I have been thinking through the possible impacts of the magazine distribution changes announced earlier this week. Both Network Services and Gordon and Gotch are switching from Monday / Wednesday / Friday deliveries to Monday / Thursday deliveries.
While handling the switch operationally in-store will be easy for most with newsagency software, it will require some roster changes. However, enough time has been provided to handle this. The change will also require careful consideration by newsagents with sub-agents as it changes the dynamic of the work week. However, again, addressable given the time.
I am concerned about the potential impact on shopper behaviour and newsagency traffic flow.
Wednesdays have been important for us for the weeklies on sale that day – Take 5 and That’s Life – and for other titles. While sales of Take 5 and That’s Life have been in significant decline for a couple of years, we should not dismiss their importance to our businesses. Both titles are still often in the top 10 in most newsagencies. In many newsagencies, weekly magazine sales decay reports show that between 55% and 75% of all copies of Take 5 and That’s Life are sold on the Wednesday. It would be wrong to think that these regular shoppers will shop with us on a Thursday.
What if for the Take 5 and That’s Life purchase on a Wednesday we are the destination? Then, what if for a Thursday shop they have other items and we are not the destination?
Newsagents can look at their data and see how many sales on a Wednesday include Take 5 and That’s Life and assess the potential impact of losing these sales on that day. Good reporting will sold sales of the titles alone and with other items and what those other items are. They can also consider the knock-on effect if they don’t retain all those customers on the Thursday.
The risk I see is that the shift to Thursday makes buying Take 5 and That’s Life more convenient at the supermarket when shopping for the weekend. I am told that Thursday is a big shopping day /night in many areas for supermarkets as it’s often a pay day and, in some states, has late night trading. If supermarkets see a traffic boost Thursday it could be that the magazine delivery shift presents them a better opportunity.
Think about it from a shoppers perspective – if they buy Take 5 and That’s Life or other Wednesday titles available at supermarkets and need to do a supermarket shop, why go to two shops when they can go to one?
I don’t think shoppers are as loyal as we wish or think – certainly in the city at least.
Every time someone buys a magazine from a supermarket it dilutes the position of newsagencies as the go to place for magazines in their minds. That’s how we have to see this at least.
I don’t think I am jumping at shadows in pondering this. While I don’t know what will happen I am concerned for newsagents who are not already planning for the change, planning on driving traffic on Wednesday, planning on bringing Wednesday magazine shoppers with them to Thursday, ensuring current Wednesday magazine generated traffic is somehow encouraged to visit Thursday.
It would be complacent for newsagents to view this as simply a shift in delivery days. This move has the potential to impact our traffic and sales. We need to view it as a structural change that impacts us more than our biggest retail channel competitor.
I’d be interested to know whether the magazine distributors consulted any newsagent representatives on this and whether any concerns, such as those outlined above, were put.
Mark, your two posts today are confirmation that newspaper and magazine publishers have cut the emotional and cultural ties to newsagents. Whilst they continue to mouth platitudes of commitment, whatever partnership or connection that existed between the parties is gone.
It seems to me to be grab what you can in the rush to the exits and its every person for themselves.
It`s not just T5 and TL
IT is also the monthly mags that come out on Wed such as AWW BHG.
I can see these as a bigger concern in losing sales to the supermarkets.
I feel that Thursday on sale date will be a hugh disadvantage for us small newsagencies that are in shopping strips as Mark said Thursday is the main shopping day for groceries.
Monday Wednesday and no Friday would been better for me.
James, the question we have to ask ourselves is What am I doing about this? I don’t mean to strike back or hit out. I mean in terms of business planning and making my own future.
ACT – With BHG I don’t expect as much of an impact as most sales are the first Thursday through Sunday. The Wednesday on-sale itself is not the high day of the on-sale.
Yes James… what are YOU going to do about it?
I like to know the thinking behind why Thursday was pick over Wednesday
I suspect it was initially driven by a desire to cut trucking costs.
We now get our delivery on Thursday and that is good for us. it is our towns shopping day and has been for years so picking up the weeklies is part of the routine but now we will get them Fiday if our trucks pickup Thursday(?) so it will be Friday delivery or even Saturday. The change will definately impact badly on our business.
@ Mark #6 : maybe if they cut down on the amount of oversupply, their trucking costs wouldn’t be so unnecessarily high in the first place!!!
Meant to say earlier that I am happy to see Friday delivery go because we got them Saturday at about 10am in the middle of a busy Saturday morning. I agree with Suburu that looking at the over supply would reduce costs to everyone across the board from publication to returns costs.
Thursday has always been our quietest day of the week and being in a small township a lot of people leave town to shop in Woolies some 20ks away, will be interesting to see if it does impact on our mag sales.
How did the distributors come up with Thursday, was it put to the associations or conceltation with agents or one of those things they thought would suit them.
Why would anyone want their busiest magazine arrival day to coincide with their longest and busiest customer day?
We should be focused on the customer not processing magazines. This also pushes out returns, normally completed by Wednesday for both companies.
I’ll be certainly rationalising my range of slower titles received on a Thursday.
Where is the ANF on this?
Mark, I don’t get how trucking costs are cheaper on Thurs than Wed??
Three deliveries a week to two.
I would of thought that with a decision like this you would open a discussion with your most valuable customers Newsagent, we still have to be most valuable to the distributors surely . And if the case is for only a reduction in delivery days to save money and no more then please let us have some input into the days.
Monday is set in stone but why can we not keep Wednesday this now makes the first 4 days of the week well weak. And now on the Three days that could carry we have Magazines to take our eye from customers plus dilute our Wednesday.
I feel very let down with this decision without consultation with our channel.
So this is now set I stone?
Mark, I think many Newsagents would’ve preferred Mon,Wed instead. Thur is busy enough as is.
Brett, I agree with you. This decision has
absolutely nothing to do with newsagents.
It is the distributors wanting to put their
product in front of the most people (a business decision) and that means that
the supermarkets busy days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday and Sunday) will not
be lost with a Friday delivery (losing the impact of sales on Thursday people).
I would go so far as to say that N/A was
not even in the equation when the decision was made.
Returns will now be an issue as well with most returns being finished after stock on a Wednesday to ensure that we were running on full for a busier day on Thursday with lotto and customers.
It was, as usual, a decision made without
consultation with the ANF.
Brett, I don’t think newsagents are their most valuable customers, I believe the big 2 supermarket/petrol chains hold that position.
I’m with a Monday & Wednesday delivery.
Can you just imagine all those Wednesday magazines plus Fridays magazines together on an already busy Thursday then throw in a big powerball jackpot to top it off – hell!
I don’t think supermarkets have anything to do with the decision. I think this decision was made by the distribution companies without consultation as they knew as can be seen from this blog that there will be wide and varied opinions so the easiest thing to do was to go with what they want and let us deal with their decision afterwards.
I will have to make some serious staff changes which includes delivery staff (which any of you with a distribution knows is not easy!) but i will get on with it because that is what I have to do. I will also over the next month start training my customers of the new delivery dates, I will also start a magazine loyalty card for the next few months and create a few more promotions so that while this transition takes place I will be training my customers to come in on new days and this is something they will get used to without even noticing it.
Maybe in 6 months we will all see that the change is better for us, who knows…
We have no choice but to get on with it as the decision has been Once again dictated to us.
But just as I had to made a call on newspapers and there position in my business and I am not talking removal of Magazines as I still view them as a very vital mix to my business model but there ROI will be under close review and I would not be surprised if there space allocation will shrink.
Time will tell.
We need to question the worth of every title received on a Thursday.
Hopefully the slower sellers will be moved to a Monday and Mondays will be a heavier day.
There is no doubt the decision was driven by the desire to cut costs. That said, I remain concerned that it will benefit supermarkets.
I think we will lose sales here.
Our local newspaper comes out every Wed and most people came to town to get the local and their mags etc.
You’d think, no probs so now they come in twice, or just Thurs, but the majority go to the next town on Thurs to do their grocery shopping, so this might his us hard.
Mark, how do I set up a magazine loyalty card / system with Tower, I think I’ll need it!
Vicki I’d use the Discount Vouchers. They are easier to run and a genuine point of difference over the old school approach to loyalty.
The word “traditional” went out the window with this decision. We have to structure our businesses accordingly. Short term aggression may alleviate the migration to supermarket buying. What i would like to know is what magazines are going to be released on what days? The publishers know this already (The move of OK to Monday weeks ago was NOT coincidental).
This will make my decision making a lot easier over the next 4 weeks so i can have a crack at retaining, or god forbid, growing my magazine sales.
If there is no debate or input wanted or needed from Newsagents then I am sorry there is another agenda running and that is called supermarket. People don’t kid yourself the newspapers have lead us down this road but we keep on driving.
This post and the comments demonstrate the value of this blog. A thoughtful post highlighting issues we do need to consider and good comments by many.
Keep the comments coming. I know publishers are reading this.
Mark, just because the publishers are reading this do you think they have any more say than us on how the distributors treat their magazines?
Monday and wed delivery is a much better option. Fridays mags generally not high impact mags and low volume as well, so just move Fridays mags to Monday delivery, and leave wed as it is. this will leave room to move when AWW and BHG comes out monthly. This will cause least disruption to all parties concerned, distributors, transport companies, retailers and the customer. If its all about cost cutting then this would be easily the best option.
I also believe that it will have effect on Wednesday Lotto as Wednesday customer numbers will be down with no new mags on sale.
There could be a major shift in people`s magazines buying habits and I can`t see it helping small newsagency in shopping strips
I can even see some supermarkets not have time to process the magazines on Thursday as it being one their busier days
Monday and Wednesday would be better
question being has woollies days changed also , I know where I am that mags are not deliverd at the same time as mine . If it is going to be the same delivery days as ours it should be a bonus for us because they do not get them out until well after mid morning so I shall get the jump on them on Thursdays sales .
With how they are now coming out wed the Thursdays shoppers (being traditionally the shopping day) get a lot of the mags from woollies but the way I see it they may just be forced to come to me if they want the up to date magazines
shauns I hope you are right
We have an absolute commitment to having all magazines on our shelves by 7.30 am and having our subagents ready for pick-up by 7.00 am. Cutting back to 2 deliveries per week will save us about 3 hours in wages. This is more than the sales value in GP terms that we might lose from the change. We are probably going to have a bit of pushback from customers just because it’s a change, that’ll always happen. What we are most concerned about is that this is yet another change on top of several other major changes affecting newspapers and magazines so far this year. There could be a disruption to the way customers see us as a newsagent and our point of difference to the other places they can buy the same goods and services from. It is another reason why our business model is due for a overhaul if we are to remain relevant as a small business and a store of destination.
Jenny smaller publishers say they have no sway. However, they are the customers of the distributors. They have chequebook sway – if only they would use it. They are we are paralysed by a duopoly.
Maybe the small publishers need to say “Enough is enough” and set up their own distributor in competition to the duopoly.
Although I bet the issue is that A.They may have contracts with the big 2 that they cant get out of and B.Any new 3rd distributor will not have the economies of scale, distribution network and lower costs of the big 2.
Agree Mark, paralysed by a duopoly, us and them.
I can now better understand why they push subscriptions over us, they have to deal with GG and Bauer and I’m sure that’s not easy, then they can only hope that newsagents do the right thing by them for their product, which a lot of us don’t.
They have two constant battles to fight.
Independent publishers surely have the option of talking to the smaller third distributor (ie. IPS). And in the metro areas, they currently deliver everyday.
So much for NDC holding back deliveries of Womans Day to country areas on Friday whilst they manually barcoded them – every bulk of WD arrived without barcodes this morning. Given that those highly expensive trucks were running on Friday it makes you wonder why the logistic wizards at NDC didn’t utilise them and at least get some stock out. I guess the fact that newsagents don’t need the barcode wouldn’t register with the geniuses of Silverwater!
It seems that for many, your biggest day is Thursday, so the issue is about Thursday delivery impacting on an already busy day. My biggest day for trade in general, but particularly magazines, is currently Wednesday. It’s a concern.
This is going to have a hugely detrimental effect on our business. Wednesday is our best day for magazine sales and Thursday one of the worst. We will lose our Wednesday sales to the majors on Thursdays. Our customers shop locally for bits and pieces during the week but travel to the larger shopping centres and malls to do their Thursday shop. I have no problem with only having two deliveries per week. That makes my life much easier but I agree that the days should be Monday and Wednesday, not Thursday.
Move to Thursday is a killer. For us Wednesday is a slow day customer wise, boosted only by the routine consumers have with Take 5, Thats Life, Partworks, BHG and AWW. And its not just the weekly Take 5 and Thats Life, its all the puzzle /crosswords and fiction mags that go with them.
Move those customers to Thursday, and that routine is shattered.
Don`t forget to do Mark`s survey
and keep having your say.
If Wednesday is moved to Thursday I think most of us will lose sales to the supermarkets.
This is an email we sent off to Gordon and Gotch and Network last Thursday 06/06/13
Good Morning,
I have received your email dated 5/06/2013 regarding the decision to cease magazine deliveries on Wednesdays and Fridays and changing the days to Monday and Thursday.
I think this is great that it has been decided to deliver magazines over two days instead of three.
With regards to “Peak trading Thursday delivery with fresh product coincides with the start of the busiest trading period of the week. “ there are a few points we would like to make
– By the time we process the magazines, stickering and putting out on the shelf, it is generally around 10 /11 am. By this time the busiest part of the day has started to slow down. We believe it would be more beneficial to get the magazines on Wednesdays so the stock is out and ready to go for Thursdays trading. Also you don’t want staff trying to move around the magazine rack putting out magazines when customers are trying to decide on their purchase.
– Wednesdays in rural areas is a peak trading day also, with majority of our customers coming in to purchase the local papers and picking up magazines along the way.
– With the changes to Powerball making it harder to win, It will be more likely for it to Jackpot. We don’t want to be having to put magazines out along with trying to serve on lotto especially with high jackpots. Wednesday is a much slower day with regards to lotteries
– Thursdays is late night trade, so we do not have all our staff in at 830 when we open as we need to manage them during the day to have staff on throughout the whole day until close of business.
We ask you to please reconsider the delivery of magazines on a Thursday and change it to Wednesdays.
This would suit us and I am sure a lot of other newsagencies.
This is our staff and our personal views that I would like to share with you
This is the response I received from Gordon and Gotch
Dear
Thank you for your email dated 06/06/2013.
We appreciate your feedback & request to consider Monday & Wednesday as delivery days for magazines. Unfortunately, it has been an industry decision & not merely Gordon & Gotch.
It is always difficult to make a decision which everybody is happy with but we believe the Monday & Thursday delivery days will help sustain the whole magazine market as it allows publishers to spread the on-sale of major titles throughout the week.
Overall feedback from newsagents has been positive as the two delivery days will allow for a reduction in administration in store and Thursday’s being a busier traffic day should drive magazine sales of new product hitting the shelves.
Once again, thank you for your feedback but we cannot change the delivery day to Wednesday instead of Thursday.
Regards
This is the response I received from Network
Thank you for your email yesterday
Please be advised that I have forwarded your email through to the relevant departments. We sincerely appreciate your concern in the matter. Please be advised that the changes to the delivery days were made after many months deliberation with agents, extensive research and analysis of customer feedback – majority of which believe that the change will have a positive impact on their store.
If there are any questions we may assist you with regarding these changes, please feel free to contact our Customer Service centre on 1300 131 169 Monday to Friday or email us at help@netonline.com.au
How come we weren’t consulted in this process in anyway and been able to give input?
was anyone else asked??
I am sure that a high percentage of newsagencies (particularly WA) have lotto outlets. Mon, Wed & Fri delivery’s worked in fabulously with this. As lower prizes on Mon & Wed & no lotto on Friday. Which allowed the time needed to process the massive volumes of different titles us Newsagents receive. Why not just drop the Friday delivery, increase the titles delivered on the other 2 days. Newsagencies are already geared up for deliveries on these days, customers don’t have to drastlically change their shopping habits. (WA don’t have any major on sale on Friday, I think it’s different in the East so it could Friday & Wednesday delivery?)
Its a shame, because newsagencies carry the workload of all the titles that supermarkets wouldn’t touch with a barge pole, but we continue to dedicate so much of our space to a number of magazines that don’t sell. (Thanks to Tower systems our magazine management is much improved and we will be reducing our number of pockets dramatically, and increasing our gift product, which is far more profitable than magazines!!) I will stop now!!!
Barry what you wrote sums up how many of think about this change. We (NSW) were not consulted here. I would love to know which agents were, and would love to see the feedback they received from their extensive research.
I think they chose Thursday over Wednesday just to spread magazine on sale dates more evenly over the week.
I am surprised there has been NO communication from the ANF. DO they still exist?
I would appreciate communication stating the process of how the decision was made to drop Wednesday in favour of Friday, who was consulted, not just saying Newsagents…(I wasn’t consulted)….and why they chose Thursday over Wednesday?
It seems clear to me this was clearly orchestrated by the need to (a) cut costs and more importantly (b) to please Woolworths and Coles.