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

Are newsagents about to be let down by an association again?

Australian newsagents (in the main) don’t support their associations because they fail to serve the needs of newsagents.  Rather than representing the newsagent community on relevant industry-wide issues, they continue to invest limited newsagent funds into commercial enterprises.  Their track record in this area is appalling.

Watch for at least one announcement from an association this week, maybe next, which they think will excite newsagents.

The announcement form a national association which would excite newsagents would be one on structural challenges facing newsagents.  That announcement will not be made because it takes leadership beyond the capacity of those at the table.  Instead, they focus on commercial deals of dubious value and which, too often, compete with existing long-established and newsagent owned commercial operations.

The best association model in the country right now is the QNF.   Good leadership, solid newsagnt support and excellent consultation with the membership.

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Newsagency challenges

Derwent Howard magazine mess

The collapse of Derwent Howard, publisher of a bunch of titles in Australian newsagencies, gets messier by the day.  Problems appear to have started with a shuffle between business entities with similar names – who employed people and published titles is a bit of a maze.

While on the surface, none of this directly affects newsagents, I’d note that we currently have stock from the company which is now under administration.  I’d also note that Network Services is a creditor with close to $900K owed according to The Australian today.  We are also likely to experience some bumps while titles move from publisher to publisher.

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magazines

new moon Twilight movie promotion

fhn_new_moon.JPGThe new moon display our team at Forest Hill created at the entrance of our women’s magazine aisle late last week looks stunning.  It sets us up to capture interest in the opening of the movie, the next instalment in the popular Twilight saga, this week.

On the right of the display we are promoting new moon calendars and the board game.  On the left, we are currently promoting Dolly and OK! magazines – both of which have Twilight themed stories.  We like that we are promoting products from several departments under the one licenced brand.

As I blogged yesterday, we don’t see enough of cross department promotion around national and international brands in newsagencies.  These are opportunities ripe for the picking. new moon interest will reach fever pitch over the next seven days.  While many newsagents will only cash in with magazine sales, we have products in two other departments.

Beyond the commercial benefits, there is a good feeling of retail theatre associated with this display.  It has been well executed by our team.

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magazines

Hallmark recordable Christmas sound cards sound great

fhn_hallmark_sound_xmas.JPGThe innovative range of recordable Christmas cards are a welcome extension ot the Christmas range from Hallmark.  They give us another point of difference in terms of products and provide a good opportunity for product interaction in-store.

If the recordable sound cards are as popular as the first release of Hallmark sound cards earlier this year, they will sell very well.  The merchandising you can see on the stand is important in educating that these cards are not your usual Christmas cards. We have these cards at the front of our Christmas card department.

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Greeting Cards

Double digit growth in calendar sales

Calendar sales are up 11% in newsagencies in September / October 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 according to the latest sales benchmark study.

The results are based on data from newsagencies with a commitment to calendars as a specialist department for more than twelve months.  This is a subset of 65% of newsagencies participating in the Tower Systems newsagent benchmark study.

Calendars are an important part of the newsagent product mix from August to early in the new year.  Smart newsagents are achieving a margin in excess of 60% from most calendars sold.  75% of calendar sales include at least one other item in the basket.  This demonstrates the basket efficiency and margin benefit of a strong commitment to calendars.

The most common reason newsagents do not take control of calendars in their newsagencies is space.  This is a nonsense barrier given the terrific margin.

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Calendars

Getting newspapers on your iPhone

Check out the PressReader iPhone app from Newspaper Direct, a distributor of digital newspaper and magazines.  It delivers full reproduction digital copies of newspapers to the iPhone and Blackberry.   The app works with publications sold through the PressDisplay site.  the app is free.  each newspaper issue costs US.99cents.  Watch a demonstration of it working:

News junkies with an iPhone or Blackberry will love this.  While I don’t expect this app to reduce print sales, it is another step in that direction.  The more newspaper stories consumers on digital devices like the iPhone the more attention publishers will give to this distribution channel over print.

This is another factor newsagents need consider when planning for the future.  I am sure advances like PressReader are part of what News Limited will consider in the review it undertakes here in Australia over the next two years.

There is no doubt that how we access and consumer news will dramatically change in the next few years.  Our businesses, retail and distribution, have been built on a print only model.  We have not positioned ourselves to be part of a digital model.  My concern is that newsagents are not educating themselves about the moves I write about.

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Media disruption

Maintaining other cards sales during Christmas in a newsagency

fhn_christmascards.JPGWe have a policy of not removing cards to make way for seasons.  While it can be challenging finding enough space in the newsagency this time of the year to maintain this policy, it is essential if we are to remain the best card outlet in the shopping centre.

Take Christmas, we have the range of single cards in the photo, two large tables of boxed cards and more card product to go up next week.  We have not removed any everyday or lifestyle cards to achieve this.

Yesterday, a customer complimented us for not compromising our regular range with Christmas product like other retailers in the centre.

We have single and boxed Christmas cards in our card department, creating a good Christmas focus with our growing range of gifts nearby.

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Greeting Cards

Building the In the Night Garden range

fhn_night_garden.JPGIn the Night Garden was launched by ACP Magazines earlier this year.  It is a very successful title in the UK.  To help build the brand, we are carrying a range of In the Night Garden flash cards.

Building cross-category offers around well-known licenced brand franchises is important in retail yet rarely done in newsagencies. Historically, newsagents will receive licenced product from one supplier but not go out and find products from other suppliers for the same licence.

By extending our In The Night Garden range, we support the magazine  and we build sales in the gift department based on a good magazine franchise. This makes good sense to us.

The In the Nigth Garden flash cards are part of the newsXpress Christmas offer.

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Brand retailing

XChangeIT newsagent EDI platform use ramps up

The old XChangeIT EDI platform for newsagents will be shutdown next month. Newsagents are being encouraged to migrate now rather than wait to the last minute.  I support this.  Panic calls once the old platfrom is turned off will be the fault of newsagents who did not prepare.  The bumps from the early weeks have been ironed out and hundreds of newsagents now successfully use the new XChangeIT Link platform.

The folks from XChangeIT sent out a new communication to newsagents yesterday:

The latest XChangeIT LINK platform has been operating very well for the last 5 weeks and so it is now time for you to upgrade to the new LINK platform.

Some of you are due for renewal in the next month or so anyway, and some who are paid up can get their renewal at no extra cash outlay because we’ll credit you for unused days.

Either way, we are closing the old platform at the end of December, so by renewing now you are getting yourself better prepared for the Christmas season.

Visit the XChangeIT web site www.xchangeit.com.au and find the link that says “click here to download an instruction pack”.

Simply follow the instructions and it should take under 30 minutes to complete your upgrade.

If you need assistance or have any questions call our support line at 1 300 551 212.

Most newsagent software companies support and this move and will help with issues, concerns or questions.

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newsagent software

Newspaper publisher pushes online subscriptions

US newspaper publisher Hearst is using a new online strategy to drive newspaper subscription acquisition in response to soft newsstand sales.  While we are not experiencing the same decline in over the counter sales for newspapers here, I would like to see publishers engage with retail only newsagents on a subscription acquisition strategy.  This would be preferable to them turning their back on our network altogether.

I have several opportunities for retail-only newsagents and publishers to directly work together on acquiring home delivery subscription customers.  Here are some subscription ideas I’d be happy to trial:

  • Gift subscriptions
  • Seasonal subscriptions – i.e. winter up north
  • Changed circumstances subscriptions – less mobility

I note, these thoughts are in addition the ideas I have previously published on driving over the counter sales.

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newspaper home delivery

Newspaper covers Matthew Richardson photo on the front page

age_nov1409.JPGRetiring Richmond footballer Matthew Richardson was covered up on the front page of The Age newspaper today with an ad for milk home delivery stuck over his photo.  This demonstrates that ads are more important than news on page one at The Age.  The ad itself is interesting for newsagents – milk home delivery being promoted on the front page of a newspaper.  If the penetration of milk delivery increases as it has been recently, watch for the two home delivery services to be linked.

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newspaper masthead desecration

Greeting card sales decline in newsagencies

Greeting card revenue fell 4.42% in newsagencies in September / October compared to the same period a year earlier.  Unit sales declined 3.73% in the same period.  This decline is against an overall newsagency revenue increase of 2% over the same period.

The greeting card sales results are part of the Tower Systems newsagency sales benchmark study and is based on data from 125 newsagencies.

A more complete report on the sales benchmark study will be released next Monday.

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Newsagency benchmark

Free Christmas wrap with Better Homes and Gardens

fhn_bhg_nov1309.JPGWe are proud of the deatil in our Better Homes and Gardens main counter display at newsXpress Forest Hill.  We are featuring the free wrapping paper which comes with this issue.  The display was helped by using some of the spare wrapping paper to show it in use.  Click on the photo to see a larger version.  We plan at this stage to leave this display up until Wednesday of next week.

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magazines

Promoting Twilight themed OK!

fhn_oknov1309.JPGWe are using spare space on the Dolly display at the entrance to our women’s magazine aisle to promote OK! which is out today.  The Twilight theme on both titles makes it work here. This positioning will get OK! seen by more people and hopefully drive a good sales lift.  We will leave this in place until Monday.

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magazines

Eugene goes to Hollywood

Eugene Varricchio, Group General Manager – Retail & Distribution, ACP Magazines, was dragged on stage at the newsXpress National Conference a few weeks ago in Melbourne by performer Matt Hollywood to help with a comedy routine.  Check out the footage captured on a mobile phone on the night and loaded to YouTube:

Eugene handled with good humour what many others would have refused.  He gave many of us there the best laugh in ages.  While I feel bad, thinking back, about laughing at what Matt put Eugene through, my overwhelming feeling is one of admiration for him playing along and letting us all have such a good laugh.

We do put our suppliers through crap sometimes.  It is nights like this one with Eugene on stage where a supplier builds a unique connect with the newsagents in the room. His good grace at being set up, which we was, says a lot.

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Newsagent suppliers

We need an independent publisher strategy

The newsagency channel is missing an opportunity by not engaging with independent publishers in a professional and structured way. While their volumes can be small, independent magazines provide us with an important point of difference over other magazine retailers.

The small publishers I am meeting with at the moment are keen to engage with proactive newsagents. This can deliver exclusive opportunities, better margin and insights which drive sales. It surprises me that industry associations have not missed this opportunity.

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magazines

Pitching Better Homes and gardens with women’s titles

fhn_bhg_aww_fam_circ.JPGWe have made room for the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens in our women’s weeklies section. The Christmas issue sold very well from here and we wanted to see if we could repeat this success. A full waterfall next to Australian Women’s Weekly in addition to a good display next to gardening titles is where we pitch this issue. As the photo shows, we have bumped Family Circle across to the right but still in thee weeklies mix and driving good sales.

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magazines

So who will buy NDD?

The question about the future ownership of NDD remains a hot topic among newsagents and their suppliers. There are plenty of rumors but nothing certain. If I were to lay a bet on the outcome it would be between no sale and Australia Post picking up the magazine distributor.

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magazine distribution

Stationery sales increase and in sales surge in newsagencies

Stationery revenue increased in 3.4% in newsagencies in September / October 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 according to the latest newsagency benchmark study.  This is an improvement on results from earlier this year.

Despite the increase in sales, stationery appears in fewer shopping baskets than in the same time last year.  This is further evidence of the impact of newsagents diversifying from traditional product lines such as stationery.

Ink and toner revenue increased 24.55% in September / October 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 – in newsagencies established in this category.  Ink now accounts for, on average, 30% of all stationery sales.  If the current growth trend continues I can see Ink reaching 50% of stationery sales.  This is an extraordinary shift from just three years ago.

The benchmark study was undertaken by Tower Systems and analysed data from 125 newsagencies.

A more complete report on the sales benchmark study will be released next Monday.

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Newsagency benchmark

Friendship Book 2010 defines newsagencies

fhn_fshipbook_cal09.JPGThe Friendship Book is a popular item in newsagencies this time of the year.  We usually sell out easily.  This year, we have The Friendship Book 2010 calendar to add value to the opportunity.  This is sure to do well too.  While not successful for everyone, the customers who purchase The Friendship Book also purchase People’s Friend, the Melbourne Observer, a selection of British magazines and a certain style of cards and stationery we have.  This knowledge helps us carefully place products to guide efficiency.

In my experience, newsagents don’t know enough about their customers and end up placing products where they can find space rather than based on data driven strategy.

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Calendars

Free wrapping paper with Better Homes and Gardens

bhg_wrap_xmas09.JPGIt is good to see Better Homes and Gardens continue the tradition of a free sheet of wrapping paper with their December issue.  This is a popular gift with customers.  It is genuinely adds value to the magazine without presenting display challenges for retailers or chasing sales with an irrelevant gift.  We have this latest issue on display in its usual location, near gardening magazines, and also with women’s weeklies and in an impulse unit at one of our counters.

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magazines

Darrell Lea Christmas 2009 arrives

fhn_dl_christmas09.JPGThe signposts get stronger each day that Christmas is near.  This week, Darrell Lea came in and was put up, right at the front of the shop to attract passers-by.  To do that we had to move product elsewhere and from that spare other product to elsewhere.  Moving stock is a key use of labour in newsagencies between now and the New year.  I’m not complaining, it is an important part of retail.  All suppliers need to understand the considerable demands on time right now.

We will move the Darrell Lea range a couple of times in the season as regulars soon become store-blind to these offers.

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confectionary

Vogue themed diaries and calendars

vintage_vogue.jpgThe Vintage Vogue covers on calendars and diaries from German publisher teNeues should work well in newsagencies with good Vogue sales. I like the range because it strengthens our point of difference in calendars and diaries as well as connecting between product categories around a successful brand – we need to do more of this.

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Calendars

Gotch launches online store

PMP, owner of magazine distributor Gordon and Gotch, has launched treeet.com.au today, a online store selling DVDs, CDs, books, electronic games and magazines.

While the magazines on offer today are overseas titles, the platform could easily handle local titles.  Newsagents should watch for treeet to creep into Australian titles.  If that happens we would need to more aggressively focus on pricing access to our unique and valuable distribution network.

We should also watch to see if treeet is promoted in out stores in any way.

Newsagents who operate as magazine specialists have done well in taking airfreight and other import titles.  These are the titles targeted by treeet today.  It will be important to monitor the impact of treeet on these sales.  Only Gotch will have that data.

Read the PMP announcement here.

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Newsagency challenges

Calendar stand drives sales

fhn_cal_tatts.JPGThe calendar impulse display I wrote about last week is working well for us – so much so that we are leaving it setup for longer than expected.  Browsed often during the day, we see shoppers move from this stand to our main calendar department now located less then a metre away.  The full face display of calendars is what draws people in.  We have carefully chosen a selection for their visual appeal.

The other benefit of this display is that it rests the location from the usual magazine display.

Our calendar sales are up 33% comparing September and October 2009 with the same period in 2008.  And, yes, we are still at full price!

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Calendars
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