I was told about this offer just as it ended, a half price offer for News Corp. magazine titles at Woolworths supermarkets. Newsagents should think of this next time a News Corp. representative claims newsagents are important to them. I can’t recall an offer like this from News Corp. to encourage shopping in newsagencies.
If News Corp. values newsagents, it needs to do better.
We are seeing growth on thank you cards and gifts this Christmas. It’s a valuable segment of Christmas related purchases with these thank you shoppers often buying for several people at once. Having the easy gift and a card helps win the business. We target this shopper on socials as well as in-store with tactical placement.
Covid is certainly the key factor in growth in this segment this year. You hear it in conversations with customers.
While other Christmas gift segments such as Kris Kringle and teacher are strong, it’s the thank you gift segment that is stronger this year.
What I especially like about thank you gifts is that the gift price can vary more than in other segments, wallowing a broader pitch to this shopper.
Newsagents have offered magazine putaways for decades, a consistent and loved service for shoppers loyal to specific mastheads. The putaway service of newsagents has been vital to magazines, yet it is something magazine publishers have failed to embrace. Instead, they trope money at subscription offers designed to lure people from over the counter purchase, offers like these that are being pitched right now:
I have talked about these types of offers with magazine publishers many times over the years. They have their reasons for making the pitches as well as their reasons why similar offered in newsagencies for cutaway customers are not something they support.
I think magazine publishers need to reassess the value they place in the newsagency channel. A tip-on gift for an issue of a title exclusive to the channel is not sufficiently differentiating.
Maybe it’s just me but it feels as if the quality of some products coming out of China at the moment is less than it was a couple of years. I say this based on the number of credits sought when checking new products coming it.
Of particular concern is seasonal products for which there is no replacement stock, leaving a hole to be filled. For example, licenced Christmas ornaments that look dirty or damaged and that will certainly not sell.
This is a problem suppliers need to address. Usually, they have quality control agents working with factory in China, checking products as they come off the production line. For some suppliers, it’s as if those quality control agents are not working as they were.
We have changed our product checking process to ensure we catch problematic product before it hits the shop floor or the online sales fulfilment desk. While you could argue every product should have been checked previously – with shrink wrapped product this can be time-consuming and not something a shopper wants if they are buying to collect and keep unopened for years.
Six years ago I published advice for new newsagents covering a range of areas of newsagency management. Here is my revised advice for new newsagents:
There is plenty to learn for the new newsagent and plenty an old hand can forget. I am often asked about important day to day operational tasks in running a newsagency so I started putting together a list. It’s an evolving work in progress, something I am happy to share with anyone – not as a definitive list of what you need to be on top of in running your newsagency business but something at least you can check against.
But, before we get into the list, let’s consider the biggest challenge / opportunity. What type of newsagency do you want to run? A retail business or an agency. A retail business is value focussed – value from sales volume, product Martin and shopper visit efficiency. An agency is about making a clip from each transaction ‘owned’ by another party like newspapers, magazines, lotteries. A retail focussed business will be more valuable over the long term while the agency business can appear easier to run.
You drive business value by playing at the boundaries of the business, broadening what you sell, the price points you can achieve and the new faces you can attract. I think it is vital for new newsagents to invest time and capital in this – broadening the appeal, and value, of the business, as that is what will play best when it comes time to sell.
Now, to the updates list of every day work in a newsagency:
As I said at the start, this list is evolving with time. I hope it is useful to new newsagents and would be newsagents, to understand some of the day to day tasks you cannot afford to get wrong.
We have suppliers in our channel who steadfastly ‘territory protect’ denying nearby retailers from accessing their products while they themselves, the suppliers, run a direct to consumer website that could sell to anyone, anywhere.
I’m all for ending territory protection. We are in a free market after all. Likewise, I am all for competing with anyone online, too. I say this as there is one supplier that required physical retailers to not offer products online.
All these restrictions are a real turn off dealing with some suppliers.
Video content on social media is referenced by the platforms more than ever before, because it’s what the platform users give more eyeballs to.
This type of content is disposable, used a couple of times for the season and not after.
Here are three videos from the Christmas suite developed for newsXpress member use. First: mum and dad:
Dad cards:
Mum cards:
Videos like this are not blockbusters. They are easily locally produced for the disposable use I outline above.
In my experience, they get better engagement than flat photos of a Christmas card stand.
In Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in recent months newspaper and magazine distribution has become even more unpredictable than usual.
Too often, newspapers and magazines arrive late in newsagencies. Sometimes, they don’t arrive at all.
This is not the fault of the newsagent.
Talking to the newspaper and magazine companies you get the feeling they don’t see it as their fault, either. They point at those they contract with.
Newsagents find it almost impossible to get assistance that resolves the problem of late and completely missed newspaper and magazine deliveries.
The distress the situation is causing for affected newsagents is considerable.
I’m told VANA / NLNA emailed newsagents last week promoting free membership for six months. I’m not sure if it is free for existing members or only new members.
In their pitch they say they provide members improved income, reduced costs and improved foot traffic. The marketing reads as a bit old school to me though, and out of touch.
Newsagents have access to very competitive insurance rates as well as easy access to HR support. They don’t need to be in NLNA to access these things.
As for an Amazon locker, that’s an agency offer that we know from overseas experience will do little for over the counter sales in a shop.
Like I said, it all feels a bit out of touch.
It’s on my mind because a new newsagent asked me about it. They felt that they could fail in their new business if they did not join. I explained that everything the NLNA business spruiks can be accessed elsewhere. I told them to save their money and that is belonging to a representative body was important to them, the better established and nationally representative ALNA is what I recommend.
People can join any group they want or feel is right for them. My only advice is do your homework, make sure it is a good fit for you.
Now, for disclosure, I own newsXpress. you could consider newsXpress a competitor of NLNA. I don’t see it that way as the suite of benefits and services available through newsXpress is very different.
Value matters in any retail business, and and retailers have more control over value than they often think they have.
Today, I want to address value in retail in the context of product value.
The value of a product depends on the gross profit for that product, what you sell it for less what you paid for it. The real value of a product is the gross profit less the labour, and retail space costs for the product. The value of a product over a year is these things times the quantity of the product sold.
If you sell a gift for $250 with a GP% of 50%, you make $125.00. That’s the same as the GP you would make from around 380 newspapers, 85 magazines or 100 or so lottery tickets.
The challenge is to have the right higher price point items that sell at good volume to deliver more bankable margin dollars than you will make from lower margin legacy products.
This is where an engaged marketing group like my newsXpress helps its members grow profit, and through this cultivate greater value for their businesses, and from that flows enjoyment.
Can anyone sell items worth $250 or more? In my experience, yes!
But, value is about more than the ticket price of an item. Other factors include:
Too often, retailers focus only on the buy price, thinking that buying better is what matters. It’s only part of it. You can’t bank a percentage. You can only bank gross profit dollars. hence, the importance of turn.
So, buying at the right price is important as is the right product that will turn quickly, ideally, faster than items it replaces on the shop floor – thereby driving more value from that allocated space in your shop.
I see plenty of retailers restricting what they can achieve in their business by deciding what won’t work, without even trying it. I’ll try just abut anything and let my customers tell me if it works or not. Now, of course, there are some constraints on that approach – space, capital and relevance to the overall business. But, I will certainly try products outside what is immediately assumed to be relevant.
That approach of trying things, in pursuit of growing value, has revealed plenty of opportunities I’d not have considered under the more traditional paradigm of retail. business management.
This is one of the benefits of Covid, we have permission to be more experimental in what we sell, how we sell, when we sell and where we sell. Embracing those opportunities, in pursuit of driving business value, will land rewards.
Here’s what one subscriber shares on Twitter yesterday:
@Gay_Alcorn I accept that you've had production issues recently. These things happen. I'm not annoyed.
What I don't understand is why the onus is on us, the customers, to keep searching all morning for our paper, wondering if it's merely late, & finally we have to contact you
> pic.twitter.com/IcoEiUnsQZ— Karen (@kcIMT122) November 5, 2021
@Gay_Alcorn
Today's a good example. It's now 10:15am. The back half of The Age was delivered a few seconds ago. No sign of the front half.
What am I meant to do now? Wait to see if the front half shows up? Give up, & go out & buy a paper?
The lack of info is not good enough.— Karen (@kcIMT122) November 5, 2021
It’s another newspaper home delivery fail that’s on the publisher.
This is a such an easy pitchy especially on social media, especially if you are in Victoria – Christmas cards made here in Melbourne.
Aussies was to support Aussie jobs right now more than in many recent years.
Kudos to Henderson Greetings for this move, and for providing retailers with collateral to let in-store shoppers know.
With non-essential retail back open in Victoria I got out to Officeworks earlier this week to see what changes they had made given their proximity to a couple of my businesses.
It is fascinating the shift in focus in Officeworks. While stationery and office related products remain at their core, they have products that speak to other purchase reasons, and through which they can expand the appeal of their business.
Their gifting, for example, has expanded from what I can see, especially indigenous inspired gifting, which is on trend right now.
Their 2022 diary story is fresh and forward-leaning, quite unique actually – but expensive.
Their calendar range comprehensive.
If you have an Officeworks nearby, I urge you to check it out, so you understand what you are competing with, even if you don’t think of them as a competitor to a newsagency. They are, of course.
I think Officeworks has come out of lockdown with renewed focus in terms of range and in terms of the shop floor experience. Each staff member I interacted with was happy, keen to help and happy to be serving customers.
Click and collect continues to be popular in Sydney and Melbourne businesses after lockdowns in each city has been lifted.
From what I can see it is stronger in these two locations than elsewhere in Australia. Maybe that has something to do with the two recent long lockdowns. I’m not sure.
I mention it today to remind retailers that having an easily accessible click and collect solution for ordering and pickup is critical even post lockdown as it looks like it will be here for some time.
Click and collect can open your business to shoppers you don’t usually see in-store.
It can also make it easier for people to shop with you while you are closed.
Click and collect makes it easier for family living elsewhere purchase for loved-ones near the shop.
And, it can offer you management options for staff in-store depending on the volumes you can achieve.
Now, thinking about newsagency businesses, what are shoppers purchasing through click and collect? This list is a sample, but certainly not everything: Cards. Gifts. Magazines.Newspapers. Stationery. Toys. This is based on what I have seen over the last month.
Right now, of course, there is a higher indexing of Christmas gifts in click and collect – because of the lack of trust in Australia Post and others to deliver on time.
My advice? Make sure you ave a click and collect option, make it easy for customers and for the business.
There is a newsagent who has access to limited edition product sold to them on the basis that they place it in-store for customers to purchase but who, instead, places the product almost immediately in eBay, selling for two and three times the retail price.
I understand the appeal of making two or three times the gross profit, yes it really is that much. I do not understand the breach of supplier terms and the breach of trust with shoppers.
We will find out soon enough if their behaviour negatively impacts their own businesses or other newsagents who also purchase from the supplier. Yes, that is the risk here, that all newsagents are lumped together and judged based on the actions of one.
The value of limited edition product is the foot traffic it can attract and the joy of shoppers able to purchase it from you. This is more valuable long term than the repyutational damage that will come if you keep the product and sell it yourself for two or three times retail.
For several weeks we have had a Christmas range of candles, soaps, scent sticks and more near the entrance to the shop, places so as to tease but not overwhelm.
It is terrific hearing customers comment. It’s always positive, and often leads to a purchase either of one off the scented products or other Christmas products nearby.
It’s an easy move placing gently scented products near the entrance and near other Christmas products.
In areas recently out of Covid lockdown, shoppers are keen for the Christmas experience. There is a curiosity about what has changed in retail. They are looking for a difference. It’s an opportunity for us to try things out and this is why I suggest to retailers who have not engaged with scents in their stores to consider doing so this Christmas.
We are loving the shopper reactions, and their purchases.
The Great Resignation is more than a glib phrase, it reflects a movement unfolding and being discussed worldwide in businesses, governments and elsewhere.
It’s a Covid thing in that people have had the work from home experience of flexible hours, no commute, enjoying the local community more and a closer family embrace.
A Great Resignation trigger is when a business asks / demands employees return to the office. It gives plenty, apparently, pause for thought about other employment options.
If this plays out as some think it could, local businesses that have benefited from more people working locally could continue to flourish as businesses call people back in.
Here’s a scene-setting story from CNBC:
Here is a news.com.au story:
Click here to access an ABC story about this from a few days ago.
I don’t know if The Great Resignation will be a big thing here in Australia or not. But I do think it is interesting to read about and consider how it could play out in the context of our local businesses. I kind of think it could be welcome disruption.
Now, thinking about this in the context of the newsagency software company I own. Mid last year we made it clear that we would not be requiring people to return of the office. Indeed, we have hired several new team members located interstate because they were perfect candidates and they wanted to work from home. These personal experiences make me think The Great resignation may not be great. It may be a thing, but not great … because workplaces will be flexible, especially small business workplaces if they can.
With newsagency stationery supplier GNS providing access to an approved Covid rapid antigen test product for sale in newsagencies, it’s no surprise there is strong interest from newsagents. But, there has been surprise, from myself included, in news that the use of rapid antigen tests is banned in Western Australia by direction of their Chief Health Officer.
I mention it here following contact today from several newsagents in Western Australia.
Check out the terrific story about the launch of the Eyre Peninsular Advocate, a new local and independent newspaper to rise in the wake of a corporate rural newspaper closure.
COMMUNITYAnother SA regional newspaper is reborn1 min read
The new weekly Eyre Peninsula Advocate hit the newsstands last week, heralding the return of print news to eastern and western Eyre Peninsula.
Papers and Publications Managing Director Andrew Manuel said the reception from communities from Cleve to Ceduna had been amazing.
“Regional newspapers are so important to people living in the country,” Andrew said.
“When local newspapers close, it hits communities hard.
“Newspapers keep people connected to their communities and each other through sharing the stories that locals care about.
Check out the online version of the Eyre Peninsular Advocate too. Their subscriptions options are modest:
Just as our parliament, and democracy, would benefit from more genuinely independent representation, so do local communities benefit from more independent media outlets. I hope we see more indie papers start up, and thrive.
newsXpress provides its members a range of educational and motivational material. Here is a recent example, a video in which we explore extraordinary Halloween sales success in a business not known for Halloween.
Note: this video is not about Halloween. Rather, it is about how thoughtful, fact-driven decisions can add thousands on gross profit.
What makes the success more valuable is the bonus margin exclusive to newsXpress members.
Here is the video I and a colleague made over a week ago for newsXpress members about this.
In sharing this I am sharing information anyone could use. Yes, there is a risk to this. However, it is tiresome seeing marketing emails to newsagents promising the world but offering no facts, no evidence, no actionable items they can trial.
What is outlined in the video can work for Christmas and at other times of the year.
I went to the bank at 11am Monday for an over the counter transaction onto to discover that they were closed Monday and Tuesday. I went at 11am because they had started closing at 1pm. Now, it seems, closing Mondays and Tuesdays is a thing.
The only reason I go to this brand is because our local branch closed as did the next branch we went to.
Anyway, I got there yesterday, waited in line for 30 minutes only to be told that type of transaction needs to be done in the city. It’s not a complex transaction, but it does require a branch authorisation, which they, apparently, can no longer do.
…
At one of my shops, we deposit cash every few days using the cash deposit ATM – when the machine is working. Currently, because we have been keeping records – the ATM has a downtime of more than 50%. When we approach people in they branch they say it’s nothing to do with us.
…
These are my recent local branch banking experiences. I have heard of worse from plenty of others in local small business retail.
The local bank branch network in Australia was unique, a point of difference for our country. I think it’s now lost forever.
2021 has seen terrific growth in sales of products featuring indigenous art. From bags to purses, wallets to folders, cards to Christmas baubles, indigenous art has been a real feature of sales in our newsagency this year.
I love it.
I am especially grateful for the clear acknowledgement by suppliers of the artists involved.
We have been fortunate to source a good range of products across multiple categories and from several suppliers to serve this growing area of shopper interest.
We first noticed growth in interest on social media last year when we posted about a product. we leveraged those insights and continue, well over a year later, to see interest and sales growth continue.
Sure, this is commercially good for us. It is good, too, for the artists with their work on products we sell.
Products featuring indigenous art speak to those keen to support shop local.
From a retail brand and experience perspective, this Twitter thread by Chris Hladczuk is fascinating:
Apple is the greatest cult in the world.
And every cult needs a place to meet.
Welcome to the Apple Store.
Here is how Steve Jobs built the most profitable stores of all time👇 pic.twitter.com/BS1uv84Teu
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) October 24, 2021
Even on a local small business single store level, there are point of application here.
