Please help Victorian newsagents lobby the State Government as they consider whether to grant the Greek company Intralot rights to sell scratch tickets. Intralot has been reported as saying they plan to sell scratch tickets through supermarkets. The petition is setup at the respected Go Petition here.
We have been running a petition in our shop for several days and it was with encouragement from our customers that we created this online petition.
Our customers are telling us they prefer the personal service on a newsagency. One told me that they come to us with a mind to purchase lottery products whereas he does not want to face that temptation when buying groceries.
My view is that supermarkets are already bloated with range and profits. Their employees operate like automatons. Lottery products require attention not only for accuracy but also for compliance.
Mark,
Some of your arguments against the Intralot prposal are valid but the following comment is i my opinion hypercritical.
“….the current checks and balances in newsagencies would be lost at the supermarket checkout.â€
If I look at your previous blogs on lotteries, all I see is advice on how to maximise the return on lottery product, including a scratchie upsell suggestion and the promise of a free scratchie if your staff forget to offer the upsell.
What are the checks and balances you refer to in newsagencies? This argument is all about protecting your own patch…nothing more. The opportunity for people who can ill afford to spend money on soft gambling at supermarkets is no greater than at newsagencies. In fact I would argue that there is already a far greater effort in newagencies to get people to part with their money on scratchies, than there will ever be in supermarkets.
Argue all you like about why traditional lotto agents should retain this competitive advantage but please don’t insult the intelligence of everyone that it is about anything else.
Ted, All our staff are required to ensure we do not sell to minors. We are not promoting upsells every week. But, yes, we offer the upsell – we are not a grocery supplier and people are therefore less likely to replace groceries with our product.
In a newsagency the proprietor, the accredited representative, the person with something lose, is more likely to be behind the counter. Supermarkets cannot offer this check.
Mark
That is a very flimsy response Mark. This is not about selling to minors, it’s abput the possibility of people being given the opportunity to purchase lottry tickets when they can not afford to do so.
Supermarkets will position the product where it is likely to be the most attractive to impulse sales….just as you set up your products.
You are in the business of maximising your profits and have selling strategies to do so. That’s fine, but please don’t hold newsagents up as some sort of community watchdog. Tey are no different to all other businesses out to make a quid. If you can sell a scratchie legally to a customer you will do so….in as great a number as possible.
Ted, You have not served at my shop so you don’t know how we approach situations where people clearly cannot afford to purchase lottery products. Until you have this knowledge you ought not tell me how we operate.
I am not in the business of maximising my profits.
Mark
But why should majors like Woolworths and Coles be able to get their hands on whatever they want.
Gone are the days of the specialists. Banking, petrol, liquor shops, pubs / clubs, pharmacies. Some of these are already under the control of Coles / Woolworths, in the next few years those that aren’t currently will be under their control.
Why should we let it extend to scratchies / lotto.
I thought I could understand where Ted was coming from by posing some interesting questions, however the last couple of posts are quite obviously intended to impress someone other than Newsagents.
Its really simple, Newsagents are the beacon for everyone now for scratchies etc, it is controlled well, people go to Newsagencies for specific items generally, people go to Supermarkets the majority of the time for food, allowing gambling products in supermarkets will eat into the food budget, someone needs to voice the social responsibilities we have for the battler and the addictive battler.
Of course I would like to protect my turf as well because if we dont one day there wont be any small business’s left, the economy in my state is not great for small business and you need to fight hard just to stay afloat, when companies make billion dollar profits I am not envious, I get frustrated because small business are evaporating, people dont get paid correctly, peoples entitlements are lost it goes on, the flow on effect is disastrous however people such as Ted do not seem to understand the broader consequences.
Perhaps you should read my post properly before you decide that I don’t understand the broader consequences. My point has nothing to do with your desire to fight for small business. As stated in my first post, I think Mark’s points are valid.
What I do have a problem with is this pretence that the fight is about protecting the community.
Argue all you like as to why the major supermarkets should be allowed to get their hands on whatever product and services they want, just don’t don’t try and wrap it in the arguement that you are doing it for anything other than the future of your own business.
To Ted,
Being the owner of a small business and living in the same community does give you a social responsiblity. It is a necessity if you wish to function as a successful business. Coles\Woolworths have no such incentive they simply function on price point and volume. Yes we are interested in profit, but if we wish to continue in business we must uphold certain communtiy standards.
Hi,
Let the supermarkets sell what they want but this NOT free enterprises. We as newsagents/retailer are not allowed to set our own prices but are expected to provide much better service than supermarkets i.e it ends up costing me more to prvide the better service – in my opion thjis is unfair. For %6 commission why can’t provide lousy service like suipermarkets do – same goes with magazine – why can’t I sell a New Idea for $5.00 if customers want to pay this much for better service ???? Why can’t I charge $2.20 for a $2.00 scratchy if customers can walk right in and get served straight away ???? EVERYTHING I sell is MORE expensive that supermarkets yet customer sstill shop here – WHY ??????? If I can sell the same items for the same price as supermarkets then sraff loses will surely take place. Also – why can’t I sell vegemite ???
In fact it doesn’t really matter- the internet will undermine the supermarkets within the next 5 years anyway.
Cheers,
Phil
Nelson, We don’t sell the chocolates to minors. Mark
Supermarkets are treated alot better my suppliers; than what newsagencies are!!
Take Woolworths …. they are able to promote $30 Vodafone cards for $27. 10% off … what return are they gaining from their sale; surely they are not sacrificing their entire commission.
Sadly, newsagents can not compete with this practice because we are not lucky enough to get such a generous commission.
And people talk about fairness.
I have an invoice for a Coles supermarket showing that their commission on Vodafone phone recharge is 16% when ours is 5%.
Ted; Its about a number of things including social responsibilities.
Because you are worried so much about small business please ask Mr Howard why there will never ever be a GST.
So Coles are worthy of a 16% commission as opposed to my 5%.
The Coles near my agency does not sell much recharge from what I can gather … yet they still have the discount factor they can use to unfairly rip sales from me.
Why can’t we have a level playing field. I am all for competition …. but not when someone is more generously than another for exactly the same service.