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

Author: Mark Fletcher

It’s too soon to discount calendars in some stores

Now that the traditional calendar discounters have closed for the year they rest of us in this space can hold to SRP and make good margin as those buying calendars now really want them.

I am seeing good calendar sales, especially now that Aussie homes and businesses are gearing up for the year.

Like with magazines, niche titles are working particularly well. This is a reminder as to the value of specialty focus. The supermarkets and others are the generalists. We can be the specialists and feel less price pressure as a result.

If this year is like others, calendar sales will continue to be good for another month or so.

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Calendars

A massive retailer shows how to embrace change

Even big businesses. In this short video I talk about Reddy, a pet shop unlike any I have seen, and share my surprise about the business behind it – showing how important innovation is.

How does this connect to newsagents? Retail is retail. Reddy focusses on millennial pet parents. Not pet owners. Not pet lovers. But pet parents. It treats them like that. And this makes a big difference in the engagement, and sits at the core of their success.

What Reddy is doing is, to me, and example of the need to play further outside the usual, and to do this in a local scale.

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retail

Whalebone is a magazine, a shop and an experience I enjoyed visiting

Whalebone on Bleeker Street in New York is a fascinating shop (?) to visit.

Once you step into the shop you are in their world, and what a wonderful, happy and warm world it is.

You just want to wander through, and explore.

This is fun retail, different retail, community engaged retail.

I am glad to have seen Whalebone while looking at innovative retail in New York in January 2023.

For some who pass by this place, this short video about Whalebone will hold no interest. I have shared it because it is magazine related and because it shows different retail, retail that plays outside the usual, and that’s very on trend now in local – playing outside the usual.

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retail

Terrific promotion of newsagents by magazine publisher

This is a terrific promotion of newsagents by the publisher of Bird Watching magazine to their 71,000 Twitter followers.

My only issue is with the in all good newsagents bit. It’s cliche, lazy. Of course, we can’t choose what we carry.

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magazines

Come check out the Player’s Club, a new lottery retail start-up in the US

I’m in the US for the Atlanta Gift Fair as well as to look at innovative retail while the National Retail Federation conference is on here. Yesterday, I got to visit the Player’s Club, a fresh approach to lottery retail. I shot a short video about it just now:

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Lotteries

Too many new newsagents are not aware of electronic invoices

I’ve heard from several suppliers recently that new newsagents are not aware of electronic invoices. While some handle their magazines with electronic invoices, apparently they say they did not realise they were electronic invoices and did therefore not think of this for other supplier situations.

This is a basic problem in the channel, for newsagents and suppliers.

There needs to be a co-ordinated effort to get more newsagents online with electronic invoices from the many suppliers that offer them.

Through my own newsagency POS software company, Tower Systems, we pitch it regularly, offer free training, offer a free stock file and invoice check service as well as working with suppliers to get them on board. It’s a time consuming process to bring a supplier on board. We work with their tech people, account management people, accounting and others as there is often a misunderstanding as to what is involved and the value for their business.

My newsXpress business is involved, too, as it tends to work with newsagents who are not traditional suppliers to our channel

I think one area where we (newsagents, software companies, newsagent suppliers and newsagents) need better engagement is when newsagents sell – they need to do a better job of training incoming newsagents.

Every time you type details of a new stock item into your computer system or manually process an invoice for stock you have received, it costs labour time and could result in data mistakes, which could lead to bad decisions.

Electronic invoices save time, and they cut mistakes, they help newsagents make more money.

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Newsagency management

Ukulele magazine is a perfect example of where we shine

Ukulele magazine is a perfect example of a traffic driving opportunity we have in magazines. I suspect people interested would go out of their way to pick up a copy, and, people who know ukulele players or lovers would mention it to them – offering a word of mouth opportunity for us.

It’s in the fringe special interest space that most newsagents see magazine sales growth, a space where we have no competitors.

So, with this title, we have it placed with music magazines, and we pitch it on social media, in to hope of attracting new shoppers. This is what interests me about fringe, special interest, magazines. The right title can be that valuable traffic driver we want. And, we can build around the title other sale opportunities.

Yes, yes! I get that 25% GP is appalling. It really is. But that doesn’t stop me leveraging what I can from the category.

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magazines

3 things any retailer, and newsagent, can do to compound profit

Individually, these strategies work, in any retail business. Done together, and consistently, the profit value compounds. I say compounds as each of the three strategies feeds into the other.

  • Chase new customers. Serving the same customers is likely to give you the same results. Every day, do something to attract new customers through: a brilliant and different window display, engaging social media posts, a community group connection, a club member fundraiser.
  • Maximise gross profit percentage. Buy at the best price you can. Be engaged in how you price what you sell. Every cent matters. Rounding up to .99 is a good start. Pricing based on the value you offer is more important than trying to compete with the cheapest. You’re worth it.
  • Drive a deeper basket. Be smart about what you place where in the shop in pursuit of people buying more. At you’re counter and at the busiest points in the shop, make adding things to the purchase easy. Look at what people buy with what and use that to guide product placement. Use smart loyalty tools to disrupt shopper behaviour.

It’s easy in local small business retail to get caught doing stuff when what really matters is those things you can do ton drive profit, which increases the value, today and tomorrow, of your business.

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Newsagency management

Pitching everyday stationery in in the newsagency in a fresh and fun way

Rather than the usual function focus of stationery, newsXpress has released a batch of digital collateral to its newsagency members designed for social media that pitches everyday, and some forgotten, stationery lines in a way that is fresh and, I think, fun.

I mention this today because it is easy for shoppers to forget we stock these everyday lines. We need to engage with pitching them, to capture sales that can otherwise go elsewhere, including online.

Everyday we need a fun and fresh pitch on social media, and every so often we need to promote these to get them in front of people outside those who already know about us.

Posts like these are easy to make and of the marketing groups can do them, and even individuals can do them. The time investment is not considerable.

While for sure what you do in your business is up to you, and I know no one will retire on the proceeds of these posts. But, they are a good small step no cost approach to making the store relatable, and fun, and that does count for something.

I guess the other point I’d make is these posts are not what one might expect from a bug business competitor, and that matters.

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Newsagency management

Instant scratch lottery ticket sales surge over Christmas

Newsagents are reporting a surge in instant scratch ticket sales in the lead up to Christmas 2022.

In our small country town shoppers prefer Powerball and OzLotto. But this Christmas something happened and scratches were all the go.

Around 20 newsagents I have spoken with say sales doubled, some tripled and a couple even quadrupled.

Last year I sold 44 scratchie packs, this year I sold 160 gift packs

I had no idea as I don’t have lottery products in my shops. The feedback was fascinating.

It started in November. We ordered more stock. December was huge. And it didn’t hurt our regular gift sales.

Several sold out of all scratch ticket stock completely.

I sold out completely. They were a more common Christmas gift than I’ve ever seen.

I’ve not heard a bad story about scratch ticket sales for Christmas. But, the sample size is small.

Talking with a group of newsagents the other day, I wondered if it was an economic indicator. Back when I did have lotteries in one of my newsagencies, there were customers who would buy one of the $10 scratchy tickets as a gift because they felt the gift was worth more than the ticket price.

I’ve not noticed any change in marketing for scratch tickets. So it’s hard to be sure as to why sales this Christmas were so strong. My hunch, though, is that economic factors, or concerns, did play some role in the apparent sales surge.

It will be interesting to see sales results from The Lottery Corporation, to see if they match anecdotal comments so far.

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Lotteries

The broken Nine Media accounting process

My Westfield Knox shop closed December 21, 2022. All suppliers were notified.

The newspaper companies were problematic though. Both delivered papers after the last agreed delivery date. news didn’t;t bill. Nine Media did. They wen on to bill a week later, after we have left the centre.

Like most comms from Nine Media newspaper offices, responding to their auto generated emails is challenging.

The processes look and feel broken. They are certainly time consuming.

Not only to they treat newspaper home delivery customers poorly, they treat retail newsagents poorly.

It’s pathetic really.

Footnote: The lease was up mid 2020. we advised the landlord in late 2019 that we did not wish to continue, explaining that our focus had shifted to more successful high street settings. They asked us to stay given the centre was undergoing development. They made an offer to cover just over a year extra, which we accepted. The departure was planned, amicable and structured months out.

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Newspapers

January is a perfect time for a magazine relay in your newsagency and here’s why, and how

A magazine relay takes a few hours and you are sure to sell more magazines as a result. January is a good time to do a relay because your’re probably less busy than usual, unless you’re in a beach location.

In my experience doing relays for many years, the return for a few hours work is many times over in a short time, usually within a m month.

So, why do a magazine relay? because you will make more money.

Now, to the how:

Typically, a relay of 1,000 magazine pockets can be completed in 4 hours. If you have 250 titles, you should be don in under an hour.

DO IT YOURSELF, DO IT ALONE.

A magazine relay is a statement about the business, a marketing and management activity. It sets the tone and says this is who we are, what we do and what we stand for. Doing it yourself is a leadershipstatement. Doing it alone means less conflict, less noise. And remember, the relay is not a destination … because regular change in magazine layout is essential.

PLACEMENT.

Magazines are best located on a wall of the shop, and not in a centre fixture taking up premium retail space best allocated to higher margin and business differentiating products.

VISUAL NOISE.

Magazine covers are colourful. Adding more noise, such as product headers, detracts from the products. I say don’t use headers.

FULL FACING OR NOT.

Full facing is a term used in 2 ways: where 100% of the cover of a magazine is shown (true full facing) and where you have 1 magazine title per pocket in a tiered magazine fixture.

If you have the space on a wall and have less than 500 magazine titles, true full facing, showing 100% of the cover, can deliver best results.

In tiered fixtures, while full facing, one title per pocket works best, fitting 2 or 3 titles in a pocket can work with low volume special interest titles people will seek out.

BEACON BRANDING.

This is the process of using magazine mastheads to draw attention to a category of magazines. Use the top 2 or 3 pockets for a single title, allowing it to draw attention.

DOING THE RELAY.

Start at one end of a fixture. Take off all the titles for between 6 and 12 columns and rebuild, with purpose, to draw attention, tell a story and drive sales.

As you build up a column, take off magazines from another 4 to 8 columns, always keeping empty space between where you are working and the old layout.

Look ahead, read the categories on display and think about where you are at compared to where you are headed.

ADJACENCIES.

This is a bit of secret sauce. It is where you can make editorial decisions, business decisions to guide your shoppers. What works best with what. You don’t know, not for sure at least, how can you. Ok, there is basket data you could read … but that only tells you what is happening. What about what could happen? Who knows. Experiment!

For example, should you put model plane magazines next to flying magazines? Or, should model plane magazines be in a distinct section of all model titles?

Do puzzle shoppers shop by brand or puzzle type? Publishers want you to layout based on their brand whereas your shoppers are, in our opinion, more likely to shop by interest. For example, all sudoku titles could work better together, or all large print titles could work better together.

ADJACENCY SUGGESTIONS.

Here are some adjacency suggestions. They are not rules. They are shared here to help you think of your own.

  • Cricket, golf and swimming go well together. Wrestling, boxing and buff-type fitness go well together.
  • Soccer is not rugby or AFL. Don’t mix them together.
  • Train titles should no co-mingle with railway magazines.
  • Classic car titles need to be distinctly separated from regular car titles.
  • Car lovers do shop by brand. Place branded magazine titles together.
  • People interested in home renovation could be interested in any renovation title.
  • Creative arts go well together: painting, writing, craft.

EASE OF SHOPPING.

If you have a tall fixture, think of your customers. There is no point placing titles targeting older shoppers up high or down low as reaching or bending could be challenging for them.

HAND OVER.

Once you are done, walk the new layout with others working in the shop. Explain your decisions. Given them a response for customer comments. Make sure that everyone in the business is on your page.

WATCH AND MEASURE.

Next, watch shoppers and listen for feedback and, after a couple of weeks, look at the sales results. The results could guide adjustments, or not.

…

Footnotes:

This is an update to advice I have publishers here several times in the past. I share it again as it is an easy in.

And, yes, I get that we make too little from magazines. In my view, we either quit the category or make the most of it. I’m choosing to make the most of it because I know a relay helps me do that.

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magazines

2022 vs 2019 newsagency benchmark study underway

I have started receiving data for a 2022 vs. 2019 newsagency sales benchmark study which I emailed newsagents about on January 1.

New newsagency benchmark study.

I am collating data for a new benchmark study, comparing 2022 to 2019.

  1. How to participate.
  2. Please run a Monthly Sales Comparison Report for 01/01/2022 – 31/12/2022 compared to 01/01/2019 – 31/12/2019.
  3. Tick the category box. IMPORTANT.
  4. Tick to exclude home delivery and sub agent data.
  5. DO NOT tick the supplier box.
  6. Preview the report on the screen. Save as a PDF.
  7. Email these reports direct to me at mark@towersystems.com.au.Read the report yourself and see what it shows you about your business.

I will email the results to all participating newsagents and publish the results on the Australian Newsagency Blog as a service for all newsagents.

I have chosen to compare to 2019 because that will give us the best indication of where we are at today compared to pre-Covid.

If your 2019 data is blank it is likely because you have archived it. You can unarchive, or compare 2022 to 2021.

It is vital that you look at the report as it will offer insights into things you can do this year to make 2023 better for you and your business.

Thank you for participating. The results will benefit the newsagency channel more widely.

I am excited to see how the channel has fared.

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Newsagency benchmark

Will Vic. newsagents lose MYKI top-up sales in 2023?

Hello and welcome to 2023. Like every year for the last 15 or so, I think this will be a year of significant change for our channel, and through change we uncover opportunity.

The first news of 2023 is that the state government of Victoria will review the MYKI transport ticketing system this year, which may result in the cards themselves being replaced.

From a transport user perspective, MYKI is out of date and frustrating.

From a tech perspective, MYKI was out of date before it was launched.

From a retailer perspective, the minuscule commission from MYKI card top-ups does not cover the actual costs of providing the service and the dealing with myriad customer queries. But plenty continue to offer it, including me in one of my shops.

I don’t see how the MYKI cards can survive in a world rapidly retreating from physical cards. The old argument of older people want a physical card has been proven wrong with their update of credit card access through phones and watches.

I think it’s best to plan now for a business without MYKI card top-up so that when it does happen you’re ready.

There are some who like offering the top-up because having anyone in the shop its better than no one. That’s not true, actually. The best customers are those purchasing high margin products through which you differentiate your business.

There is no upside in services, especially minuscule commission services – these are best handled throng convenience stores. But … as with anything I write about here, what you do in your business is up to you.

For the one shop I have that offers MYKI top-ups, we will continue until the government decides otherwise. We don’t rely on it. It’s not core. But, it is a customer service that is appreciated locally … and for that we are grateful.

Happy 2023!

 

Footnote for any journalist finding this post. Newsagents losing MYKI is no biggie. It was always going to happen. The bottom-line value of MYKI is small. Local Aussie newsagency businesses have defined by what we do for ourselves rather than why suppliers do to us. It has been thus for many years now.

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Newsagency challenges

The value of genuine journalism covered by local newspapers in the US

This Twitter thread is a good read for anyone interested in the impact on the continuing closure of local newspapers in the US. It lists important local news stories published by local newspapers.

Sadly, too many local newspapers in Australia are published by the big publishers and those newspapers carry little genuine journalism.

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Media disruption

Retail inspiration #1 Cold Spring, NY

The series of posts that precede this one represent some of the wonderful retail businesses that are part of the newsagency channel.

Many started their transformative journey 10, 15 and more years ago.

Inspiration comes in many forms.

The thing about retail is … it keeps evolving. Especially local indie retail, like our businesses. This is why I like to look at what others are doing.

I was fortunate earlier this year to make my second trip to Cold Spring in upstate New York. It is a town offering plenty of inspiration to local independent retailers.

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retail

HEY AUSSIES, THE LOCAL NEWSAGENCY MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK IT IS (PART 11)

The former owners of Paperplay Inverloch were early adopters of change their then, years ago, newsagency business. While the business did have lotteries, it relied on newspapers, magazines and other newsagency lines seeing the folks of Inverloch, Victoria.

The shift in the business was gradual, driven through product purchasing. As the range of products diversified, some traditional lines remained, but took a back seat. Midway through the journey of change, the business changed names, to reflect the non traditional offering. Bu this time, books had become an important part of the business.

Locals embraced the change. Covid propelled that further as Paperplay Inverloch offered locked down locals easy access to products you usually find in the city hours away.

While these photos are from a year and more ago, they reflect part of the diversity of offering of Paperplay Inverloch.

This series came about because journalists and news outlets prefer a narrative that the local Aussie newsagency is rooted in the past. They are wrong for many ‘newsagency’ businesses. Paperplay Inverloch is a good example of that. It plays against the ignorant narrative media outlets run.

We need better journalism when it comes to reporting about our channel.

It’s not too late for any newsagent tom embrace change and tradition. There are plenty of people in our channel ready to help. It starts with you asking the question.

Every newsagent, every retailer, needs to find their own way. In my experience. the best pathway to this is product choices. Playing outside the usual walls for a newsagency is a start. but, remember, in retail we need to find a need and fill it, and, we are not our customers.

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Newsagency management

HEY AUSSIES, THE LOCAL NEWSAGENCY MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK IT IS (PART 10)

Even in a major shopping centre, there is an expectation about the local Aussie newsagency, that it’s a shop for papers, magazines lottery tickets, instant scratch tickets and, often cigarettes. It never did bill payment, parcel pickup, money transfer or any of the other agency services that are pushed to newsagents.

Too many journalists and news outlets when they write about newsagencies, they write with this in mind, with the view of our businesses as they were 20 or so years ago.

My business at Westfield Knox, which I had for eight and a half years, played against tradition, it played against ignorant assumptions. It never had any lottery products, never sold cigarettes, never sold everyday confectionary. This was a collectible, gift and expressions shop that constantly evolved over its life. It was a good example of a local newsagency that was fresh and modern.

From the way it pitched framed beautiful wrap to one of the first major full-face card walls to the range of gifts, this business was loved locally.

We traded through the full 7 year lease and an extension the landlord asked us to consider. We planned to leave at the end of year 7 and concentrate on high street and online businesses. It turned out that staying gave us more opportunity for change, which was wonderfully successful.

When Aussies think of the local newsagency, I’d like them to think of it as unique, because every newsagency is unique, and to think of it as a place to find gifts and ways to express ourselves. This is what innovating newsagents have embraced, it is where they are finding growth in terms of basket depth, business GP% performance and personal satisfaction as a retailer.

What we did in this shop in-store is what many newsagents are doing, playing way outside what has been traditional for local retail newsagencies. What we did online many years ago and until the store closed was ground-breaking, and we’re proud of that.

The local Aussie newsagency is not what journalists, editors and many Aussies think it is. The more we as a channel share this publicly the better the opportunity to shift perception and that is key.

I don’t want to read the sky is falling for newsagents type articles, because it is not. Print newspapers will end, for sure. But that will not end us. Too many newsagents are growing their businesses. There is so much good news in our channel, so much innovation, so many good retailers. It’s wonderful!

This series over the last 8 days is a small push back against the ignorant narrative in newspapers and elsewhere about newsagents struggling. Sure, some are. but the challenges were first identified 20 years ago. There has been plenty of opportunity to evolve.

Now, if only some of the old-school suppliers to the channel let newsagents evolve by dropping arcane rules and out of date processes. Now that would be a win!

In the meantime, checkout more local newsagencies and be ready to see fresh an innovative retail.

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Social responsibility

HEY AUSSIES, THE LOCAL NEWSAGENCY MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK IT IS (PART 9)

Continuing the series of shining a light on businesses that offer outside what is assumed to be in a local Aussie newsagency in newsXpress Candlewood in Western Australia. This business is close to the the Indian Ocean so it makes sense that their products have the beach flavour as you can see in these photos. This is a shop local visitors love for the gifts and other things they can pick up as a reminder of their trip.

The other different is product price range. Many of these items are gifts beyond trinkets some think are in a newsagency.

newsXpress Candlewood is a good example of a business that has transitioned beyond what many journalists and others think of as the local Aussie newsagency. It’s a testament to Julie and the team for what they have created is relevant locally and certainly not the traditional old-school newsagency.

I am grateful to newsagents like Julie for sharing photos so I can share them here, to reinforce the pitch that the local Aussie is not what many people think it is.

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Newsagency management

HEY AUSSIES, THE LOCAL NEWSAGENCY MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK IT IS (PART 8)

newsXpress Bairnsdale was your local traditional newsagency, and then things changed. Now, it’s a vibrant gift shop attracting not only local shoppers, but people from outside of town, as well as online – from interstate. David (Tas as he likes to be called) and the team are constantly innovating. During Covid, they pivoted to creating personalised gifts and doing so very well.

Here are some photos of the business that speak to it as a business outside of what many in Australia would consider a Newsagency. Remember, I am sharing these photos to combat the assumptions too many Aussies, including journalists, tend to make about the local newsagency.

Thriving local Aussie Newsagency are not what they used to be, as these photos show. newsXpress Bairnsdale is in a regional Victorian town, far from Melbourne, and on the road to New South Wales. back in the day it would be traditional, but now it has to be innovative retail, and it is. It’s a testament to the vision and work of David and the entire team in the business.

What makes this business even more interesting is that it does not have lotteries – a further break from the traditional.

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Newsagency management
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