A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Author: Mark Fletcher

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: discount vouchers continue to be the best loyalty offering

Four years in and the discount voucher loyalty program continues to be the best loyalty offering in the business.

Managed automatically by the software, the vouchers provide to shoppers encouragement to increase their spend in the visit or to come back soon for another purchase.

Customers continue to respond with delight. This is because more than a third of shoppers we see are first time or infrequent.

I call the vouchers front end loyalty because they put the incentive in front of the customer to get them to act beyond average. Most loyalty systems only reward the customer after they have jumped through the hoops and carried a plastic card around.

The discount vouchers are easy.

  • No paperwork.
  • No card.
  • No confusing points.
  • Easily understood currency.
  • Automatically managed by the software.
  • delivering incremental business.
  • They cost the business nothing.

The vouchers are particularly useful for habit based purchases such as magazines, greeting cards, collectibles and similar where a customer can comfortably purchase more as they know they will want the additional purchase at some point in time.

I had a shopper yesterday who purchased a bag and a bow and received a voucher for $1.00. They used that to purchase two cards and with that they received another $1 voucher. They used that to purchase a  $20.00 item for a future birthday.

The business gave away $2.00 for an additional $33.00 in revenue to a customer who is not local and will not be back in the centre any time soon. The additional GP earned was $18.45. I am happy for this to cost $2.00 as banking $16.45 is better than banking nothing.

If this was the old-school points based offer they’d have to sign up, visit a few times and then maybe get enough to get a discount. That is why points based loyalty programs are regarded as past their use by date and no longer relevant to retail today.

Things are moving faster. Shoppers want more and sooner. Social media has educated people to seek instant gratification. Discount vouchers provide this. 

The engagement with discount vouchers is across demographic groups and this another thing to love about them. While different demos respond differently, they all respond positively and valuably for the business.

So, my marketing tip today – embrace discount vouchers and make more money in your business.

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Management tip

Sunday newsagency management tip: manage cards for success

Don’t leave everything about cards to your card supplier. Take initiatives yourself to drive sales. For example, setup a small display of Easter cards from current stock at your counter. I’ve done this and it is working a treat. Choose the right images and you will win additional Easter card revenue for no additional investment.

The Hallmark range this Easter is terrific by the way. New on-trend designs. Some selling out already.

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Greeting Cards

Lottoland mocks newsagents, again

The original Lottoland from months ago has been shown again this week with an update on prize money. This is the first ad, when they clearly depict and newsagency business and make fun of the newsagent.

In my opinion this is a disgusting attack on small business newsagents by Lottoland. I think it is unethical and demonstrates a lack of social responsibility.

Shame on them and shame on Tatts for doing nothing to counter the attack on their retail network.

Here is the ad from months ago that is the basis for the current airing. The lotto land YouTube version has been taken down – I guess because they don’t want people like me to draw attention ion to it in a negative light.

Like I said, shame on Lottoland for what they are doing here and shame on Tatts for not supporting its retail channel.

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Competition

An important warning to newsagents about contracts

You should take a copy of every contract you sign at the time you sign the contract. If you don’t have access to a copier, take a photo with your phone.

If there is no way at all for you to take a copy, initial and date every page.

These actions will stop the other party to the contract demanding you honour clauses not in the contract you signed. They could do this by writing new clauses and slipping those pages in so that when you ask to see the contact it looks like those clauses are in the contract.

Yes, sadly, this happens.

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Ethics

Is News Corp helping Tatts migrate shoppers online?

Queensland newsagents are disappointed with the latest promotion launched by Tatts and News.

The information put to me is this really is a Tatts driven promotion with News doing what it is told.

My concern is that entry is via online. That’s is where Tatts is focussed.

If I was a retailer I wold refuse this promotion until Tatts actively supported me as a retailer against the continues attached by Lottoland.

Here is the pitch:

News Corp + Crosswords Promotion
From 5 March to 1 April we are partnering with News Corp to give away a $20,000 holiday voucher and 4 weekly $5,000 holiday vouchers.

Customers must purchase any Crosswords ticket and an eligible News Corp Newspaper to receive a promotional Scratch Card. The Scratch Card directs customers to holidaygiveaway.thelott.com to enter their details into the draw.

Eligible Newspapers:

The Courier-Mail
The Sunday Mail
The Cairns Post
The Townsville Bulletin
The Gold Coast Bulletin

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Ethics

Take a walk through my ‘newsagency’

I shop this video at my shop on the weekend. Watching it you can see how the floorspace is zoned to appeal to different demographics, how we use key international brands to attract choppers and how we pitch the business as it’s own thing and not as a newsagency.

Take a look…

I share this here to show how we are using brand name products to attract shoppers from the mall and to pitch, through the products, that we are not the business they may think we are.

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Management tip

The no-brainer move to reap more Puzzler Go sales

We started placing a pocket of That’s Life Puzzler Go with That’s Life years ago. We continue with this today as this second location works a treat. Whereas destination shoppers purchase the title from our crossword section, this pocket wins impulse purchases.

I pulse purchases of magazines are the icing on the cake for magazine sales.

I get it that there are magazine retailers who think they should not do anything extra for tiny margin product like magazines. The thing is, an impulse purchase deepens the basket, it makes the shopping visit more valuable, more efficient.

I am happy to make any tactical move that can drive basket efficiency where the move does not have a significant labour or other cost. This move with That’s Life Puzzler Go works a treat.

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crosswords

Promoting the Star Wars Helmet Collection

We are pitching the Star Wars Helmet Collection part works launch on the lease line, next to a large range of new pop culture products ts including plenty of Star Wars products. The placement is ideal and the traffic generation opportunity excellent. This is perfect for leveraging the advertising of the partworks into a good margin dollars sale.

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partworks

Promoting Frankie magazine in the newsagency

The latest issue of Frankie magazine continues the pitch of a visually appealing title. This is a magazine to ensure you have on full face display, and in in two separate locations so as to drive impulse purchases – beyond the destination purchase. For a second location I suggest with her birthday cards.

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magazines

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: pitch a non chocolate Easter

We are have had terrific success with non chocolate items for Easter for years, often selling out weeks in advance of Easter. Our range includes limited-edition collectible plush items valued at $200 or more. In fact, we have been successful at attracting new shoppers by promoting these. And, yes, the $200+ item sale is easy with the right product.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency management tip: list to your specialisation

Ask every person in your business to write on a shared list, on a whiteboard or a large sheet in the back room, things you sell or do that make your business unique.

The idea of the exercise is to have a shared experience of working out what is unique in your offering. What you consider unique can be relaxed or hard core. Here are some ideas to kick things off:

  1. Laundry markers.
  2. Freezer bag markers.
  3. Garden markers.
  4. A2 coloured card.
  5. Congratulations on getting your driver’s licence cards.
  6. Photocopying.

Create the list and see how long you can make it.

Once you have your list, it becomes material you can use to promote your business.

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Management tip

How Qantas handled me leaving my laptop on a plane is a master class is customer service.

I left my laptop computer in the seat pocket of my Adelaide to Melbourne flight on Sunday this week. I am 100% to blame for this mistake.

I did not realise I had done this until I got home mid afternoon.

This is a big deal as my laptop is my workplace. It has all my files, my calendar, my task management and plenty of apps on which I rely in business and personally.

Immediately on realising what I had done I called Qantas at Melbourne airport. The laptop had not been handed in at baggage services. By the time I called, the aircraft had flown to Sydney and then left for Perth.

The Sydney lost baggage process is different to Melbourne. I was told it could be a day or two before the laptop made its way to lost baggage.

When the aircraft arrived in Perth, a Qantas team member personally boarded and checked the seat back pocket. The laptop was not there.

At each check they made, Qantas staff contacted me and kept me updated.

The collective wisdom from Qantas folk was that it would be in Sydney and I should hear from Qantas since they found i.

Sure enough, that is what happened. A Qantas staffer called Tuesday morning with the news.

On Tuesday I picked my laptop up from Sydney baggage services. The laptop was in perfect condition. It had not been opened – I know for sure because of the security facility I had installed and from the remote monitoring I had in place.

As best I can work out, Qantas staff spent at least four or five hours on this for me, without charge and without mocking me for leaving the valuable laptop in the seat pocket on the aircraft.

What I love about the experience is the regular communication from Qantas staff, their adhering to the timeline they advised in each contact with them and that they did not judge me – even though this was 100% my fault. Their communication on Sunday is what had me trusting them and their processes. It made waiting on Monday bearable.

The Qantas customer service was flawless.

Footnote: My 5pm Sunday I realised I needed a new laptop as being within mine on Monday was not an option as I had a crazy week ahead. I went to Apple at Chadstone, bought a new MacBook and thanks to a SSD backup and my iCloud backup was 100% up and running late that night. The experience was a reminder of the value of cloud based backup.

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Customer Service

Newsagents scared to confront Tatts re small business capital investment demands

While comments on my post yesterday and other posts here about the demands rom Tatts Group re capital investment in a new fit out as well as a new in store digital marketing platform have been minimal, my phone has been running hot.

yesterday alone I received calls from six newsagents about this issue. One was in tears for what the additional cost will mean to their business.

Each caller said they are not responding publicly because of how threatened and vulnerable they feel.

In two cases there is a mental health impact from the pressure they are under that has no business case backing.

My core concerns are, as stated by me many times here:

  1. The tech requirement is, in my opinion, outside the re-fit provisions of the Tatts agreement.
  2. Tatts has provided no financial support or justification for the re-fit capital expenditure.
  3. Tatts has provided no financial justification for the new tech requirements imposed on businesses.
  4. From what I can tell, the main tatts pitch is one of threats to put Tatts into a local competitor business.
  5. Tatts appears to have double standards. One only has to look at what One The Run in Adelaide or the supermarket chains are permitted to do.
  6. Tatts is competing with retailers online in a way that disadvantages small business retailers and disrespects the capex demanded of small business retailers.

What should newsagents do? In my opinion, they should take their case to state based authorities: small business commissioner, small business advocate, VCAT / QCAT / CTTT or anything similar. They should do this without fear of Tatts as those forums exist to hear this type of dispute.

If you can’t afford to do what Tatts demands, tell them, in writing, prove it to them. 

If your mental health is impaired because of the manner in which Tatts and its representatives are dealing with you, write to Tatts about this, explain how it is affecting you personally.

The more informed the company is the better the record of how this massive public company is harming small businesses and those who own them. Your stories will / should ultimately matter.

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Ethics

Has Tatts justified the capital expense they demand you invest in your business?

I have heard from several newsagents this week about intensified pressure they are under to agree to capital expenditure beyond what they can afford and borrow in order to meet the new technology fitout requirements from Tatts.

When two of them asked their Tatts representative for financial justification for additional screens or other demands by the company, the Tatts representative refused to respond.

I understand the fit out obligation. What makes it different this time is the rolling into the fit out obligation the introduction of a new technology platform to market products and that the newsagents funding the platform have no control whatsoever over the content on the platform.

I see the screens requirements as outside the obligations of the agents, beyond the scope of what they signed up for.

At the very least, this should be tested by an independent umpire.

I would love newsagents to respond here about what Tatts has told them to justify the capital expenditure. I ask as I am unaware of any business case from Tatts for the tens of millions of dollars it is forcing small family run businesses to spend promoting the Tatts brand.

Is there any newsagent who has received a business case or a financial justification from Tatts supporting the company’s demands of their business?

The threat from Tatts to take the agency business to another shop in town appears to be the core leverage the company is using. If this is the case, shame on them.

It shocks me that no newsagent has taken Tatts on and forced the company to be held to account for the extraordinary expenditure it is placing on small businesses that can ill-afford capital expenditure that does not deliver a good return.

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Ethics
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