From the front window to the sales counter, there is no missing the promotion of Tattersalls products at 7-eleven stores in Victoria. The pitch is aggressive, multi-faceted and co-branded. It demonstrates the importance 7-Eleven and Tattersalls place on their new relationship.
At the front of 7-Eleven stores are generic as well as game based window posters. In store, there are promotional flyers above the counter and a counter mat pitching the various ticket offers for each game. All co-branded Tattersalls and 7-Eleven.
You cannot shop in a 7-Eleven store and miss the Tattersalls pitch – even where there is a full-service Tattersalls outlet next door.
When Tattersalls told us they were making this move they said it would not impact existing outlets because 7-Eleven stores attract a different market. 7-Eleven is using the arrival of Tattersalls product to lure new customers, newsagency customers. Newsagents next to 7-Eleven outlets would often remain open late on a Saturday to service Tattersalls customers. If the 7-Eleven pitch works they will lose customers and money and probably end up closing earlier.
Tattersalls co-branding with 7-Eleven rubs salt into the wound of existing outlets given that Tattersalls refused to permit co-branding with newsagent marketing groups in the past.
While I am all for competition, it must be fair. The relationship Tattersalls has agreed with 7-Eleven is unfair to newsagents and other existing Tattersalls outlets. From what I saw yesterday, it provides 7-Eleven with an unfair competitive advantage. It does this while Tattersalls continues to hold us back and shackle us with loss generating overheads such as the scratch ticket bays.
We are threatened with losing Tattersalls products if we put non Tattersalls products in these scratch ticket bays. This prime counter space sits idle, losing revenue while Tattersalls bends the rules for 7-Eleven. Tattersalls some months ago represented that they expected to win the right to sell instant scratch tickets again and that this is why the scratch ticket bay real estate ought to be preserved. They did not win yet the prime real-estate sits idle, not earning what it could for us. And in the meantime Tattersalls is energetically developing a new retail network.
Of course, through all of this, the Victorian Government remains silent. They created this problem and have refused to accept any responsibility for the cost of their poor policy decision to hundreds of Victorian family businesses. They will say they have asked Tattersalls to treat their retailers fairly in terms of the scratch ticket bays but have not gone beyond asking.
As an agent who’s always closed at 7pm on Saturdays and has a 7-11 close by i have no intention of closing earlier just because i may or may not lose some business. I have many regular customers who come in between the 6-7pm time slot on Saturday night as that’s the time they’ve always put their Tatts on and have become accustomed to doing so.
I’ve been asked by many people as to why i stay open until that time on Saturday nights and the main reason for that would be is in the shopping strip where my shop is situated, i have a pizza, fish and chip, chinese and another fast food chain restaurant all within 50m of me.
Given that Saturday night is a popular night for take away there’s always plenty of people around getting their dinner and many of them get their Tatts as well. Why would i shut early and give 7-11 a free kick and hand them my business i get from these people on a platter? I wouldn’t and it’d be nothing but a detriment to my business.
7-11 also can’t cater to Tatts card customers or one’s that want to write out their own coupon numbers so by shutting early your also losing potential customers in that respect. Even if i didn’t have these other shops around me but still had the 7-11 i still wouldn’t close early.
I read here everyday that Newsagents should rightly fight against everything that poses a threat to our industry now and in the future. With that being the case then closing early would be virtually conceding defeat to one of our threats and giving them a leg up to grow their lottery sales and i sure as hell aren’t doing that.
This industry is facing enough challenges now and is only going to get worse in the future. The companies we’re affiliated with are only there to look after themselves and their own interests so i’m going to look after my own and have decided to put my shop on the market after next year. I figure it’s better getting out now while i’ll still make a decent profit out of it as opposed to a few years down the track when pretty much anyone and everyone will be selling lottery, magazines and most things we do.
It’s happening more and more now and IMO it’s just going to get worse and the newsagency of today will go the way of milk bars, butchers and fruit shops. There’s those shops still around but nowhere near the amount there once was and they’re only becoming less and less.
Of course this is only my opinion and i could be wrong, i really hope i’m wrong for those that will choose to stay in the industry. But with the likes of 7-11 coming into the fold and Intralot able to be sold pretty much anywhere it’s hard to see it not having a major impact on Newsagents when these other places really get a foothold into our market place in the coming years. Our point of difference from all these other businesses is becoming less and less.
You only have to look at how much we differed from everyone else 10 years ago to how comparable we are now to many other businesses to see where it’s come and where it’s headed.
Again though i really hope i’m wrong. Even though i won’t be in the industry any more the last thing i want to see is for Newsagents to suffer at the hands of these other greedy companies. It’d be hard to see after being involved in something that has by and large been good to me and played such a big part in my life.
Dean, I would not alter my Saturday night trading plans either. I was noting that for some it may.
The real issue with the Tattersalls / 7-Eleven deal is that it takes away a differentiator we had.
Mark
Also raises a question re co-branding, would they be willing to do that for all?
And it’s not only the Victorian Govt staying silent – as with other significant industry issues, where are the LLAV and VANA. Their silence on this astounds me or perhaps they are having deep and meaningfuls with Tatts but have forgotten to keep us abreast of goings on – I don’t think!
Hi, I am concerned about (and admire) the 7-11’s ambitions more than lotteries.
A couple years ago, I attended a national conference where a 7-11 representitive clearly stated the future about the one-stop E-shop, which provide lotteries, medicare rebate, airline tickets and event tickets, and many other technology based services. That is a great convienence offer to customers.
7-11 has its agenda and vision, and will turn these dreams into reality.
We should have our own E-serivce strategy, despite of the Bill Express failure.
Cheers,
Sunny
Take a moment out of your business and forget your troubles. On Sunday I went to se the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Wow…what a film. Do yourself a favour.
I’m with you Ted, great movie –
It puts everything in perspective!
I’ve read the book Q & A
To everyone – All the best for 2009 and may it be a prosperous year for us newsagents –
Ted, good suggestion… great movie.
tead,
You beat me to the punch I was going to write a post about Slumdog Millionaire. I rate it as one of the best films I have seen. It breaks the Hollywood screenwriting rules and shows that a good story told well is what really matters.
Brilliant.
Mark
Guys Peace and Love to all!
Does anyone possibly know where the 1st division 30 million tickets from qld were sold
If what I saw today is anything to go by, I am astounded that Tattersalls has got into bed with 7-11.
In a busy 7-11 in Melbourne this morning I saw a couple of A2 posters in the windows but absolutely nothing in store to suggest one could buy a ticket.
When I asked if any jackpots were happening this week and what were the prices of tickets in Super 7s, all I got was an apologetic smile and “I don’t play the lottery so I don’t know”. No sell let alone upsell here!
In the 15 or so minutes I observed the comings and goings, not one Tatts sale was made nor, as far as I could tell, was there any attempt to make one.
I wonder how many mystery shoppers will be visiting 7-11 outlets. Where are the street signs, the current shop fit, the front position in the store, etc, etc to meet the compliance standards enforced on “normal” ARs.
Sunny, 7-11 may have the agenda and the vision – they certainly don’t have the operators to put it into place.
Tatts have prostituted their product and by association all those who sell it.