We like this Complete Aussie Guide to Growing Vegetables for kids.
Gardening related magazines are strong as are children’s titles. This new title covers both. We have it on display in the garden and weeklies sections. We plan to promote this at the counter on weekends – when families are shopping. The front cover makes a good pitch.
We received this issue of ABC’s Organic Gardener a month ago. It sold well as usual – we co-located. We received more stock of the same issue today. While the distributor will say this is to ensure we have stock for another four weeks, our view is that the pocket has been profitable based on the first round of supply. Today’s extra supply makes the issue economically marginal. They should not push their luck like this.
The latest issue of Stab magazine gets our vote for poor packaging. It comes in a white paper envelope which was damaged in transit – making it look unmerchantable in my view. While I understand the publisher created the title without the rigours of the Australian distribution system in mind, there is no point in us receiving something we cannot sell.
We gave Rolling Stone extra space and attention last month and sold two of sixteen copies. This sell through of 12.5% kills cash-flow. Hopefully, the new attention from ACP Magazines for Rolling Stone will be able to lift this title out of the doldrums. The music category needs a beacon brand pulling eyeballs.
In response to questions posted here, we have put together some notes on how we go about running our Intralot Lucky Bingo syndicate at newsXpress Forest Hill. The information is published here as information and not as advice or a recommendation.
The BBC has announced a worldwide live tour by the Top Gear team. The show will tour to 15 countries including Australia with Sydney a confirmed city. In Auckalnd on friday I saw one store selling Top gear boks, DVDs and a game as well as the magazine. Given the development of this an other worldwide brands by the BBC newsagents ought to consider getting behind more than the magazine.
Tote bags are the most popular free gift in magazine marketing departments based on the number we have seen this year. I have lost count of how many have been on offer this year. On Monday, the new issues of Real Living and Bazaar came in, each with, yes, tote bags. We already have a couple of other magazines in-store with tote bags as gifts. This makes the gift less special and therefore less like to drive incremental sales. It certainly makes the exclusive claim some publishers make questionable.
While I appreciate that publishers need to find gifts which fit their budget while connecting with their demographic, I would have thought that there were more options available than constant stream of tote bags we see.
Four months after announcing to the ASX of a deal with Bill Express over the Bill Express advertising screens, the Swish group has written to newsagents saying they would like to take over the operation and management of the screens in newsagencies. To their credit they are proposing focus groups to find out what newsagents want.
The key unanswered question from the letter is the basis on which they think they may be able to access the screens. We kow from the Liquidators of Bill Express that the ownership of the hardware is in question. Complicating this, many newsagents have stopped paying the lease on equipment.
While newsagents will want a digital signage network, they will want it on commercial terms which reflect the value their retail network brings to the opportunity. The network could not exist without newsagents. The Bill Express mess has left many wary. On the Swish Group proposal I would suggest approach with caution.
Vin Crosbie’s post, Transforming newspapers (part 2), is an excellent read on why US newspapers are struggling today. While the US market is different to Australia, last week’s announcement from Fairfax indicates that the difference may be one of timing. I like Crosbie’s post because the more we understand the drivers of change to newspaper sales the better we, as newspaper retailers, can navigate our own way forward.
Several newsagents called me yesterday to advise on-going difficulties with their banks allowing money to be taken out for the Bill Express equipment. Any newsagent in this situation ought to understand that many others have now successfully stopped this and received refunds from their banks. The QNF and NANA have advice out with their members on handling this. The legal team behind the proposed class action has provided advice on this. There is no reason I can see for newsagents continuing to pay for this useless equipment.
We are running the newsXpress Father’s Day Book
It was good to see the latest issue of Top Gear
We are now at the business end of Father’s Day, the last week when somewhere between 60% and 90% of Father’s Day purchases are made. We have a story across the front of the shop as well as deep inside across a variety of product categories – cards, gifts, confectioners, lotteries, magazines, books and stationery.
The photo does not capture the full range. To some it may look a little hodge podge. It does look much better in person.
We have sought to demonstrate the range we offer as well as the value of our offer. Father’s Day is no Mother’s Day when it comes to card and related sales. Our in-store efforts are working against that, hence our full-throated display.
Sales are already excellent, showing that going early with a season can work very well, even for Father’s Day.
Here is proof of local effort paying off. Our Intralot Lucky Bingo syndicate sold out Friday. This is the first time it has sold out. Sure it took a few weeks to build a following. So did the Wednesday Tattslotto syndicate when we started that. All it takes is some local marketing effort. This is where we as retailers have a resonsibility to build the Intralot story in-store. We will watch when this syndicate sells out and start another. This will build with small steps.
Respected ergonomist David Nery published a report into OH&S issues surrounding the handling of newspapers. The study was undertaken at in South Australia the request of the ANF. Click here for a copy of the report. While based on the Sputh Australian experience, this report provides an insight which all distribution newsagents will find valuable.
I have had the report since mid 2006. The ANF asked me to to publish the report as they were involved in negotiations with publishers about the report’s findings. I think enough time has passed for me to publish the report here.
Newsagents still talk of territories and complain when a newsagent or other small retail business offering similar product moves too close to their business.
We ought to embrace competition for it is out of robust competition that fight harder and smarter for our own businesses.
Another business will not stop competing just because a newsagent asks – they are likely to fight harder to prove the competition point.
There is no better illustration of the benefits of competition than
The image on the left is of a flyer a group of the traders have produced. They are happy to be listed next to each other even though they compete. Visit the businesses at lunchtime and you soon see that while they all offer food, each has a different take. Such are the benefits of competition.
The mindset of these traders is the mindset we newsagents need when it comes to small business competitors. I am not talking here about the majors like Government Owned Australia Post outlets getting into our categories – that is a whole different issue.
If an independent stationery outlet opens near us, we need to respond in our own in-store offer. Likewise a card outlet. I have done this to myself at Forest Hill with our Sophie Randall card shop in the same centre as a newsagency I own. Both have had a very good year. Despite the competition, the newsagency has experienced excellent growth in card sales.
If you find yourself near Brighton in Melbourne around lunchtime, check out Martin Street and see the value of robust competition. The food and the coffee is worth the visit – in several of the stores.
The small range of Darrell Lea confectionery and the colourful pads from For Arts Sake are proving to be the best counter offer at our Forest Hill store. While we have short-term feature product on the counter proper, these two rows of products are consistent performers. They have good price points and are easily understood – critical in a counter offer where a customer will take a few seconds to add to what they are already buying. The success of the Darrell Lea and For Arts Sake products keep them at the counter longer than anything else.
The Age today has a house ad for home delivery stuck on top of a photo of AFL footballer Buddy Franklin. Inside is a story about Buddy’s big game today where he is expected to crack 100 goals in a season. I would subscribe to a newspaper for content and not a free gift.
This is a photo of a window display at a Whitcoulls shop I saw in
Inside this store they had many A4 posters promoting a card offer – a free greeting card when you spend more than $40.00. Given that books around for almost half the floors pace in-store I suspect this is more about driving that category than cards. Whitcoulls certainly appear keen to use greeting cards as the discount mechanism to drive business based on the stores I saw yesterday.
I was in
The Whitcoulls (magazines, books, stationery, cards, calendars etc) right next to Kenny’s was responding to the new competitor with a 50% off call cards pitch. While I am sure they have their reasons, the signage looked a bit desperate.
The Market for Retail Tenancy Leases in Australia, released by the Federal Government’s Productivity Commission earlier this week is the result of the Inquiry earlier this year. Newsagents were represented at this by NANA, the ANF (under old leadership), Several individual newsagents and myself as a representative of newsXpress.
Given the terms of reference of the inquiry, the recommendations are useful. I hope that they lead to action by Federal and State Governments.
The absolute key for newsagents in any lease negotiation is to have a business the landlord is very keen to keep or to bring to their centre.
Newsagents are sure to find the video of a discussion on ABC’s Lateline last night between Eric Beecher, publisher of Crikey and former editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, and Richard Ackland, Sydney Morning Herald Columnist, on the future of journalism most interesting.
Eric Beecher, publisher of Crikey, and former editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, makes sense in his call for government investment in quality journalism.
While many newsagents may not care about the quality of newspapers, I see this as being an important issue for our channel. For more than 100 years we have been the specialists. Our specialisation has been developed around newspapers. Newspapers have been key to driving traffic to our doors. If newspapers soften and become even more about lifestyle than news, publishers are less likely to rely on specialist retailers to support the category.
One way we can reinforce our commitment to newspapers, beyond the marketing tips I published here a week back, is to embrace a broader specialist newspaper offer. By extending our range of foreign language newspapers we can tap into a growth segment of the newspaper category. In my recent sales benchmark study, foreign newspaper delivered double digit growth in many newsagencies – counter to the trend for capital city dailies. At our Forest Hill store they account for between 8% and 10% of total newspaper sales.
Another specialisation opportunity is around demographic specific newspapers. For example at our Forest Hill store we are proud supporters of the Melbourne Observer newspaper. This weekly generates sales of between 50 and 100 copies. Customers are as loyal as foreign language newspaper customers.
In these two examples, while we are not generating the volume of the capital city daily, we are serving a loyal constituency and thereby diluting the impact of any fall in sales of the dailies.
There are many conflicting views among commentators about the future of newspapers. A common view is that being local is key to the future. I see foreign language newspapers and titles like the Melbourne Observer fitting the local model. It is not difficult or expensive for newsagents to chase opportunities like these.
We are enjoying good success with these sound cards from Skansen. The stock turn we have achieved is double the usual stock turn for cards in our store and more than double for cards in newsagencies nationally. Other stores offering the same product nearby has not been a barrier.
These cards help add to the theatre of retail – it is good to hear the song play when a customer browses a card.
One customer on Wednesday highlighted another benefit of these cards. She was buying a birthday card for her brother who is blind. She was thrilled to find a sound card.
I should be grumpy at Australia Post continuing to ignore the provisions of the Act under which it operates – the latest catalogue shows the Government owned organisation selling items way outside its charter. What chess sets and BBQ sets have to do with a postal service is beyond me. As I said, I should be grumpy, but I am not. In this catalogue they have a page devoted to ink. All but two of the items they sell are more expensive than our price. This means I can point to the Government owned post office opposite my newsagency at Forest Hill as being expensive and out of touch on price. Even with our lower prices our margins are healthy. Either the Australia Post buyer has not done well or the organisation is too greedy. Either way, they have positioned themselves as expensive when it comes to ink and toner.