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

How some US newspapers are reaching more readers

According to the US Audit Bureau of Circulations, the average circulation of the 80 largest papers in the country dropped 2.6% in the latest audit.  Some newspapers, however, have significantly increased their audience. The Chicago Sun-Times, for example, increased its audience 48.41% in the latest audit.As the table published by the Audit Bureau of Circulations shows – it’s if the fourth table down on the website.

This growth in audience, driven by digital strategies, will be of interest to Australian newspaper publishers.  My sense (still) is that we are currently a couple of years behind US newspaper trends because of the different distribution model.  This gap benefits publishers and newsagents considering a model for the future.

I hope that newsagents read this and other data and factor it into their business plans.  I am.

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Media disruption

Promoting Men’s Health to attract customers

mag-mhealth-may11.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of Men’s Health magazines with this display at the front of the store.  The display can be seen from out in the mall as well as from inside the shop.  We are primarily using this display to attract shoppers from the mall.

We feel that for us Men’s Health is a title people do not buy as a destination purchase and figured the best way to work on this was a front of store display.

I particularly like that the poster is headed ON SALE NOW!  This is a terrific headline for this type of display as it implies a call to action.

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magazines

Queensland is recovering

I was fortunate to spend today with a bunch of newsagents at a meeting in Brisbane.  They hailed from the suburbs as and way beyond.  Some traveled up to five hours.  Anyway, you could not have met a more happy, positive and pro-active group. While the floods interrupted their businesses and families five months ago, they are focused on the future.  Many had stories of how far they have moved on.  They were inspiring.

Reflecting on the day and how so many have got through the tough situations presented by the floods, I am left feeling good about the newsagency channel if this is what we are made of.

Taking each day as a challenge to move forward, for this group and many Queensland newsagents, and what they have achieved in a few months as a result is a lesson for all of us next time we stand still and complain.

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Newsagency management

The 5 cent coin is redundant

I agree with those talking up the need to kill off the five cent coin from our currency.  Doing so would benefit newsagents and other retailers.  We have the rounding principles in place already so process-wise it would be an easy move to implement.

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retail

Where are we headed with EFTPOS and other bank fees?

I am concerned at the lack of engagement on the issue of soon to increase EFTPOS fees.  Newsagents and other retailers, it would seem, just don’t care. When I try and talk with colleagues about the issue too often they switch off.  It is as if they do not feel connected to the issue.

Here is what we know … soon, in a matter of months, small businesses like newsagencies will face EFTPOS fees which are less competitive than the fees we have today.  We will either have to soak up increased fees or pass them on to our customers.  Either way, we lose. Our two big supermarket competitors will not have these fees.

The decision which led to this situation was made by EPAL, a company controlled by the big banks plus Coles and Woolworths – as I blogged a few weeks ago.  If you want to see where this EFTPOS fee issue could play out then read Swiped: Banks, Merchants And Why Washington Doesn’t Work For You which appeared at The Huffington Post last month.  In this excellent article, Scott Carter and Ryan Grim have outlined where EPAL, the big banks and their big retailer mates could be taking us – consumers and small and independent retailers. Check out this excerpt from page 2 of the article:

Banks began issuing cash cards in the 1970s as a tactic to automate services and cut labor costs — more ATMs meant fewer bank tellers and check processing costs. When swipe machines were first introduced in stores, banks actually paid some merchants to accept debit cards. Later, swipes became free, and once debit cards had become ingrained in consumer culture, banks began charging merchants, and the costs keep going up.

Click on the second link in the excerpt above to read The interchange fee rip off an article by Felix Salmon published by Reuters last year which goes to the heart of what we face.

Despite the spin which EPAL is brilliantly distributing to politicians and others who challenge their decision, we can expect that fees for small and independent retailers and other businesses will increase.  And while EPAL will say that is a matter for the banks, the genesis of the rise will be the EPAL decision.  It will not end there.  We will face more increases.

The deals and offers from banks to get us to put terminals in our businesses and to hook us on plastic are similar to the behaviour off the drug pusher keen to get a customer hooked.  The first step is so tempting that one does not think there can be any bad on the other side.  Yes, the deals were too good to be true.

We are hooked on plastic and the banks know this.  This is why they think they can get away with the rip off which we are about to experience and which will separate our small businesses from the likes of Coles and Woolworths.

So, newsagents and others here, do you feel like engaging now?  I hope so.

I am grateful to writer and broadcaster Paul Wallbank from for pointing me to the Huffington Post article.

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EFTPOS fees

Little Squares and Slices cookbook a surprise hit

sqslices.JPGLittle Squares and Slices, a new cookbook from ACP Magazines has been a surprise hit for us.  We have already achieved a sell-through of 83% of our initial shipment.  This is a surprise as I expected it to be a soft title, certainly not selling this well for us so soon. Once again I am reminded that I am not my customer.

While sales were helped by tactical placement with one of our displays of weekly titles (see photo), sales have surpassed our expectations.

What makes the performance of this cookbook more enjoyable is that most purchases have been made on impulse.  It is not a destination item … yes, a very nice basket builder.

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magazines

Promoting the Hello Kitty partwork

hellokitty.JPGWe are promoting the new Hello Kitty partwork series at the front of the newsagency in prime position facing into the mall.  We expect it to sell well and that we will sell out of the small allocation we have received for part 1.

Our team chose to promote in this prime location as ours will be the only store in the centre with this product being promoted facing into the mall.  It gives us an excellent opportunity to demonstrate a point of difference.

This practical support we are providing for the launch of a partwork series is far more than you would see if partworks were sold in outlets other than newsagencies – as is the case in the UK.

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partworks

Promoting the Style issue of In Style magazine

mag-instyle-may11.JPGWe are promoting the latest In Style magazine with this aisle end display.  It’s The Style Issue and our team have been careful to try and reflect the quality of the issue with this display.

This is an excellent issue of In Style to promote as it is more likely to be purchased by infrequent purchasers of the title.  I’d encourage enwsagents who have not done so to give this issue feature treatment.

In addition to this feature location we also have the title with our fashion titles elsewhere in the store.  We will run the co-location strategy for a week as space is in high demand.

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magazines

Audit confirms newsagent benchmark study results

The Audit Bureau of Circulations magazine numbers for the March quarter released late last week confirm the results I published here a month ago in the latest Newsagency Sales Benchmark Study,

While I’ll look at the audit results in more detail later this week, I mention it today to encourage newsagents to look at the latest benchmark as it provides information which newsagents can use in developing business plans.

The newspaper decline is also very similar.  We showed 2% in retail sales and the ABC reported a 2.8% decline for capital city newspapers.

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magazines

Have mass merchants broken the Easter Egg?

easter-discount.JPGWhile our Easter Egg sales were okay and card sales increased more than 10%, it was not until we discounted our Easter Egg range on the Tuesday before Easter that we started to move the volume of eggs we had hoped and planned for.

Our Easter Egg range was excellent.  We had it located in prime position for a month prior to Easter.  The display itself was compelling – colourful and pitched at various shoppers.  Our price policy was competitive, a tad under RRP.

What hurt us was the majors in the shopping centre discounting their Easter Eggs 20% and more … and considerably earlier than usual – one even three weeks before the season.  Another was discounting by 50% a full week before Easter.  These are discounts off a better buy price base -the negotiating power of a mass merchant is much better than any newsagent or newsagency group but I do not begrudge them that.

They were supporting their discounting with catalogues and, in some cases, ads in the local newspaper – probably paid for by their suppliers.  I do not begrudge them that either.

Given that it is just about impossible for us to carry Easter Eggs where the products themselves are the point of difference, we either accept that we will not sell the stock or we join in.  So, we joined in on the Tuesday afternoon prior to Easter.  It was like we flicked a switch.  Customers were spending $50 and even $100 at a time.

Talking with one customer who was in the centre daily, they knew that we would have to drop our price.  Their backup was to shop at a major.  While the major did not have exactly what they wanted, it would do … because all the kids are going to do is eat it in a day.

For newsagents, Easter Eggs, like everything we sell, are about margin.  We need the margin because our our business model.  For mass merchants, Easter Eggs are about volume. They want the traffic generation.  Also, they make money outside of the actual margin from the sale at the register.

My view is that mass merchants have killed what was a golden egg at Easter for all retailers.  Their lust for low margin volume has hurt all retailers including themselves.  While shoppers will like this, invariably fewer retailers will carry Easter eggs and this is when margin will creep up and shoppers pay the price, once again.

My concern about Easter Eggs has a magazine connection.  Every bundle of current issue high volume titles priced at a discount educates shoppers to look for these deals. I hope that publishers pull back rather than increase their discounting commitment.  However, they appear to be ramping this up this year.

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Newsagency challenges

Book sale attracting shoppers

booksale.JPGAs part of our post Mother’s Day plans, we have been running a book sale facing out into the shopping mall.  This week our focus is cook books – the theme changes weekly.  While stock is thinning, we cover a reasonable range in the display.  Food titles perform well at attracting browsers to the store.

All titles on display are for sale at less than retail yet our margin integrity is maintained for all but the magazine cookbooks which we have in a couple of spots in the display.

Next week, we plan to flip the book display and replace it with a range of brand name toys facing into the mall.

Each of these displays is as much about attracting browsers as they are about driving sales of the products on display.  Getting someone passing in the mall to stop and approach the shop is vital.  Enough look beyond the display itself and enter our retail space to make the time commitment valuable for the business.

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Book retailing

Royal Wedding interest in steep decline for us

The difference in interest among shoppers in the Royal Wedding between last weekend and this is extraordinary.  We could see it in browsing behaviour and hear it in comments from shoppers.

We plan to pull back of the display space we have allocated to Royal Wedding titles – to two displays.  No point in promoting something shoppers make it clear they have moved on from.

I know from talking with other newsagents that they are not experiencing the same decline in interest.  It is something for newsagents to watch carefully.

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magazines

The new category delivering $900 a week

stickerfamily.JPGSome months ago newsXpress released the My Family sticker range from The Sticker Family.  Like all newsXpress offers, it was not mandatory – members can choose which offers they take up and which they do not.

Almost since the launch of the stickers, we have been selling $900 (ex GST) and often more a week worth of these stickers in one of my newsagencies.

newsXpress negotiated a group wide discounted price and backed the opportunity with a package of strategies and tactics designed to help newsXpress members make the most of the opportunity.  Embracing these strategies and tactics was optional for newsXpress members.

I know of some newsagents who heard about the Sticker Family range long before newsXpress got involved who did not think this range appropriate to a newsagency business.  The key was to delve into the product range, research consumer motivation, develop a pitch which works with the newsagency customer and back this with appropriate collateral.  It is the total package which has got me to the $900 a week which I am seeing.

Granted, I am getting this result in a major shopping centre situation.  Still, I am happy not only with the $900 a week revenue boost but am also loving the excellent margin, that customers attracted to buy the stickers buy other items and that some customers shopping for cards, magazines and newspapers buy stickers on impulse.  The range is a winner on many fronts.

My analysis suggests that the total boost in weekly revenue driven by the stickers is around $1,400 a week ex GST.

I like the stickers because they are a habit based product, they appeal to families and they generate good word of mouth.  Three key factors for newsagents in today’s market.

Any retailer can access this range.  Success will depend on the value you add as a retailer in terms of strategies and tactics to underpin the range … as is the case with so much of what we sell.

Just putting a product out is not enough in retail today.  We need to be fully engaged to attract shoppers and convert their presence into dollars.

I don’t make a point of talking about many of the  newsXpress success stories here as to do so would not be fair to the newsagents who pay newsXpress to access the point of difference the group delivers. I am making an exception this time as the product is so well established across the group.

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Newsagency management

140 magazines available through NOOK app

Nook Gets A Huge Update For Android Tablets With Access To Over 140 Magazines

This is the headline on a Business Insider story from a couple of days ago about a new Android app for tablet PCs. These 140 magazines were only available on colour NOOK devices. Not, they are available on all Android devices with the app.

With the use of tablet PCs growing exponentially, expect more announcements like this one.

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Media disruption

Loving the cold weather

It is freezing and wet in Melbourne today and the two shopping malls I visited were packed as a result.  Both centres felt like Christmas without the music – they were that packed with people.  There was a great buzz.

This is half the battle, getting people into centres.  Sometimes the weather is the retailers best friend.

The next step is having shops with displays and offers which lure them from the mall into the store.  We focus on this by changing our front of house story at least weekly and checking daily that it is fully stocked and appealing.

I’d love more Saturdays like today.

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retail

Osama, the face everyone knows

osama.JPGWe are promoting the Osama Bin Laden edition of Time magazine with this simple display at the front of our newsagency, facing into the mall.

It was interesting at the shop today hearing people pointing to the poster, recognising the image, young kids even.

While the display will not drive huge sales, it does pitch relevance.  No other magazine outlet in our centre is featuring this title. This is the type of point of difference we go for.  It is one of the factors driving magazine sales growth for us.

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magazines

Late notice on price change from Fairfax

Newsagents in South east Queensland, far north New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern territory received late notice this morning of a price increase for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald.

Smart publishers provide newsagents with good warning.  They also let the newsagency software companies know a few days in advance so that instructions can be sent to newsagent customers.  This late notice costs newsagents and software companies time.  On a weekend the impact is more severe with some casual weekend staff needing help to make the necessary changes.

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Newsagency challenges

Free One Day Newsagent Conference Series

Newsagency marketing group newsXpress is hosting a series of one day business-building newsagent conferences starting this Tuesday in Brisbane.  Attendance is free for newsagents considering joining a newsagency marketing group.

Here are some of the topics being covered along with great deals from suppliers at an accompanying trade show:

  • No Excuses, Why Some Newsagents Will Fail and Others Succeed
  • Using Social Media to Grow Your Business, Facebook, Twitter, Email Local Area Marketing
  • Engaging in Telco / Store in Store Opportunities
  • Strategic Greeting Card Review and Opportunities
  • In the Lab, Experimenting for Newsagencies
  • Everyday Merchandising of your Newsagency

The dates and locations are as follows:

  • Brisbane Tuesday 17h May 2011– Brisbane Technology Park, Cnr Logan & Miles Plating Rds Eight Mile Plains, QLD, 4113
  • Melbourne Thursday 19th May 2011 – Hemisphere Conference Centre, 488 South Rd Moorabbin VIC 3189
  • Sydney Thursday 26th May 2011 – Bonnie Doon Golf Club, Banks Ave, Pagewood, NSW, 2035
  • Perth Tuesday 31st May 2011 – Crowne Plaza Hotel, 54 Terrace Rd Perth WA.

Speak with newsXpress General Manager Ben Kay on 0419 678 754 to arrange to attend for free.

Disclosure: I am a Director of newsXpress

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newsagency marketing

Fascinating late Mother’s Day card sales

latemothersday.JPGI am always fascinated by people buying Mother’s Day cards well into the week after the day.  I saw it just a couple of days ago. This time, a couple of guys buying cards, relieved that we still had a small display up.  We could have charged twice they price and they would have been happy.  While the single stand of Mother’s Day cards is down now, it served us well for a few days after Sunday.

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Greeting Cards

US DVD sales plunge 40 percent

In line with expectations based on what has happened with other content platforms – tape, vinyl, CD – DVD sales plunged 40% in the US last year according to Paid Content.

Any newsagent building a shop fit using fixtures build specifically for print based product is nuts.  Shop fits need to be flexible so they can change as our businesses evolve, as they will evolve (or die).

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Media disruption

Morrison Media helps newsagents

Morrison media, publisher of frankie and other titles, has just issued a press release outlining the launch of a new resource hub for retailers like newsagents.  here are some key points from the press release:

The hub provides a platform for magazine retailers such as newsagencies to access helpful hints, free ‘point of sale’ material and timely information on the Morrison Media product range, which includes magazines, photo annuals, recipe books and photography books.

Morrison Media’s Circulation Manager, Alf Santomingo said “Morrison News is an open forum which will help create an open dialogue between our publishers and retailers to share relevant information, ideas and feedback for the benefit of all parties.

“While information is often provided about new issues and products to retailers, we’re going a step further to provide a place where retailers can freely access additional point of sale collateral and examples of how to make the most out of it, including showcasing how others are leveraging titles to up-sell and cross-sell other stocked items in their store,” he said.

This new hub created by Morrison Media will be a valuable resource for proactive newsagents.

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magazines

Bed warmers show the diversity of products in a newsagency

img_0197.JPGCheck out this timely and creative display by Renee, the manager of the newsXpress Watergardens store.  Renee sourced these cute and safe bed warmers from Intelex and setup this display at the front of the store.

The display was up in perfect time for the cold snap we are experiencing in Victoria this week.

Notice the toy microwave on the display? Renee placed this to show shoppers what to do – you microwave the bed warmers.

There are several points I’d like to make about this initiative: it shows off a broader than usual range of products one would find in the traditional newsagency, it has been placed to attract shoppers to the store (and it is), it presents an sense of fun, the display is what they call retail theatre, the bed warmers make for a good gift to go with the great range of cards in store and … the overall message is one of innovation (for a newsagency).

I know of plenty of newsagents who would balk at carrying bed warmers.  Sometimes you need to let go and encourage people who are closer to your shoppers to do your buying and displays.

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Newsagency management
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