Representatives of The Examiner, a Fairfax owned daily newspaper serving Northern Tasmania, started meeting with newsagents four weeks ago to advise them that they, Fairfax, would be taking control of home delivery customer management.
Newsagents were shocked, it was the first they had heard of this move. Up until now, newsagents have managed all aspects of home delivery of The Examiner – customer billing, payment, stops, starts, run management.
I’ve been told that ANF was advised by Fairfax of the move in November last year. It has also been put to newsagents that the ANF ‘ticket off’ (approved?) the move back then. Newsagents I have spoken with want to know why the ANF kept this news from them for four months.
UPDATE (1:15PM) The ANF has advised that they first heard of this in January and even then in extremely vague terms. They did not and have not ‘ticked off’ the Fairfax plans. I note that my original information came from someone told by fairfax. the ANF has written to Fairfax to correct this misinformation.
The Fairfax pitch is that they will take charge of the customers, manage all aspects of the account, promote subscriptions and promote an associated digital offer. This appears likely to lead to a lower level of remuneration for newsagents.
Fairfax is offering nothing for the effective take over of the customers, many of whom have been acquired directly, through the hard work of newsagents.
Fairfax representatives have apparently said that they will give customers the option of paying for home delivery at the post office. Really? I’d be shocked if they did this. there is a perfectly good retail network in place today – newsagents.
Fairfax is also planning to require all customers to pay in advance. They are apparently offering customers a voucher to sweeten this move.
As recently as five years ago The Examiner purchased territories off newsagents. Back then, the company considered the home delivery customers acquired by the newsagents had a goodwill value. This latest move could be seen as takeover by stealth. This is one of the concerns of newsagents – what happens to their goodwill?
The ANF is getting legal advice in Tasmania. This feels too little of a response too late. I’d prefer legal advice from those with national experience in this space, experience in dealing with publishers. This legal advice ought to have been sought in immediately Fairfax advised the ANF of their intentions.
UPDATE: (1:15PM) Based on what the ANF has advised their timeliness in getting a legal response has been good.
The Examiner prints between 30,000 and 35,000 copies a day. This low number makes me wonder about the viability of the print edition. Okay, as a regional newspaper the economics are different and a lower print run can be more profitable in this situation than in a capital city. Still, 30,000 to 35,000 copies is low. I wonder if the Fairfax move is to prepare the business for a switch to digital only or, at the very least, to reduce print days. They can’t easily do this unless they own the customers. Currently, the don’t own the customers.
I was in Launceston yesterday and spoke directly with several newsagents affected. Outside of their concerns about losing the customer accounts asset of their business and therefore significant goodwill, they explained the nature of their customers and an expectation that a decent percentage would not want the details held by their local business being handed to a national business.
Some said they’d expect to lose at least 10% of home delivery customers because of the move of account ownership from the local business to Fairfax.
Some said they expect Fairfax would lose more customers by requiring payment in advance.
These issues could have been fully canvassed through a more open consultation. As it has been done, the newsagents involved are stressed at the late notice grab for an important and valuable part of their business.
What is happening with newsagents in Northern Tasmania ought to concern all newsagents. Some of our own are being treated with disrespect and unfairly. They have been let down by their association. Hopefully this blog post leads to more active engagement by all to treat newsagents fairly.
And this is exactly why i refuse to hand over my customer names and address .
I wonder if they are planning to take this course with all Rural Press titles Australia wide
Wondering the same Shayne, our regional papers are all being billed together thru Fairfax Regional since April 1 rather than thru 3 different divisions.
If a customer asks me to deliver a paper and I bill them direct, how would News or Fairfax have any idea what I deliver ? I won’t tell them.
Yeah it sucks Jenny, we now only get 7 days credit from invoice date from the Land rather than 21 days after EOM as it was before. Just another way to grab our money sooner.
We’ve had a funny morning redelivering a Fairfax paper that we believed was stolen from inside customers property in a very quiet street in a country town. When my husband called to drop another paper he asked customer could a dog be taking it and by the time she told him there were no dogs in the street a dog came flying across the road with a rolled paper in it’s mouth. Lady tackled dog (my husband is no fool!) and got her paper back. Then a ute pulled up out the front, dog took off to ute, ute took off, husband took off (desperate for sleep and not wanting to spend any more time talking to nice lady. Then I get another phone call from lady to tell me what happened and how my husband chased the ute to catch the dog owner! All in all 1 hour of our precious Wednesday gone for $2 newspaper but we did find it amusing.
Max apparently they say that the customer belongs to them .if I had to hand them over there would be a lot of mr and mrs smiths living on smiths drive .
Shaun’s
I have several Mr and Mrs Smith in my area.If News or Fairfax asked me for names, how would they know if I did one delivery or 100. Of course I only do one.
If what is stated is true about ANF then ANF has been extremely remiss in what I perceive its duties to be and If so what other proposals is ANF sitting on that will affect Newsagents.
I find it very hard to accept that ANF would have given a tick of approval and without informing and asking its members first. A Customer has a value and even the DT is recognizing that.
Fairfax Media is continuing to make fundamental changes to Home Distribution contracts and no association is getting in it’s way to fight or stop these changes. The current contracts fro both Publishers should have been ripped up when the changes to commission / remuneration were made.
The reason Fairfax Media would be pushing to get newspaper payment into Post Offices is that as a newsagent taking payment for home delivery you are, according to the contracts in NSW, entitled to 7% of that payment as a “payment collection fee”.
Alternatively, a Post Office probably receives a payment of $0.50-$0.75. So it is a sensible business decision to move payments to the Post Office channel from a Fairfax Media shareholders point of view.
For distributors/newsagents, some may want the hassle of dealing with payments taken off them, for others they think the customers paying their account in-store creates traffic and don’t want to lose those numbers. Each to their own.
If you want to continue Home Distribution then implement your own terms. If it is costly to send accounts, then charge customers to do so. Charge a delivery fee that suits your business and it’s continued viability. A Late Payment fee. A Paper Invoice Fee. Create a monthly account keeping fee. Bill Fairfax Media late fees at a rate you feel is adequate (not one that is fair as you do not get paid a deliver fee that is fair!) when they drop newspapers off late.
Make the necessary changes to your Home Distribution business that will make it viable and continue to be viable in the future. A business that provides a return and is saleable.
Forget what the contract says. T2020 fell over because power was shifting away from the Publisher to the Newsagent.
No association or state body has done anything for Home Distribution, it is up to the individual.
Enough is enough.
Note my updates to the post.
if fairfax or any publisher wants to take over the management of home delivery, let them, this will also include the actual delivery as well. in rural areas they would run a mile as they know they cannot to it as cheaply as they get newsagents to do it. call their bluff and give it all back and become retail only. that will be my stance if newscorp want to pull the same stunt.
Rick,
That would be a laugh !!! One of my deliveries is down the road about five ks, over the bridge then over the cattle grid. Just past the cattle grid on the right is an old kerosene can with no top, That is their mailbox. Best of luck finding it. The road is 100km long.
I am so lucky. I deliver by choice and to a couple of house bound elderly people. They love our brief visit – we take it to the door and often into where ever they are sitting or reclining. If only all home deliveries could bring such rewards.
Great idea Rick. Perhaps instead of sacking so many staff Fairfax could give them a van a paper roller and a 3am start time. After all they insist these are Fairfax’ customers.
Amanda, I really really like what you are saying. I do most of it.
Being Rural, I will be financially confronted in the next few weeks with the billing consolidation underway. We are hot and drry here, no customers, even big lotto is failing to bring in customers, jobs are contracting, we even had a mini riot in the main street on last court day because a bunch of 14-17yrs old had a bunfight over social media that ended up in court. I walk around town and the coffee shops are full of youngsters, Boost Juice is always busy (NSW school hols here). But there are little job contractions everywhere. My junior 15 hrs a week is off to Europe in the next month and I will not replace her hours, and I may not be able to offer her anything when she gets back in October.I will close 30mins earlier as soon as the weather changes, those last 30 mins for 3 reliable customers costs me too too much in staff wages.
It’s all in the detail TO SURVIVE.
My only tiny little compensation is to remark to all the whinging teachers, doctors, nurses and ambos I deal with is to think under my breath, sweetie, your taxes will be paying my pension in about 5 yrs time.
And once again why are we getting this news here VANA?
Mark, can you explain the clause in the Fairfax Agreements which states:
” Fairfax retains title to the Publications until they are Home Delivered by the Home Distributor to a Customer. Title to the Publications never transfers to the Home Distributor”.