Talking about the future of magazines
The San Diego NBC News Channel ran this story on the future of magazines on Friday.
Nice Wiggles giftcard tie in
The Wiggles gift card we get from Blackhawk is providing a nice tie in for other Wiggles products newsagencies carry. Many of us carry Wiggles branded cards, wrap, bags and the magazine already. The giftcard gives us something we can easily sell to these customers in our stores.
The more we target products to the groups of customers we attract to our stores the greater the efficiency we can derive from our customers.
Checkout Esquire for the iPad
Esquire magazine has been re-imagined for the iPad:
Very cool indeed.
Halloween showing 15% growth
Halloween sales so far this year in our newsXpress Forest Hill are up 15% on 2009. Our 2009 sales were up more than 10% on 2008.
This year, we have more competition in our centre with four locations offering Halloween product including Coles which is just opposite us. This competition is terrific as it promotes a season in which we have been well established for years.
It works particularly well where mum or dad shops with us for a card or a magazine and any kids in tow browse the Halloween table.
With three weeks to go, the best is yet to come. Halloween 2010 could be the best season of the year in terms of year on year growth.
Boxed Christmas cards kick off
Our boxed christmas cards have been out for a week and we are seeing some good sales already. We have them in the highest traffic location in store – customers hearind to the sales counter pass them. While we will move them, our feeling was that chasing impulse business was the best approach for the first couple of weeks. It’s working nicely.
ACCC informal review of Network takeover of NDD titles
The ACCC has been conducting an informal review of the take over of some magazine titles by Network Services which were being distributed by now closed NDD. Click here to link to the page on the ACCC website detailing the review.
While I was aware off the review, as I was approached by them and interviewed, I was not aware that it had been announced publicly. It would have been good for the ACCC to advise the newsagency channel rather than just list it at their website.
I know from my discussion with them on this issue and a recent discussion on another issue that contact from newsagents direct to the ACCC backed by data from their newsagency is useful to the ACCC.
Ripping up the front page of the newspaper
The Collingwood AFL Grand Final victory book with the Herald Sun today is very popular. I am surprised that customers don’t complain when we tell them we need to rip out the coupon. That front page story is not as important as the Collingwood book I guess. The coupon for the book and the free seeds today are on the bottom left corner of page two.
Why bag Donna Hay magazine?
I was disappointed to see the latest issue of Donna Hay magazine bagged. As a food title it needs to be browsed – one only has to watch how customers interact with the title to understand this. While the free pot holder is a nice gift, is that, the magazine cover and the masthead enough to get someone buy the title? Infrequent shoppers will want to see what is inside and this is what the bag stops. In a supermarket or convenience store where there is less browsing, maybe. But not a newsagency where magazine browsing is a key point of difference we offer.
New magazine – Younger You
We received twelve copies of Younger You magazine on Friday. This is a new title from Independent Digital Media which is owned by IPMG, the people who own NDD.
I looked through the magazine and looked at sales of similar titles and decided to give it one pocket. To allocate this pocket I had to reduce the space allocated to another title. Had I not early returned some stock I would have eight copies sitting in a drawer or on a shelf.
Publishers of new titles need to take more of the risk themselves rather than sending what they think we may sell or what they hope we will sell. With so many publishers using newsagents as their bank and warehouse it is no wonder newsagents get angry about their treatment.
Had I been given the courtesy of deciding if I wanted to try this title I would have said yes. Had I been asked how many copies I would take I would have gone for four. Selling out of four copies is better than being overloaded.
The Last Newspaper exhibit
The Last Newspaper exhibit at the New Museum on the Lower East Side or Manhattan sounds interesting based on the review in The New York Times.
NEWSAGENT ALERT: Beware of new magazine titles which are not new titles
I have noticed some magazines coming through as new titles which are not new titles at all. They have a new barcode and a new title code but the titles have been regularly sent to us before. There is nothing ‘new’ about them.
Thankfully, my newsagency software identifies the new titles and lets me find an existing title from my stock database. In a couple of clicks I have all the sales and returns history for the ‘old’ title associated with the ‘new’ title as well as putaway, home delivery and sub agent orders. This simple step facilitates business as usual.
This is vitally important since it is the historic data which enables me to early return oversupplied stock. These ‘new’ titles are among consistently oversupplied magazines.
Newsagents need to be vigilant in how they handle all new titles. If your newsagency software permits, link the new title with the appropriate existing title so that you can carry forward vital sales, sub agent and putaway data.
While I do not want to come across as a conspiracy theorist, I am sceptical about the reason for the change to the barcode and title code of any magazine. Such a move can only benefit the publisher.
Maybe newsagents could share details of titles here. Let me start the list rolling: High Performance Imports.
UPDATE (8/10/2010 13:38) Here are more titles to add to the list:
- Handmade Country Xmas Gifts Special Vol. 28 No. 6
- Creating Country Threads Xmas Special Vol. 11 No. 3
- Country Home Ideas Outdoor Living Special Vol. 9 No. 11
- Fast Fours & Rotaries Performance Special Nov 2010
- Fishing Tips & Techniques No. 32
- Street Fords Australia Project Car Special No. 73
Instapaper closer to aggregating articles
In 2005 I first speculated about the commercial value to publishers of setting articles free from a masthead. Overnight, Instapaper announced moves to a paid model. Instapaper makes it easy for users to collect content from a range of online sources for later reading. This opens new revenue streams for online content providors. It will also open new revenue streams for astute publishers who climb over their current barrier of expecting consumers to buy their content from their website.
Promoting the Take 5 charm
We are promoting the latest issue of Take 5 magazine, which comes with a free charm and a small book of book of good fortune wishes, at – where else? – our lottery counter of course! This issue of Take 5 is made for a lottery counter promotion. We also have it in our impulse stand near the store entrance as well as in its usual location.
Maybe I missed but I am surprised ACP did not make a BIG DEAL about the lottery counter promotion opportunity.
Oprah likes the iPad for magazines
Oprah Winfrey, speaking at the American Magazine Conference in Chicago says she reads magazines on the iPad according to the International Business Times. Her continued endorsement counts for something, look at her Book Club and the last presidential election.
Check out the comprehensive report in The Age today for an update on iPad sales – they continue to break records. As I said when the device launched, it is a game changer. We, newsagents, need to revisit our business plans. I am disappointed that this blog appears to be the only place in the newsagency channel where the ramifications of the iPad and related technologies is discussed.
How has the closure of NDD affected newsagents?
I am interested in what newsagents think about the closure of NDD.
Has it affected your business in any way?
Has it imporved competition or lessened it in your view and why?
Cashing in on the Next Top Model controversy
Harpers Bazaar will have two different covers next month playing up to the controversy surrounding the announcement of the winner of Australia’s Next Top Model. Newsagents have an opportunity to play up to this by inviting customers to preorder – I know that in some stores this will work well.
Brilliant cover Scientific American
We have the best opportunity in a while to drive sales of Scientific American with the latest issue out yesterday. What a great, eyecatching, cover!
We have placed this issue near newspapers in the hope of getting more shoppers to at least pick the title up. My sense is that they will and we will see a sales lift as a result.
Promoting Madison
We are promoting the latest issue of Madison magazine to customers as they enter and leave the store. We have stock in an impulse stand next to the display – to leverage the display into sales.
Given the shortage of space in our temporary location we will leave this up for just under a week.
VANA election choice for newsagents
The non newsagent Director position on the VANA board has become a contest with Trevor Mason being nominated to challenge the long term incumbent Robert Wade.
Wade has served as non newsagent and independent Director for many years. He outside the channel view has been useful as VANA has navigated some complex issues.
Mason was behind the Futures Project which sought to use newsagent funds to embark on a commercial venture that, in my view, had no relevance for an industry association. He has gone on to establish a similar venture outside of VANA. I would expect that some VANA members will want to know whether he will seek to reignite the Futures Project or anything like it if he is elected.
As I resigned from VANA in April last year, my right to an opinion is somewhat diminished.
Why the rush on advertising screens for newsagencies?
Newsagents are firmly on the radar of companies wanting to get us to take on their advertising screens. I know of five companies who consider newsagencies to be ideal for hosting their screens.
Some want screens to be placed in windows, facing onto the street. Others want screens in-store. There are promises of a share in advertising revenue as well as the opportunity to include your own ads.
I have been approached by several companies wanting to talk about their plans. To date I have not agreed to meet because I am sceptical about ad screens being of value to newsagents. Here are my concerns:
- Content. If we are to give up key real estate then we need control over content. There is no pint in running an ad which competes with what we sell.
- Return. I am yet to see numbers for any in-store digital signage business which is delivering a reasonable return to the host retailers.
- Barrier. Some screens I have seen act as a barrier to people looking into a newsagency window. In one case, The centre of the main store window is taken up by the screen. This stops passers-by seeing the inside of the store.
- Parasite business. A product which is places next to a very popular product is considered a parasite product – it is relying on traffic for the popular product to guide its success. That is what these screens are. There are enough challenges to the traditional newsagency business model to indicate that we should not dilute the focus on our business. These screens run the disk of doing that.
- History. The newsagency channel track record in this space is not good.
I have seen newsagencies with in-store advertising screens which promote only products sold in-store. While the content is usually produced locally and is therefore not as slick as professional ads, there is evidence of success.
Personally, I think this is where newsagents should focus their attention – on promoting products and services available in their own businesses on ad screens. It is far more valuable to you to get an existing shopper to buy an additional item in your store than to earn a commission from an ad which encourages them to buy something elsewhere.
Newsagents need to do their own research and make up their own mind. Caveat emptor.
Attracting younger shoppers with Halloween fun
Colouring competitions are a great way to attract younger shoppers to a newsagency. Newsagents traditionally run these at Easter and sometimes at Christmas. We have done it for a few years now for Halloween and each year it is bigger than the last. This year is no exception.
The competition works on several levels. It gets kids engaging with the store, meaning they are more likely to remember us. (We have to get them while they are young I am told.) It can bring family members in to see the art. It can provide local schools and clubs a fun Halloween activity with also connects back to the business.
Of course, there is the commercial opportunity – Halloween product sales as well as sales of many other items including pens, pencils and colouring materials for competitions like this.
Loving passionate customers
We had a customer visit one of my newsagencies yesterday looking for a calendar for Cairn Terriers. $67.00 later she walked out with three calendars – two regular size and one slimline. This is what calendar sales are like at this point in the season, people feeding their passion or getting in early to serve the passion of a friend or loved one. Dog breeds are especially popular … and lucrative with two or more calendars in many sales.
We are having a great calendar season and it is only just getting under way. The keys to the success are our range and the layout of this in-store. In terms of range, we have focused on interests our customers are passionate about. As for layout, we have the calendars in a high traffic but browser friendly location.
Daily Telegraph cover price disrespects newsagents
I was in Sydney today and picked up a copy of the Daily Telegraph at the airport. There, on the masthead, it crows that it is still only $1.00. That is nothing to crow about News Limited. While your ad rates, the source of most of your revenue from newspapers, have risen over the years, you have forced newsagents close to being the working poor.
In the eleven or twelve years (please let me know if I am wrong) that you have held your price at $1.00 rent for newsagents in shopping centres has gone up at least 70%, labour costs have gone up at least 70% and business expenses have gone up at least 100%.
Over the last twelve years publishers have pushed newspapers into more outlets, diminishing the return from the newsagency newspaper real-estate even more.
I would love to see a public debate between newsagents and News Limited on their cover price strategy.
Magazine distributor profit drops 42%
In the Annual Report for PMP Limited which was released last week, the Gordon and Gotch magazine distribution business reported a decline in revenue of 4.6%, to $408.9 million, and a decline in profit of 42.4% to $7.5 million.
The report notes that PMP has undertaken some restructuring including redundancies. Newsagents would have seen this in the last year.
My understanding is that more redundancies are on the way which will impact newsagents.
While some newsagents will take pleasure from the bad news for the Gotch operation, I am concerned for a number of reasons:
- To improve the situation Gotch will need to cut costs and increase margin – moves which would not be good for newsagents.
- They will probably look at how they can increase sales. Every additional bundle of magazine they distribute improves their situation because the logistics overhead is there regardless.
- Would they consider extending distribution beyond the newsagency channel? remember, they are paid based on volume distributed.
- I wonder if the Gotch situation is a tail reflecting what we have experienced or a warning of greater challenges to come in the magazine space.
- If they are unable to arrest the decline will they look at alternatives which are not palatable to newsagents?
A couple of years ago, publishers and distributors said that the magazine sales decline was temporary and impacted by external events. It has been going on for too long and impacting too many levels in for this to be the case. Publishers, distributors and retailers are all reporting declines. It is the retailers who carry the largest cost since we have only one income source and that is highly speculative.
Promoting the outdoor room
Tower Systems, the newsagency software company I own, has published a coupon promoting the outdoor room, the new magazine from Pacific Magazines, for printing on receipts using the Point of Sale software. The coupon is available from the downloads section of the Tower website. I’d be happy to send a copy to any newsagent wanting to use this with other software.
The coupon / ad can be printed on a receipt based on what the customer has purchased or just included on all receipts. This type of receipt based marketing is proving successful at attracting customers to return andeven to get customers to make an additional purchase while in the newsagency.