The Intralot network is down in Victoria today due to an Optus network problem. This is also affecting access to the Intralot help desk. Optus people have been working on the problem all day. I am posting this here as a service and not for commentary.
PC Pro reported yesterday that NEC is preparing to launch a 19.5 inch e-ink display with better contrast than newsprint and a very fast refresh rate. There is online talk that this screen gets closer to a newspaper experience. I know that newspaper publishers are certainly watching this and other technology which enables them to make their content more accessible.
If I were a newspaper publisher I would have money invested in products like this and other mobile devices as they are the replacement for the current newspaper distribution system.
Whether we (newsagents) like it or not, this paperless newspaper reading technology will evolve and, eventually, become ubiquitous.
The Australian Women’s Weekly has kicked off 2009 with a bang. Starting the year with the Obama family on the cover was a brilliant move and following up with Magda Szubanski and her weight loss story in the latest issue is proving to be as popular. My only minor complaint is the free cookbook on the cover – it covers Magda. That said, the word of mouth around this issue is very strong. Newsagents rely on the traffic and sales of AWW. Indeed, other publishers have relied on AWW to drive the health of the category. Let’shope the strong start to the year continues.
A customer commented that they need to come up with a good news summary for the week because he didn’t have time to read the papers with all the news around. I mentioned The Week to him and he was surprised that a title matching his exact description existed. True story.
I believe in The Week. It is a good magazine, filling a need. That said, I am not sure that their marketing campaign has worked.
We are trying a different approach by promoting it more consistently with newspapers, at least to put it on the radar of newspaper buyers. For the next few weeks we will have it on the stand in front of newspapers and see if that helps with our customers.
Robyn Ritchie from newsXpress Whittlesea this morning delivered the newspapers for the first time. Their regular driver has relocated following the loss of his home in the bushfires. Robyn and one of her girlfriends hit the road early and tried their hand at the whole newspaper throwing thing. She said the only complaint they are likely to get is about the noise they made as they laughed their way through the round.
I bet lots of newsagents can recall the first time they threw a newspaper. It’s a good thing to reminisce about. Up at Whittlesea things are a bit different thanks to the considerable challenges brought about by the fires. It is inspiring that Robyn and Neil are finding some laughter amid those challenges.
I have several issues with the survey sent out by the Lottery Agents Association of Victoria about Intralot: It is poorly constructed – as if they have a specific outcome in mind; Some questions are push in nature; It has not been sent to all agents; and, the survey demonstrates the continued bias of the LAAV against Intralot.
I see little activity from the LAAV on the barriers imposed by Tattersalls against Intralot, barriers which deny Intralot fair and reasonable access in many retail situations. Take instant scratch tickets for example, they belong on the counter, next to online lottery products. Tattersalls successfully maneuvered it so that this could not be achieved.
I would hope that Tony Robinson, the Minister responsible, finds a way to achieve an equitable solution – for the sake of small business retailers, consumers and Intralot which paid good money for fair and reasonable access.
The team at newsXpress Seymour raised $2,600 in five days through their loose change collection. That is a fantastic effort! At our own Frankston newsagency, no sooner had we banked $700 and we collected another $300. We are displaying each receipt for our customers – they tell us that they apprecaite our transparency on this and that this encourages them to continue giving.
We are promoting OK! at the counter at our Forest Hill and Frankston stores. The free mascara qualifies it for this prime impulse purchase position. The mascara itself looks more valuable than the usual free make-up with a magazine.
The additional benefit of setting up this display for the weekend is to remind our customers that OK! is now published on a Friday. Changing habit can take a while.
Thanks to a comment here from Deb at Glenhuntly newsagency a few days ago, we have placed Weight Watchers magazine next to the latest issue of Australian Women’s Weekly with Magda Szubanski on the cover. Inside AWW is the story about Magda’s amazing weight loss since joining Jenny Craig.
Hopefully, the opportunistic placement will drive sales of Weight Watchers and AWW.
I have heard about a survey being circulated by the Lottery Agents Association of Victoria about Intralot. I have not seen such a survey and would appreciate receiving a copy if you have one.
Our team at Frankston is having fun pitching two magazine categories – lad’s mags and men’s fitness and lifestyle mags. Under the heading Hot & Sweaty they are pitching a range of titles at the counter which would otherwise not get such a high traffic profile.
I love this type of marketing – bringing titles to a high traffic area and opening them to impulse purchase. I especially like the fun in the Hot & sweaty tag – this pitches the magazines in a non-traditional way. It is the kind of approach which gets new eyeballs looking.
The display will stay in place for a couple of weeks before being replaced.
A seller on ebay is offering the Bushfire edition of Who magazine for sale for $12.95 plus $2.90 postage. They are charging close to three times the cover price. There is no mention that they are doing this to raise funds for the Bushfire Appeal.
While it could be said that newsagents profited from the sale of this magazine, there was no price gouging. Further, many newsagents collected donations from customers and added to these from their own pockets.
It is terrific to see the level of support by newsagents and suppliers for Victorian bushfire relief appeals. I know from conversations yesterday that this is of comfort to people on the front line – those personally affected and those supporting them.
From spare change collected at our counters to support for magazines raising funds from sales (New Idea, Woman’s Day, Take 5, That’s Life, OK! and Who) to collecting product for donation to practical help. Those newsagents and newsagent suppliers who have supported fundraising and other efforts ought to be proud not only of their efforts but also of demonstrating how the newsagency channel sevres the heart of our nation.
Click here to read why the folks at Chiltern Newsagency switched from POS Solutions Browser software to Tower Systems newsagency software.
This is a story you will not read in your newspaper. It is about how some newpspaper publishers treat small family businesses.
Years ago, when a publisher ran a home delivery deal, they would pay newsagents what the margin would if the paper was sold at full price. As I wrote here last year, I know of newsagents getting less than half to deliver to customers who have accepted deep discount deals. To go from a slightly profitable customer relationship to one which is loss making because a supplier decides to discount is another reason more newsagents are walking away from home delivery.
So, what is the answer?
I’d like to think that if I were a newspaper publisher I would be investing in a key asset such as the newsagency channel rather than starving it.
Publishers can stop newsagents handing back runs by:
Newspaper home delivery is unlikely to grow. That does not mean that those providing the service ought to be treated with the contempt I see in some states today.
When I left the Board at the end of 2004, the ANF had the data necessary to guide newsagents to make real progress on representation around the delivery fee matter. It is clear that this opportunity was squandered. While there has been some noise over the last week, for many it is too late.
My proposal in 2004 was that newsagents call for a Productivity Commission review of the home delivery model, as review of the 1999 deregulation if you like. Such a post deregulation review is not unusual and would be good government in action. Unfortunately, I was unable to muster support from newsagent repreentatives to push for such an inquiry.
The situation today is serious. The publishers know it. Some are responding by investing in infrastructure to take over delivery. This is not the answer as each territory handed back is another (often meagre) income taken from a family.
While the two displays don’t look ideal next to each other, we are trying, for the fist time, Men’s Health and Women’s Health on the counter next to our main lottery counter in addition to their usual placement. We are still trying to figure what titles work well with customers in line to purchase lottery tickets. It is easier at our traditional newsagency counter – what we place there is working well. We are committed to finding the right titles to engage lottery only customers- hopefully these health titles work.
Tower Systems will be showing off its POS and retail management software for gift shops at Reed Gift Fair in Sydney starting this weekend. Hall 4, stand 6132. With so many newsagents now playing in the gift space, we will also have newsagency experts on hand to show off our newsagency software. The Sydney Gift Fair looks like tit will be an excellent gift sourcing event.
I bought my first newsagency thirteen years ago this week. That was the business now known as newsXpress Forest Hill. The previous two owners of the business had gone broke. We bought it after the landlord locked the last owner out. The business was being run by suppliers just to keep newspapers and magazines supplied.
A lot has changed over the thirteen years – in our newsagency and across the channel.
One frustration was being forced to move three times. The biggest frustration, however, was getting flooded out last year when builders did not protect out shop when they opened the roof of the centre for major construction going on next to and above us. Twice we were flooded and here we are a year on and yet to be paid for the thousands of dollars in stock.
Every newsagent has stories of challenge. We must like these challenges because we stick at it. Indeed, we come back for more. I bought another newsagency a year ago and I have a half share in another which opened a year and a half ago.
I am reflecting about the thirteen years today because I am in a reflective mood. Retail is tough, nowhere more so than in newsagencies. Our fixed margin on around 65% of what we sell is a challenge. The lack of fair movement in price of newspapers is another challenge as is the interest in some suppliers to pursue other retail channels. I could go on…
Owning a newsagency right now, however, is the biggest challenge ever. Our world is changing thanks to disruption brought on by technology, greater competition and economic circumstances. These factors converge to create what to some looks scary and to others looks like the best opportunities in a long time.
The intersection of disruption, competition and economic circumstances is an opportunity for us to reinvent. Not nationally, not statewide, but individually. Some newsagents are doing this today, playing with new product categories, offering fresh services. Some are not calling themselves newsagents anymore.
Today’s world is less regulated and presents more opportunities than the world of 1996. The challenge is to summon the energy and locate the capital necessary to make the most of the challenge. This is where opportunistic suppliers and landlords could work with us. They need us as much as we need them.
Today, I and the teams running my newsagencies are playing at the edges of the model. As the year unfolds we hope to play with fundamental changes closer to the core. We are buckling in and pursuing change.
We had Good Food at our premium counter position for a week and sold six copies. We has The Monthly with Kevin Rudd on the cover displayed with our newspapers for the same period and sold twelve copies. While it is unfair to compare the two titles, the success of a titles in an impulse situation – high traffic and away from its traditional home – is a test of the title itself. I don’t think The Monthly sold just because of the cover, there has to be perceived value on the masthead itself. On Good Food, I think consumers don’t know where to place the title – certainly not until they engage with it. There are several excellent lower-priced ‘suburban’ food magazines and a couple of respected top end local food titles. Good Food, in the middle, seems, on our sales, lost.
The new Canada Periodical Fund (CPF), announced today by Heritage Minister James Moore, will maintain the exisiting funding level of $75.5 million for Canadian magazines and community newspapers, according to a release from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Read the full story here at Masthead Online. The Canadian Magazine Fund is administered by the Canadian Government to support Canadian magazines and Canadian content. It sounds like an excellent program. Certainly, its support for Canadian stories is important – hence that fund oversight falls under the Canadian Heritage.
This is Neil and Robyn Ritchie from newsXpress Whittlesea. They have had an extraordinary ten days in their newsagency. Like other newsagents who face tough relentless circumstances, they get through each day. Click here to read more about their week and some of the challenges they have faced as a result of the bushfires.
The initiative from Tattersalls to donate their proceeds from this Saturday’s Tattslotto draw to the Alfred Hospital Burns Unit in support of the Bushfire Appeal is excellent and deserves kudos. I especially like that they have been transparent in their press announcement about what they expect to make – $3.5 million.
That said, I know some who will have an issue with promoting gambling as a way of raising funds for bushfire relief. I’d be interested to know what others think – especially as a retailer. Do we go hard and encourage gambling? I ask this because the fundraising aspect will attract new customers. I am genuinely interest in what others think about this.
Concerns aside, we are actively promoting the Saturday draw in-store and have created a series of syndicates to help. Indeed, we are promoting everything connected with fundraising for the fires – Who, New Idea, Woman’s Day – as well as continued promotion of collecting loose change for the Red Cross.
The latest version of the Amazon Kindle reader, announced a few days ago, has capacity for 1,500 books – a home library full. People are buying the Kindle – more than 300,000 sold in the US last year – for more than reading books. The Kindle provides access to newspaper subscriptions, magazines and more than 1,200 blogs. This new version also has an “experimental” read-to-me fundtion. The Kindle s currently not available for use in Australia.
The Kindle, and other devices like it, eliminates the traditional supply chain. The distance between author is shorter and this is what makes the costs of the books less. Take Breaking Dawn, book 4 in the Twilight series -hardcover is US$15.63 and the Kindle edition is US$11.68.
These devices will ultimately arrive here in mass numbers and those of us retailing print product – books, magazines and newspapers – need to have a plan.
We are promoting Weight Watchers magazine to customers leaving our two main magazine aisles. This puts it in front of around 55% of men and women who shop with us. We are using a ‘found’ space – a space we have created from nothing by moving some fixtures around and turning what was dead or near-dead space into something useful. To create a story we are supporting the now-monthly Weight Watchers magazine with a range of other product connected with the weight loss theme.
The photo shows one of the posters we have on display at Forest Hill showing the deposit slip for the first deposit of loose change collected from our customers. We are doing this in each of our stores – placing a copy of the deposit slip on display so our customers know the money has gone direct to the Red Cross Appeal account. We are not filtering this money through our account and therefore not making any claim on tax deductibility – nor should we.