We are promoting the latest issue of Melbourne Home Design + Living at the counter. This is a stand out title with original content. We got onto it when a customer pointed it out as being better than others in the home and living category.
While we have the title on display in the usual location, we wanted to give the current issue a lift with this prime location space commitment. We are using a simple display between our two busiest serving positions.
A colleague let me know that he received the following bagged magazines yesterday:
I received some of these in a couple of my newsagencies but not all. I’d be interested in the experiences of other newsagents.
Bagged magazines, especially undated bagged magazines, are problematic on several fronts:
So fellow newsagents, did you receive any of these titles? If so, what do you think?
We are seeing sales of the latest issue of recipes+ magazine spike. We are not doing anything special to promote the title other than ensuring tat the full cover can be easily seen by shoppers. We have not co-located the title either so we are pretty chuffed to see the sales lift. We are chasing more stock so we can do something extra with the title.
We are promoting Unique Cars with this display at the edge of the dance floor, capping the entrance to our men’s magazine aisle. It is an eye-catching display created by our team. This is a weekend display seeking to connect with our male browsers – a great opportunity in newsagencies. I am always surprised at the difference in the weekend shopper mix compared to weekday.
The Sunday Telegraph recently lifted its cover price to $2, but Miller told Mediaweek that there are no plans to lift the Daily Telegraph above $1. “We do look at it, but we think about the impact on the audience. With interest rate rises, fuel increases and the cost of other utilities, we wouldn’t want to put that to the reader at the moment. $1 seems to make sense.”
Michael Miller is Managing Director of Nationwide News, the NSW arm of News Limited. He was speaking with James Manning for a feature in Mediaweek last week- page 6.
I would like Michael Miller to plot for newsagents classified and display advertising prices for the entire period that the Daily Telegraph has been priced at $1. This information would be useful for two key reasons:
The publisher argument will be that newsagents can rely on newspaper traffic to drive sales in other parts of the business.
The most recent newsagent shopping basket data indicates that newspapers continue to be sold alone in newsagencies around 70% of the time. That is, 70% of the time people purchase a newspaper in a newsagency, they purchase nothing else. This is facilitated by newspaper publisher mandated displays which stop other products being easily promoted to the newspaper customer.
Further, in the time that the Daily Telegraph has been $1, News has overseen the placement of the product into more retail and other outlets, reducing traffic to newsagents for the title.
I have even heard some publishers say that newspapers help newsagents get higher margin sales.
Newsagencies typically do not sell high margin products except for greeting cards. Lottery products have a margin of around 7%, transport tickets 2%, magazines 25%, confectionery 20%-30%. No, the margin story in a newsagency is not what some suppliers and landlords think.
Over the last eleven years, rent for most newsagents has increased by at least 71%. This assumes the usual annual 5% increase. I know of some newsagents who have had to deal with rent increases of more than 100% over the last eleven years.
Over the last eleven years, labour costs for newsagents have increased around 60%, significantly more for penalty rate situations.
So, newsagent costs have increased, newspaper publishers have extended competition yet newsagent compensation has not changed.
Michael Miller says he would not want to put a cover price rise to readers on the back of higher fuel prices and the cost of other utilities yet he is happy to leave newsagents to deal with these and other higher prices without any mechanism for covering these higher operating costs. Newsagencies are family businesses. These families are financially stretched due to the lack of access to mechanisms with which to commercially respond to higher operating costs.
I’d like to see a debate between newsagents and newspaper publishers on cover price and newsagent compensation. Maybe such a debate would better educate both sides. Hopefully, it would lead to a more equitable situation for newsagents. We need it since newspapers have lost the gloss of ten or fifteen years ago. No longer can publishers argue that they generate valuable traffic.
In less than 24 hours, Charlie Sheen attracted more than 1 million followers on Twitter earlier this week. A few years ago punters would have had to wait for magazines to provide access to the latest tidbits about Charlie. Today, in 2011, you can be plugged in and reading his tweets live. Regardless of what you think about Charlie his achievement this week is extraordinarily and demonstrates the interest in the social media channels.
I have looked at The Daily, the iPad newspaper from News Corp. several times since its launch a few weeks ago. Frankly, it is underwhelming, especially given the hype leading up to the launch and especially since they intend to charge. The iPad version of The New Zealand Herald remains my favourite newspaper app on my iPad. If APN were to bring this to Australia and create an Australian iPad only newspaper I would expect an impact on sales of some titles.
We a giving the new look Money magazine a push this month with good placement at the entrance to our business / men’s magazines aisle. The cover has good visual cut through and I am hoping that this and the ideal placement will drive good incremental business for us. This is an issue to do something out of the ordinary with.
We also have a pocket of the title co-located with women’s weeklies – Money has worked well for us there previously.
41% of newsagents who early returned a particular smallish circulation Australian magazine recently lost certain sales as a result. A check of their own sales history would have shown that the level of early return would leave them with insufficient stock for sales they would achieve.
This suggests to me that a concerning number of newsagents are using early returns to manage cash flow without assessing the the impact of their early return action on magazine sales.
The evidence I have seen is compelling.
Why early return a title which you know from history in your store will sell? Probably because you have not taken the time to check whether your planned action is appropriate. And probably because you need to do something to bring your magazine account into order.
I can understand why newsagents do this. Too often we feel helpless at managing magazine over supply, particularly titles well outside the top 200. In chasing credits to get the Gotch and Network accounts down sometimes irrational decisions are made.
In the data I have recently seen, a title which would sell in 41% of the newsagencies could not because of early returns.
There are three solutions necessary:
I know that some Australian publishers are frustrated by newsagent early returns. Often with justification. Maybe they and newsagents should get together to challenge the sick supply model.
I happened to be listening to radio 3AW at around 12:45am yesterday when I heard Ash Long from the Melbourne Observer talking with Keith McGowan about the latest issue. What was terrific was the pitch as to where people could buy the Melbourne Observer – at more than 400 newsagencies.
This goes back to my post from earlier this week. We need more publishers promoting that their titles are available from newsagencies – like the Melbourne Observer does.
If you are in Victoria and don’t carry the Melbourne Observer, talk with All Day Distribution. This is a title which appeals to 55+. Readers are loyal. At Forest Hill we enjoyed excellent sales, many from shoppers who visited specifically because we carried the title. Place it with your newspapers.
The latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens has a cracker of a cover. For my money it is one of the best looking covers we have in-store right now.
We are giving Better Homes and Gardens the best display location in the store and it is already flying of the display. We also have the title co-located in three locations on top of the usual location.
This cover looks ideal for a high impulse purchase rate – hence the space commitment. From yesterday through to Monday is be best opportunity for attracting incremental business.
Newsagents who do the average with this title, placing it in the usual location with no bonus treatment, will see average sales. While average is okay, incremental business is better – it’s money in the bank.
The world’s media is reporting the launch of Apple’s iPad 2 overnight. More than 2,200 stories, like the one from The Sydney Morning Herald. The iPad is following the iPod playbook. Version 2 is thinner, faster and more functional. The device will appeal to more people. The larger the distribution channel the more interesting to content publishers.
Meanwhile, Folio is reporting a slowdown in the launch is iPad apps by magazine publishers.
We changed how we display our colour envelopes when some space freed up on a wall. The boost in sales was almost immediate. What is interesting is the number of customers purchasing two different colored packs of envelopes at the same time. Nice.
Some customers purchased because we had their favorite colour. Others purchased for a specific purpose. many commented on our “new” range of envelopes.
We used to have the envelopes in a display box which customers could flip through, looking for the colour they wanted. This was because space was too tight for anything better.
For us there are two reminders from this: moving stock often drives sales and customers need to be able to easily see what you sell in order to purchase it.
Check out the interesting article by Kevin Kelly at kk.org on how Amazon may offer the Kindle reader for free. If his speculation pans out, others will follow. Along with addressing the price of the devices is the continued development of these to provide a compelling and enjoyable experience.
no, I am not advocating free e-reader, just noting that they could be around the corner. Look at the cost of mobile phones now compared to 10, 15 and 20 years ago.
We are promoting the latest issue of Top Gear magazine with this display facing onto the dance floor.
Our team members have created a multifaceted display which works from multiple sides – not just front on. They have used the display unit and fixturing next to this. It creates a bold and inviting look which draws people into the business.
We don’t have a shop window and so do not do take the usual newsagent approach of blocking the look of the store with magazine posters on the window. Instead, we create displays like this which look terrific and off of which shoppers can browse and purchase.
Compare this display to posters on a front window and I know which I would prefer as the retailers and the shopper. The proof of any display, however, is in the sales. We track sales from every display and learn from these results.
We are promoting the latest issue of Diabetic Living at the counter.
Diabetic Living responds well to impulse purchase opportunities – hence our placement at a high impulse location. We also have stock placed in with our women’s weeklies as well as health titles. The weeklies placement works best for us, always has.
I have seen newsagents underestimate Diabetic Living, thinking it is a title which will only appeal to diabetics. The 2007–08 National Health Survey indicated that 4% of the Australian population has diabetes. This is an extraordinary number. Find out more about this here. Diabetic Living is for these people, their families, friends and those aware of the risks of diabetes. This is why it works so well in the women’s section. I see it very much as a mainstream title and not a health title.
We even run Diabetic Living at the counter as a magazine of the Week for at least one week of the on-sale enjoy a sales boost as a result.
Other retailers with this title do nothing extra. This is why newsagents have an excellent opportunity with Diabetic Living.
The latest issues of Blitz magazine and Golf magazine came out yesterday with the same barcode. It took Gordon and Gotch until 11:55am today to issue advice – a day and a half after many newsagents would have discovered the situation. The support team at Tower Systems was onto this immediately with advice for users of the Tower newsagency software on how to handle the situation. Gotch knew yesterday and should have been more proactive. As to how two magazines can have the same barcode … nuts!
How would newsagents feel if they discovered that a competitor in the magazine space was financially compensated when a title did not achieve the retail sales projected by the publisher or distributor?
Just asking…
I am not naive enough to think that all newsagent retailers have the same terms. There are many factors in play in negotiating terms including financial, operational and business clout.
It could/should be in the interests of publishers and distributors to at least seek to negotiate similar terms for newsagents if their commercial goals can be met. Otherwise, newsagents, who account for 50% of magazine sales yet sit at the bottom end of the magazine sales channel, ought to stop aspiring to improve their businesses. If we are all paid the same then we all aspire to act and work the same. That’;s not business.
Maybe magazine publishers and distributors would see an improvement in the performance of magazines in newsagencies if newsagents had the opportunity of more attractive commercial terms.
Just sayin…
Walking along Circular Quay in Sydney early in the morning a couple of weeks ago I noticed a homeless lady eating some breakfast and reading before hitting the road with her shopping trolley for the day. She was reading People’s Friend magazine. Then I noticed that she had a stack of People’s Friend issues in her trolley.
I didn’t have the guts to approach this connoisseur of People’s Friend on this morning. Now, two weeks on, I wish I had. I find myself thinking about her every couple of days. Partly because my mum reads People’s Friend and partly because this has been one of our top selling weekly magazines, number 4 in out top sellers in fact – between 55 and 70 copies a week.
On the main thoroughfare at Circular Quay that morning many people walking past my lady were connected to their iPhones or iPods, devices which challenge print. She was oblivious to the digital world and enjoying a story in People’s Friend. Long after our batteries are out of juice she will be able to enjoy the next story in the magazine. While so many of us need the next device in our hands to define our social status, this lady and plenty of others I am sure will get plenty of pleasure from the printed word.
I have realised that I keep thinking about what I saw that morning because it represents the intersection of two issues I often think about. People’s Friend is an old style weekly magazine where words matter and which owes nothing to garish design, celebrities, fads or free gifts. It is a print product which engages the consumer without the use of batteries and in a more engaging journey than much of the content one accesses on the i devices from Apple.
Change is inevitable. Print as a medium will be used less over time. Along the way, it is important for us to take the odd moment to recognise the importance and value of print to some. It is a vitally important medium for our businesses after all. In the short to medium term, print continues to present excellent opportunities for newsagents … for proactive newsagents that is.
What has this got to do with anything? Nothing I guess. I am sitting on a long flight listening to some nostalgic music, yes – on my iPod, as I write this. I wanted to write about the lady I saw at Circular Quay and try and share the warmth I feel when I think about her.
No sooner had I published my post yesterday about the Classic The Children’s Birthday Cake Book and a customer came in and purchased six copies. She had noticed the title on display at our counter and when she sought it out a few days later she could not find it. So, we sold six copies as a direct result of our counter display.
Yesterday, our team created a higher impact display, to leverage which is proving to be a popular and unique product for us. W3e have ordered more stock as a result. This is where newsagents have a real opportunity in the magazine space – catering to special interests. In this case, the interests are nostalgia as well as baking.
Newsagents and Big W are the only retailers with this title until June. This screams OPPORTUNITY to me.
To the newsagents who have placed this cookbook in with other cookbooks I’d say – treat it as a special title, as an opportunity to drive good incremental business. I’d expect that in most newsagencies, sales will flow easily.
UPDATE from ACP: Between 9-11am today on the Kerry Anne show on channel 9, Xanthe Roberts (AWW Assistant Food Editor) will be featuring the two cakes from The Children’s Birthday Cake Book; this should further increase awareness of the title. It also has a feature within this month’s issue of AWW.
We are promoting the latest issue of MasterChef magazine with a display facing customers as they leave the store. This is in addition to a tactical co-location campaign for the title.
The goal with the exit display is to have one last crack at getting shoppers to browse and purchase the title. I love the way our team members have used some simple elements to create an effective display … making it about more than just a magazine poster.
While I think that MasterChef magazine has its regular customers, I also think that a reasonable portion of purchases are on impulse. Hence our multi-layered approach to grab this impulse business. This month;s Rick Stein cover should drive a nice boost in sales too.
A colleague newsagent just won $1,000 from the ACP I Love Magazines promotion. His sub agent actually sold the magazine to the customer. The newsagent won because his sub agent list was up to date with ACP. This is a timely reminder to newsagents to ensure that your sub agent list with each distributor is up to date. This newsagent is $1,000 better off.
I love the I Love Magazines campaign as shoppers can only win from newsagents and outlets supplied by newsagents.
I was thrilled to see the advertisement for the latest issue of Country Style magazine in the Sunday Herald Sun yesterday. I was disappointed that this ad did not mention where people could purchase the title. This was a perfect opportunity to promote that Country Style magazine is available in newsagencies. Telling people where they can purchase a product is better than an ad which only promotes the product.
I’d love to see News Magazines, the publisher of Country Style, make a commitment that all advertisements for their titles note that they are available from newsagents. They have nothing to lose and plenty of sales to gain.
Indeed, I would love all magazine publishers to promote newsagents as the go to place for the titles in advertisements. Sadly, too few do.
As I have noted here previously, this title is hot. It sells well and responds to placement in high traffic locations. I ensure that it is actively promoted in my newsagencies, providing it with bonus attention. Only newsagents would take such a proactive approach. News Magazines could demonstrate appreciation for the newsagent difference by driving traffic to our businesses through their advertising for the title.
We have sold out of our second shipment of UFC magazine and are chasing more stock for one of my newsagencies. We are more than 100% up on the expected sales for our location. We are not alone from what I understand.
The re-release of the Children’s Birthday Cake Book by ACP is selling, well, like hot cakes. We have had it at the counter as our Magazine of the Week and have had to order more stock as a result. It is terrific watching a customer add this cookbook to a newspaper, card or some other purchase … a terrific extension off the shopping basket.These impulse purchases certainly make a point about what impulse likes work at the newsagency counter.
We also have the title with out cookbooks and while it is selling from there, the counter position is where it is working best.
Newsagents can shine with this title since we can be more flexible in where we place and how we promote the title. Our competitors such as supermarkets will not even notice the title. It is another SKU and that’s about it. So, I’d encourage newsagents to engage with the title as I feel that it should sell very well inst about anywhere if my own experiences are anything to go by.