewarded with sales.

It frustrates me when I visit newsagencies and see non ACP titles in this ACP supplied and branded stand.

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magazines

Helping guys lose their gut with Men’s Health magazine

In keeping with our promotion of diet related titles in this post holidays period, we are promoting the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine from Pacific Magazines with this aisle-end display in the men’s section of our newsagency. The Lose Your Gut cover story is sure to connect with guys this time of the year … and with girls who look after their guys.  I think the feature display will work well for us and drive some nice sales.

We also have the magazine in prime position in with our men;s health and fitness section next to car, motor bike and sports titles.  This category is performing very well for us, in part because we support it with excellent positioning and because the full covers are on display.

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magazines

New newsagency sales benchmark study almost complete

I am close to completing the analysis for the latest newsagency sales benchmark study.  I have data from more than 170 newsagencies, making it one of the most comprehensive newsagency sales benchmark studies yet.  The results so far are interesting – while confirming some trends there is some good news in some categories.  I hope to have the analysis completed and published here by Friday.

These studies are quite time consuming as before any analysis can commence I check the data to ensure that it is an accurate reflection of sales for each business. The number of newsagencies being rejected because of poor data is way down this year compared to the study I did for the same period a year earlier.

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Newsagency benchmark

Excellent sales of Melway

We bought 100 copies of the latest Melway street directory in the lead up to Father’s Day 2011.  Sales were okay but not great. Ten days before Christmas 2011 we decided to make this an in-store hero product.  That is, we only promoted it in-store – i.e. not in a catalogue or any external marketing.  We struck a price which gave us just a few dollars margin. Our goal was to drive impulse purchases.  It worked.  We sold more than 60 copies.  Most were basket extension purchases.

Too often I talk with newsagents who complain that a product is not selling and that they are stuck with it.  It’s our job as retailers to do everything possible to move the product in our shops. This means trying different locations and different price points – for the products over which we have price control.

Okay so we didn’t make as much as we would have liked from the Melway product.  So what?!  We moved the stock, make more than 60 customers happy and provided them with a value retail experience which we hope counts for something when they think about us in the future.

We are constantly looking at our stock, moving it, repricing it and making sure that it is not weighing our business down. We do not see our newsagency as a dumping ground for products which don’t sell.

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Newsagency opportunities

Nothing like a good diet to sell a magazine

It’s good to see New Idea, Woman’s Day and NW all promoting diets on their respective front covers this week. With more people back into their regular routine now is the time to tap into the guilt of holiday season indulgence.  We are making the most of the opportunity by ensuring all three titles are in full face display – showing offer the diet promotion.

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magazines

Why the increase in supply of Glamour magazine?

Newsagents might want to check their supply of the British edition of Glamour magazine.  Click on the image to see how our supply from Gordon and Gotch has been all over the place with little impact on sales.  We sell one copy of Glamour if we are lucky. Gotch has supplied 4 copies, then 2, then 1 and now back to 4. There is no justification in the sales data for them supplying 4 copies. It makes me wonder if they have more stock than they know what to do with and would prefer to have us act as the warehouse rather than them.

If the Gordon and Gotch magazine supply system worked as they claimed we would not receive four copies of Glamour.

I plan to continue to publish details of oversupply like this to provide a record of distributors disrespecting newsagents and to document to other publishers why newsagents may not be behaving as they expect in terms of their titles.

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Magazine oversupply

Promoting Australian Tennis magazine

We  have kicked up our promotion of the latest issue of Australian Tennis magazine and some other titles with this front of the shop placement.  It faces into the shopping mall and is located next to the counter from where we sell our Australian Open tickets.  People walking past out newsagency can easily see this display. We also have Australian Tennis magazine in prominent display in our sports section toward the rear of the newsagency. This week and next are our best opportunity for selling tennis titles in Melbourne.

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magazines

Promoting House and Garden magazine

We have been promoting the latest issue of House and Garden magazine with this terrific aisle end display created by our team. We also have the magazine in prime position with other home and garden magazines.

While not a massive seller for us House and Garden, does respond to time in the spotlight. We will keep this display up for a week.

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magazines

Italian newspaper Il Globo cuts three issues a week

Italian newspaper Il Globo has cut from five editions a week to two.  While disappointing for some readers, it is more disappointing that they did not advise newsagents until today of the change to take effect today. Here is their notice:

ATTENTION NEWSAGENCIES
URGENT NOTICE
Starting Monday 9th January 2012
‘IL GLOBO’ WILL PUBLISH
ONLY 2 EDITIONS PER WEEK
MONDAY + THURSDAY

The Management of IL GLOBO has decided to reduce the number of editions printed each week from five to two, that is Mondays and Thursdays.

We are in the process of calculating the new expiry dates for subscribers and will advise as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if a client has a subscription for MONDAY only, you need do nothing at all.

If a client has only a TUESDAY subscription, please move it to THURSDAY as this has the RAI and TV Guides.

For clients who have subscriptions for 3, 4 or 5 days per week, please change to Mondays and Thursdays and we will advise of the new extended expiry date.

Thank you for your collaboration and should you need further particulars please call Anna or Walter on (03) 9481 0666.

Hmm, what collaboration? A collaborative approach would have been to discuss the change with newsagents in advance.

There is a broader question about foreign language newspapers. For many, these have been important to newsagents in recent years with sales increasing while local English dailies struggle.

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Newspapers
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