I am disappointed in the number of newsagent suppliers who walk the floors of the GNS Market Fairs touting for business yet who have not stumped up the cash to pay for a stand. These cheapskate suppliers are not investing in the channel like those suppliers who have paid for a stand. Shame on them.
We have had success with several of the magazine promotions I have written about here:
I guess my point is that we can drive incremental business from magazines and then use this new traffic to drive sales in other departments.
Overall, our magazine sales (in unit sales) are up 24% year on year. This is due to a combination of our energy and focus, beating other magazine retailers nearby with a more compelling offer. Once the closure of Borders is felt we should see this growth continue.
We are promoting the latest Donna Hay magazine with this front of store display designed to leverage the tasty cover shot.
Donna Hay is in an interesting position in the food title space. It’s not as packed with recipes as other titles. Donna Hay is offering a more complete experience, beyond recipes, and this is one of the reasons we like to break it out from food titles from time to time.
We newsagents need to do this, break feature titles out and get them in front of customers away from their usual locations. It separates us from other magazine retailers like supermarkets, petrol and convenience who only do this when they are paid.
We have been using the Feast display stand to promote the new title to shoppers passing by our newsagency in the mall. We have certainly sold inventory off this stand. We keep the display professional by not over stocking the pockets – we are happy to check it a couple of times a day and top up as needed. I was in a supermarket yesterday and their Feast stand was overflowing – it looked quite unprofessional. I guessed they did that as they did not want to manage the stock for a better display. Some supermarket managers and employees just don;t invest time on magazines.
We are promoting the latest issue of Top Gear with this in-location display at one of my newsagencies. It’s eye catching and certainly driving interest in the title.
Top Gear remains an important title in the auto space because it helps attract those who would not usually venture into the car section to look for magazines – hence our regular promotion of the title across nine pockets. We’ll maintain this space investment for the rest off the first week of the on-sale.
I was on a cheap red eDeal Qantas flight from Perth to Melbourne last weekend and was thrilled to discover on check in that they had upgraded me to business class. I had been away for a couple of days and was pleased to have the extra leg room and edible food of business class to ease the journey home.
The upgrade experience will give me a warm feeling about Qantas for a small while. They had empty seats on the flight so the cost was minimal. I could reasonably argue that their small investment delivered a good return on investment given the amount I fly.
The experience made me wonder about upgrades we could give our customers, what unexpected benefits we could provide to have them leave our shops with a spring in their step and even kinder words to say about shopping with us when they are next talking to friends.
The following suggestions are about having bonus gifts at the counter to give customers. There are ways we could get these. I am sure some suppliers would help out.
Key to extracting value from the upgrade is that it is unexpected by the shopper. This makes it more memorable and more worthy of word of mouth promotion by them.
Whatever free upgrade offers you try, don’t promote them, just deliver them during the customer contact. Make sure that what you provide is genuinely useful. Remember, you are going for an experience which is unexpected and appreciated.
I have used most of the upgrade offers listed above at one time or another. They have worked a treat. The gold seals with greeting cards, for example, worked especially well with older female customers it made them return to use more frequently for the added value which then became part of what they gave the recipient of the card.
So, what upgrade opportunities do you think newsagents could offer?
Footnote: On my Qantas experience, while I appreciated the upgrade and lapped up the business class experience, I’ll bag them the next time they let me down. Every business is only as good as the last contact you have with them. Yes, it’s a harsh world.
Hearst, the US publisher of Cosmopolitan magazine have launched Cosmo for Guys for the iPad. They say this is response to guys who read Cosmo and the one third of visitors to their website who are guys.
The CFG app is now available US$1.99 per issue, US$3.99 per month or US$19.99 per year from iTunes.
The Nook e-reader originally developed for books has added newspaper and magazine capacity. Where there are only 175 titles available at the moment, I expect this to increase.
I like the coffee from Cibo Espresso. I don’t like the deal they have reportedly done with News Limited which, if what I am told is true, will see News Limited daily newspapers available free from Cibo Espresso outlets.
This deal of free newspapers will apparently run for three weeks starting Monday.
In one instance of which I am aware, a Cibo Espresso outlet has cancelled their order for five newspapers sourced from the nearby retail newsagency to take one hundred free newspapers supplied through the distribution newsagent. The newsagent in the shopping centre loses a customer. And while the distribution newsagent wins a customer, at what cost and for what margin?
Every time a newspaper publisher gives away a free newspaper they devalue their product in the hands of the consumer. They also devalue the newspaper distribution and retail networks established to support their product.
I have seen how free unused newspapers thrown away at a third party location. I have my doubts about how ‘sales’ are counted. Are these audited sales?
Advertisers are sold advertising space on the basis that the paid for newspaper is a premium product, readers commit to the product by purchasing it. Well, thanks to deals like this one at the Cibo outlet, more and more readers are not paying for their newspapers, making it less of a premium product. Maybe this means they treat it differently … read it less.
I understand the need for publishers to experiment with deals to support circulation. I am frustrated that they focus on these giveaways while ignoring engaging with retail newsagents on building paid for sales.
The retail newsagent network is an excellent front line for driving sales yet outside of promotions like the recent Harry Potter campaign, they do not engage, certainly not in a smart, fair and business like way.
The next time a News Limited editor thinks about having a crack about the lack of support for small business from government, they ought to take a look at their support, or lack thereof, of small business newsagents.
A report in The Australian Financial Review on Monday last week quoted Adam Wand, head of public affairs for Visa, the global credit card company, saying it could not collect GST for purchases made by Australian shoppers online in response to a query from the Productivity Commission.
This is Visa telling the Australian Government that it will not act as a tax collector. If we retailers act as tax collectors, collecting GST from sales in our businesses, why not Visa? They can see where the purchase is being made and where the goods will be delivered.
I see this as an important issue as it could capture billions of dollars in additional revenue for the federal government. This revenue windfall would reduce pressure on Australian taxpayers, including newsagencies. It would also deliver a fairer playing field in terms of online versus bricks and mortar shopping.
It Visa was a good corporate citizen it would have responded differently to the request from the Productivity Commission.
Sales of part 2 of the Baked & Delicious partwork have been strong in the first few days on sale. Our shoppers love the practical items which come with this. They can be used right away as opposed to being another part in something they have to build over a long period of time. This helps shoppers drift in and out of the part series. While this may not be ideal for the publisher, shoppers do like it.
We are promoting part 2 of Baked & Delicious at the counter, along with some remaining copies of part 1.
We are out early with Father’s Day and shoppers are responding. Sales have been good already.
One of my newsagencies has gone for more of a fun type of display with a very large Angry Bird plush item at the top of the display – it’s the big red thing at the top centre. The dads at this centre are younger, hence the younger focus of gifts on the display.
It is important that we think of each season in the context of our customer mix as opposed to what may be traditional for the season.
Newsagents be alert to a scam involving UKASH vouchers. Scammers are contacting people saying they can get thousands of dollars if they pay a $250 fee using a UKASH voucher. a UKASH voucher is like cash. The poor customer hands over or sends off the UKASH voucher and hears nothing more. If you are being approached to sell these make sure that your customers are not being scammed. If you have doubt, contact scamwatch.
The GNS Market Fair is on in Sydney this weekend. It it follows the Perth event last weekend it will be busy. It was terrific catching up with Western Australian newsagents. The second trade show this weekend is the Gift Fair and Home and Giving trade show combination in Melbourne. This is a five day event. If the Melbourne fair is the same as last year, we will see several hundred newsagents through.
My software company, Tower Systems will be at both. In NSW we have 651 newsagents using our software so the Market Fair will be busy with existing customers as well as newsagents keen to switch. At the Home and Giving Fair in Melbourne the newsagents we will see will be in gift mode – quite a different head space to if they were at a newsagency trade show. We will also get to see plenty of gift, homewares, garden and other retailers. This can be existing as we get to talk retail outside our usual niche … it’s a wonderful learning opportunity.
I am not comparing both trade shows as they are very different in terms of focus and the type of event. I hope that the Melbourne event does not pull traffic from the GNS Fair.
Around six weeks ago I was fortunate to spend a few days at the Small Giants International Summit. I blogged about it at the time. This Summit was an excellent away from the office, recharge the batteries and soak up fresh ideas experience. It was my first time at a conference like this for more than two years. What I liked about the Summit was that it was all about small business and those who choose to work in small business – how we can improve our businesses. Here is a video just of some of the participants commenting about what the Summit mean to them. It was terrific to revisit what I said at the time.
You can find out more about the Small Giants Community at their website. It’s an excellent organisation of business people with similar thoughts about business and small business in particular.
We are promoting Pies savoury & sweet at the main sales counter between newspapers as well as with our food magazine titles.
This new ACP Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook is set to sell well if our sense of taste is anything to go by.
The cover image is mouth watering … customers quickly get what this title is about – hence our impulse purchase chasing placement.
Our plan is to leave the title here for a week and then place it in another tactical location.
Yes, folks, there is such a thing. I found this title overseas in my travels recently. The newsagent I purchased it from said that it sold well to young girls. Of course it would. I know I could have sold this in one of my stores where the Bieber one-shot from pacific and the Bieber photo pack sold like hot cakes. What I like about this is that Bieber’s face could be used to introduce kids to their first crossword experience. Nice.
The Productivity Commission has today released its draft report into the Economic Structure and Performance of the Australian Retail Industry. While I have only read the overview so far, it looks quite interesting.
I particularly like that the draft recommendations call for action on the retail tenancies:
COAG should ensure that all current National Retail Tenancy Working Group projects are fully implemented. It should also re-examine the outstanding recommendations from the Commission’s 2008 retail tenancy report with a view to expanding the work plan of the National Retail Tenancy Working Group.
I also like their recommendation on the Fair Work Act:
The Australian Government should, within the context of the current system and consistent with the maintenance of minimum safety net provisions for all employees, examine retail industry concerns about the operation of the Fair Work Act. This should include consideration of options to address any significant obstacles to the efficient negotiation of enterprise-based arrangements, that have the potential to improve overall productivity. The post-implementation review of the Fair Work Act, which is to commence before 1 January 2012, should provide the appropriate review mechanism. The first review of modern awards, scheduled for 2012, is a further opportunity to address concerns that relate specifically to the operation of relevant retail awards.
The report also makes recommendations around the handling of GST on online purchases. It will be interesting to see if Amazon and others engage here on this issue as they have done in the US.
The ANF made an excellent submission on behalf of newsagents.
It is time for the government to engage with retail and support this sector of the economy. For decades government has thrown truckloads of cash at mining, auto and other sectors. Retail needs help, not handouts, but structural reform to enable us to be competitive.
All sides of politics have let retailers down for decades.
I have heard of newsagents recently being offered a margin of more than 50% for physical phonecards. This type of margin is unsustainable. You run the risk of selling a phonecard which will stop working before your customer has used up all of the credit. You wouldn’t want to be at the shop if that happens, when they customer blames you for them losing money.
The only reason I could see a phonecard company selling phonecards with a retailer margin above 50% is because they are desperate for cash. While extra margin for your business might be attractive, there is a real risk that this short term cash gain could do harm to your reputation.
What if the phonecard company pushing the bonus margin cards runs out of cash? What if they shut down as a result? What if your customers are left without a working phonecard?
I know a bit about phonecard company margins and offer the advice in this post as a genuine warning to newsagents who may not know of the risk inherent in such an unsustainable retailer margin.
Newsagents who are wondering about all the Symply Too Good To be True stock which they received yesterday need to know that the titles will feature in two upcoming issues of Take 5. The Symply cookbooks will also not be billed until September, giving us until October 20 to move the stock.
We are getting in early in one of my newsagencies with this triple pocket display featuring Symply Too Good to be True #1 through #6 on an impulse unit which faces shoppers as they enter the store.
We will replace this with a fresh promotion for the range when the Take 5 promotion hits.
Our sales data indicates that half the sales of these cookbooks include two or more editions. The key is to display them together.
This year’s VTAC Guide looks better than it has in the past. The bright and more appealing cover make it and easier product for us to place at the counter. For years this guide looked like a manual produced by the public service, which it was.
Anyway, in one of my newsagencies we have this year’s VTAC Guide at the counter and it is selling well. It’s terrific to see someone come in to purchase something else and add the VTAC Guide to their purchase. Every dollar helps, as they say.
We plan to move this title around, chasing sales, over the next few weeks.
Check out the display created by the team at another of my newsagencies promoting the new Feast magazine from SBS and Pacific Magazines.
You can see shoppers stop and look at the display – it stands out that much. This is what a good display is all about, drawing attention to a product.
I love the look of celebration about the display. The magazine is a celebration of food and food travels.
We are promoting the reissue of this bugs part series. We’re not going all out because of space and because it is a reissue. We will watch supply and space carefully. With Father’s Day under way, then Halloween and then Christmas, display space in just about any newsagency is at a premium right now. I’m not against the reissue, just concerned about whether it is too soon.
The New Zealand Herald today placed a post-it note type ad over the word Herald. The ad also covered up their above the line pitch: newspaper of the year. The publisher can do what they like. I don’t think this is a good move for the brand is all.
More and more newsagents are finding themselves rostered in sales roles in their businesses as they work to cut labour costs. Cutting hours is a move many newsagents are reluctantly taking in response to tough retail conditions.
The risk of this approach is that the business replaces people who appreciate behind the counter work with those who are not so keen to be there.
Newsagents who are finding that they are spending more time behind the counter need to approach this work with a view to the bigger picture and with gratitude that they have this option.
Don’t be angry about it. Embrace it. If you have other staff behind the counter, be one of the team when you’re there. Use the opportunity to lead by example, for the good of the business.
I read a book a few years ago, How Starbucks Changes My Life. I think that newsagents who have had to roster themselves behind the counter because of tough times might find this book helpful, especially if you are not happy in a behind the counter role.
Personally, I like working the shop floor and time behind the counter. Every customer interaction is an opportunity. Every time I learn something. That said, I appreciate that my work week has plenty of diversity – I can’t say how I would feel if I had to do sixty hours a week there out of necessity.