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Newsagency of the Future workshops next week

The Newsagency of the Future workshops have kicked off well this week with sessions in Melbourne and Adelaide already. Perth is later this morning. As with such sessions, they evolve over time. Already there has been excellent discussion around best practice for today, plans for the next 1 to 3 years and plans beyond 3 years. The Apple iPad I am showing off is giving newsagents a flavour of what the device can do and open some eyes.

Next week we are in Sydney, Canberra and Hobart. If you would like to attend the free workshop, please click here. Click here to download a flyer for the event.  Anyone is welcome.

My goal with these sessions is to get newsagents thinking and talking about their future and to accept some responsibility for where they will end up in a few years time.

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newsagency of the future

Why so much extra gameinformer stock?

gameinformer-june10.JPGNewsagents should check their supply of gameinformer magazine. Yesterday, we received 10 copies. The last issue we received 4 and returned 4. The issue before that we received 8 and returned 5 and the one before that we received 8 and returned 6. I can see no justification in our sales numbers for Network services to increase our supply by 100%, I doubt that even an amazing promotion would lift our sales by 100%.

Publishers reading this blog need to understand that every additional copy sent to newsagents which does not sell has a cash flow cost to our business.  Retail real estate and labour account for between 21% and 24% of revenue in shopping centre newsagencies.

Come the 20th of the month Network will be chasing payment yet when if we try and use the regular processes they have established for newsagent communication they will not be as attentive.

With magazine sales down significantly on last year and 2009 down even more on 2008, magazine distributors and magazine publishers have an obligation to stop sucking cash out of our businesses with poor supply decisions.

Sit in the office of the accounts office of any magazine distributor in the last week of any month and you will soon realise how serious cash flow relating to magazines has become for newsagents.  They don’t care, all they want is their cash.  They accept no responsibility for creating the cash flow problem.

I has data from several newsagents for April showing that they paid some distributors more than the money they took through the register for their titles.  This happens because of a failing supply model.  Yet the accounts people do not get it, yes, all they want is their cash.

This is a crisis no one seems prepared to address.

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magazine distribution

Promoting Diabetic Living magazine at the counter

diabetic-living-jun10.JPGWith space tight for displays we have taken a more tactical approach with Diabetic Living which went on sale yesterday, placing it at the counter, next to Women’s Health. We also have two pockets above women’s weeklies titles and a half waterfall in the health section. Based on past experience, I expect the counter unit to perform well.

Sometimes with magazines a small tactical approach is far more valuable than a big bold display.

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magazines

Promoting Street Machine magazine

street-machine-jun10b.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of Street Machine magazine in its regular location in our auto title section. We have given the display plenty of space (double the usual space allocation) by trimming back space for other titles. Our plan is to leave this display in place for at least the next week. While the publisher may prefer a higher profile location for promoting the title, our experience is that car titles promoted this way in the men’s magazine aisle do better than if they are promoted in a higher traffic location elsewhere in the store.  Guys are store blind until they get to their aisle.

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magazines

Newsagents should offer free WiFi

Newsagents wanting to connect with the iPad opportunity as well as the many devices following in its footsteps ought to establish free WiFi access.

Getting newsagencies across Australia known for providing free WiFi could at least attract some foot traffic.  While they may not arrive as customers, a good retailer could convert some to spend in the business.

We first trialled free WiFi in my newsagency in January 2007.  While the trial went okay, I knew that for the idea to really work we would need a national network of newsagents offering the same service.

Free WiFi access across a common branded network of stores would get them into people consciousness and make them sought out.  This is an opportunity for newsagents.

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Media disruption

Magazine publishers damage brands with poor gift execution

mag-inserts.JPGACP Magazines and Pacific Magazines have experienced missteps in the last couple of weeks with gifts being poorly attached to the magazines they were designed to promote.  Pacific’s Girlfriend magazine looked damaged in retail shelves when the card carrying the free ring fell from the pages of the magazine.  Likewise, the free watch with the latest issue of Dolly is too heavy for the glue used and some are falling out magazines on the shelves.

Production teams at publishers need to ensure that any gift attached to the magazine enhances the offer rather than detracting from it.

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magazines

News Corp. acquires new platform

News Corp. has announced  its  acquisition of Skiff e-reader distribution platform from Hearst.  This is a strategic move for the company and better positions it to leverage sales of content to the rapidly growing e-reader community.  The company also announced an investment in Journalism Online, a business which makes it easier for publishers to monetise content online.

So, media becomes like fast food – people will consume it on the go, watching news, sport  and film … on wireless devices. Rupert Murdoch speaking at a conference in London in March 2006.

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Media disruption

Promoting the Ethical Supermarket Shopping Guide

ethical-shopping.JPGWith 50% of the Ethical Supermarket Shopping Guide sold from our counter location we wanted to move it to try a fresh location.  So, we created a display placing the stock on a air stand which sits next to Shop Til You Drop.  This is a bit of ‘found’ space, created out of thin air.  We plan keep the display in place for a couple of weeks.

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magazines

40 million reasons to be happy

Newsagents and lottery retailers will be happy that OzLotto jackpotted tonight.  Having a $40 million first division prize to sell in Winter and between major retail seasons will deliver a traffic and basket building fillip to our businesses.

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Lotteries

The Apple iPad changes the game

ipad-abc.JPGWhile I am only a few days into my Apple iPad journey, I have experienced enough to know that this device signals a the most significant change in decades in how news, information and entertainment is accessed.

The experience is intoxicating – multiple sources and mediums (text, audio and video) at your fingertips .

I don’t have a lot of time to read newspapers or magazines cover to cover but I will dive in and read a story which interests me.  The iPad is made for this.  That I can do this wherever and whenever I want without having to go to a store is what excites me the most.

Newspaper and magazine publishers who say that print is their focus and that the iPad channel is about new customers are either lying, kidding themselves or have not swum with an iPad.

It is quick and easy to get a broader perspective on a story, far easier the buying multiple newspapers or visiting a bunch of websites.  In seconds I can jump from The Australian to the BBC to a US news outlet.

Eyewitness from the Guardian is an amazing app which lives up to their pitch.  It delivers a daily visual reflection of global events.  Amazing photos which provide a deeper perspective on stories such as the oil disaster off the coast of the US.

I love the ABC app, especially their news in 90 seconds.  It is easier to access than the news headlines service on Sky News on Foxtel.

The Australian app is okay as a newspaper on the iPad.  Smart publishers will break free from the constraints of being a newspaper.  This is where the iPad really becomes a game changer.

Magazines are priced too high and if current pricing prevails I expect uptake, after the initial excitement, will slow.  I think that News Limited has got it about right for their pricing for The Australian – $4.99 for a month seems okay to me.

I am aware that this is only version 1 of the iPad and that Apple is expected to announce more innovation later this year.  Enhancements to the iPad family and the new devices from other companies will push this channel into the hands of many who buy newspapers and magazines today.

Is it the end of the Australian newsagency?  No.  But that’s a blog post for another day. For newspapers though it is a different story the iPad is tolling a bell.

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magazines

Strong support for Good Food magazine

good-food-jun10a.JPGThe latest issue of Good Food magazine is being promoted at the entrance to our main magazine aisle.

We have the display running on three sides of the stand you can see in the photo – giving the title plenty of support.  We also have a pocket located in with our weeklies as well as a display in with food titles.

We have modified the type of display we do on the merchandise unit.  Now, we have fewer pockets of store.  This allows is to have tow posters on display.  We have done this for the last two magazines we promoted and they performed very well from this stand – Good Health last week especially.

Our current plan is to lead Good Food up for a week.

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magazines

Promoting InStyle magazine

instyle-june2010.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of InStyle magazine with a high profile in-location display in among fashion titles.  This display can be seen by all customers visiting our main magazine aisle including those stopping for the high volume weekly titles at tthe entrance to the aisle.

we will leave this display up for two weeks.  The sales decay rate for InStyle indicates that we can expect the display to drive good sales well into the second week whereas many monthlies see sales fade by then.

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magazines

Build the Endeavour at newsagents now

build-endeavour.JPGWe are promoting the new Build the Endeavour partwork at the front of my newsagencies.  We want to connect with the TV campaign for this series.    I like that they have supplied the How To DVD separately from part 1 – we don’t mind keeping it behind the counter to give to customers.

2010 has been a rough year for partworks.  Maybe Build the Endeavour will break that.

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magazines

Promoting the free fat loss guide with Women’s Health

womens-health-jun2010.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of Women’s Health at the counter since it comes with a free weight loss guide.  We also have a terrific display for Women’s Health in with our other women’s health and fitness titles.  We plan to leave the counter display in place for the rest of the week.  Women’s Health is a title for which we have seen good impulse purchase business.  Given the cost of the premium counter space, we like to keep it for titles which will deliver.

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magazines

A late World Cup title

world-cup-title.JPGI was surprised to see Daily Express World Cup 2010 arrive with the magazines this morning.  With the first games already over, it is late.  It will be interesting to see if it sells.  I’d much prefer to have had this title on the shelves a month ago, before sales of World Cup titles peaked.  We will give the title a go by placing it in our World Cup display out the front of the newsagency.

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magazine distribution

Great Darrell Lea Fruit & Nut Rocklea Road counter unit

rocklearoad.JPGKudos to Darrell Lea for producing another excellent counter unit. Too often we have suppliers who ask us to put products at the counter but do little to help achieve this. Darrell Lea started playing with counter units a couple of years ago having previously pushed back on the idea.

This latest counter unit is for their Fruit & Nut Rocklea Road. It offers everything I want to see in a counter unit – attention grabbing graphics, a compelling offer, a new product and a good impulse purchase friendly price point.

This unit from Darrell Lea puts what is provided by most other newsagent suppliers to shame.

We have it at the counter and move it from one counter point to another through the week.  Sales are excellent. The bar itself is delcious!

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confectionary

Tour de France titles in newsagencies now

tour-de-france-program.JPGThe Tour de France starts early next month and we, like every newsagent in Australia I am guessing, have started receiving stock of Tour related titles.  I was surprised at the amount of stock we received for the Official Guide but I checking last year’s sales showed that the increase is warranted.

We will start to promote Tour de France titles at the front of the store and elsewhere in the next week or so, once we have more of the World Cup under our belt.

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magazines

Fresh Visual Merchandising helps World Cup sales

world_cup_foresthill.JPGOn Friday we kicked up our 2010 World Cup magazine, sticker and supporter products promotion with a fresh display at the front of our newsagency.  While we were running low on most stock items, we were still able to bring something half decent together.  By the end of yesterday, sales showed that the effort was well worth it.  You only had to watch customers as they approached the store, the display was very popular.  I saw it draw several people who were walking past the newsagency to exit the centre – it definitelty drove some new traffic for us.

Too often I visit newsagencies where a display is created for a promotion, like the World Cup, and left in place for the duration of the opportunity.

Good retailers know that change is essential in retail. I think this is even more important in newsagencies where we can see the same customer three or more times each week.  These regular customers become as store blind as we do ourselves.  Change combats store blindness.

Change does not need to take hours.  Even just moving a stand can have a tremendous impact.  The key is to be tactical.  What is the outcome you want?  If it is to sell an item or a seasonal opportunity, like World Cup, think about the best location to put the stand, display or even a single product to disrupt traffic from customers who are likely to notice, browse and, hopefully, buy?  Disruption of shoppers is the key with this type of display.

The change we made to our World Cup offer on Friday morning was the fourth major change so far for the World Cup season.  The sales results indicate that the labour and floor space investment has been well worth it.

As the photo shows, displays don’t need to be the most beautiful to work.   In this case, our focus was on traffic disruption around a popular and short term seasonal opportunity.

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magazines

Herald Sun sell out

We sold out of the Herald Sun by lunchtime in most of my newsagencies yesterday and could not get more stock.  Thankfully, we had more World Cup scarves so we could at least sell these.  I suspect the sell out was widespread as calls for more stock went unanswered.

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Newspapers

Foreign language newspaper sales set for a lift

I expect to see a lift in foreign language newspaper sales in newsagencies through the next month as a result of the World Cup.

While capital city dailies will have good World Cup coverage people from Italy, for example, will want the more parochial coverage from an Il Globo.

We are working on a change to how we display the newspapers to drive greater impulse business.

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Newsagency opportunities

Promoting $30 million OzLotto jackpot

30mil-syndicates.JPGWe are actively promoting the $30 million OzLotto jackpot in a range of places including in with magazines as the photo shows.  We have these A4 posters atop the magazine units in each of our aisles.  This level of promotion of jackpots, particularly for OzLotto, has worked well for us in the past.  While I’d like Oz to go off to one of our customers on Tuesday, I’d like even more for it to jackpot for a few more weeks.  This would warm up newsagencies and lottery outlets through winter.

Our other promotion of the lottery jackpot includes: price point promotion at each counter sales point, a display at the entrance to the store, promotion with our newspaper stand and an attractive syndicate board.

Some newsagents question why we do so much work promoting Oz over and above what is required by Tattersalls.  I see lottery traffic as essential to our businesses for the next three to five years.  Winning a new customer from this promotion and retaining them is valuable over the course of a year once you add impulse purchases to their lottery product purchases.

We have customers shopping with us today who started last year when Oz last had its run of jackpots.

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Lotteries

Quarterly Essay sells out

We sold out of the latest issue of Quarterly Essay in four days.  I hope other newsagents picked up on my comments about the Kevin Rudd essay and the opportunity for sales.  We are chasing getting more stock as there is still good demand and the essay was disucssed on radio again this morning.

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magazines

Venues announced for Newsagency of the Future workshops

newsagency-future.jpgVenue details have now been announced for most of the free Newsagency of the Future workshops which commence next Tuesday in Melbourne.    The details for next week are: Melbourne – 15th June 2010 @ 11:00am, The Brighton Savoy, 150 The Esplanade, BRIGHTON VIC 3186. Adelaide – 16th June 2010 @ 2:00pm, Grand Chifley Adelaide, 208 South Terrace, ADELAIDE SA 5000. Perth – 17th June 2010 @ 11:00am, Metro Hotel Perth, 61 Canning Highway, SOUTH PERTH WA 6151.

At this stage we have over 300 newsagents participating in what I hope will be a good conversation about the future of the channel.

For the latest flyer and booking form listing venues please click here .  You can also book online and update your Outlook calendar at the same time.  You will see that I have added a Geelong session on July 6 at 11am.

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newsagency of the future
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