We sold 35 copies of The Block in one of my newsagencies. This is three times our initial supply. I’m very happy with the result. Most of the sales were achieved at impulse purchase locations: with newspapers and with women’s weekly magazines.
While sales have slowed now that the TV show has been off the air for a week, this one-shot from ACP Magazines has enjoyed a terrific run – well done to everyone involved.
The Sunday Mail in Adelaide yesterday had a post-it type ad stuck over a photo for the front page news story of the newspaper. While this this placement avoids covering up the newspaper masthead (and brand), covering the news photo is a slap in the face for the editorial team.
When speaking at conferences and workshops I am often asked by newsagents to help them address flat sales. The discussion often come back to what the business stands for. When I ask what do we stand for? A common answer from independent retailers is community connection, being local. This is often said by newsagents with a less than complete community connection strategy.
Being connected with the local community is a good unique selling proposition when most of what is sold is available from other businesses, usually bigger businesses.
By trading off the local connection, independent retailers connect with others who are community-minded.
In just about any retail business, more could be done to connect with the community. Here are some questions you could ask yourself to test the community connection of your independent retail business:
This last question is the real question: If your neewsagency closed, would the community care? Would what you perceive as your value be lost and noticed? If the answer is no then your community connection is not as good as it could be.
Connecting your business to the local community is not something you can fake. It must be genuine from the owner of the business right through. You need to pursue as many touch points as possible for the sake of the business and to demonstrate and drive value for the community.
There are initiatives independent retailers can take to help the local community and build a mutually beneficial community connection. Here are 20 ideas for your consideration:
Newsagents with consistently strong community connections can rely on this to deliver better business. The return for the community is greater support from the business for community activities.
I suspect there is a big difference between the community connection of a retail business in the city compared to a regional area. Regional businesses tend to be more community focused as they pull their customers from a smaller pool.
Click on the image to see the excellent display created at one of my newsagencies by a very creative team member. It is an excellent promotion off the current issue of New Idea – the sale of which raises ten cents for the Cancer Council through their Daffodil Day campaign. The display was conceived and created in store – I had nothing to do with it so I’m not claiming any kudos.
What I love about the display is the way it connects the magazine with the fund raising drive and that it educates shoppers about the work of the Cancer Council. The display shows a care for the broader mission – beyond pure sale – and that it does this in a creative and non-corporate way.
I am a big fan of local and personal displays over the billboard displays which have a sameness.
We are continuing to enjoy excellent sales from our Father’s Day book sale.
While we use dad themed books to drive traffic,we have an excellent range catering for all sorts of situations – for dad and beyond.
Books make a perfect basket builder. They are easily purchased on impulse. A good range gets you known as a destination store for books as gifts.
With women being our biggest shopping group, we have found that appealing to them is key to any promotion – hence the selection of books we have connecting with Father’s Day.
While I was not at the forum at the ANF Conference in Melbourne this week which featured John Hartigan CEO of News and Greg Hywood CEO of Fairfax, I have heard from several people who were there.
The key message on the future of print and an impact on distribution appears to have been: we will do what is appropriate for our publishing businesses in dealing with change in print media. Feel that rationalisation of distribution is needed. That there will be no compensation for newsagents. Newsagents: you are on your own inn terms of your own businesses.
Some of us have been saying this for quite a while. We need to act in our best interests. What is galling is the restrictions applied by some News Limited outposts on newsagents who do try and act in their interests.
John Hartigan in his opening comments talked about recently being in the US and seeing Apple TV and noted that it is not in Australia. Um, it’s been here for three years.
Kudos to Hartigan and Hywood for fronting the conference.
Newsagents in South Australia have an opportunity to meet with industry suppliers at the Ancol Trade Expo at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre tomorrow. Running from 11am to 5pm, the event provides an excellent opportunity for networking among newsagents and suppliers.
I don’t understand the apparent fascination with the Kardashian family – they are famous for being, well, famous. That rant aside, Who magazine (out yesterday) has an excellent photo spread of Kim Kardashian’s wedding. It a certain good seller given the timing of the publication and the photos. What is especially interesting is the coverage online for this issue of Who. E! Online has a story. The Kardashians themselves are referencing it on their Facebook page, mentioning Who specifically – this is certain to drive fans looking for the magazine.
The Kardashian coverage is an excellent opportunity to drive magazine sales this weekend. We can prove our relevance by getting behind this.
The same story in People in the US has been a huge hit. This further underscores the opportunity for newsagents.
We supported Daffodil Day yesterday. The flowers, magazine, fund raising items and small poster (provided by Pacific Magazines) combined to give context to the day. I am thrilled that my team got behind this. This was not about revenue as much as it was about raising awareness for the Cancer Council.
I have been in India for much of this week as part of the retail study tour I’m undertaking with a colleague from my Tower Systems newsagency software company. We have been broadening our experience and knowledge of retail beyond what we already knew from Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Rim region, the US and Europe.
This week in India we have seen very different retail situations from the structured to the unstructured. Just as we have seen over the last three weeks in the Philippines and Vietnam, the retail section is highly competitive – way more so than what we are used to in Australia.
There are kind of districts where similar businesses clump together. In Vietnam, in Ho Chin Minh City, we were in the photocopy services district (seriously) and saw at least twenty photocopying businesses right next to each other.
In India this week we saw something similar. For example, we passed through what could only be described as the ladder district – at least eight or ten ladder shops in a row. Yes, ladders.
I took the photo on the road from NOIDA to Delhi to illustrate the competitive situation evident not only in India but also in Vietnam and the Philippines – competitive photocopy businesses located next to each other. There were more than the two photocopy businesses in the photo.
Seeing this up close competitive situation has left me wondering what it would be like with a newsagency next to another newsagency. Or a string of twenty newsagencies next to each other. Imagine the challenge of differentiation. Imagine the opportunity of this.
I think this is an interesting prism through which to view and run our businesses …. How we would operate if there was a competitor (or more) next door.
Yes, I know that we have competitors in various categories: magazines, stationery, greeting cards. That is not the same as a business just like yours located right next to you.
How would you act? What would you do to differentiate? How would you compete?
I am certain that if we think about such an intense competitive situation we will soon discover ways we can differentiate our businesses today. The Indian photocopy service businesses in the photo have to. Beyond price – as price is the easy way to differentiate. No, it really comes down to customer service, the customer experience.
Our need to differentiate around customer service is one of the key takeaways from by recent trips overseas.
We have to run our businesses and compete as if there is a business exactly like ours next door to us.
Now is not the time for us to be average.
We are promoting the latest issue of Burke’s Backyard at the entrance to our garden / home / lifestyle area with this terrific in-location display. The free seed offer issues of Burke’s Backyard always go off.
We plan to run the title with our newspapers on the weekend while maintaining this in-location display. In the first weekend of the on-sale especially it does well – excellent impulse purchase business.
We are promoting K-Zone and Total Girl with an energetic aisle end display in the kids / parents area of our store. While all kids titles are challenged in terms of sales, this does not stop us from promoting them. We remind customers, especially grandparents, that they make a good gift.
I wonder how the publisher of the Business Standard of India feels when their masthead and some content, including the lead headline, is covered up by an ad for HR services. On a Jet Airways flight out of Delhi, all the newspapers I saw yesterday had their masthead covered in this way. This is far more intense than the post it type ads I complain about on Australian newspapers.
Darrell Lea has been all over the place over the last couple of years. What was once a controlled and respected brand is being found in more and more retail outlets. This makes the Darrell Lea brand less interesting to retailers like newsagents. It’s no longer the special and well-managed brand.
While Darrell Lea could change again and fix their model, the current situation opens our channel up to an opportunity for another chocolate and candy brand which understands the importance of good brand management to partner with newsagents and through this to leverage our excellent traffic.
While there is always Cadbury as the most popular chocolate brand in Australia, I think that there is an opportunity for a non-supermarket brand for a point of difference around premium chocolate. Some brands have had a crack but they have not understood the newsagency channel.
I’d like to be able to sell quality chocolates with a good margin all year round … they make and ideal gift line.
Following my post a couple of days ago about the 5% annual rent increase faced by most newsagents in shopping centres comes the news that a newsagent of at least 20 years standing is facing the loss of his business because he will not agree to the landlord’s offer of a new lease at a 35% premium to the current rent.
I can see no justification for such an increase. The newsagent is fighting – but this takes time, money and stamina.
Coles runs a consistent campaign offering magazines for purchase through its online store, encouraging shoppers to add magazines to their online supermarket shopping purchase. It makes sense and is sure to see Coles achieve incremental magazine business as a result. What strikes me about this is not that they offer magazines to their online shoppers but that they do it consistently. This tells me that it works for them.
I am not suggesting newsagents do this. No, it’s more about being aware of how others are promoting magazines. Our points of difference are range and browser friendliness. We need to play to these strengths.
I love this display promoting the latest issue of frankie magazine. It connects with the magazine by reflecting a non traditional style for a magazine display.
I am lucky to have creative people in my stores who create displays like this of their own accord.
With frankie sales up 20.73% in the January through June audit over last year, this is a magazine newsagents should promote.
frankie rewards promotional effort with sales – right through the on-sale. We order more stock if we sell out because it will sell right up to the last week. You don;t have to a display like we have done, even prominent placement in three or four pockets in a high traffic area of women’s titles will help you find sales.
Beyond the year on year sales growth, frankie is important as it attracts the younger shopper. We need this type of shopper. They are loyal too – once they know you stock the title they will come back.
Footnote: Borders used to do very well with the title. If you are near a Borders give frankie special attention.
We are promoting the latest issue of Gourmet Traveller magazine with this in-location display.
I especially like how the team had used the cover run-ons to cap the display and the banner promoting the 2012 Restaurant Guide in front of the display. This draws attention to this issue.
This promotion of Gourmet Traveller is the only in-location display which we have in this aisle at the moment – we try and keep it that way.
We are promoting the latest issue of Girlfriend magazine with this aisle end display.
To combats any complaint about browsing the bagged issue we are setting aside a copy of browsing. This will be the last copy we sell should this issue perform that well.
We are planning a promotion of teen girl magazines in a week or so and will therefore follow up this feature display with placement of Girlfriend in that display … giving the title more support through the on-sale.
Our craft magazine unit sales are up 52% year on year since July 1. More than half of this increase is due to the co-location of a small selection of titles on one of our impulse magazine stands which features weekly titles.
While I complain here about structural issues with the magazine distribution model, on the shop floor I and my teams pursue growth, leveraging existing good traffic for impulse purchases. That is exactly what is happening here. Shoppers browse the popular weeklies on the top section of the display and enough notice what is below and buy from this to deliver at least half of the exceptional growth we are seeing.
Not that it is needed but this is proof that newsagents can grow magazine sales – by being tactical and obsessively engaged with the magazine department. By using high traffic areas of the business: weekly magazines, very popular monthly titles, newspapers, lotteries, seasonal promotions and other ‘hot’ parts of the business we can leverage existing traffic for growth of magazines … as I have done for craft titles as well as other categories.
By having an impulse unit like this we have flexibility outside our usual magazine department.
In addition to the sales of craft titles, there is the benefit of reinforcing my business as the go to place for special interest titles. For many of the titles in the small display, newsagencies are the only outlet. This is why obsession about some of these niches is vital to our health.
So here is my challenge to newsagents: if you see your business as a specialist magazine retailer, ask yourself what you are doing, regularly and obsessively, to chase impulse purchase business, especially in the categories which are unique to your business? If the answer is nothing then you need to start, right away. No excuses about not having space. No complaints about slip margin or not having time.
If you want magazine sales growth you have to chase it, it will not hunt you down.
Yes, retail is tough. However, I do not subscribe to the view that because it is tough we do less or act in an average way. Acting average delivers average results and for magazines that is a decline.
I bet that every newsagency in Australia today has traffic it can leverage for incremental growth. The challenge is to be a professional newsagent and chase this.
Footnote: the stand off of which we are achieving this growth is located half way into the business, at the edge of the dance floor, but facing off to the side. We are not leveraging front of store traffic to achieve this growth.
Check out the placement of an outpost which confronted the team at one of my newsagencies when they came into work on Monday. A toy and book outpost by a fly-in fly-out tenant – in the shopping mall, right in front of our business which happens to have a toy and book offer at the front of the store facing into the mall.
Thankfully, the landlord moved them on Monday night. This should never have happened though. Landlords should take more care with placement of fly-in fly-out tenants.
Not everyone is as lucky as us with a landlord who listens and responds fairly.
VANA is funding radio commercials, in-store signage and an outdoor advertising campaign around the theme – Love Your Newsagent. This is a ballsy thing for an Association to undertake. It demonstrates in a practical way their assistance for newsagents. Click on the link above to the website with more details about the campaign.
The ANF gave this campaign good presence at the ANF Conference in Melbourne this week.
Here is a video which explains how Victorian newsagents can engage.
Kudos to VANA for this initiative. It’s a good start. Hopefully more associations engage in such practical in support of newsagents.
I am writing this blog post for newsagent suppliers. There are plenty of newsagents in shopping centres who face a minimum annual rental increase of 5% every year. If a newsagent paid $300,000 in base rent last year, this year they will pay $17,500 more.
I know of newsagents paying considerably more than $300,000 a year in rent.
Newsagent suppliers – how would you react if your largest fixed cost increased by 5% every year and if this fixed cost accounted for between 40% and 50% of your gross profit?
You would look at how you could increase your gross profit? Of course!
Retailers can increase gross profit by increasing customer traffic, increasing sales (through more traffic and getting existing customers to buy more) and or by increasing prices.
Newsagents can chase more traffic and sales efficiency but for many products they do not have control over margin.
Newsagents are in the hands of their suppliers on the margin front. Are you taking note suppliers.
On top of this, many newsagent suppliers also control many operating costs for newsagents by controlling supply levers: greeting cards, magazines, newspapers.
I’d note that it is unfair to list greeting cards here as the margin for newsagents from this category can be three times the margin from newspapers and magazines. Plus newsagents can achieve a higher margin by increasing sales.
One way newsagents can address the 5% rental increase each year is by carrying less of the products over which they have little or no control and expanding into other areas where they can exert more control. Unless suppliers of these products improve how they do business with newsagents they will see floor space cut and have no choice but to reduce supply.
While we have seen more newsagent suppliers try and understand these and other challenges newsagents, especially shopping centre newsagents, face, I would like to see more suppliers engage.
Ask yourself, how would you react if your largest fixed cost increased by 5% every year? This is a big challenge for newsagents.
News Chairman and CEO John Hartigan and Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood are set to speak at the national conference of the Australian Newsagents’ Federation tomorrow. They will also answer some questions in what is certain to be an important session for newsagents.
Both News and Fairfax are working through considerable changes to newspaper home delivery, having undertaken more than a year of consultation. Rumours about changes to newspaper distribution dominate discussions among newsagents, including discussions so far at the conference. Hartigan and Hywood will each speak briefly and take questions in a moderated session.
Hopefully the session tomorrow will provide some guidance for distribution newsagents seeking clarity on the future of this important part of their businesses. The ANF should be proud of getting both to this conference.
Unfortunately I will be overseas and unable to be at this important session.
Unity between the ANF and state associations is on show in Melbourne at the ANF Conference this week. While I could only attend for half of Monday and the welcome function on Sunday evening, a shared purpose was evident not only among representatives of the associations but also newsagents and suppliers.
The level of cooperation is a far cry from the divisiveness of years gone by.
It will be exciting to see what is achieved by working together for the good of the newsagency channel.
The conference itself was smaller than in the past, completely appropriate for the times. The program was practical with excellent learning opportunities for newsagents and suppliers. Importantly, there was no waste of newsagent and newsagent supplier funds as happened years ago.