News Corp. has good collateral supporting the launch of the Bring Home Some Magic Disney campaign. We are promoting this with Disney product already in-store and, hopefully, achieve sales of non newspaper lines as a result of the newspaper campaign. Of the collateral provided, I especially like the floor decals – they’re more use in my view than posters.
What are the top ten products or product categories that bring people to your retail newsagency? Are sales for these categories growing, declining or static?
if you can’t answer this question, find out. It should be easy with your newsagency software. In my own Tower Systems Newsagency Software is’s the 10×10 report – a report listing the top 10 items (or categories) and the top 10 items (or categories) selling with the top 10.
Knowing the key traffic drivers and the projection of sales for these can help with business planning. Indeed, it’s essential to business planning. Information in traffic reports will indicate the sales efficiency of these products.
Take newspapers. The daily is usually #1 or #2 at generating traffic, sales are often in decline and sales are often inefficient – with 75% and more purchases the newspaper and nothing else. While this can sound bad, knowing it is good, knowing it allows you to plan for change within your business to make newspapers more efficient, to drive sales and to find other traffic generators.
Data revealing bad news can be good news for your business.
Talk to your software provider about the report you need to see your key traffic drivers. Unlock the data and make moves based on what it reveals. This is an opportunity for growth!
Go big or go home is is a terrific mantra to have in your head when setting up displays. Pretty is good, big is better. Big and attractive is the best.
My marketing advice today for in-store displays is go big or go home. Build a big display around a known brand in a category for which you want to be known – preferably a new category for your business.
Build a display where the display has to attract new shoppers – rather than gaining sales off of existing traffic. While it’s good when a display achieved incremental business from existing traffic, this is not adding to the long-term health of your business. New traffic is key and one way you can win new traffic is with big bold displays promoting products people are likely to return to purchase over and over.
This display is from one of my newsagencies. It stands two metres tall. It represents a known-brand, range, age diversity and engagement. Launching us into this category, the dip;ay was excellent. Tracking sales we can see more than half of the purchases were single category – most likely they cam in for this.
A big bold display is key to the marketing of your retail newsagency.
A couple of customers commented on front page newspaper coverage of the news today – that the two major dailies did not cover the situation re the Prime Minister’s grip on power. One commented The Saturday Paper looked like the better paper for this story – and they purchased it. When the papers are stacked up as shown in the photo, it’s telling for people buying a paper for the news.
The first Gift Fair of the year is open today in Melbourne and runs through to Tuesday. While not the biggest fair of the year, there is an excellent range of suppliers with products which will be new for newsagents. If you’re in Melbourne I encourage you to visit this trade show.
The opportunity for newsagents to have a say on a change to magazine distribution has driven a 30% increase in traffic to this blog since Thursday. Some the the 400 extra visitors a day will be checking in to see what newsagents think about the opportunity. I know from calls that plenty of publishers are watching.
Coles is offering ZOO, OK!, Woman’s Day & NW for half price with any fuel purchase. These are all Bauer Media titles. The promotion is in the Coles Express catalogue.
This is Coles and Bauer Media banding driving sales for Coles and potentially reducing traffic flow of the newsagency channel. Thanks for that Bauer.
While you could say newsagents have to do better – Bauer is not being fair, not giving us deals like this.
It’s like Bauer wants Coles to grow magazine sales. But at what cost?
Magazine publishers who rely on newsagents and who have their titles distributed through the Bauer owner Network Services ought to say/ask What the F$&k Bauer? Why are you devaluing your titles? Why are you making newsagents look expensive? Why give Coles such a good deal when we sell more of your magazines?
There is unhappy irony that this deal is being promoted while NSW newsagents have been lobbying re the possibility of Tatts selling lottery products in Coles Express outlets and supermarkets. This offer which favours Coles over newsagents has the potential to do more damage yet I am not aware of it being pursued.
I am not suggesting there should be any protection of newsagents on this – only that we are given the opportunity of equivalent deals. Otherwise, shame on Bauer for making us look bad and this supermarket giant look good.
What does it say that Bauer and Coles have to cut the cover price of magazines by 50% to sell them. Coles would say it’s about deals for customers. I think that would be a stretch.
What do others think about this?
Footnote: I am grateful to the colleague who drew this offer to my attention.
The NSW State Government and the Tatts Group have announced today the signing of an MOU in relation to distribution of lottery products for the next few years. As the SMH reports, the key points are between now and early 2018:
The certainty offered by the MOU goes further than I expected newsagents to achieve. It goes considerably further than one could / should expect from in a free market economy.
Newsagents would be wrong to complain about this in my view.
My position on the April 1 sunset of current arrangements is well documented here. The sunset date has been known for five years. To any business which says they have no future if more outlets get lotteries I have said and say again: what have you done for the five years you knew the change was coming, what have you done to make you business more relevant, how different is your business today to five years ago.
While there are some newsagencies where the circumstance is that lottery traffic and GP is essential and dependance cannot easily be shifted. However, I’d say that is not the majority. Smart newsagents acting like retailers can run enjoyable and valuable newsagencies without lotteries or with less dependence on lotteries – and should have been working on this over the last five years.
The real challenge to over the counter lottery product sales in newsagencies is from online. This is the growth area. It is not part of the MOU nor should it be.
I think newsagents have focused too much on the demon supermarkets and not enough on the fundamental change in how, when and where people shop for lottery products. The only way to compete with online is to offer a compelling and memorable in-store experience for products people want. This is retail 101 in this online always-connected world.
When newsagents realise that lottery product sales have been lost to online will the complain that they should have been protected now? Following the logic of recent lobbying I expect some will.’
The future of our channel is not to be found in government protection of any form or level.
Sure the supermarkets are too big. Fight that – not by seeking protection by governments but by challenging their market share on the basis of their abuse of market power. That is a fight that more will engage with. The fight for protection because oh we’re newsagents and we’re important is misplaced and not a fight which provides for a strong future for newsagency businesses.
In the benchmark data I will release Monday I will share insights into what a newsagency not engaged in future planning looks like. It is a dying business and has been for the last five years. No amount of government protection or assistance will save such a business in the long run.
Here’s my tough love, because I do love the newsagency channel: the best thing the government and Tatts could have done is nothing, let competition play out. The newsagents remaining would be stronger and more competitive because their future would have been 100% on them. Now, some will be chasing the $10,000. Others will think they have until 2018 when in fact they have no time at all.
It is unfortunate Labor politicians engaged in the politics as they did. What they said and plenty in the media said made newsagents look weak, certain to close without protection.
If I was a politician dealing with this issue I would have said something like this:
I can’t and won’t protect you but I can and will help you and other independent and small retailers like you and primary producers and service providers to bring the major supermarkets to account, to stop them growing bigger as their market share is already too big, to make them deal fairer, to ensure their lease costs are fair compared to yours and to ensure that they’re not getting deals that you could be funding through poorer deals for the same products – as could be the case with magazines.
I don’t want to be part of a channel that says poor me I need protection to survive. There is no future in that.
I want to be part of the new newsagent channel made up of proactive retailers who are embracing change and generating net new traffic because of innovation in their shops, building GP%, attracting new customers and operating more efficiently. I want to be part of the new approach to managing magazines as I wrote yesterday – fixing bigger competition challenges than Tatts.
Now is the time to chase change in your newsagency. The opportunities are wonderful and the success stories growing. There are newsagencies in highly competitive situations growing overall GP% and growing sales. But I’ll have more to say on that next week.
I have been talking with a senior magazine distribution executive on behalf of newsagents on a possible change to their model and write today to open the topic for discussion by newsagents. But first, here is one question for you:
If you were given the control you want over magazines you receive, would you use it, would you be more engaged in the category?
Frustration with the current magazine distribution model has been intensifying as more and more newsagents are realising the control the can have and the additional gross profit they can make from other retail categories.
Publishers are frustrated with a model where they see early returns increasing, newsagents becoming less engaged and poor service from the old model.
Newsagents want to make more money from magazines. I’ve written about it here before, noting that 40% GP would be reasonable. This post today is not about GP, it is about control of range and volume.
While some will say we need to fight for everything we want, I think our interests are served by a step by step approach. hence the question I have for you today.
A magazine distributor, it does’t matter which one, is contemplating establishing new magazine supply rules. In a recent meeting we canvassed a range of options.
After reviewing the options, the package of ideas under consideration are:
The concern is that not enough newsagents will engage with these changes, that the distributor will lose titles and and those titles would be taken over by others who would not give newsagents this level of control. I share this concern.
While newsagents say they want more control over magazines, I worry that not enough will exercise it. That is what I want to know about today. Would you like these proposed changes to be implemented? Yes or no.
I see it that simply: yes or no. For me it is a resounding yes. The control being contemplated is something I’d embrace.
If the response is yes and the channel engages, we prove a point to all publishers and distributors and through this improve our leverage on everyone adopting this approach and opening consideration of margin.
The MPA, Bauer, Pacific, Gotch and Network are working on a code of conduct as I have written about before. I do not think the draft code of conduct is a good solution. It has been developed with little consultation.
Of the 2,600 newsagents on XchangeIT, around 900 currently consistently pass compliance tests. This is a factor that will play into whether the package of changes I outline proceeds – particularly the question of no returns at all.
Any time there is an audit of physical returns versus what is claimed, around 25% of returns claims are not matched by reality. This makes distributors and publishers nervous. In one case I heard about recently a newsagent repaid tens of thousands of dollars for over-claimed returns.
the other factor that will play into any change to processes is rules for changes. For example, should a newsagent be allowed to cut supply of a title to below the quantity they are selling? I’d suggest they should not be able to do this – for their own good … unless they are selling only one copy an they are doing an overall space adjustment.
Back to my question – modified with more detail given the seven points in the package of ideas:
If you were given control over magazine titles you receive and the volume of each issue, would you use this control, would you be more engaged in the magazine category, would you seek out new titles and adjust supply seeking more stock to increase sales?
The distributor will watch the answers here. Please get your colleagues to engage and share their opinion. This is an opportunity to be heard.
In China, Chinese New Year is a far bigger season in retail than Christmas. Every retailer engages with the season in one way or another. Clothing shops serve the tradition of people having all new clothes for the first day of the year. Food shops have wonderful hampers for the feasts that are traditional. Card and gift shops have a vast array of red packets for money gifts.
In one store I saw more than twenty designs of Hallmark branded red packets.
The photo shows one of six displays in a supermarket I visited in Guangzhou earlier this week. Note the gifts and plush lines. On the rear of this display is the red packets.
I think we would do better with this season in Australia.
I have seen scratchie greeting cards before. This one caught my eye because of the style and quality. It is a higher end card appealing to a more discerning shopper. I am not sure if this range is in Australia. If it was I’d like to have it as it appeals to a shopper not well catered for – where the price of the card is secondary to its uniqueness.
While there is an important place for everyday cards, there is also value in serving the fringe higher end card shopper for whom price is not as important as is innovation.
This greeting card offering congratulation to the recipient on reaching an achievement is one of the best cards I have ever seen. When you open it you see three flights of stairs with a character (you) at the top of the largest flight.
The imagery is perfect for this type of card. The production of the highest quality.
While at the equivalent of A$12.00 it’s an expensive card, I doubt price would be a barrier as the card becomes the gift. It is something a recipient would proudly show on their desk or elsewhere as a marker of their achievement.
The Australian Financial Review today has an excellent piece outlining an overview of the strategy that is driving excellent success for the business. I urge newsagents to read it as it explains why Officeworks cannot be ignored.
Officeworks management know what their business is, what it stands for and how to pursue this to their profit. The niche they are pursuing is a niche that used to be owned by newsagents.
While we can complain that Officeworks is not as cheap as they claim or that our service is more personal, there is no denying their commercial success and recent terrific growth.
Two reasons Officeworks has been able to grow is that newsagents underestimated them and newsagents expect more shopper support than they actually get.
People will go where they perceive value. Newsagents can more effectively promote value and drive traffic and sales as a result. Value does not mean discounting.
Gifts in newsagencies can mean many different categories of products – from low price to high end, from simple predictable items like mugs to one-off decorative pieces, from under $20 price points to $500 and more.
The gift category is one which suppliers ought not make an assumption about.
This is on my mind today because of a debate I had yesterday with a circulation product supplier, what I’d call a legacy supplier. They derided newsagents for thinking their future lay in selling kitch gifts. If only they realised how good they have it with magazines the supplier said. We do all the work for them, yes they said that too. I suggested they get out more and into newsagencies where the gift offer is far superior than you would find in many specialist gift shops.
This supplier thought they had a good future in the channel because they thought newsagents were getting it wrong with gifts. It’s an odd way to look at it.
Our channel is changing and while there are some newsagents who think gifts are items priced at $20 and below and of a type you’d find in discount variety stores, the newsagents having the most profitable success with gifts are those who are specialising and making their gift offer a destination for their business.
It would be wrong to think that all newsagents with gifts sell the same items. Indeed, it is in the gift category where I see some of the most significant differences in newsagencies. Sure, this separates newsagency businesses – I say that is a good thing as the strength of an independent retail business will be its service os specialist needs.
The gift category is one through which we can leverage our Unique Selling Proposition through the products we offer.
Legacy suppliers need to spend more time in many newsagencies to see how our businesses are evolving and how diverse the channel has become. This evolution is another reason newsagents are becoming more demanding in terms of control and margin.
We early returned Eating Well from Bauer Media as we have access to equally appealing cookbooks at 50% margin and more. The supply of the unwanted low-margin title is a good example of the waste in our channel. I suspect we are not alone in early returning the title. The cover price would have newsagents not wanting to hang onto it for long. A courteous question could have saved time and money.
Here is how one of many Starbucks locations in busy Guangzhou (pop. 20m) shows its neighbourhood connection. It shows them thinking about the local area and supporting local activities. I see this local community connection / support in many businesses in China. What I like about the Starbucks approach is that it feels like something an independent retailer would do – yet here is this giant of a company offering support for a local community connection and thereby reinforcing their relevance.
The photo shows the sign at the counter of a Starbucks I visited on the weekend. It has a photo of the barista, their name and tells me a bit about them, making the experience feel more personal than one might expect from a worldwide chain like Starbucks.
While we could argue that we should be so well known that we don’t need something like this, there are plenty of newsagency shops serving first-time or infrequent shoppers where it could work: shopping malls, holiday destinations, transit location.
FYI, here’s the translation:
Hello I am Jacky!
A cup of warm of Toffee Nut Latte can warm your heart? If yes, please come to find me to share with you!
Check out the sign I saw outside a shop in China on Sunday. It’s a simple feel-good message that pitches the business about being more than only selling products. Connecting with shoppers using a blackboard like this out the front of the shop is a good way to show that you are more than the products you promote.
I got my first look at Australia Post package pickup lockers a few days ago – at a 7-Eleven store.
Located at the front of the business, facing the fuel pumps and the street, the lockers are noticeable. The branding achieved by Australia Post in a 7-Eleven location is extraordinary. The apparent strong partnership between these two businesses should concern newsagents. It surprises me.
The newsagency channel should have had the front running on a closer commercial relationship with Australia Post given the number of newsagencies that are Licenced Post Offices. However, for the parcel pick up model Australia Post would have sought a partner offering easy parking, discipline and the ability to deal on a network wide scale. Newsagents don’t offer any of these.
I see the link between Australia Post and 7-Eleven on this parcel pickup project as a sign of a deeper relationship between the two giant organisations, one that could ultimately impact on newsagency businesses – LPOs and others as it is the type of relationship others will notice and make their decisions on.
Newsagents unhappy with a closer Australia Post / 7-Eleven relationship need to think about what the newsagency channel could have offered Australia Post that would have been more compelling than a 7-Eleven pitch. To that I say we could offer them nothing.
We need to have a realistic view of ourselves when considering the channel. I think we are more demanding than we deserve to be. Newspapers and magazines are the only categories connecting us and even they are done differently right across the channel: to different standards, to different scale and with a different future in mind.
Our independence and local ownership which we see as an asset are what lead organisations like Australia Post to look elsewhere.
The sky is not falling.
The lights are not flickering.
But we need to take note of these changes happening around us. We need to be aware of the strategies of networks like 7-Eleven. We need our own plan for our future that we can build around our business or those we are commercially connected with.
We need to look at moves like Australia Post working with 7-Eleven and know we’re okay because we know where we are going and how we are going to get there.
A Woolworths I visit regularly has changed magazine segment placement within the department. Weeklies are now in the middle of their magazine wall rather than at the right hand end. this is an interesting move. It’s making me wonder if we try something similar.
Right now we have weeklies at the entrance to our main magazine aisle. It could be worth trying them at the other end of in the middle like at this Woolworths I visited.
The change is also a reminder of the importance of change to the magazine offer. Every time you move a title to a different location you are likely to get it seen by people who do you usually consider the title. Sure there are some complaints, but not enough to stop embracing the sales opportunity of change.
In my advice on How to do a magazine relay in your newsagency I suggest major change at least every six months. I think this is wise advice – to keep the magazine offer fresh and combat store blindness by customers and employees.
I’ll be interested to see if this placement change is in other Woolworths locations.
If you are open and trading today, maybe connect with the day with one or more of these ideas:
I haven’t really thought about this list and realise now I could have put something together a week or two back so you could have better planned to make a bigger impact on the day.
Today is another of those wasteland days in retail – for those who are open. Shopping centres will be pretty empty as they are every Australia Day. Many newsagents will be working to save the penalty rate cost of labour. It’s a good day for getting to things you have been putting off.
If you are working today and it’s quite, make some changes, move things around, re-set parts of your business so it shakes things up when 2015 really kicks off from tomorrow. Seize today as an opportunity. Change things. Clean up. Have surprises in store not only for your customers but for your employees tomorrow. Have fun!
While I am working today I’m not in the shop. I’m engaged in disruption of a different kind.
Talking with a newsagent last week they mocked social media as irrelevant. If I want to say something to someone I’ll call them or speak to them face to face. While that works for personal communication, social media is used by too many people and relied on too much now to be ignored.
Every newsagent should have a business page on Facebook, an account with twitter and a Google+ page as a minimum. I know newsagents who had had this for years and who use it very effectively to reach out and discover new customers.
Used well, social media offers you a platform from which you can demonstrate relevance to your local community and through which you can offer services that speak to the type of business you wish to run.
Saying you are too old or don’t understand or don’t have time is unacceptable. If you own a newsagency or any retail business you need to embrace these platforms and speak to your community. You have new customers to gain and very little to lose.
There is no better indicator for understanding trends in your retail newsagency business than comparing revenue and unit sales performance for a recent period to the same period a year, two years and three years ago.
In my own newsagency I undertake this type of comparison every month on a rolling basis – looking at the most recent three months of data with the same three months from a year, two years or three years ago. Since I look at my data regularly I have a good feel for trends. If you do not regularly look at data, start with a three year comparison.
The best decisions newsagents can make about changes for their business will be best guided by what they see i the trends.
For example, if magazine sales have dropped 25% over three years, what is the space allocation today compared to three years ago? Or, if gift sales are up 500% over the three years, what is the space allocation today?
Trend analysis is not about knee-jerk reaction. No, it is about thoughtful assessment of the dataset and consideration of future plans based on the shifting traffic and product interests as reflected in the data.
Here is a video I participated in last year for newsagency marketing group newsXpress that shows the report I use and how I use it. This report is something anyone could create for their business regardless of the software they have.
In each of our businesses our future can be explored more easily by thoughtful analysis of historical data. I urge you to do this for your newsagency.
