Are Media has announced its acquisition of the Hard To Find business. Hard to Find currently attracts 148,000 visitors (shoppers) a month. They dominate online for gifts:
The acquisition places Are media as a direct competitor of any retailer in the gift space, including newsagents.
While I get that Are Media needs to do what is best for its shareholders, they need to understand that this decision does make them our direct competitor. Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant. While the company has other e-commerce platforms, Hard To Find is on the mainstream online, it comes up in top search results.
Yes, I understand that it is a marketplace, driving traffic for other businesses that actually do the fulfilment. But, that is not how an online shopper sees they business. When they click add to basket, they are buying from Hard To Find.
Click here for the story from Mediaweek about the acquisition:
Are Media has announced the acquisition of Hard to Find.
The acquisition of the Australian e-commerce business significantly expands the media company’s existing content commerce capabilities, strengthens its revenue diversification strategy, and leverages Hard to Find’s market-leading technology to engage audiences even further with Are Media brands and content.
Hard to Find is an award-winning premium product marketplace, celebrating fun and innovative designs from the best small creative Australian businesses.
Founded in 2008 by former media executive Erica Stewart, the site brings an expertly-curated community of product designers and artisans together with discerning consumers looking for something different, creating a more personal maker-to-customer shopping experience.
Are Media CEO Jane Huxley said: “This acquisition adds new e-commerce capabilities to our broader business and allows us to amplify the success of Hard to Find, introducing audiences who are already inspired by our content and enticing them to take the relationship with trusted, authentic brands that one step further.
“I’m excited to welcome Hard to Find into the Are Media stable and particularly pleased that Eri will be joining our business to continue to lead the evolution of Hard to Find. She brings a wealth of experience and proven success in e-commerce that will help drive our future ambitions in content commerce.”
Hard to Find joins Are Media’s established and category-leading digital brand communities, including beautyheaven, trusted by 96% of its audience, and Bounty Parents, supporting parents and parents-to-be for more than 35 years.
What frustrates me about this is that Are Media splashes cash on this acquisition while refusing to make meaningful progress on poor commercial arrangements with newsagents for its magazines:
- The paltry 25% commission paid for the sale of their titles.
- That newsagents have to fund theft of magazines in-store while supermarkets do not.
- That newsagents have to pay to receive electronic invoices for products while in almost all other retail sectors electronic invoices are free.
- That labour management processes for magazines are rooted in the 1980s, and cost newsagents hours, disadvantaging them.
- That newsagents lose hours chasing delivery shortages through a system that presumes guilt until call or email 3 or 4.
And, now, we can add that Are Media owns a business that directly competes with us for gift related sales.
Final word: if you think I’m saying they should not have acquired the business … I am not saying that. rather, I want Are Media management to be more respectful of newsagents and this acquisition story is an opportunity to make this point.