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

Author: Mark Fletcher

What newsagents can learn from the 7-Eleven employee exploitation story

All 7-Eleven franchisees and employees are tainted as a result of the actions of some in ripping off some who work and worked at 7-Eleven stores. 7-Eleven corporate is in damage control to preserve some value for the brand.

What has happened since the story first broke on the weekend in Fairfax media and gained momentum last night with the 4 Corners report on ABC TV, is a rising up of voices against the entire 7-Eleven network.

Personally, I am all for the rising up against 7-Eleven. They promote their businesses on price. Now we know plenty of their stores could afford the cheap prices for coffee, for example, because they were not paying award wages to their employees and they hired some such that others missed out on work. On a side note, I am also against 7-Eleven as it was this organisation that agitated for many years for the deregulation of the distribution of newspapers and magazines in Australia.

The scandal hitting the whole 7-Eleven network is what happens you are part of a branded network. Your ethics are only as strong as the ethics of the most unethical member of the network. The resolution of any scandal is only as strong and good as the leadership and capacity of the owner of your brand.

I think one reason not publicly discussed for declining foot traffic to newsagencies is the unprofessional standard of some businesses trading under the Newsagency shingle. Some poor operators are hurting others in the channel and we are doing nothing about it.

Newsagents trading under the N symbol are only as good as the worst store. Likewise newsagents trading under the generic Newsagency shingle and newsagents trading under each of the marketing group names.

The difference with some marketing groups is that they have mechanisms in their contracts for discipline of members – even to exit them from the group for damaging the brand. No such discipline exists for the N brand or the Newsagency shingle.

If you missed 4 Corners last night, catch it on iView.

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Ethics

Ransomware warning for newsagents

The help desk of my newsagency software company has recently taken calls several small business owners hit with ransomware – where they have opened an email with a virus that controls the computer and criminals demand payment to unlock the computer. TAKE CARE. here is our advice:

  1. Do not open any attachment unless you expect it.
  2. Do no click on a link in an email unless it is from a trusted source.
  3. Do not open any email from the ATO.
  4. Do not open any email from the police.
  5. Do not open an email from a bank.
  6. Do not open any email from PayPal.
  7. Be suspicious of any email asking you to log in.

This is real folks. Ensure you are protected. The best way to do this is be vigilant.

A cloud backup service could help you recover quickly should you be hit.

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Newsagency management

Promoting Your Garden in the newsagency

IMG_9377We have been promoting the latest Your Garden magazine with newspapers and shoppers are picking up the title on impulse.

I encourage newsagents to try this. We found space by placing it above papers. If papers are on a flat shelf, shuffle them for room next to your top seller.

Your Garden is quarterly and people forget about – hence the importance of driving impulse purchases.

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magazines

Secondary location driving adult colouring sales in the newsagency

IMG_9402While the display of adult colouring art therapy titles at the front of the shop attract shoppers from the busy mall, this second location half-way into the shop and near the card department is driving excellent sales.

The table in the photo is placed in front of the main magazine aisle. It has been placed to confront destination traffic as well as to push people either side to ‘notice’ other products we have in-store.

Adjacencies are everything in retail. Get them right and basket depth grows.

Time spent thinking about product adjacencies and destination traffic disruption can pay terrific dividends for us in our retail businesses. If you look at the photo you can see the cul-de-sac we have purposefully created for the shopper. It is working a treat.

Putting adult colouring titles in is okay. Do9ing so with thought to maximise the opportunity is vital given the competitive marketplace.

We make our own success and earn our own failure.

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retail

Newslink brands adult colouring titles

IMG_9371I like the branding Newslink stores are using for their adult colouring titles: Colour Me In. I think it is important to bring together all related adult colouring products under a common brand as it defines your narrative.

WH Smith does this in the UK with their Explore a world of colouring branding. newsXpress does this with Colour Your World poster, shelf strip and digital marketing collateral provided to members.

Putting relevant stock on the shelf is part of what we have to do as retailers. Telling a story to encourage customer engagement is key, especially with so many retailers offering these products. This is where proactive groups play a key role – along with providing access at preferential pricing.

Newsagent retail businesses have evolved without having to be as retail savvy as other retailers thanks to the terrific traffic in decades past from newspapers, magazines and lotteries. Now, with those products available in other retail channels, we have to be better retailers. How we are handling adult colouring is an example of this.

I have no doubt that newsagents who tell a story with a sub-brand like this will do better.

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art supplies

People who stop on escalators frustrate me

I don’t get it when people step on to an escalator and stop. I am not talking here about those with trouble walking or who are older – no, I am talking here about healthy people, especially those who could do with climbing some stairs.

It’s like some people crave not exerting themselves.

What frustrates me is these people who like to stand still get in my way.

When I get on an escalator I want to walk the steps, I want to keep moving – for the exercise and to save time. They are slowing me down. And when I try and get past, often they express frustration.

It’s like I have to stand still because they want to stand still.

The escalator is a shared conveyance. It is not there to slow us all to the same speed. Just like the sidewalk, it is a conveyance we can use to travel at the speed that suits us.

If their is a staircase next to an escalator I will usually take that unless it is too crowded. However, is the escalator is the only choice all on it need to be respectful of each other.

In some countries they have a line in the middle of each escalator step and a sign saying stand on this side and move on that side. I like this because people can choose what they want.

If people want to stand still and be conveyed without investing their own energy fair enough – but don’t block me. There is no time for unity on the escalator – we all have our own lives to live. Get to of the way for me and I will not encroach on your space where you stand.

Fair enough?

I guess I could move to Wyoming where I understand they only have tow escalators, both of which are in a bank.

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Ugh!

Stuck on ad promoting Skim App

IMG_9375The from page of The Sunday Age has a post-it note type ad stuck over the main photo of the day, which is unfortunate for the photographers and journalists. That said, it is promoting a new Fairfax App, Skim, which I started using Saturday, an App I think is terrific – much better than using the mobile enabled website. I suspect this is a platform launched to drive revenue from digital. The Skim App is also available on the Apple Watch.

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Media disruption

Sunday newsagency challenge: remove all stock from your back office

If you customers cannot see it they cannot buy it. It’s true!

Why do newsagents fill their back rooms (and elsewhere) with stock? If the answer is because they got a good deal I am suspicious as a deal is only good when you sell and only then if you have not held the stock for too long.

Here is my challenge today: move all the stock you have to the shop floor and confront the challenges of that.

Don’t make excuses. Do it.

Any stock that does not look good enough or appropriate to your business today, discard it.

Stock you can’t sell is a dead weight on the business. Stock not on the shop floor is not paying its way.

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Newsagency management

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: break rules in your marketing

IMG_9348I love this poster promoting Happy Socks for Father’s Day. It mocks (in a good way) the Father’s Day tradition of the gift of a tie by using a sock as a tie. It makes the gift of socks relevant, funky even.

The Happy Socks marketing people have recast their products in a more relevant and engaging way and as a result should expect good Father’s Day sales.

We can make similar decisions in our newsagencies, casting products traditionally one way to appeal more widely as a result of a clever pitch. In our stationery, magazine and card departments we have products that lend themselves to visual merchandising pitches that are against tradition and therefore more likely to attract shopper attention.

These are moves we ought to make for ourselves, in our businesses to the needs of our local shoppers.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency management tip: bank bonus margin for yourself

If you purchase products on a deal, lower than usually wholesale, bank the bonus margin yourself – price the products as if you had paid full wholesale.

Too often I see newsagents mark up items based on what they actually pay rather than based on usual wholesale.

With plenty of deals available through the marketing groups it is easy for newsagents to save 10%, 20% and more off what is usually paid. While I understand the temptation price lower and expect to sell more, in most cases you can price based on usual wholesale and achieve the same sales result – giving you excellent growth in GP and, as a result, a more valuable business when you decide to sell.

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Management tip

An opportunity for newsagents who compete with 7-Eleven in the face of the labour scandal

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald today has the first part of a joint Fairfax / ABC investigative report on underpaid workers working at 7-eleven outlets. Newsagents ought to read this, especially those newsagents who pay cash in hand and short pay on the hourly rate and other conditions.

Newsagents who do employ and pay lawfully should read the report and be encouraged that their good behaviour shows them as better citizens that the employers reflected in this report.

If you compete with 7-Eleven, grab the paper, cut out the story and put it on display in your statement with a statement that as an employer you happily pay your employees the award wage and their full entitlements. Thank your customers for their support.

If you compete with 7-Eleven talk about this story on your business Facebook page and on Twitter.

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Ethics

Sampling products drives sales in the newsagency

photo 1-3We have been sampling a terrific gluten free confectionery item at the counter of the newsagency with excellent success. We have had access to the product for months and love the point of difference it offers in-store and in generating new traffic.

The sampling has lifted engagement even further.

Yes, this photo is from the counter in the newsagency as it looks now. And, yes, we have a glass dome over the product to protect it.

I love the display as it helps alter the perception of shoppers about the type of business we run and, through this, what customers can expect from the business.

The display also is resulting in a reaction of delight by customers and this is terrific to see. Happy customers are more likely to remember the business. They  are also more likely to spend more.

Changes like this are important as part of my commitment to and obsession about continuous change in the newsagency – evolving from the old-school newsagency retail offer that has now future.

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confectionary

Proof of the graduation opportunity for newsagents

IMG_9337Here is proof that what I wrote a few days ago about graduation is true for newsagents. We have sold three Graduation Beanie Kids from this location in the card department in the last week. A tiny investment in a fixture, placement with cards and it we are achieving easy add-on revenue.

With the graduation cards being the destination purchase, we have brought the bonus opportunity to the shopper rather than expecting them to walk the shop looking for the add-on.

Newsagency businesses are full of add-on purchase opportunities – and those that are not ought to be. Leveraging them starts with basket data assessment to understand basket revenue extension opportunities.

If you are reading this and think it sounds too hard, it is not, ask your marketing group for help or copy my idea.

If you think it won’t work in your newsagency, you are wrong – thoughtful placement of impulse purchase lines can work anywhere if you offer the right product with the right execution.

This is another example of how we can make our own success trough simple cost effective moves.

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Gifts

The newsagency outlasted the ink kiosk in the shopping centre

A few weeks after we opened a newsagency in a shopping centre almost five years ago, an ink kiosk opened out the front, less than three metres in front of us. The landlord had kept this from us as we negotiated the lease.

Over the years our ink sales have been good. Now the kiosk has closed, ink sales are enjoying a boost.

Competition is tough across most product categories. Sometimes, being the last man standing can give you the win you have been hoping for in a category.

The key to outlasting competition is tight cost control, a relentless focus on efficiency of stock (stock turn) and achieving the best possible margin on everything you sell.

Single category shops like the ink kiosk will always struggle because people shop with them for one purpose. These and type types of businesses we are better positioned to ultimately beat thanks to a more diverse mix of destination purchases in our businesses.

The base traffic we have in our businesses today are a competitive advantage over narrow focused businesses. This gives us better staying power.

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Newsagency management

Understanding gluten intolerant customers

IMG_9218 (1)I was reminded success in retail can come from better understanding your customers last week at a a breakfast buffet where they had a separate toaster for toasting gluten free bread. I asked someone using this  about the need for a separate toaster and discovered even a crumb from bread with gluten can be harmful .

This conversation played on my mind over the next few days as I thought how we handled gluten related titles and other titles serving specific dietary needs. I have resolved to be more careful in placement of gluten related titles not only to make them easier to find but to also demonstrate the type of respect coeliacs tell me they will appreciate for the misunderstood condition.

This type of attention to detail can be beneficially differentiating for us.

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Newsagency management

Pitching Reader’s Digest with newspapers

IMG_9340I decided to give the latest issue of Reader’s Digest a few days next to newspapers to see if it lifts sales. I did this because I think this cover is particularly good – id is eye-catching and easily understood. I created the space by moving papers across by 10cm. I’ll check Sunday and if sales justify the placement we will keep it here for longer.

Reader’s Digest is a title that sometimes (cover depending) responds well to promotion.

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magazines

At the Connections conference in Cairns

I have been at the Bauer Connections Conference in Cairns this week. It was good to see the inclusion of several of the newsagency marketing groups at the conference as they offer platforms of consistency, marketing, management and optimism for newsagents. I think Bauer inviting representatives of the groups was a smart move as it is only the groups that have a hope to drive consistency among all businesses trading behind a brand.

The theme of the conference was Fit for Purpose. Each speaker spoke to the theme, aiming to equip attendees with tools for being more fit for running your newsagency.

In the breaks plenty shared good stories about changes in their businesses and the optimism they had for the future and, specifically, their future. It was a thrill to see and hear this optimism.

One of the speakers talked about choosing to be happy. I have written about this here before when I have said we choose to be optimistic.

It is too easy for some to stay in the rabbit hole barely able to see in front of you and as a result lose the opportunity to look at the sunrise on the horizon bringing on a new day that you can make your own.

Today in and newsagency business is about change as is tomorrow and the next day. We can choose to resist this, be grumpy about it and duck down into the rabbit hole or we can choose to lean in and embrace, even chase, change. This latter mindset is, for me, at the heart of being Fit for Purpose.

I think any newsagent in any situation can find optimism and through this make decisions that guide new traffic into the business. Size of the business does not matter. What matters most is the choice you make about your mindset.

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Newsagency challenges

Why newsagent trading terms continue to tighten

Newsagents being confronted with tighter trading terms from suppliers have other newsagents to thank. Some recent financial collapses and a higher cost of collection from some newsagents have led to newsagents experiencing tougher terms from some suppliers.

I know of some suppliers charging more for freight, others increasing their margin and others introducing a penalty for late payment of even a day.

While I understand suppliers seeing these moves as a response to the poor behaviour of some, a better approach would be a discount for payment up front. This incentive could help some suppliers attract attention from newsagents prepared to back themselves for a margin benefit.

Punishing everyone because some have not honoured your trading terms is, in my view, unfair.

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Newsagency management

Treasures of the Earth expensive in Australia?

IMG_9238Last week I saw Treasurers of the earth on sale for the equivalent of 70% of the cover price charged in Australia. The price difference leaves me wondering where the costs are in Australia compared to elsewhere? Is it the magazine distribution model, the newsagent margin? Regardless, we look expensive for partworks as it was not only Treasurers of the earth for which I noticed this price difference.

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magazines

Instagram posts raise the profile of magazines.

Screen Shot 2015-08-26 at 2.24.30 pmCheck out this Instagram post mentioning the sold-out issue of Marie Claire and the latest issue of Shop Til You Drop. The post got 25 likes. I found it because it mentions newsagents – raising the profile of our channel a bit on Instagram. Theses a good thing. What is even better is that this post shows us an good example one way we can talk about magazines on Instagram.

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magazines

The different approach of two publishers to newspapers and what it means for newsagents

This comment piece by Michael Woolf published by USA Today is fascinating reading. It explores the different strategies of The New York Times and News Corp. In some respects, it offers insights useful in comparing Fairfax and News Corp.

At the heart of the Woolf piece is consideration of disruption on the publisher model of technology driven change in consumer behavior.

Woolf compares the strategies of Mark Thompson, CEO of The New York Times Co., and Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp.

Both CEOs are trying to thread the finest of needles: to find a way for print news organizations to profit in a world that has undermined the basic business models and relationships that newspapers have always counted on for success, reader loyalty and advertiser interest in those readers.

This is a fascinating piece that will interest newsagents given the declining but continuing importance of print to our businesses.

We need to watch publishers carefully and consider their moves in the context of moves we make in our businesses and with the knowledge of the margin we make from newspapers.

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Media disruption

Stunning plush sales in the newsagency in August

IMG_9274We have sold more than forty premium plush items each priced at $100 and more in the newsagency so far this month. Also so far this month, sales of $9.99 plush items targeted at girls 8 to 12 are up 22% with sales at over 500 units. A carefully planned and executed strategy attracting new shoppers to the business is working.

I mention this today to encourage all newsagents to plan for and chase new traffic as a key business activity, to encourage your own optimism.

Years ago I used to think I could not sell $200 and $300 plush items. Not I know it is easy with the right buying, planning and execution.

These are the things newsagents could do if they are concerned about falling traffic for traditional items.

This post is not designed to encourage you to get into high end or low end plush. Rather, it is a call to action to chase new traffic opportunities for your business through products and services that are appropriate to your situation and to the needs of your customers. It is about having a go and not sitting on your hands expecting others to find new traffic for you.

We do make our own success.

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Newsagency management
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