Kudos for NT News flood support
The NT News is donating 50 cents from every copy of the newspaper sold this Saturday to the Queensland Premier’s flood appeal. Good stuff.
More on the Google magazine and those behind it
The new Google magazine I blogged about a few days ago is from a company with a connection to Derwent Howard, the magazine publisher which collapsed in November 2009 owing a ton of money including, according to The Australian at the time and covered at this blog, around $780,000 to Network Services. A Deed of Company Arrangement was entered into with creditors – providing them with five cents in the dollar.
The link is James (Jim) Flynn. He was a Director of Derwent Howard at the time of the collapse. He is the Director of Media Factory Pty Ltd, the publisher of the Google magazine.
Why would Network Services do business with someone who was a Director of a company which collapsed owing them such a considerable sum?
What does this matter to newsagents? If you look carefully at the Google magazine you will see why. With respect to the journalists who have invested time in creating or Australianising content, this is not a great publication. It looks like they have purchased content from a content factory (such places do exist), attracted some ads and shipped the title out to newsagents to hope for the best.
Jim Flynn is also behind Citrus Media, a publisher of photographic and technology one shots with long shelf lives.
The magazine distribution model is the key element here. Newsagents have been sent stock with no say in receiving a new title or the volume. Many newsagents will carry the titles for the full three months. Depending on the arrangement between network services and media factory, these newsagents could unlock a chunk of cash for media factory.
We received the title last week. We will pay for the stock by February 20. Returns go in the first week of April with the credit not showing on our statement until May. That is three months of cash provided to media factory (depending on their arrangement with Network Services) at no cost to them.
We received 15 copies in one of my stores. If I do what the publisher and distributor want, I would be paying $168.19 by February 20. While not a challenging loan to provide, multiply that by a few thousand newsagents and you can see that as a channel we could be sending several hundred thousand dollars, interest free, to Media Factory. Nice (interest free) cash flow with which they can build their business or do other things.
Of course, my numbers do not account for revenue from sales of the title and it is entirely possible that we will sell copies. I don’t expect any more than one or two copies sold but I could be wrong. My figures also do not account for labour, real estate and theft.
Is the Media Factory / Citrus Media model one where they pump out low cost content knowing that the newsagency magazine distribution model will provide them with cash flow regardless of sales? I don’t have the answer for that. After reading the Google magazine I have my suspicions but I cannot be sure.
Newsagents rely on magazine distributors to manage access to the channel. Whether we like it or not, they are the gatekeepers. Having read the Google magazine I think it is time they reviewed how they discharge their role. Of course I am kidding, they serve their shareholders ahead of newsagents.
Indigenous covers for Dolly and Girlfriend
Kudos to The Age today for pointing out that the current issue of Dolly and Girlfriend each features a young indigenous girls on their covers. Not sure how we promote this without being disrespectful. Just knowing is a start.
The Daily for the iPad set to launch later this month
News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch and Apple’s Steve Jobs are said to be launching The Daily from News, an iPad newspaper, later this month. Source: Yahoo News. This will be an announcement to watch and analyse.
UPDATE (16/01): The joint announcement has been delayed while the work out some kinks with the app.
Interesting idea: A temporary restaurant installation
Check out the story online about a temporary restaurant installation in New York. The idea of the team is to transform the restaurant every thirty days. What caught my eye about this story is how those involved are collaborating and embracing change through the course of the nine month project. Fascinating.
I wonder what sort of newsagency we would come up with in this situation – low budget, built by a passionate team and with the knowledge that it is temporary. I wonder what innovation we would see every thirty days if those involved committed to the same level of change as those behind the New York restaurant idea.
Flood update advice for QLD newsagents from Network Services
The following advice was issued by Network Services this afternoon:
QLD FLOOD UPDATE ONSALE WED 12.01.11
Please note Followmont in QLD have had to cease operations today. This is in order to allow staff to get home safely before metro roads shut down.
Due to extensive road closures in Bris area & beyond, including all key line-haul routes, we don’t expect any deliveries to be made in QLD tomorrow.
We will attempt to make all deliveries as quickly as possible. For stock due out tomorrow we expect to deliver to all accessible areas on Thursday or Friday. Please note at this point, regardless of store inundation, we expect large portions of Central Nth, Central West & SW QLD to be mostly inaccessible for the next 5-7 days.
We will update as more information comes to hand.
Floods the only story in town today
The flooding in Queensland is the only story in Australia today. Plenty of customers visiting newsagencies have comments, others are interested in updates. It’s at times like this that having live in-store radio playing works well. We are kept up to date with news on the developing situation and receive information relevant to newsagents.
Kudos for the Empire magazine ipad app
A review at Know Your Mobile for the just released Empire magazine iPad app is worth a read. It reinforces my view that special interest title sales are most at risk at the moment from iPad app launches. As the reviewer says, the price, £1.79, is a very fair and affordable price indeed.
While talking about magazine iPad apps, the app for evo magazine from Dennis Publishing in the UK is drawing good interest.
The price of marie claire
A customer in one of my newsagencies complained on the weekend about the price of marie claire. They had been told to buy this issue by a friend and questioned why our price was higher than in the supermarket where their friend purchases a copy. The price difference relates to the sunglasses which are packaged with the magazine in some newsagencies. This is not a new phenomenon – increasing the cover price when there is a premium gift with the magazine. Indeed, I like that newsagents get access to differentiating offers like this since supermarkets get access to their own offers from time to time.
But back to the customer. We explained the sunglasses but they didn’t accept that. They didn’t want the glasses and suggested we keep them and they get the magazine for $1.00 less. Showing them the price printed on the cover did not budge them.
With price being such an important factor in today’s retail environment, publishers will need to think carefully about moved which result in different prices in different retail channels. It doesn’t take much to get a customer on their high horse and causing a scene at the counter.
Dealing with the magazine value pack
Regulars here will know that I am ot a fan of these ‘value’ packs from ACP. I think they are educating shoppers to not pay full price for magazines. There are plenty of examples in retail where regular discounting and sales has led to more or less permanent discount offers. I have not seen evidence of them generating incremental sales. That said, I ensure that we support them in my stores when they come out – like the latest one yesterday: Woman’s Day, NW and OK! all in one bundle for $9.95. we are promoting the title away from our weeklies display as we do not want to detract from regular sales. We figured that the packaging of the offer warrants it being treated differently.
I guess the other issue with this offer is that it is a very different pack to the packs which contain old and even damaged magazines behind a current issue. Is that what our shoppers think of when they pick this Woman’s Day pack?
Good start to Valentine’s Day card sales
We have had our Valentine’s Day cards out for more than a week and already we are seeing good sales. We have them facing the dance floor – in a high traffic location. While the big sales will be the week before February 14, I am very happy winning good business from the more organised Valentine’s Day shopper buying the cards at the moment. We have a small selection of Valentine’s Day gifts out, more will arrive later this week.
The high cost of the Queensland floods
Down here in Victoria I suspect that we have little idea of what life if like for newsagents in the flood affected areas of the country. I certainly feel ignorant. I mean, I have seen the TV footage and have spoken with newsagents with businesses under water.
What I have been ignorant about is the impact in areas not under water there are significant challenges. I have heard of plenty of newsagents who are able to open their businesses but who have no current stock. Transport routes have been cut – no magazines, no papers. There are other stories where shoppers cannot get into town so there is no trade, not even for lottery tickets and the like.
I heard of one newsagent who slept on the shop floor last night so he could open today. Extraordinary.
So, beyond the major stories on the TV news, there are plenty of other stories of these floods impacting businesses … and the situation looks set to continue for some time yet.
Fewer magazine means more space for better displays
By trimming our magazine range in a couple of my newsagencies we are now able to better display full covers of top selling magazines. They react well (in terms of sales) to this attention – the covers are designed to sell the titles after all! We trim the space allocation for weekly titles as the week unfolds.
For monthly magazines we tend to allocate a full face line at the top of waterfalls and half waterfalls for a category, for a couple of weeks of the month – to give the category a boost. This also works well with a noticeable boost to sales.
Newsagents are often so crammed with stock that there is no hope of these displays being created. I am sure that this must stunt sales of top selling titles.
Educational Tax Refund opportunity for newsagents
The federal government has been reminding parents this past week about the Educational Tax Refund. Newsagents need to read up on this too, especially exactly what can be claimed under this program. We sell plenty of eligible products.
This is an excellent opportunity at Back to School time for newsagents. Promoting this program in store and across the sales counter could help drive sales.
Engaging with a customer about the opportunity could be as simple as handing a customer a receipt and reminding g them abut the tax break opportunity. Smarter newsagents will promote this in their newsletters and through displaying the poster (the newspaper ad from the website) in-store.
UK music retailer announces closure of 60 outlets
UK music retail group HMV late last week announced the planned closure of 60 stores in 2011 citing tough retail conditions. Here is a tell tale quote from CEO Simon Fox from the company’s press release:
The pace of change in the markets in which we operate underlines the urgency with which we must continue to transform this business.
Hopefully, newsagents reading this blog post will see the importance of the transformation of individual businesses and the channel which I bang on about here regularly. Print is a few years behind music but it is on the same path. We know that from events of the last year.
The newsagency management challenge for 2011
On Monday I blogged here that of the cose to 3,000 newsagents with a newsagency Point of Sale system in their business, too many do not use the software its full potential.
This failure to use the technology means we have inefficient, unprofitable and theft risking newsagencies.
I laid out some straightforward steps newsagents could take to improve efficiency in and control over their businesses.
I’m glad to report that many newsagents called me to talk about their next steps in improving their businesses in 2011. More need to act on this.
If you seriously want a more efficient, profitable and better newsagency, here are Here are the proven simple steps to saving time, cutting theft and reducing dead stock in your newsagency.
- Receive all stock you sell through your computer system.
- Scan ALL sales.
- Scan out all products you return to suppliers.
- Eliminate all department sales – where you type in the amount of the item as you would on an old cash register.
- Do a complete stock take with the computer system.
- Implement a program of rolling stock takes of the store by section – never pay for a professional stock taker again. Act on the discrepancies reported from your rolling stock takes – this is theft – by moving categories, being more vigilant or eliminating the lines.
- Generate stock replenishment orders using your computer system. STOP relying on supplier reps to order for you – they work for their boss and not for you.
- Integrate your stock control plan into the schedules of all who work in the business.
There can be no excuses. If you want to make the most out of your business (and why else would you be in business?) then following these steps is essential and urgent.
If doing a complete stock is too big of a job, consider starting with one department by implementing full stock control justin that part of your business. I promise you that the experience will drive you to do the whole store.
Newsagents who do not fully manage their entire inventory in the way I suggest are more likely to experience theft, more likely to make bad business decisions and will have much more money tied up in stock than is needed.
Newsagents who do not completely and professionally manage their inventory ought to get their own house in order before complaining about anything else impacting their business.
Drowning in mobile devices at Las Vegas
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is always a place where suppliers test the waters with new products. They all look at each other, test what’s hat and what’s not and through the year the strong and smart prevail. If you do a Google search for Las Vegas CES you’ll find plenty of videos from the show floor, like this video of the Sharp Galapagos unit. This is interesting because of the demonstrators talk about books, and newspapers.
No, this device is not a game changer, just an extension of the game changing which occurred with the release last year of the iPad.
It is important that newsagents understand the extent of change in delivery platforms.
Promoting lottery syndicates
We continue to have good success with lottery syndicate sales, even in our small temporary location. The small A5 mini-posters which we have stuck on the pole holding the lottery terminal screens works a treat for us. It is terrific seeing a customer make a purchase and decide on a syndicate ticket as well as the items they brought to the sales counter. It costs nothing to make the A5 poster. In a one hour stint last week I saw four syndicate shares sold specifically because of this promotional placement. We change the syndicates we promote in this location regularly.
Syndicates are also promoted at our lottery entry table (workbench) as well as in a display behind the counter.
Promoting Prevention magazine
We are promoting Prevention magazine with this aisle end display. I see Prevention as another title which sells particularly well on weekends – especially in a couple of shopping centres where I have newsagencies. We see different shoppers on the weekend to our regular weekday shoppers. We are more likely to see irregular visitors to the centre – hence the opportunity of impulse purchases which reflect the traditional weekday product mix. This is another reason we do weekend only displays for some products.
Tablets everywhere at Las Vegas
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that more than 80 tablet computers were shown off or launched at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show this week.
I have written here for some years about coming disruption to print and that the key to this occurring is hardware based. What has been on show in Las Vegas over the last few days shows that we are closer than ever to a replacement for paper for many reading experiences.
Check out this video report on the CES by Wired magazine:
This disruption is an opportunity for newsagents. We can either embrace and ride the wave of change or we can stand still and wonder what happened after we have been dumped.
Did you receive Street Commodore Power Pack yesterday?
While I did not receive Street Commodore Power Pack I have heard from others who did. One newsagent opened the pack and scanned the barcode on the main title – Street Commodore Poster Book. They last received this exact product in 2007. It has just been reissued in 2011 and tarted up in a ‘value’ pack with a new barcode. Seriously!
So, did you receive this pack in your newsagency yesterday?
Magazine distributors who respect newsagents and are serious about being magazine distributors need to behave when it comes to product reissues – no matter how tarted up the reissue is.
What’s with the Google magazine?
We received this Google magazine yesterday … ten years too late. Okay there may be some late adopters who will pay money for a magazine on Google, but seriously how many will there be? Certainly not the quantity I have been supplied. I’d have taken five copies if I had a say, not this many. Every new title newsagents receive has to replace another title … otherwise we create displays where covers overlap and that takes us to the magazine layouts of the 1980s and that would be a bad retail move.
Magazine distributors have an obligation to consider the impact on newsagent space, labour and cash of these new titles they so readily ship to us in sometimes concerning volume.
Give newsagents a choice on these Panini stickers
Like many newsagents I am sure, we received these sticker sets published by Panini with our Network Services delivery yesterday. While they are on delayed billing, we have to find space for these non magazine items. Our counter is fully allocated. We don’t have a kids department. We tried them in the kids magazine fixtures and they get lost.
Before magazine distributors start spending our money (cash for the stock, rent, labour and shrinkage) on non standard product, they ought to get our permission. Yes, I know that I am dreaming. One day they will realise the damage caused by poor management of what they ship to our channel. I hope.
How to get into gifts for the first time
Many newsagents still do not have a gift department in their businesses even though gifts is one of the strongest performers in the sales benchmark studies.
Gifts usually deliver a better margin, drive good impulse business from existing customers and attract new traffic.
I know of newsagencies where the gift department is the defining point of difference department for the business – financially and in terms of Yes, the opportunity is considerable.
When I see a newsagency without a gift department and ask why, the most common answer is … I don’t know where to start. Here are some tips on how to start with gifts in your newsagency…
- Carefully assess your greeting card sales. Many cards are purchased for occasions at which a gift would be given. If you are particularly strong in a certain gift occasion then consider this as an ideal starting point of establishing your gift department.
- Consider joining the AGHA (Gift and Homewares Association). For a small fee, membership gets you access to an excellent database of suppliers.
- Look at gift shops nearby, take note of what appears to be working and not.
- Establish space within your store. This needs to be near the card department and near high traffic.
- Go to Gift Fairs. Don’t buy unless you have a plan. Spend at least the first visit looking carefully at what is around.
There is no doubt that creating a gift department has its challenges. It is a significant step away from the protected world of sale or return retailing. You need to be prepared to back yourself.
I have seen newsagents take a couple of years to access a reasonable return. Others have been successful almost immediately. It all depends on the work you put in prior to making your move and the extent of your investment.
Gifts present an excellent growth opportunity for newsagents and a good use of space reclaimed from older categories. Gifts also fit well with the consumer perception of the traditional Australian newsagency.
Calling on Gerry Harvey to wake up!
The marketing team at my newsagency software company Tower Systems has produced three posters newsagents could use in response to Gerry Harvey’s shrill about online shopping. Click on the links to access the three posters in PDF form: Gerry, Gerry2 and Gerry3. The posters have been created to tap into public interest in this issue as well as to remind shoppers that in businesses showing the posters customer service matters.
I hope that people embrace them with the humor with which they have been created.