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

Author: Mark Fletcher

A timely reminder about retail business security

A newsagent in a small town in Victoria was hit with an armed break in earlier this week. The two criminals were clearly looking for cash following the OzLotto jackpot. After trashing this business they went on to several others.

Look at the security you have in place for your business and those who work in it. Make sure the business itself is safe and that you have in place good detection systems to assist the police in the event of a break in.

  1. If you work late, consider installing good lighting for safe visible access from your business to transport.
  2. On particularly busy days, bank during the day. Do not follow a regular pattern for banking.
  3. Use a big mother of a safe that will withstand sustained attack – as happened in the newsagency break-in earlier this week.
  4. Have an excellent LOUD alarm system.
  5. Have a height scale at the door.
  6. Have a CCTV system with cameras positioned so they cannot be tampered with and your DVR placed where it cannot be easily found.

Here are some useful resources for you to research and consider:

Newsagencies are easy targets according to police I speak with because criminals see us as less protected or organises as supermarkets and convenience stores. We can combat this with simple measures.

Take care by being prepared before anything happens.

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Newsagency management

A note on taking photos

IMG_8388 (1)With many newsagents using photos on Facebook and elsewhere to market their businesses, I encourage people to contender investing in a good light box. This small investment, not much over $100, will allow you to take better quality photos that work well on social media and lift the professional look of your business.

I took this photo of the bat in a light box in the office using the camera on my iPhone. The photo have not been edited or touched-up in any way.

Click on the image for a large version and see first-hand the value of the light box. Gone are shadows and flares you’d get with regular photography outside the light box.

I got this light box from Amazon delivered for under $100.

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marketing

Newsagents are toy lovers at heart

In my involvement with newsXpress I have seen a new range of what could be described as boys toys released through the group recently with some excellent sales success. What’s most interesting to me is that most of the male newsXpress business owners have taken one of the boys toys home for a play. The stories have been hilarious. Better still, their playing with the toys has made them better sales people and this is driving good sales.

Playing in the shoes of our target customers is a business activity that will drive sales. 

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Newsagency management

Promoting the Australian Women’s Diary 2016

IMG_8784While we have the Australian Women’s Diary 2016 edition in a couple of locations, this location above worm’s magazines is where it will work best based inputs experience.  I urge you to place at least one unit with women’s magazines ASAP to make the most of the opportunity. We achieve good sales early in the diary buying cycle.

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Diaries

Misplaced Habits: The Newsagent

Misplaced Habits: The Newsagent is a heartfelt and moving blog post by Cath Feely, a social and cultural historian of modern Britain. I encourage you to read it as it takes you on a journey of memories to the quintessential British newsagency business. At the end is this paragraph:

Proper newsagents now seem to me to be an endangered species, a misplaced habit. Some are still there, clinging on, diversifying as they always have done, in the face of competition from supermarkets opening ‘local’ shops. My local newsagent in Withington, Manchester, closed last year as it sat opposite a new Sainsbury’s Local. The place where I got my pic ‘n’ mix has been converted into a house. For me, the newsagent has become a place of nostalgia. But I imagine there are still many communities in Britain where the newsagent remains a gateway to the wider world.

These challenges faced by UK newsagents are challenges we face here. The benefit for us is that we have such a solid based in greeting cards and this for many newsagents is proving to be the foundation of a bright future.

The majority of UK newsagents years ago appear to have decided to compete in the convenience space and in doing so took on the most powerful retail business competitors. I don’t see any cost effective upside for newsagents in the convenience space as I explained in a post here recently.

Each of us in business is responsible for our situation. It is too easy to blame supermarkets or the landlord or declining print media sales. None of these is a new challenge. Smart newsagents have managed through changes necessary. It is tough and the future we pursue is very different to our past. So while the newsagency of the past is disappearing, in many cases a new business emerges that is as locally connected as the newsagency.

Please read this history piece by Cath Feely. It’s a good read.

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Newsagency

Perth newsagents for sale

READ ALL ABOUT IT is an interesting article online published by Perth Interactive Voice. It starts with a compelling opening paragraph:

DOZENS of Perth newsagents are selling up amid fierce competition from major retailers and the rise of online media.

The article goes on to respite about a proactive newsagent diversifying to attract more shoppers.

This report is more interesting and accurate in reporting good news about our channel than the story APN published in Toowoomba a few weeks ago.

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Newsagency management

A stunning newsagency success story

11800610_722882817857496_9022396491198622984_nI was thrilled to hear from a newsagent yesterday who won a $313.17 purchase of good margin product from a customer who redeemed a $10.00 discount voucher from a purchase earlier that day.

The success is an endorsement of consistency at the sales counter.

The customer was a tourist, in town for a few hours. They made a purchase and received a discount voucher for $10.00. Once the newsagency employee explained the voucher, the customer browsed … and spent $313.17.

This is a story of inspiration for the newsagency channel: a newsagency winning valuable revenue from high margin product all because of a simple voucher program that drives loyalty from some of the most valuable customers, those you will only see once.

Yes, we can grow our businesses.

The old points based programs are like you see in many other retail shops. Give some $$ off a purchase, $$ they can spend right away and you are more likely to guide valuable behaviour – as happened this time.

Of course, discount vouchers can only drive this type of outcome if you have products people are prepared to spend big on.

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marketing

Now this is what being a local newsagent is all about

IMG_8808I love this local photocopies ‘book’ for sale in a newsagency I visited in Tasmania yesterday. The placement of the title at the counter pitches local engagement better than any poster could. It shows the business living the local connection.

What other business competing with a newsagency would offer such local stories? Not the supermarket for sure. Very few businesses would take on a product like this.

I applaud newsagents who take on opportunities like The Story of Battery Point Street by Street – and plenty do. For sure you will probably not make any serious money from the item itself. However, you will win respect from those who care about the local community and that could be invaluable to your business.

I’d love to hear stories from others of local books they sell.

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marketing

Good collateral promoting the BBC Earth offer

IMG_8801I like the collateral from the folks at The Mercury provided to Tasmanian newsagents for promoting the BBC earth DVD set offered with the newspaper. In Hobart yesterday I saw this floor promotional unit. I like that it can be easily moved, enabling newsagents to combat store blindness. This is especially important for newspaper promotions.

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Newspapers

If you pay cash in hand or under the award you will get caught

A prospective newsagency purchaser recently declined to proceed with a purchase after they discovered that two full time employees were being paid under the award and were paid in cash. The annual saving to the business was in excess of $25,000, which was reflected in the profit and loss statement for the business.

The accountant for the prospective purchaser discovered the issue during due diligence. This is pretty easy really – checking hours worked from the roster with published award rates.

While this illegal behaviour by this one newsagent is rare, it can impact on all newsagents.

As the purchaser intended to run the business with all employees fully on the books they sought to discount the requested goodwill down. The vendor refused.

The prospective purchaser commented to me that the discovery of the underpaying caused them to not trust the vendor. I am sure I am not the only person involved in the newsagency channel who has been told the story.

If you underpay employees and or pay cash in hand to reduce your obligations you will get caught by the ATO, by a prospective purchaser or by some other person. It’s not worth it. Don’t damage your investment, employee relationships or the good name of the newsagency channel.

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Ethics

A cautionary tale on discounting and franchises

The 7.30 Report on ABC2 last night had a report the impact on franchises of deep discounting as introduced by Pizza Hut around a year ago.

Last year, Pizza Hit dramatically cut advertised prices to respond to price pressure from rival Dominos. Sales went up and, as some in the 7.30 Report story said, these increased sales at a deep discount considerable hurt the bottom line.

The report is a cautionary tale about franchise agreements and the amount of control you have, or do not have, over your franchised business. One former Pizza Hut franchisee mentioned they were surprised to discover how little control they had in their business.

There are several franchise systems in the newsagency channel, making this topic relevant for consideration by newsagents. It could be a good time to reach your agreement – if you have signed one.

Hop on iView and check out the 7.30 Report story.

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Ethics

Promoting Total Girl and K-Zone

IMG_8734I like the counter unit from Pacific Magazines for Total Girl and K-Zone. We are using the counter unit to promote the titles off location, away from the regular base for the titles. We have chosen to place the unit near our popular kids area toward the front of the shop.

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magazines

A different approach to promoting large cards

IMG_8757Where do your have your large greeting cards? If you are like me they are all in a low traffic corner, probably at one end of the card department. This is done in the belief people will ask for them. What about those who could buy a large card on impulse?

Card shops I have seen in the UK and the US have large cards on a spinner in mid and high traffic locations that are far more noticeable than is usually the case in Australian newsagencies. They also have a bigger range of designs.

Thinking about this and my desire to sell more large cards, we have established two placement of large cards in the middle of our card department, near relevant captions. This is not a permanent change as I want to find a way to do this without taking up the premium space you see in the photo.

I selecting the card to be placed near Thank You cards I looked at all the designs we had, tried each in this large pocket and selected the card that stood out best. In addition to promoting the crd itself, it promotes the Thank You cards that are placed on the wall nearby.

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Greeting Cards

Promoting Good Chef Bad Chef

IMG_8759We are promoting the latest release of Good Chef Bad Chef inside and outside the business to leverage publicity surrounding the launch. The series has a good following and the best way to make the most of that is through promotion outside the business in my view.

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magazines

Sunday newsagency challenge: risk $500

Give a staff member who has never had responsibility for purchasing stock up to $500 to spend on a new product for your business.

Tell them to find new products you have never sold that they think will help attract new shoppers to the business.

Stay out of their way. Let them spend the money, price the goods, display them and promote them outside the business. And watch what happens.

Hopefully you and your staff member learn plenty from which both of you benefit as well as the business benefiting.

Sure its a risk but is it any worse than plenty of products you have spent money in your shop on are performing today?

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Management tip

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: lead with a story

Tell stories about what you sell and this will encourage greater engagement. For example, telling a useful story on your business Facebook page about a product you sell will help those who otherwise might not know about you discover that your shop is a place to visit.

We did this recently writing about a gluten free product we sell. People with Celiac read about it, told friends and soon enough we had some new customers.

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marketing

Money making tip: the perfect counter offer

IMG_8792For years we have sold more Angel Flames at the counter than in the usual location in the party department. I encourage all newsagents to do this – you will for certain have customers purchasing these terrific candles in impulse, adding valuable margin dollars to purchases.

We get our Angel Flames from Jasnor.

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Management tip

Leverage the Pluto love – for your newsagency

IMG_8737The world is in love with Pluto right now. Yes, pluto the planet. The photos from the NASA project are stunning and they has people not usually interested in space and planets talking about Pluto.

This is why you should have the latest issue of National Geographic somewhere it will be seen by most people in your business, by people who would not usually venture to the dark corner where most since related titles get hidden in most newsagencies.

We are leading with this on social media, leveraging the Pluto love to attract people to the newsagency who might otherwise not have shopped with us.

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magazines

Do this one thing and your sales of Better Homes and Gardens will increase

IMG_8739This is an easy move every newsagent can make and from which every newsagent will benefit.

Whether your newspapers are stacked flat, in a stand or on a shelf like we have, make room for one stack or pocket of Better Homes and Gardens and your sales of the magazine will increase.

If you are worried about having this space allocated all the time, do it at least Thursday through Sunday. Your sales will increase.

This is not new advice from me, I have written about it here many times over the many years I have been blogging.

What frustrates me is the newsagents who have read the advice and not acted on it. It will take a couple of minutes and the return over the year will be well worth it – probably the best return from a magazine move you could get.

If your attitude is why should I do this when I only make 25%, I’d say consider stop being a newsagent. This move only has upside for you.

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magazines
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