The Age covers up newspaper masthead again
The advertising department at The Age is demonstrating again today that revenue is more important than their newspaper brand by allowing this stuck on ad to obscure the masthead.
What customers tell you…
I noticed an older woman writing details of our range of inspirational booklets, cards and books at our Frankston newsagency last week and approached and asked if they would like some assistance. Her story was the kind of personal story newsagents hear regularly, one which reminded us of the personal nature of our businesses.
Our customer was writing the titles of the small inspirational books we sell so she could keep track and not duplicate the titles she was sending to her sister who had recently been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing intensive treatment in another state. She was sending a booklet a week and wanted to plan her dispatches, to make sure that she did not break the link.
We were able to identify enough titles in the series for the next six months and this clearly relieved her. She was certain that the booklets and their motivational messages were important to her sister’s journey with cancer. We talked for a few minutes and she moved on about her day. Her story and that of her sister stayed with me for it reflects a connection we have with our customers which, I suspect, would be rare in a more corporate business.
My customer didn’t have to tell me her story. That she felt comfortable to do that and we were able to help with more product like she was looking for created a connection which I cherish – if I could put it that way without sounding over the top.
The biggest change in newspapers, magazines, cards and stationery over the last ten to fifteen years is that these categories have moved from our local, family-run, channel to corporate businesses where the dollar is all that matters. In those barns there is little time for stories like I heard last week – it’s not one of management’s KPIs. Thankfully, there are still enough independent small businesses – newsagencies, pharmacies, green grocers, florists and butchers – where there is enough time for personal stories.
It amazes, even shocks me sometimes, what customers talk about. This past week, the personal story my customer’s sister and her efforts to maintain a caring connection by distance touched me and reminded me of the humanity of retail and why engaging with customers without focusing on the dollar is rewarding.
Now the election is over…
Many newsagents will be pleased the election is over, they expect Christmas sales to kick in from this week. Not all have experienced a slow lead up to Christmas – probably 50% of the ones I have spoken with.
Thre are many theories as to why elections seem to slow business or at least stunt what we would have expected as a Christmas rush this time of the year. The one which makes sense to me is that since news is a key focus in our businesses and election news is often negative, it is hard to capture the spending spirit of the season.
Lease protection over magazines
I was in a Priceline store yesterday and noticed a magazine for sale on the counter. I wonder what the permitted use clause in their lease allows. Some newsagents were successful in blocking Gloria Jeans from offering newspapers because the lease did not list newspapers as a product they could sell. As publishers seek more outlets, shopping centre based newsagents will need to take up the lease issue.
Newsagency misses Women’s Weekly sales
We received some Women’s Weekly stock on Friday at Forest Hill (after their production problems caused us to miss our delivery Wednesday) but we will sell out over the weekend.
Unless we get more stock Monday, I’d say our performance this issue will be around 40% of usual for the Christmas issue. This will cost us around $600 in sales of the title and, I’d expect to lose at least that again in associated product sales.
On top of direct lost sales is the cost of lost customers – who knows whether a customer who purchases elsewhere stops coming to the newsagency as a result.
I appreciate the ACP did not want the production problems. However, to have all major competitors around my newsagency fully stocked and me not severely disadvantages my business and disrespect my customers.
Perth Newsagent technogy open day
At the Duxton hotel in Perth, this coming Wednesday between 2pm and 5pm we’re hosting a Newsagent Open Day where you can see home delivery, magazine management and point of sale software. I’ll be there along with several members of the Tower Systems team. The next day we are hosting a User Meeting of newsagents in WA using Tower Systems software – as part of our commitment to being accountable to our customers. Book for either session here.
Leveraging newspapers
I go on a bit about the need for the store to up sell rather than people behind the counter. This photo shops one unit we are experimenting with. Newspaper customers are presented with two magazine offers.
My feeling is that this type of unit is an effective way to get a magazine sale with a newspaper – the key is magazine title selection. We’re playing with three changes to the magazine titles during the week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
I suspect the title mix would be different based on demographics.
Giveaways #2
The size of our initial order of ink for our Frankston store resulted in ten MP4 players to giveaway. So, we’re running a promotion based around music and computer magazines. We figured that this market was more likely to enjoy the MP4 player and that a giveaway related to magazines underscored the core traffic of that business. Like the Duracell Bunny giveaway mentioned in the previous post, our goal is to have regular giveaways around product we sell to add value to the experience.
Using giveaways #1
Anyone buying Duracell batteries at our Forest Hill store goes in the running to win the Duracell Bunny. This was a freebie from our supplier based on our order size.
Now that our six laser printer giveaway is over, it’s good to have something to follow up.
Regular prizes add to the theatre of retail and underscore the value proposition we’re aiming to pitch. We are grateful that suppliers are willing to support with prizes and or bonus stock.
Leveraging top sellers
We are obsessive in chasing incremental sales off the back of our top selling items, especially for magazines. This started years ago when we had our old newspaper stand made and even though it is looking worn today, it still works in selling extra copies of whatever magazines we promote above the Herald Sun and The Age.
TV Week works well in this situation (as the photo shows) and we cycle it through every few weeks – in addition to being in the ACP basket builder stand and in the usual magazine aisle location.
Not all magazines respond to being placed in an impulse location. We only focus on strong brands which are well supported with advertising. We can’t have the impulse opportunity be a barrier.
Andre Rieu DVD to drive Limelight
I expect the latest issue of Limelight to sell out quickly given free limited edition Andre Rieu DVD which comes with each copy and the cover story about Music Personality of the Year, Jonathan Welch, choir master of the Choir of Hard Knocks.
We’re leveraging strong interest especially in Andre Rieu by putting the magazine at our busiest counter. In case you missed it, Rieu’s DVDs are dominating the DVD charts this year. Typically, he resonates with an older demographic.
Women’s Weekly still missing
This is our second day without the current issue of Women’s Weekly on the shelves while major competitors around us are well stocked. A representative of the ACP Connections program, a marketing arm within the publisher, visited our Forest Hill store yesterday and asked pointedly why we did not have the Women’s Weekly display material up for the new issue. It seems she was more concerned about poster placement than whether we had the stock to sell.
Some days I wonder if the one-way regulation imposed by publishers is worth it.
Children’s books top sellers
Bookseller and Publisher magazine reports that sales of children’s books are up significantly this year compared to other book categories. Newsagents could leverage this knowledge to better display Children’s magazines and related reading titles such as Little Ears.
Government small business policy
While car makers battle cheap imports and farmers battle a drought, newsagents are battling their own Government which appears intent on wrecking small family businesses. Despite robust representations, the Government has facilitated the push of the retail network it wons to take more revenue from newsagents. This is a scandal.
This new catalogue from Australia Post offers further evidence. Here we have over 800 government owned and protected retail outlets pushing deeper into categories previously well served by newsagents. Not one page of this sixteen page catalogue offers postage product (except for a subtle reference to postage) yet it relies heavily on the protected Australia Post brand.
I am all for competition, but not driven by a government owned and protected retail network which is operating, in my view, outside the provisions of the Postal Act.
Every dollar taken by an Australia Post government owned store for stationery, greeting cards, colouring books computer media and calendars is a dollar missing from a small business competitor. Where is the economic sense in Government shifting this revenue from private enterprise to its operation?
Choir of Hard Knocks
My software company, Tower Systems, is a proud financial supporter of the Choir of Hard Knocks. If you are in Melbourne on December 1, consider coming to their concert at Vodafone Arena.
I’ll see you there.
It’s not quite poaching
Receiving an application from someone working for a colleague newsagent presents an ethical dilemma on several fronts. Do you tell your colleague newsagent? Do you let the candidate know?
In the past I have had a policy of not hiring someone currently working for a newsagent I know without their knowledge. I can see this could be unfair to a candidate who does not want their current employer to know they are considering moving on.
On one occasion years ago I let a Tower Systems client newsagent know one of their employees had applied to us. He got grumpy so we did not even proceed to interview – even though the candidate seemed ideal for us. He sold the business a few months later and she was out of work.
We have developed a process for handling the situation. We let the candidate know that we know their employer and given them the opportunity to ask us to not contact them. This respects their privacy and offers an opportunity for them to put any issues on the table. We feel this is a better approach than talking, without their knowledge, to their current employer.
Where is Women’s Weekly?
Women’s Weekly is missing from the three newsagencies in Melbourne with which I am directly involved. ACP said that Melbourne metro outlets would get a special delivery of stock. I assumed this would mean we would receive it later today. Unfortunately, no. So, we’re displaying the old issue while Coles, Safeway and our major competitors have the new issue. I feel like a second class citizen.
Is Bill Express too expensive?
A potential supplier to newsagents approached me earlier this week seeking access to the newsagency channel for their voucher based product. They claim to have approached Bill Express but were turned off by what they say is a high access cost.
Newsagents place enormous faith in Bill Express as a gatekeeper for our channel. I’d like to think that there is an audit of all proposals put to them by suppliers wanting access to newsagents – to ensure that newsagent interests are being fairly represented.
I am in a similar position at Tower Systems and resolve this by providing free access through our point of sale software. We take no commission on sales and implement links (such as eziPass) for new products without charge. We are as transparent as newsagents should expect.
VIP night success
We have experienced VIP shopping nights in a couple of our newsagency locations in the last week. The numbers tell me they are a success – even after allowing for the costs of being open and the discounts provided. Given that consumers think newsagencies are expensive, it’s good we participate in any activity which shows we have a value proposition compared to other retailers.
I have noticed high street centres running VIP nights as well as the usual mix of shopping centres. If you haven’t tried a VIP night, have a crack.
Customer newsletter
We are getting some good traction with our monthly customer newsletter. It’s a passive marketing strategy at the front of our shop promoting a magazine of the month, phone recharge, a stationery competiton (we have 6 laser printers to give away) and boxed Christmas cards among other things.
Visually it is nothing special – that’s deliberate in that we felt if we made it too attractive it would not come across as being personal, from us.
Gifts for teachers
Finding the right gift for a teacher is a challenge so I’m glad we found this desk calendar. We first purchased it for our gift shop and now are trying it at one of our newsagencies.
It’s a good gift for students and parents wanting something different to give a teacher. Even though it’s American, I’ve flipped through the pages and reckon it will work a treat here.
eBook 2.0
Newsweek has a cover story about the Amazon Kindle. The claim is that this device will provide access to books, newspapers, magazines and other on line content. Engadget has a good assessment of the offer based on details released so far. The question is whether this is the holy grail and that the much talked about promise of eBooks (in all their incarnations) is about to be realised. Who can forget the iPod moment for music distribution?
Why not a magazine sampler?
What a great way to promote a book – by giving away the first chapter! That’s what the publishers are doing with The Lost Dog by Melbourne based world renowned author Michelle de Kretser. I picked the first chapter free at my local coffee shop yesterday morning.
This is what I wish magazine publishers would do – package an article or two to provide a sampler for the title. Newsagents could give these away to customers purchasing other items. We could stamp the freebie with our details so that customers know where to purchase the magazine or include an offer of our own to drive sales.
I especially like this sampler giveaway idea for when we have traffic generating lottery jackpots and superdraws. Done properly, the sampler would feel genuinely valuable, like a gift. Customers would look favorably on newsagents and the masthead represented in the sampler – a great marketing investment I’d say. The key, as noted, would be to do this right, with some quality.
The magazine categories which I feel would benefit from a sampler strategy would be crosswords, crafts, food, current affairs and home/living.
Allen & Unwin would have only invested in giving away chapter one of The Lost Dog if they trusted the strategy. If it works for a book why not a magazine title. How about it magazine publishers? I am sure it would be easy to find a group of newsagents to test the opportunity.
The precious counter
The folks at Home Beautiful sent us a counter unit with which to promote their latest issue. I decided against that and instead put Better Homes and Gardens on display.
The counter is about impulse opportunities. Low hanging fruit is easier to pick and that’s what Better Homes is low hanging fruit.
Home Beautiful, while a fine publication, is not a top seller and would not have achieved the incremental sales of Better Homes.
Oversized Madison
What is it with publishers and these oversized magazines. Last week it was Dolly, now it’s Madison which is too big for traditional magazine fixturing. Covers sell magazines and we can’t display Madison as well as we would like this month because of the free gift.
Before you label me a whinger, there is reasoning behind my complaints – I like the magazine displays to look neat – it assists browsing and segmentation. This stack of Madison means we can’t do that.