I am not sure what consultation was done on this announcement by the Victorian Liberals to use retail newsagencies as a payment point for state government services. In my opinion this is move few newsagents would want. We have the evidence from years of trying services – bill payment, gambling account top up, parcel collection and more – the services fill the shop with people who do not purchase other things, people angry if you do not attend to their micro margin service.
I see no upside to this for the local Aussie newsagency. But that’s just my opinion.
Opposition Leader & Liberal Leader @MatthewGuyMP in East Bentleigh pledging a new govt services platform “Connect Victoria” for online interactions with State Govt. They’re pledging also to have face to face services at Newsagents and Australia Post. @SkyNewsAust #springst pic.twitter.com/bhbtoR8jBh
— Simon Love (@SimoLove) November 19, 2022
I tweeted a response about this. Not on the post by SkyNews reporter Simon Love as he blocks comments .. not a fan of free speech I guess. I quoted the tweet instead and which I names Matthew Guy, he won’t see it as I respectfully disagreed with something he tweeted a couple of years ago and he blocked me.
Back in the 1990s when we saw ourselves as service businesses this idea might have been considered.
Times have changed.
The most successful retail newsagency businesses are those focussed on retail, growing sales through product diversity, benefit from good margin and loving shoppers who return because of what you sell and the service you offer on the shop floor.
Handling services like government access payments, parcel pickup and bill payment are all counter-based services. years ago we’d say that it’s at the counter where you make your money. That is not true of retail today. It’s the shop floor where you interact with customers that you make the most money. At least that is what plenty of successful newsagents tell me and it ‘s what I see in my own newsagency shops local high street.s.
I suspect they are pitching the in-store engagement to try and show they are thinking of ways to support local small business retailers. Kudos to them for that. But, this election promise is a fail. People want to transact online for the everyday, even older folks who people say are not online-savvy.
If the Liberals really did want to support local small business retailers they would find a way to nurture and support high street retail, the genuine local retail. Encouraging locals to shop locally on the street rather than in an expensive mall would be a policy win in my view. Too many councils are failing at this. Too many planning decisions approving malls work against the local high street. Yet, if Covid has shows us one thing it’s that shopping outside of a mall is safer.
If Matthew Guy wants to talk about his policy and ways he can better engage with local small business retail, my number is 0418 321 338. Better still, he could host a public forum for local small business retailers where he can listen to what is needed.
Heidi Murphy from radio 3AW tweeted about this, too:
Coalition promising a $300m new version of online govt services – “like NSW” – with licences & mykis etc to run through a new agency called Connect Victoria. Replacing Services Vic.
Newsagents + post offices would become Govt Services branches to deal with face-to-face-matters.— Heidi Murphy (@heidimur) November 19, 2022
Heidi’s comments are open, which is good.
Jesus these politicians are stupid. We have spent the last few years ridding our shops of jun k transactions like these.
Did I see the vana bloke who told newsagents that the choclolate bar they promoted would save them at this announcement by Matthew Guy? If I am right and it was him, seriously! What a joke.
The other current issue in this mix is banking. With the wholesale closing of Bank Branches across Australia presently in particular by ANZ and CBA, it no doubt will be seen in a similar light.
Yet another thing we are not consulted about. I am sick and tired of people who are not newsagents agreeing to sign us up for old-school mediocrity.
This is great news. With employees on various government projects around town being remunerated at the order of $2 per minute, do we know what the government is proposing to pay us, given that we are also supplying premises? Perhaps we’ll even get double rates outside of business hours and on weekends, 10% RDO loading and meal allowances.
The good news is they will not win the election, and this will never happen. Typical vana getting involved with something clueless like this.
Probably it’s best we look at why the Opposition is offering newsagents these services. First let’s acknowledge the ffuture of newsagencies is product sales not services. services are an on;on line growth situation and therefoe a retal decline proposition.
However Governments want to divest themselves of unprofitable sevices Australia Post is one of them. If it wasn;t for parcels and pass ports they would be in more trouble than they are now.
Putting this into perpective they need an alternative and the newsagency network is one of the “added” advatages that ignorant politicians see as an advatage for our industry.
Based on the past experience of Phone cards Green ,slips. Western Union Bill Pay and you name it one can’t blame them for offloading these services to us for it will help them dump Australian Post Office and also cater for the Bank closures in the unprositable ares especially in some smaller Rural Towns.
The good newsagent in those Towns will welcome this as an added service as will his/her customers will. As well they will embrace the new model of Social Expression Gifts Greetings etc.
Services ofcourse for tghose sensible enough to acknowlede will eventually all be on line howeve the transition may well suit some newsagents especially those that service their rural Township.
Graeme the Liberals made this promise because they think it will get votes. I bet they have not thought through the ramifications. The story for newsagents is why the newsagents supposedly in control at vana think this is good policy. It’s not good policy of course, not even in the country like where I am Graeme. It’s not something that I want. None of my newsagent mates in regional Victoria want this.
i am not answering for political reasons. Politics are a separate issue. I deal mainly with Country NSW newagencts and have done for over 45 years. I am pre Country NSW small town and Large City and many different newsagents depending upon the currenbt services, such as Banks etc and soon Aust Post are and wilkl be taking up these services.
Some of these towns already have extremely good Gift and Social Expression outlets others not.
The newsagent will decide what suits them and their customers best.
Labor, for your take, have already expressed this typoe of consolidtion with Government outlets such as A.P.
As for the Victorina election win by Andrews which seems ineveitable, speaks for itself. A Bankrupt state run by a Bankrupt mindset.
As a gaing for newsagents it really is up to the indivual Town and what it has to offer.