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

Marketing messages on newsagent receipts do work

I received feedback from Brett Carey of newsXpress Deception Bay about a successful and simple marketing campaign he was running on the receipts produced by his newsagency software.

Just had a customer call me. She just read on her receipt that we had cheap Ink and Toner. She had just bought HP02 from Harvey Norman for $19.95 and thought she would check us on price and was stunned that we were at $12.50.

She will buy from us from now on and she will tell all her friends too.

Two minutes work on Tower and $$$’s in the bank.

More newsagents should use this free marketing platform. It’s free and can drive sales.

FYI. This is not a newsXpress campaign, any newsagent with the receipt marketing facility in their software can do it.

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newsagency marketing

Selling out of Melbourne Home Design + Living

Further to my post about Melbourne Home Design + Living, we have one copy left and have switched to this in-location display with sister titles from the publisher.  This is a title which would not be on the radar for many newsagents yet it is a title which responds to time in the spotlight as I have mentioned here several times previously.

In  our businesses there are many titles which respond to such attention.   These are the titles we can use to drive incremental magazine business for our newsagencies.

Magazine range is the most significant point of difference the newsagency channel has yet too often newsagents treat managing magazines as a chore rather than an opportunity.  Sales fall beyond average as a result.

Our shops are full of opportunities and this is what I try and embrace with even small engagement like for Melbourne Home Design + Living.

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magazines

Promoting the Kimmi Doll calendars

I love this calendar display created at one of my newsagencies by the creative team.  It’s facing into the mall and attracting shoppers to the Kimmi Doll calendars we have in stock.

With something like the Kimmi Doll range there is an excellent opportunity to attract shoppers who were not in the market to purchase a calendar but will do so on the basis of the connection to the popular brand.  The success we are having is a reminder of the importance of brands, especially at Christmas time when people are buying brands they know the gift recipient likes.

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Calendars

Diary and calendar sales soar

We are continuing to enjoy an excellent diary and calendar season with sales up more than 40% year on year for both.  We are still at full price and will be for calendars until January 1, 2012 and for diaries forever – we don’t discount these.

I am disappointed by the retailers, including newsagents, who are discounting calendars right now.  There is no need.  Okay, maybe the cheap calendars of poor quality could be discounted.  But not the quality product, especially that catering to special interests including dog breeds.

I see discounting diaries and calendars right now as a message of weakness from the retailer.

We are doing nothing out of the ordinary:

  • Great positioning of a regularly refreshed display.
  • A focus on quality product, brand names preferably.
  • Clear pricing.
  • Great customer service.

While there are other outlets selling calendars and even discounting near us, we are having, as I noted, a terrific year.

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Calendars

The Guardian newspaper cuts pages

The digital-first strategy at The Guardian newspaper in the UK is being blamed by the decision to roll some previously separate sections, sports, film & music, into the main newspaper and to cut pages from the overall product.

With News and Fairfax having increased their focus on digital access to content we have to wonder if we will similar moves here. I;d expect so as newspaper publishers continue to chase a model which delivers the best return on the costs of editorial content.

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Media disruption

Vast difference between newsagencies

Following discussion here last weekend about the newsagency shingle, I have visited twelve newsagencies in two states over the last few days to see for myself how we treat the newsagency shingle.  In short, we treat the shingle badly.

The businesses I saw fall into four types of newsagency businesses:

Old. Old and tired businesses with poor lighting, empty shelves and disinterested people behind the counter.

Cheap. Businesses filled with cheap no-name brand products ranging from toilet paper to stationery. Looking from the front it was hard to tell the type of business.  Poor lighting.

General store. Magazines have been cut way back and the shop filled with cheap stationery and gifts but it does not feel quite as bad as the cheap outlet above.

Relevant. A clean if not new(ish) shop-fit, thoughtful magazine layout, brand name focus for stationery and gifts, good lighting and staff in uniforms. A business with a purpose. Not necessarily a sexy looking business but one which certainly looks managed.

Despite the differences, each of these businesses was called a newsagency.  There were more in the Relevant category but it is the others which I remember the most.

I am sure that I could visit more and find more groupings.  We have evolved into a diverse channel with little connecting our businesses other than the sale of magazines and newspapers.

With newsagent proprietors creating such different businesses it is appropriate that some want to move away from calling their business a newsagency.

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Newsagency management

Stunning sales from Better Homes and Gardens

We are enjoying extraordinary growth in sales of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  Growth of close to 20%.

We are thrilled not only at the sales but at the excellent return we are getting from simple tactical engagement such as this in-loctaion display for the latest issue of the magazine.

Better Homes and Gardens responds so well to in-store support.  We have found it necessary to order more stock so that we can reach our full potential.

Our sales growth shows what we newsagents can achieve – we have two major supermarkets in our centre as well as bother newsagency plus a couple of majors. So we’re not short of competition.

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magazines

Merry Christmas to newsagents from Fairfax

Clink on the image to see the notice sent by Fairfax to NSW newsagents re the handling of the Sydney Morning Herald over the Christmas period.

As is usual from Fairfax about these things the communication is unclear and the work confronted by newsagents frustrating at a busy time of the year, especially for distribution newsagents.

While newsagency software can handle these distribution challenges, newsagents still need to do some work to set everything up.

I am sure that with a bit of effort Fairfax could have made this much easier for newsagents. This would have been appreciated given the time of the year and the heavy demands on time in a newsagency.  Also, these Fairfax bumper editions cause customer frustration – of which newsagents bear the brunt.

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newspaper home delivery

Ironman magazine oversupplied by Gordon and Gotch

At best we sell four copies of each issue of Ironman magazine. A review of the sales history indicates that a fair supply would be no more than six copies.  Unfortunately the ‘magazine experts’ at Gordon and Gotch disagree and have increased us from six to eight to ten to twelve copies over the last four issues.  There is no apparent reason for the increase in supply to twelve copies in our Ironman magazine sales data.  The only excuse I can think of is that Gotch would prefer the excess stock be in our newsagency (and others?) and not in their warehouse.

Click on the image to see the supply and return data for the last twelve issues.

To those at Gotch who think I am picking on them, don’t give me or any other newsagent reason to claim that you oversupply. Start to supply us on equitable terms.  Your CEO claimed that you don’t oversupply yet I continue to see evidence of it in my newsagency and other newsagencies I work with.

Newsagents want what magazine publishers want, an equitable supply model which is driven by sales.

You have the data, use it.

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magazine distribution

Welcoming Family Business Magazine

We have started carrying FBM – Family Business Magazine and are giving it good positioning in our business titles section.  It is physically bigger than an average magazine so we have had to juggle space to fit this odd-size title in.  It’s an IPS title so we will give it a run and keep it if we can get an economic return from the investment.

The IPS title roster is helping us extend out reach of special interest titles.  This is important as it improves our credentials as a magazine specialist.  This is important with two major supermarkets nearby with refreshed magazine departments which only offer the top 200 titles.

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magazines

Promoting Home Beautiful magazine

We are promoting the latest issue of Home Beautiful magazine with this display at the second entrance to our women’s magazine aisle.

I love what our team has done with the yellow backing of the poster … it works a treat, brings a brightness of the poster out.

Our Home & Lifestyle magazine sales are well up on last year.  I think that this is in part due to our regular promotion of key titles in the segment with displays like this as well as good in-location displays.

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magazines

Americans spend more time reading phones than print

A report from eMarketer just out claims that Americans are spending more time reading their phones than print.

The table summarises the data gathered for the study which resulted in the report.  It’s an interesting read, but no surprise.

Not the difference in the reduction in engagement for newspapers compared to magazines.  It’s in line with other moves we see for the two mediums, newspapers are being more affected today by tablets than magazines.

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Media disruption

What are you selling the Phantom Christmas # 1620 for?

The EDI file for Phantom Christmas 1620 had a price of $3.00.  The $A price printed next to the barcode on the cover shows a $A price of $5.50.  A call to Gotch has revealed that they have realised the mistake, credited us for the wrong low price and invoiced us for the higher right price.  Gotch did this without telling us.  In the meantime we have sold copies at the low price.  Now we have to chase being compensated for this mistake by gotch.

The lack of communication to newsagents on this is frustrating.

Newsagents should check their Phantom stock and contact Gotch to ensure they are not out of pocket.

UPDATE (12:56PM) : Gotch has advised that they will look into compensating us for the sales we have made at the lower price.

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magazine distribution

Sky News report: tablets & e-readers to kill print

Sky News Australia yesterday published a report declaring that tablet computers and e-readers will kill print.  It opened with…

Tablet computers and electronic readers promise to eventually close the book on the ink and paper era as they transform the way people browse magazines, check news or lose themselves in novels.

No mincing of words there.  Further down the article gets into some detail:

Newspapers and magazines, however, should read the digital writing on the wall, according to analysts.

‘Newspapers and magazines have different issues,’ Weiner said.

‘Print will wind up extinct for newspapers, while magazines will need to figure out the balance between print and digital,’ he contended.

Newspapers spend lots of money printing and distributing daily editions that can’t be kept as fresh as stories on the Internet.

That’s respected Gartner analyst Allen Weiner they are quoting.

None of this should be a surprise, certainly not regulars here.  I don’t see these predictions as a problem as much as I see them as an opportunity.  However, it is only an opportunity if we embrace it as such.

I was talking to someone yesterday who was considering buying a newsagency.  They wanted to know what I thought of the channel from an investment perspective. I am positive about it and am putting my money where my mouth is.  There are plenty of newsagencies delivering excellent year on year growth.  Sure there world is changing.  The key is to embrace and even chase change.

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Media disruption

Why would newsagents promote the Adelaide Advertiser?

Check out the poster the folks at the Adelaide Advertiser wanted newsagents to put out the front of their newsagencies last week to promote the newspaper.

So much for the news of the day selling the news.

No wonder some newsagents refused to put the poster out.

Posters provided by newspaper publishers should be for promoting news and not for extending the reach of an advertiser’s campaign for which they pay the publisher.  If publishers do want newsagents to become outlets for promoting such deals then they need to negotiate commercial terms with newsagents.

I would refuse to put this poster out in my newsagency.

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Newspapers

Another newsagency walks from shopping centre tenancy

Following the refusal by the landlord to renegotiate on rent, another newsagent has walked from their major shopping centre tenancy.  They left behind a shop-fit which was just three years old.  The landlord, following a tradition which emerged in 2011, then negotiated new terms with another party to operate a newsagency in the tenancy.

While some landlords have shown a preparedness to renegotiate terms for newsagents tenants who are doing it tough, many refuse.

When your occupancy costs pass 15% in a shopping centre and continue to rise you are living on borrowed time. The math is simple. With an average gross profit of between 30% and 35%, a labour cost of 12%, rent of 15%, theft of 3% and overheads of 5% there is nothing left to fund business borrowings let alone provide a return to the owner.

Smart landlords understand that much of what is sold in a newsagency is on a fixed margin, at the low end of margins achieved in the shopping centre tenancy mix.  They can see that the prices of many products are not even keeping up with CPI (newspapers, magazines, cards).  They understand the important role newsagencies play in the tenancy mix and the service they provide. These smart landlords are the ones likely to agree to either a rent reduction or to not applying the usual annual 4% to 6% rent increase.

We need more smart landlords.  Otherwise, we will see fewer shopping centres in Australia with newsagencies.

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Newsagency challenges

Another interactive product off to a good start

No sooner had we started putting out Cooper, the new interactive plus / book pack from Hallmark and a customer purchased one.

It’s in a terrific location, at the front of the newsagency, facing into the mall.  With Jingle selling out thanks to the TVC, it is easier to sell cooper as more people understand the product and how it works … with Cooper interacting as the book is read.

While not Christmas themed, Cooper is set to sell well in the lead up to Christmas.  It’s an easy gift to purchase.

Having the Hallmark branding gives confidence.  I think shoppers are wary of cheap China product which dies after one or two uses.

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Gifts

ACP cookbooks for Christmas

We are using our ACP Magazines impulse display unit to promote Women’s Weekly cookbooks out the front of the newsagency in the run home to Christmas.  We made this move on Saturday and immediately we saw sales as a result.

These cookbooks are popular Christmas gifts so it makes sense to promote them to shoppers as they pass by our newsagency in the shopping mall.  The simple display gets people stopping for a browse, people who would have otherwise walked on by.

We will maintain this ACP cookbook display right through to Christmas.

TIP: we pocket count the stock we put into the display so that we can know how many copies of each title are sold from this location compared to other locations where we have the cookbooks.

 

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magazines

Promoting Men’s Health magazine

We are promoting the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine with this display in the men’s area of the magazine department.

We have ordered more stock as we are sure to sell out based on it being Christmas, this being an ideal Christmas gift and recent sales activity.

Men’s Health will also be part of our Christmas gift magazine promotion in the last week prior to Christmas.

Our sports magazine sales are up 78% year on year when we compare the last four weeks with the same period a year earlier.  This is on part due to the magazine relay which we undertook in September.

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magazines

ACP partners with Samsung for Galaxy Tablet App

Check out this announcement from ACP Magazines yesterday about their partnership with Samsung and an App for Magshop on the Galaxy Tablet – the tablet device Apple tried to block being released:

ACP Magazines partners Samsung for GALAXY tablet app

December 13

ACP Magazines today announced yet another first in Australian magazine publishing, partnering with Samsung to embed ACP’s Magshop digital newsstand application on the newly released GALAXY 10.1 tablet.

The Magshop digital newsstand app will be preloaded onto all Samsung GALAXY tablets in Australia, starting with the release of the GALAXY Tab 10.1.

The news creates further choice for Australian consumers who are embracing digital editions of their favourite magazines.

Magshop offers the largest array of Australian magazines in the app marketplace: digital versions of more than 50 titles across the widest variety of interest areas including fashion, celebrity, motoring, sport, food and lifestyle.

Users can purchase a download of the latest issue, or subscribe to some of Australia’s biggest magazines, for up to 30% off the recommended retail price of the print editions. Exclusive to Samsung GALAXY Android devices, consumers can browse four free sample magazines from a selected range that includes CLEO, Rolling Stone, Wheels and Good Food. “Consumers expect to access our magazines on a range of platforms and devices,” said ACP Magazines Digital Director, Carl Hammerschmidt.

“The placement of our Magshop app preloaded onto Samsung tablets means that we can give audiences the choices they require around how they consume our magazines. This is the latest important step in our digital distribution strategy and we are pleased to be partnering with Samsung on such a ‘talked-about’ tablet. It once again shows that ACP is leading the way in the digital media space.”

No other Australian publisher, or tablet manufacturer, is able to provide as broad a range of Australian titles for tablets and mobile devices across such a broad range of categories as ACP Magazines.

Users can purchase as many different titles as they like – including CLEO, Top Gear, Dolly, NW, Shop ‘Til You Drop, Rugby League Week and other popular ACP titles – and they are notified once a new magazine is available within their subscription.

The Magshop app also allows users to manage and renew print subscriptions to all ACP titles, which are available in the online subscription portal, and also find their nearest stockist or newsagent for any of those titles anywhere in Australia.

Mr Hammerschmidt said that in future subscribers would be able to subscribe to print and digital bundles, creating the ultimate convenience for how and where they can consume their magazines.

While some newsagents will be angry about this move, it makes sense for ACP and other publishers for that matter.  Publishers need to go where there can monetize their content.

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magazine distribution

Productivity Commission report into retail recommends change

The final report from the Productivity Commission into retail in Australia was released last week.  The report, Economic Structure and Performance of the Australian Retail Industry, makes for interesting reading.  Newsagents get plenty of mentions thanks to the submission from the ANF.

I agree overall with the findings and recommendations of the report.  However, if we are to see less regulation around trading hours, we need to see less regulation around a key cost of trading, labour.  We also need to see greater fairness in tenancy costs.

The terms of reference for the inquiry did not go far enough in serving newsagents.  I’d like to see inquiries which look at:

  1. The treatment of small independent retailers in shopping centres compared to other tenants. I think that such as inquiry would uncover practices which are unfair and disadvantage small and independent retailers and which significantly benefit big retailers beyond the benefits one might expect from their size.
  2. The trading terms and financial benefits achieved by retailers all magazines. I think this this inquiry would uncover a disparity in trading terms and benefits accessible to some supermarkets, convenience store groups and other retailers compared to newsagents.
  3. The role of Australia Post government owned Post Offices and their impact on privately owned retail businesses. I think that this inquiry would find that Australia Post is operating outside what is permitted under the act and what was envisaged when the act was drafted.
  4. The magazine distribution system in Australia – in the context of the impact of the deregulation of 1999 and how it has served consumers and newsagents who had their monopoly taken from them.  I think that this inquiry would find that deregulation was not as fair and thorough as it should have been and that the changes made did not provide newsagents with an appropriate competitive framework.

Of course these points cover more than you would see in a single inquiry.

Maybe this report, its recommendations and suggestions which will flow from associated debate could add to the agenda of the new Minister for Small Business.

I don’t expect any of my proposed inquiries soon so it’s best to focus attention on what we can deal with rather than what we cannot.

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Newsagency challenges

7,000+ Sticker Family stickers sold

stickerfamily.JPGIn the few months that we have had the My Family stickers from The Sticker Family we have sold well over 7,000 units.  They continue to sell well with 450 sold already this month.  Not only are the sales excellent, the additional items purchased by shoppers drawn to us because of the stickers are terrific.

For a product which some newsagents rejected and others miss-managed, it’s be a stand out for us this year.

What put the stickers on the radar for me this week is the sales in the lead up to Christmas.  They have taken off again.  We are leveraging this with good placement of the promotional material at the front of the newsagency, next to our boxed Christmas cards.

It is easy to complain about how tough things are or how someone else has caused misery and harder to create your own success.  These stickers are the result of tenacity and commitment by their creators, enduring support and assistance by their promoters and opportunistic and energetic engagement y retailers who are having success.

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Newsagency opportunities
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