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

Author: Mark Fletcher

Vic. newsagents are not required to capture shopper contact details

There has been some confusion in media coverage in Victoria over the last couple of days on the modified contract tracing requirements released by the state government.

the requirements themselves are not confusing. It is some media outlets that have created the confusion.

Retail is exempted, as outlined explicitly here:

(9) An employer is not required to comply with the records requirement in subclause (7):

(a) where they are operating a Work Premises which is a market, market stall, a retail facility or retail shopping centre with respect to customers who attend that Work Premises, where it is not practicable to do so; or …

I was contacted by a newsagent yesterday who wanted my take as they thought they had to have a QR code setup at their entrance while a staff member said they did not require it. each had heard it from a different media outlet.

The regulations from the Chief health Officer are easy enough to follow.

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Social responsibility

Push-pop fad reaches a diverse mix of shoppers

Push-pops sell well thanks to the evolving range available from a diverse mix of suppliers and thanks to our ability too pitch these products to a broad mix of shoppers. From kids to people in their eighties, push-pops are fun and they also serve a health opportunity. It is this latter use that has them more widely used than traditional fad products.

While pitching them at the counter works a treat, we have also seen them work well with newspapers, weekly magazines and, especially, next to crosswords and it is the crossword shopper who gets them most easily from what we have seen.

This fad has a way to run, but be careful on the inventory you hold as like any fad, it will wane.

Tip: pitch the fun and the health value on social media as the right pitch will bring shoppers in to purchase.

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Gifts

Card company pressures newsagent to change to them … the result is a drop in sales for the newsagent

A representative of card company, and through them the card company itself, pressured a new owner of a newsagency into switching to their products from a successful incumbent a while ago. A year on, the move was shown to be a failure.

Card sales declined significantly.

Proving it was not a business problem, the rest of the business performed well.

The change pitch was you’ll do better. It’s been put to me that the pitch was pressured. If true, this being applied to someone new to our channel and new to cards, there is an ethical question for those involved.

For what it’s worth, I suggest retailers get every supplier claim / promise in writing from them or at least diarised by the retailer – with a date and time.

In the case of the newsagent above, evidence could be presented in an appropriate forum for a compensation claim that could amount to thousands of dollars of lost gross profit.

Now, some notes about this. The new owner did not know the incumbent company at the time was successful because they did not look at the data. Nor did the representatives of the card company agitating to win the business. from what I understand, their approach was high pressure and heavy with claims of greater success.

Now that the newsagent is no longer new and have learned the value of business data, they understand the cost of their decision. It’s not a good situation for them. It could have been avoided had the representative agitating them to change been ethical.

Of course I am not sharing anything whatsoever that enables identification of the newsagents, the card company or their representative. but, as happens with our channel, I am sure the story will make its way around. I am not the only person with knowledge off what happened here.

Here are my tips relating to what this story is about:

  • Get every claim by a prospective supplier in writing.
  • Ask for evidence supporting any claim they make.
  • Keep notes.
  • Hold them to account for their claims.
  • Free stock is no benefit unless it sells easily.
  • Anyone giving you cash or something else that could consider is valuable will be repaid by you in some way.
  • Read every contract carefully.

The costs to the business I have written about are real and someone, or some people, working in our channel know what their pressure led to for the owner. Shame on them.

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Ethics

Great coverage for newsagents leading to last week’s Powerball $80M jackpot

Karen Randall’s explanation of how Powerball works had Karl Stefanvoic on the Today show curled over with laughter on TV last week is an excellent segment promoting the channel:

Karen, from newsXpress Robina, is a regular on the Today show when lotteries jackpot.

The Daily Mail had considerable coverage on the story.

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Lotteries

It’s almost as if News Corp. is trying to kill off print newspapers

Every few days I hear from newsagents complaining about how broken newspaper distribution has become, leading to late papers, lost customers and a higher cost for small business newsagents dealing with problems caused by the changes.

This email is one example of the News Corp. related mess:

As we are starting week 2 of the new courier company our papers were once again late. I rang XXX newsagency (as they get their papers just before us and is about 25 mins away) they told us that the van left at 5am from XXX. It took one hour and fifteen minutes to get here to YYY newsagency ( which should take less than 25 mins) We spoke to the delivery driver who said he was doing other deliveries before he dropped off our papers. We received our papers at 6:15am. This is not good enough Its hard enough to run a small business at the moment, we are having regular customers stop their deliveries and the early risers are not coming into the shop. Our paper delivery people have other jobs which means We have to do the deliveries. That causes a flow on effect to all home deliveries and our out of town paper deliveries. We may just be small but we matter. Sunday they got here at 5:15 I wonder if that was because they had no other deliveries.

While Thera are some in News Corp. doing their best to address issues like these, the company is weakened in the circulation management area. It is but a small shadow today of the strong circulation and considerable circulation management resources of years ago.

While never-ending falling circulation is driving the company ‘s commitment, or lack thereof, to circulation resources, it fails to adequately support newsagents.

Note: I removed identifying information as this note could relate to plenty of locations where News Corp. has messed with what was a working system in pursuit of their profit or something.

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Newspaper distribution

Henderson wins coveted Bluey greeting card

Australian owned greeting card company Henderson Greetings has secured the rights to the Bluey licence for greeting cards, gift wrap and gift bags.

The BBC have elected to work with Henderson Greetings as primary licensee including exclusive distribution rights amongst Australian newsagencies, dedicated greeting card retailers, department stores, kids retail and more.

This is a big deal, a big win for our channel given the Henderson focus on local retail.

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Greeting Cards

Advice for newsagents considering having a website made for their business

I urge small business retailers to take care when selecting an individual or business to undertake Shopify web development. Inside the Shopify web developer ecosystem there are people who take the money, do the bare minimum and run – failing the retail businesses that paid them.

How do you spot a Shopify web developer who is not likely to serve the needs of your retail business? Here is my advice …

Look at their quote. Is it professionally laid out? Is it well written? Is it understandable? Is it complete? If it is none or only some of these things they may not be the developer for you for if they take this approach representing themselves what approach will they take representing you?! we say … be particularly concerned about text based quotes.

Look for understanding. In their words there should be indicators that they understand your needs and that they want to understand your needs. The website is all about you and your business after all.

Speak to them. We have seen shonky web developers void this at all costs. Speak to them. Talk with them. Engage in conversation. You are looking for someone you can trust your business with. Speak to them.

Look at them. Ask for a Zoom meeting, so you can meet face to face. Ask them to show you sample Shopify sites in this meeting and to explain why each is a good sample site for you to consider./ Sometimes we see web developers avoid Zoom meetings so they can hide behind typed words. face to face c an be revealing.

Say you don’t understand. Tell them you don’t understand some or all of their pitch. Test their patience. See if they meet you at a tech jargon level that you are comfortable with. Challenge them. test them. It is vital they use words and terms you understand. They haver to meet you, not you them.

Be in control. You are the customer. You choose the web developer you go with. decide whether you accept their quote and their terms. You do these things when it suits you. Do not succumb to pressure as anyone pressuring you on timing may be serving their needs and not yours.

Website development right now is like the 1800s gold rush – fast, unregulated with a lot of people being negatively impacted along the way and only a few finding gold.

Take your time. Be sure of what matters to you. Choose the business you want to work with, they business you think can hell you achieve what you want.

Know that you get what you pay for. by that we mean … some web developers under quote as a business model either because they will cut corners or because they know they can charge extra for what they did not know at the start. Again, take your time, be sure of your needs, and remember the carpenter adage: measure twice, cut once. Time spent before you make a decision on your Shopify web developer could ensure that the outcome is better for you and your business.

My newsagency software company has been developing websites for retailers for years. here are some of the more recently completed sites:

www.backobourkecollective.com.au
www.inspiretasmania.com.au
www.brindabellastockfeed.com.au
www.heavensabove.com.au
www.loavesrobe.com.au
www.masterjewellersonline.com.au
www.chitchatgifts.com.au
www.eidsvoldrural.com.au
www.forevergiftsandmore.com.au
www.funporium.com.au
www.goulburnstationery.com.au
www.rehfisch.com.au
www.merimbulaextra.com.au
www.morganpark.com.au
www.nextragiftsorange.com.au
www.northsideproduceagency.com.au
www.pamperedpetz.com.au
www.www.paperplayonline.com.au
www.parkesnewsandgifts.com.au
www.rivercitypets.com.au
www.smithstreettraders.com.au
www.sprengersruraltraders.com.au
www.hefeedshop.com.au
www.shop.newcastle.edu.au
www.toyworldcanberra.com.au
www.toyworldwauchope.com.au
www.reasureboxgifts.com.au
www.uncletomspps.com.au
www.warragulpetemporium.com.au
www.welbygardencentre.com.au
www.wollongongbikehub.com.au

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newsagency of the future

Interesting discussion about working from home and ‘getting back to normal’

Regulars here will know that I am over calls for things to get back to normal. They never will. The future is not the past. More people are working from home that ever. Businesses, especially knowledge based businesses, have migrated and even more are migrating to remove work.

Click here to see a video of a discussion with the CEO of Dropbox in which he discusses this is the contact of his business, how his business now operates and how he now operates. It’s about the future of work. I found it fascinating.

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newsagency of the future

What we stock plays into the narrative of our businesses

I was grateful to find this range of unique handmade dolls that represent greater cultural and ethnic diversity than has been traditional in dolls.

Chasing volume sales is not always the priority when choosing items to offer in local indie retail. That is the case with this unique range of interactive dolls.

Customers comment about the range. We know they are something discussed outside the shop.

Having several niche product ranges like these dolls helps position the business outside of what is traditional in the toy / kids gifts space. It’s positioning we have sought as we build on the local indie retail narrative.

It’s hard work finding and stocking genuinely niche products, but it’s worth it in our experience.

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Social responsibility

Are Media CEO leaving

Brendan Hill, CEO of Are Media is leaving the company. This, from Mumbrella:

Jane Huxley replaces Brendon Hill as Are Media CEO April 22, 2021 2:03
by ZANDA WILSON
Are Media has announced the departure of CEO Brendon Hill, with former Spotify, Pandora, Microsoft and Fairfax executive Jane Huxley appointed to the role.

Huxley will start on 26 April, with Hill revealing the change follows extensive recent discussions about the company’s future strategy with the board.

Hill said: “The board and I have been discussing the future strategy for the business and the opportunity to accelerate the growth in digital.

“Following the integration of Pacific and the development of a new strategic plan for the combined Are Media group, this is the right time for me to step aside and make way for a leader experienced in digital transformation.”

Huxley was most recently Spotify’s regional managing director, covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She also spent time with Microsoft and Fairfax, and was the founding managing director for Pandora in Australia and New Zealand.

Are Media chairman, Clark Perkins, thanked Hill for his time with the company. “Brendon has done an excellent job at Are Media, especially the integration of the Pacific Magazines business, managing the business through COVID 19, and in crafting a new strategy for 2021.

“The business is very profitable and is delivering excellent results, and we are in a strong position to perform even better over the coming years.

Perkins added: “The board of Are Media is eager to sustain the excellent combined publishing platform that has been established under Brendon’s leadership and to accelerate the growth of the digital business.

“The key pillars of the business in women’s entertainment and lifestyle, food, homes, motor and industry all have significant opportunities to grow and develop both their traditional media and digital audience reach. We are delighted to have attracted a leader of Jane’s calibre to lead the business.”

Hill has served as Are Media CEO since 1 June, 2019 (then Bauer Media), when he took over from Paul Dykzeul.

Dykzeul spent two years in the role, which was previously held by Nick Chan for a period of just over 12 months.

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magazines

Changes to casual employment terms

It’s worth checking out the changes to casual employment terms adduced by Fair Work that are now in force thanks to amendments to the Fair Work Act a few weeks ago. This section may be of interest:

Becoming a permanent employee
The Amendment Act adds a new entitlement to the National Employment Standards (NES) giving casual employees a pathway to become a full-time or part-time (permanent) employee. This is also known as ‘casual conversion’.

An employer (other than a small business employer) has to offer their casual employee to convert to full-time or part-time (permanent) when the employee:

  • has worked for their employer for 12 months
  • has worked a regular pattern of hours for at least the last 6 of those months on an ongoing basis
  • could continue working those hours as a permanent employee without significant changes.

Some exceptions apply, including:

  • small business employers>/li>

  • if an employer has ‘reasonable grounds’ not to make an offer to a casual employee for casual conversion.

It is important to read the changes in the context of your specific situation. If you have less than 15 employees, some changes do not apply to you.

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Newsagency management

Newsagents less likely to open this Anzac Day?

With Anzac Day on a Sunday this year and retail not permitted, in most states, to open until after 1pm, I suspect some newsagents will not open at all. Sunday is an expensive day to open labour cost wise. The reduced hours for the day as well as decisions by other nearby retailers will be a factor.

I was talking with a couple of retailers yesterday and they have decided to not open at all, instead pitching it as a move out of respect for the day.

The $50.00 a hour labour cost for adults is prohibitive. While newsagents are exempt and can open, you have to question the value of this with almost all other shops nearby being closed. the value of leveraging the exemption and opening depends on what you will sell as newsagency traditional lines wool;t deliver the margin dollars to justify the cost for most.

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Newsagency challenges

Small but worthwhile Sydney Gift Fair

The Sydney Gift and Life Instyle Fairs held over the last few days were small, tiny compares to past years (except for 2020 of course) but they were valuable to attend.

Suppliers were happy to see retailers. Plenty reported excellent sales.

I picked up several new suppliers, who have never traded with newsagency related businesses. I also got to re-connect face to face with some existing suppliers.

I liked the smaller format but it did highlight a sameness among lower-end suppliers and in some categories like candles and fashion jewellery. Do we really need more candle makers? No, we don’t.

 

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Newsagency opportunities

Here comes TheLott integration with newsagency software

To try and shore up relevance, XchangeIT has inserted itself as middleware in a tech relationship between TheLott and newsagency POS software. As announced Friday afternoon, this is now available.

While it’s clunky, because of requirements driven by those outside of newsagency software businesses, it is better than nothing.

It will be interesting to see the uptake. It will also be interesting to see if XchangeIT provide the level of support newsagents will want / need for this transactional facility.

My own newsagency software company has been involved from the outset. The approach is not what we would recommend. But, as they say, it is what it is.

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newsagent software

Another grant opportunity for VIC newsagents

Closing April 19 is a grant opportunity that may interest VIC newsagents:

The $5 million Technology Adoption and Innovation Program aims to provide support to eligible Victorian small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) to on-board innovative technologies or develop innovative, new and commercial technology by co-contributing  funding support for projects.

I know of several newsagents who have applied already. While the deadline is Monday, it could be worth exploring.

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Newsagency opportunities

Pitching foreign language papers

While I rarely pitch magazines or local capital city newspapers on social media pages for my retail businesses, I do regularly pitch foreign language and niche newspapers as they are the titles more likely to attract new shopper traffic in my experience.

I keep the posts simple, and always include cover shots …

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newsagency marketing

Personal service disappears with News Corp changes to newspaper home delivery

Back in the day, if you had an issue with newspaper home delivery, you could speak with your local newsagent and, usually, it would be fixed. Today, for many Australians, thanks to the changes led by News Corp, changes that have ripped newspaper home delivery away from local newsagency businesses, you often have to deal with a faceless, not local, call centre.

One home delivery customer told me this week that the process was so broken that they cancelled their subscription. They were a 7 day a week customer. The issue was the paper being left at the wrong entrance to their apartment complex. The delivery was to a foyer 5 metres for their foyer. They told me that contact to report the issue took more time that the paper was worth.

Another person told me of their experience at receiving the paper without having ordered it. They spoke to the local newsagent who advised they no longer did deliveries. The person receiving the free paper called the number the newsagent provided. After a couple of calls they gave up and decided to lean into the daily free paper.

For all their noise to home delivery customers about the changes providing a better experience, the anecdotal evidence is that the experiences are worse, more disconnected and certainly not local. I wonder if these experiences will be noted as a reason for a decline in newspaper sales.

Newspaper home delivery in Australia, while often loss making for newsagents, was an appreciated local service. News Corp has led the changes that have dismantled this much loved service.

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Newspaper distribution

Epay giftcard program

Epay has a gift card program that may interest some newsagents. I’m sharing it here as the company is not great at communication. Click here for the brochure, which I also include below as an image. Click here for the interactive application form. Both documents have only just been released by Epay.

This post, by the way, is not me endorsing the gift cards. I offer it merely as a service, based on questions from newsagents.

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Gifts

Why your local newsagency may not live up to your childhood memories, and why this could be good news

The local Aussie newsagency focussed in newspapers, magazines, lollies, lottery products and cigarettes is fading, which is a good thing. petrol outlets, convenience stores, supermarkets and tobacco shops are taking over these low-margin convenience lines.

Aussie newsagents have been shedding tobacco products for years. They have been reducing space allocation for magazines and newspapers, too. The margin from print media is small and cover price decisions mean newsagents make less in real terms from each magazine sold today than ten years ago.

More newsagents, too, are not in the lottery space, having chosen to not engage with that highly regulated low-margin product category.

The local Aussie newsagency is evolving … and not in a network wide way, often not in a way that is easily identifiable.

While the local Aussie newsagency may still offer newspapers and magazines, it will most likely have an awesome range of products, which could include: gifts, homewares, books, self-care, nesting, toys, games, garden products, clothing, coffee, food and art … in addition to what you may expect in terms of cards, stationery and craft supplies.

There are plenty of local Aussie newsagency businesses that do not look and feel like a newsagency. Some shoppers don’t like this, they prefer the older style newsagency. The thing is, that old style business is not profitable in 2021. Newsagents can’t bank on the nostalgia pangs of some people. They need foot traffic, turnover and profit. This is why the local Aussie newsagency is changing.

Many newsagents have been chasing change for years and years, trying new products, experimenting to bold layout changes and shape-shifting their businesses to see what might work. What works in one location may not work in another location. This is why the unified and similar looking local Aussie newsagency of decades ago is lost today in 2021. The book and game focussed ‘newsagency’ in Inverloch, Victoria looks very different to the toy and game focussed ‘newsagency’ in Cooma, New South Wales, and both of these look very different to the gift focussed ‘newsagency’ in Sarina in Queensland.

While your local newsagency may still be there, expect it to be different because different is what helps them be there for the local haul, offering you access to magazines and newspapers along with a bunch of interesting and thoughtfully sourced products that work in your local community.

Indeed, in the newsagency retail channel in Australia right now you can see some of the most innovative retail in-store as well as online. It is an exciting time to be a newsagent.

If you haven’t been in your local newsagency for a while, check it out, be ready for a surprise.

Oh, and if you do pine for the nostalgia of the old-style newsagency, think about whether you’d preference one of those brick mobile phones fro the late 1980s or the smart phone you have today. Yes, the world changes. Retail changes, too. This is a good thing. So … check out your local, new, newsagency.

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newsagency of the future
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