Why I don’t pitch shop local support small business retail in my business
I don’t promote the shop local message from my local small business shops. You know the message I mean – the signs saying what small businesses mean, how it keeps people in work locally and similar.
I understand the messages and how they make local small business retailers feel good when they pitch them. However, I suspect the messages are not cutting through – nowhere near as much as small business retailer want.
We are not entitled to demand people shop with us because of our size, our location or who employ. Regardless of the role we play in the local community and for the local economy. We are not entitled.
Yet too often the signs are put out, posters put up and posts published on social media with an air of entitlement.
It would be terrific for people to support local small businesses. The benefits for the local community are obvious and plentiful. But does telling people to support make any difference, like really make a difference? I don’t think it does. In fact, I think with so many of these messages out there people have become blind to them, making the marketing wasted.
People get the intent. They get that small business matters. But they are time poor like us and choose what works best for them in the limited time they have available.
The best thing we can do is show the value of our businesses to our local community. We can do this in many small practical ways, hoping some of them are noticed enough for people to talk about and thereby become word of mouth local marketing that helps our businesses.
We can demonstrate local community support by things we publish on social media, things that support and serve the local community. we can provide practice help to loved local groups.
These actions I think are more important than a poster in the shop or out the front telling people why they should support local small business.
Garnering local support is best achieved by the local support we demonstrate. It is the whole actions speak louder than words message. If we are acting local then our message its more likely to be heard.
I’m not against people putting the support local small business posters up. The objective of this post is to encourage thinking abut whether it really makes a difference.
NANA says Tatts has relaxed retail image requirement for newsagents
NANA, the NSW newsagents association, released this yesterday:
The retail franchise administration group at Tatts Group Lotteries has advised lotteries outlets in NSW and ACT which have a 30 June 2017 deadline to upgrade to the Generation One DigiPOS Retail Image that an across the board extension to 30 November 2017 is now in place. The extension gives Newsagents and other lotteries outlets in NSW and ACT previously due for the upgrade by 30 June 2017 a five-month extension.
If I was a Tatts retailer I’d be frustrated at the moving targets over the course of this project. The moving targets have altered the costs and this could have disadvantaged those who moved earlier.
Also, their decision to put in place a delay now is odd given the heavy handed notices sent out last week.
Maybe Tatts could use the delay to gather evidence of the commercial benefit of their demand retailers install DigiPOS. For the size of the spend retailers deserve more than a hope of a revenue increase. tatts should have evidence from the retailers who have it already. My suspicion is there is no noticeable increase in revenue that justifies the increase cost imposed on small business retailers by Tatts.
Christmas cards at the counter to drive impulse purchase
We have a carefully selected range of single Christmas cards at the counter of the shop. Each card has been thoughtfully selected and placed to get a laugh and grab attention in pursuit of impulse purchase.
This is in addition to our larger single and boxed Christmas card range in two locations in the shop.
The dog and cat cards at the front are there to grab attention. In fact, each row of two cards has been very carefully selected to appeal to the customers we most often see at the counter of this specific business.
We have to obsess about moves like this, to make the most of the bonus Christmas traffic.
At the counter we also have boxed cards, money wallets, gift tags, wrapping paper and tape – all a last minute shopper could need.
Socks help broaden the appeal of the business
We have sold more than $4,000 worth of socks in the last month. On top of the revenue from sales, the socks have been a terrific net new traffic driver for the business. Several times I have seen people bring their friends in to show them the socks for a good laugh. Older women particularly like them.
We got into the socks based on observation in retail overseas where we have seen them work with another category of product with which we are having terrific success.
In addition to being a different gift, the socks are a perfect gift to post.
This is another example of a product category through which we can broaden the appeal of the business and play way beyond what people expect from a business selling newspapers and magazines.
Employers beware: $20 sick certificates!
It is disappointing seeing Chemist Warehouse promote $20 medical certificates. If they are successful and increase the number issued, the cost of business owners, especially small business owners will be considerable.
I spoke to the pharmacist where I took the photo and they said they take a professional approach. Hmm…
I think it sucks that pharmacists can write absence from work certificates.
All we can do as employers is factor in the cost of sick leave when we budget for the labour costs for our business.
The Leunig calendar customer
I got a call yesterday morning at 10:05am asking if we had the 2017 Leunig calendar and how many copies we had. By 10:30 the caller had come in and purchased all five remaining copies.
There was a discussion at the counter as they wanted a discount for purchasing all five. Given the slim margin on the product and nature of supply I resisted. We had a chat about the margin on the calendars.
The experience was a reminder of old school newsagency business in that the customer figured they could only get the calendar from a newsagency and that we were protected. It was an opportunity to set the record straight. Try as I did, I could not make the Leunig calendar purchase more valuable though.
Leveraging the charities we are supporting
Here is how we have had one of the stands at the front of the store set for the last eight trading days before Christmas. We wanted to ensure shoppers understood the variety of charities we are supporting.
While not for everyone, my experience is boxed cards sell well when stacked flat like this.
The display is being tidied and topped-up hourly.
Sunday newsagency management tip: track unit sales
Tracking unit sales is vital in comparing year on year performance in product categories where price fluctuate. In a retail newsagency business, for accurate year on year performance comparison, unit sales tracking is vital in newspapers, magazines and cards. Your newsagency software should be tracking unit sales for you.
The Trump factor and magazines
It seems each time US President-elect Donald Trump criticises a newspaper of magazine title, engagement with the title, including subscriptions, increases – as they discovered at Vanity Fair this week. They had their highest number of new subscriptions in a day as a result. Is this a business model for publishers? … criticise the thin-skinned Trump and wait for him to attack you and thereby invite support for you.
Hottest toys of 2016 … in the newsagency
It is terrific seeing a product you sell listed as #3 Christmas toy for 2016.
Queen of the kids @GorgiCoghlan investigates the hottest toys this Christmas! 🎁🎄🎁 #TheProjectTV https://t.co/iH8IC6j5JA
— #TheProjectTV (@theprojecttv) December 16, 2016
A different approach to promoting magazines on social media
This post own Facebook pitches four different music magazines by highlighting the gift of free music with each of the four magazines.
This type of approach is better in my view than promoting the full cover of a magazine. It is the type of marketing other magazine retailers in Australia will not do. Plus, it is free, easy to do and enjoyable.
We need to do more of this.
Leveraging bonus gifts with magazines
We have been thoughtful in placement of the Pacific Magazines impulse purchase unit, placing it on the way to the counter. It is working a treat with magazines being added to the basket on the way to the sales counter. This stand and tactical placement like this has been key to this business trading ahead of the trend on magazine sales with no year on year decline this quarter.
People love beautiful things and beautiful things can broaden the appeal of a shop
The manager of one of my stores decided this Christmas they would feature snow globes. The range is beautiful. It lends itself to pitching on social media, to show the business as being different to what people may expect. It is a thrill to see shoppers stop and smile at the beautiful range.
This globe is especially popular as it swirls the ‘snow’ around in an eye catching way. A short video like this works a treat on social media. I shot it using my iPhone and had it loaded in seconds. It is the type of video people like to see on social media.
Put Australian Healthy Food on the counter
The current issue of Australian healthy Food with the free Gingerbread folk to eat is a magazine to pitch at the counter as an impulse purchase. It is unique and will draw attention to a title shoppers may otherwise miss. We are using it to promote on social media too as the free gift is different enough from the usual.
Helping to drive Christmas card sales
Christmas counter card sales in this newsagency are up 34% year on year. They have accounted for 27.16% of all card sales in the last 14 days. Besides a good range at the entrance to the store, it is signs like this used in the business that encourage purchase. The message is a reminder about the low cost to send someone a message this Christmas.
To provide context as to the scope of the growth, this is a business doing $1,200 a day in cards alone over the 14 day analysis period.
Pitching the Pacific Magazines promotion
We have supported the Pacific Magazines $65,000 promotion throughout the business – at the counter and in the magazine department with participating titles. While cutting through during Christmas is challenging because of the visual noise this season, we have tried to keep space around the signs less noisy – so the promotion is noticed.
Myer leverages the counter
Myer in Melbourne is pitching Nutella at the counter in their bedroom furnishings department. If ever there was a time for retailers to be bold in counter impulse item selections then this is it. Here is Myer pitching something sold on a different floor in their sprawling store. Never promote at the counter what people expect.
