Beyond Lottoland and the battle consuming time and money, here are some key issues I think newsagents ought focus on and need support to work through:
- Loss of revenue as a result of migration of over the counter purchases online.
- The magazine distribution model: oversupply, undersupply, supply consistency.
- Magazine financial model: 25% is not enough.
- Stationery: how to be competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace.
- Relevance: how to ensure this in a rapidly changing marketplace.
This last point is the most important in my view in that it encompasses relevance of the physical store, relevance online, attracting new traffic, being of service in more special interest areas and being competitive if a retail landscape that is more completive than ever before. It is a catch-all point as it also relates back to the previous four points.
The extent of structural change occurring right now will not be realised by many until it is too late. While I appreciate this sounds alarmist, I do not mean it to be. Take online, while plenty of suppliers traditional to the newsagency channel have fully embraced online through multiple routes, most newsagents are yet to determine their online strategy.
Some of the points above would benefit from national association focus while others are best handled at the marketing group level. Again, point 5 is the most important as, in reality, it is all that matters for what comes next.
I have posted this today as a reminder to all newsagents, that while Lottoland is a hot topic, which has been used to pit newsagents against each other, there are bigger challenges that go to a future beyond this lottery competitor.
Our channel has a history, as agents, of expecting others to address challenges for us. In today’s world, we bear more responsibility ourselves, and in our own commercial communities, to determine our own future.