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

UFC magazine struggles to gain traction

mag-ufc0611.JPGNew magazine UFC Australia doing it tough in my newsagencies.  With the majority of our shoppers women 30+, it is no wonder that the title is challenged finding good sales.  Looking at the latest issue, I can see UFC doing better at petrol and convenience outlets where it is more likely to be seen by the target reader.  I’d love to see a sales breakdown by retail channel.

While the pre launch material from ACP talked about the number of women purchasing tickets to UFC events, I do think the magazine is more focused on a male reader.

We are supporting the title with in-location displays and occasional counter time.  Neither activity is driving measurable incremental business for us.

UFC is a good product, just not the big seller I expected in my newsagencies.

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magazines

Newsagency of the Future: AFR today page 10

newsagency-future.jpgThe Australian Financial Review today (page 10) has an article by Emily Parkinson about the changing role of the local newsagency business.  I appreciate the opportunity to have been interviewed for the article. Regulars here would not be surprised to read that I see the need for us to (urgently) run to and embrace change rather than waiting for it to wash over us.  This is a central theme of the AFR article.

I see a bright future for proactive newsagents, people who create vibrant locally-focused businesses which build a better margin story and develop new streams of traffic.

By considering what might happen in a worst case scenario (steep declines in key product categories by 2020), we can (and will) build better businesses today. The alternative is to ignore change and not plan for it.

The AFR story focuses on the changes being embraced by newsXpress and the model it has built around new traffic and better margin.  The photo was taken at newsXpress Knox -in front of our ink wall.

I plan to pick up on some themes in the article in a Newsagency of the Future workshop series in the next couple of months.

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Media disruption

PMP Closes Scribo Book Distribution Business

Scribo, the book distribution business purchased in late 2008 by Gordon and Gotch is to close at the end of this month. They sent an announcement to retailers late last week.

Scribo is big, representing more than 200 publishers to the Australian and New Zealand book trade.  They claimed to be Australia’s largest independent book distributor.  Here are the reasons they cited for the decision to close:

  • Soft market conditions
  • Increase in offshore online sales combined with the strength of the Australian dollar
  • Closure of key retail outlets
  • Increased competition from international wholesalers
  • Emergence of ebooks

PMP, the owners of Gordon and Gotch, had high hopes for Scribo.  Many newsagents were customers, appreciating access to thee range of Scribo titles for their book department.  David Hogan moved from running Gotch to heading Scribo.  The decision to close this division will further challenge the PMP share price which is at 60 cents.  It was $1.07 just over six months ago.

A low-lying cloud of gloom hangs above book retailing globally and here in Australia. The sentiment about our local situation has been driven by the collapse of Borders and the closure of many Angus and Robertson stores. the result is challenging conditions for book retailers. Some are doing well while others struggle.  The key to success appears to be focusing on local customer needs.  This is so true for newsagents too.

The closure of Scribo is a reminder that distribution is a tough business, operating with fractional margins.

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Book retailing

newsXpress Gympie wins inaugural Hallmark Alliance Retailer of the Year Award

gympie-winners.jpgCongratulations to Warrick Hosking and the team at newsXpress Gympie in Queensland for winning the inaugural Hallmark Alliance Retailer of the Year Award.  This is a new award from Hallmark, created for retailers in their Alliance program.  This group is the best of the best and includes newsagents, card shops and gift shops.

Hallmark created the award to drive engagement in the premium alliance program in its independent and small business retail channel. The criteria was considerable: engagement in marketing campaigns, meeting display and merchandising criteria and sales growth.

newsXpress Gympie won from a field of ten finalists including seven newsagencies of which four were newsXpress stores.  Thee final selection was difficult for the judges given the caliber of the finalists.  newsXpress Gympie won for their proactive, creative and commercial  support of the Hallmark brand and products.

Well done to Warrick and the team.  Well done to newsXpress Bairnsdale, newsXpress Glendale, newsXpress Sunbury Square, Williamstonw News, McGees News & Lotto and The Lucky Charm Townsville for making the final ten in a tough commercial competition.

I congratulate Hallmark for investing back into the channel by running this competition and using it to get newsagents to engage in the card category in their businesses.

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Newsagency management

Popular Science future energy issue timely given the carbon tax debate

mag-pop-sci.JPGThe latest issue of Popular Science magazine is timely given the bickering going on among politicians about environmental matters and, in particular, the proposed carbon tax.  This special issue of the magazine features articles on future energy.  So, away from the oppose everything approach of Tony Abbot and the structural change missteps of Julia Gillard, here is a magazine which is looking at energy alternatives.  As I said, it is timely.  We are promoting this issue of Popular Science with a full face display close to the usual location for the title.  e may give it a crack at the counter space permitting.

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magazines

Marketing tip: How to run a Christmas in July promotion in your newsagency

Christmas in July is growing in popularity in retail businesses.  It can provide a good retail focus and sales kick in between major seasons. It is an opportunity to move stock while having fun with Christmas out of season.

Christmas in July is an excellent opportunity for newsagencies.

A couple of years ago we moved in excess of $2,000 in boxed Christmas cards at a 75% margin.  Our Christmas boxed cards later in the year were stronger than ever so the July promotion did not pull forward sales.

A Christmas in July promotion could be as simple as a sale based around the season or it could be a fully integrated campaign covering the whole of the business.

Christmas in July is a particularly useful campaign if you sell items which would help with celebrations in the home or if you sell items which work as Christmas gifts. While the opportunity is promoted as Christmas in July, it is a chance to get some early Christmas sales happening – ahead of most other retailers.

Check with your local council or business association as to what they have on – more and more are running Christmas in July events. be sure to check with charities too.  A quick search online shows plenty do. Talk to suppliers to see whether they have anything which could help you embrace the opportunity.

Remember, the real focus of a Christmas in July promotion is to increase sales. Every move made as part of the campaign must progress this opportunity.

  • Run the Christmas in July campaign over no more than two weeks in July. One week could be enough.
  • Choose dates which are away from any other promotion – it works best with little competition.
  • Get all employees together, seek their ideas and explain the value of the season you are creating.
  • Set aside a defined space in-store for promoting stock connection with the season.
  • Dress the team and the store to suit the Christmas theme.
  • Display any spare Christmas stock from last year.
  • Play Christmas music.
  • Choose a day for an extra special celebration and make this an all-out focus.
  • Have a competition for the kids around the theme. This could be a coloring competition – offer to display their works of art as parents and family will visit to see.
  • Create a giant Christmas stocking which one lucky customer can win.
  • Use the event to discount slow moving items – try and create a real sense of bargains.
  • Promote the event using a flyer to houses around your location – it is a great way to draw people into your shop. On the flyer, promote the activities and any specials.
  • Call the local paper and get their attention.

Christmas in July is an excellent opportunity to get suppliers on board.  Maybe they could provide products for you to give away as gifts – I.E. every shopper gets spending over $10 a ‘Christmas’ gift.  Suppliers could use your promotion as an ideal time for trialling products and getting your customers engaged.
Events like Christmas in July are all about giving people a reason to visit your newsagency. Making the event fun and relevant to the season (winter) should make it a winner for you.

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newsagency marketing

Food hot online as well as in print in the US

Check out the New York Post article from yesterday about moves by US magazine publisher Meredith and their recent move in the food space online.  The article also has a good assessment about the magazine and online space for food titles.  Well worth reading in my view given the strong interest here in Australia for food.  the growth in online traffic reported in the article is interesting.  Bon Appetit, for example, has seen online traffic grow 85% in the last year.

Smart publishers are equally engaged in driving readership online and in print.

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magazines

Flipboard enhancements deliver a digital newsstand feel

Flipboard, an iPad App which I first wrote about almost a year ago, has released an update which gets it closer to a newsstand experience.  The enhancements make it easier for users to create their own magazine experience by sourcing content from a range of locations.  Bloomberg has an interesting article on the new Flipboard including the comment that they think this looks a lot like the future (or one version of the future) of digital publishing.

I like Flipboard a lot and access considerable content through it on my iPad.

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magazines

Leveraging the Toy Sale attention in a newsagency

games.JPGWe are leveraging the Toy Sale promotional activity of Toys R Us, Target, K Mart and others with a small Toy sale of our own.  We have chosen toy products which are not part of the promotions being run by the majors.  This means that we are not swimming in their red (price focused) ocean.  By having products which they are not featuring we are leveraging a nice point of difference.

One of the products I really like is the bonus board game packs.  We have several.  Check out the Monopoly bonus pack in the photo.  By offering Taboo shrink-wrapped with Monopoly for less than the RRP for Monopoly shoppers see that we are delivering value and pushing back on the consumer sentiment that newsagencies are more expensive than other businesses.

All of the advertising from the majors about their toy sales makes buying toys top of mind for many shoppers.  It makes sense to us to leverage this opportunity.

We are promoting our own toy sale with a display facing out into the shopping mall.  Shoppers pass this as they head toward our card department.  So, toys are pulling new traffic.  They are also driving incremental business, especially among card shoppers.

Toys is a department where newsagents can leverage and show off their retail skills.  What we achieve is up to us.  We do our own buying, set out own pricing, undertake our own marketing and manage our team.

Our success comes down to us.  We can’t complain about a supplier, oversupply or a return policy.

Not enough newsagents engage in retail opportunities like this, where they have more control.  More should.  I’d be happy to share more insights into our experiences.  Call me anytime on 0418 321 338.

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Newsagency opportunities

Book sale drives traffic

knoxbooksale.JPGWith Angus and Robertson and Borders both running closing down sales, we figured we would leverage the heightened attention on discount books and run our own sale.  We have the trestle table in the photo facing into the mall.

This very simple display is working a treat. We have the covers of titles in popular categories such as food facing out into the mall.  This is key to driving traffic.  We have tried a more attractive display and that does not work as well.  We have found the trestle table approach works best for books.

Our target is to sell down by the middle of this month so that we are ready for a massive Father’s Day Book Sale which starts next month.

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Book retailing

Increased Mandarin support and assistance for newsagents

My newsagency software company Tower Systems pioneered offering Mandarin support for newsagents seven years ago.  I am thrilled to note that Tower recently increased the Mandarin language support for newsagents with the creation of a new help desk role.

This new position helps all newsagents.  Mandarin speaking newsagents receive better service in a language with which they are more familiar.  Non Mandarin speaking newsagents have access to more  resources as less time is being spent on calls with Mandarin speaking newsagents.

Tower Systems finished the 2010/11 Financial Year in excellent shape, having welcomed many newsagents to its 1,700+ strong newsagent user community.  While some were greenfield sties, newsagencies without a system, many switched from other systems – POS Solutions being the most common newsagency system newsagents switch from.

One reason newsagents switch is the high quality of support.   The commitment of the company is evident in its investment in enhancing Mandarin support services.

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newsagent software

Q2 2011 Newsagency Sales Benchmark Study Invitation

I am looking for data from newsagents for my next Newsagent Sales Benchmark Study. While I am primarily interested in data from the 1,700 newsagents with newsagency software from Tower Systems, I’ll happily work with other newsagents on their data.

Participating is easy. Run your Monthly sales Comparison report with Apr 1, 2011 – Jun 30, 2011 on the left and Apr 1, 2011 – Jun 30, 2010 on the right. TICK THE CATEGORY BOX as this provides an excellent breakdown to allow more thorough analysis. Please do NOT tick the supplier box. Save the report as a PDF. Email this report to mark@towersystems.com.au.

I need the data by next Monday, July 4 as I’d like to publish top line results by Friday, July 8.

I have been doing these sales benchmark studies for years.  The results have been supported by audits and other studies produced by others.  The purpose of my benchmark study is to help newsagents sport trends and this this make better informed business decisions.

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Sales benchmark

The Week offers a free trial copy in pursuit of subscriptions

theweek-free.JPGI noticed the ‘voucher’ for The Week inserted in The Age on the weekend.  I’d love to see the money behind this campaign invested in promoting the title in newsagencies.  I appreciate that this may be easier requested than done.  However, newsagents represent the best opportunity the publisher of The Week has at accessing incremental business.  We have excellent foot traffic, are the key retail channel for selling news related products, are connected with ur customers in a more personal way than other retailers and can respond to local type campaigns.

Here are a few ideas the publisher of The Week could consider:

  1. 50% margin for two months.  This would encourage better placement, over the counter promotion and greater attention all round.
  2. Trialling a lower cover price with margin dollar protection.  Say, $1.00 for a week with newsagents earning their usual commission at full price.
  3. Bonus margin for growth.  Lock in an additional 25% margin for every sale beyond the average weekly sales achieved.
  4. Giving newsagents a gift coupon for handing or mailing to customers so they can redeem a free copy of the magazine from the newsagency.
  5. Offering newsagents a cash bonus and 25% per issue commission for putaways committed to in store.

I am sure there are other ideas for driving newsagent engagement and lifting sales of not only The Week but other magazines.  Many newsagents are showing every week that they can lift magazine sales through creative and energetic engagement.  What we need is publishers on board and transacting with us as business people and not part of a logistics business.

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magazines

Promoting Tour de France magazine titles

mag-tdf.JPGWe are promoting botch Tour de France titles with full face half waterfall displays at shoulder height. This ensures that shoppers in our sports section will see the titles. They are certainly the hero titles among bike titles at the moment with this placement. We are also promoting the guide at the counter to drive impulse business for people not visiting and looking for Tour de France products.

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magazines

At $17.95 Royal Wedding one-shot: too expensive and too late

importedwedding.JPGWe received this Royal Wedding special title from Gordon and Gotch. It arrived weeks too late to be of interest to customers. And too expensive in our view. What is interesting is that the folks at Gotch decided to send us this title bot NOT send us any of the Tour de France title – we had to chase those.

Some magazine supply decisions don’t make any sense at all. As is usually the case with supply issues like this, the Gotch people will have an explanation. All I know is that it is newsagents which end up paying, through labour or cash flow, for these odd decisions.

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magazines

More broken Hello Kitty plates

kittymess.JPGThe latest part in the Hello Kitty partwork series arrived in-store yesterday and the plates in a whole box at one of my newsagencies were smashed – as shown in the photo.  What a waste of money and time.

Somewhere in the supply chain this stock is getting damaged and we are carrying part of the cost for this.  Most frustrating.

We are contemplating pulling the plug on Hello Kitty given the extraordinary failure rate of stock to arrive in a merchantable form.

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partworks

New magazine distributor IPS announces two month grace period for newsagents

New magazine distributor Integrated Publication Solutions has announced a two month grace period on the implementation of all business policies – to give newsagents time to become familiar with the new magazine distribution model.

This announcement is a gesture of good faith from IPS and will go toward addressing concerns expressed by newsagents on a recent thread here.

The key details of the IPS announcement are:

In support of IPS business policy to work with retailers, IPS will be offering a 2 month grace period on all business policies to assist you in becoming familiar with the new processes.

In particular if you are oversupplied of any publication due to a data migration error, IPS will allow the processing of early returns. Simply email our customer service team at customerserivce@publicationsolutions.com.au and advise them of the over supply and how many copies you would like ‘early returned’. Your account will then be credited immediately and your new standing order will be placed in the system. When the publication is recalled you must submit all tops (including those that have been “early returned’) for auditing purposes.

This grace period announcement is a practical demonstration of a point of difference in dealing with newsagents.

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magazine distribution

End of financial year checklist for newsagents

Today is June 30, a day which often passes newsagents by, many missing important housekeeping which is important to the business.  Here is a suggested checklist:

  1. Take a special backup of your business data tonight, make it your END OF FINANCIAL YEAR BACKUP and store it in a safe place.
  2. Print a debtors report, listing all debtors and their balances.  Actually, run this as a PDF and save paper.  It’s only the total which your accountant will need.
  3. Write off and bad debts.
  4. Write off any old stock which will never sell.
  5. Complete a stock take using your computer system ASAP and keep a record of stock on hand for your accountant.

While there are other tasks you could complete, there are not as essential as these two.  For example, I will be doing a year on year comparison and a quarterly comparison to check the sales health of my businesses.

My newsagency software company, Tower Systems, has been running end of financial year live online training for a few weeks now.  Its been a popular way for newsagents to ensure they are prepared.  there are two more today – anyone is welcome to join in.  Access is free.

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Newsagency management

Promoting Top gear magazine to women

mag-topgear-0711.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of Top Gear Australia with this aisle end display at the entrance to our women’s aisle.

With around 40% of our Top Gear shoppers being women, it made sense to us to give promoting the title to women a crack rather than the usual men’s aisle placement for such a promotion.

We also have stock of Top Gear in the usual location in the men’s magazine aisle – to help our blind male shoppers who don’t like change and don’t see impulse display promotions.  Yeah, our male shoppers are less inclined to engage with off location impulse purchase displays.

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magazines

Promoting the Australian Women’s Weekly

aww-jul11.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly with this display facing the dance floor.

We also have stock at the front of the store, in our weekly titles impulse display and the usual location – with women’s magazines – for the title.

We will pull back on all this promotional activity after the weekend, as inventory sells down.

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magazines

Are newsagents funding the Express Publications purchase of News Magazines titles?

One  newsagent this morning discovered a 600% increase in Overlander 4WD magazine from Network Services.  They have gone from getting three copies to seventeen, costing an extra $104.44 in stock for this issue.

Another newsagent has seen their supply go from five to nineteen copies – also a $104.44 increase.  Extraordinary.

I wonder if Express Publications has targeted a channel wide increase in supply.  Imagine if just half of all newsagents face a similar increase.  That would give Express Publications a cash flow boost of $208,000.  This could come in handy given that the company recently purchased magazine titles from News Magazines.

While this sounds like a conspiracy theory, I can’t see any reason for such an increase in supply, especially when you consider that both Express Publications and Network Services, their new distributor, have access to newsagent sales history for the title.

Overland 4WD is the first issue from Express Publications, it is one of a batch of titles acquired from News Magazines.  It has also shifted to Network Services from Gordon and Gotch.  Network was provided the sales history by Gotch so that exactly this situation could be avoided.

What makes the oversupply even more frustrating is that it has occurred one day before the end of the month.   This would not be a big deal if it only happened for one title.

This increase in supply is like someone has decided to get newsagents to provide a short term loan.  By supplying newsagents extra stock many will just pay up and take the created when it eventually flows some months down the track.  It’s like newsagents at the ATM – except that we dispense interest free cash.

This gross oversupply of Overlander 4WD is a reason some newsagents early return titles without careful consideration.  I know of newsagents who will target Network titles in retaliation. While it may seem petty, you can’t completely blame them.

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magazine distribution

Truckin’ Life supply frustration

The issue of Truckin’ Life magazine out today is the first from new publisher Express Publications.  I have heard from several newsagents already about a significant and unwarranted increase in supply.  The usual facilities and warning opportunities newsagents have to track a title have been denied with Truckin’ Life because the title has changed (with the placement of the apostrophe) and a new title code.

The behavior of a small group of publishers, facilitated by distributors, makes newsagents angry, frustrated and looking for ways to hit back – like with ill considered early returns.

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magazine distribution

Promoting Life Support magazine and showing the newsagent difference

mag-lifesupport1.JPGWe are proudly promoting the new Life Support magazine – with a good display facing out into the newsagency.  Life Support is a magazine supporting cancer patients and cancer research. The pitch on the cover is this it is an everyday guide to living with cancer.

Life Support  is an ideal title for newsagents to promote as it connects us with our community in a personal and heartfelt way in which our competitors, supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol outlets, are unlikely to engage.  Yes, in addition to doing good, promoting this title makes commercial sense.

I know that there are some newsagents who don’t to display the title because of its connection with cancer.  I see that as a negative view.  This magazine is about living.  Life is in the title.  It is a positive product for us to carry.

There was a time when there was considerable stigma associated with diabetes.  Diabetic Living is now a popular magazine.

I’d encourage newsagents to support this magazine … display it with pride.

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magazines

Promoting second tier crossword titles

mag-crossindy1.JPGWe are promoting what we would call (without disrespect) second tier crossword / puzzle titles with this display in our crossword section.  This double pocket display is at shoulder level and is easily shopped.  It looks stunning.

I chose to promote these titles as each serves a strong customer base already and represents a point of difference for us over nearby supermarket magazine outlets.

We all need to do more of this, promoting the difference in our our magazine range compared to other magazine retailers.  My view is that displays like this are more valuable to our businesses than the national billboard displays publishers tend to prefer.

I am seeing double digit growth for crossword titles and this is in part due to unique promotions like this one.

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crosswords
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