Author: Mark Fletcher

I have been asked by three newsagency suppliers to present my Newsagency of the Future workshop from the ANF conference elsewhere. A couple want it presented internally and another would like me to present it to newsagents on their behalf. When I get back to Melbourne I’ll look into this and maybe consider a presentation in each state. I am certainly keen to open for discussion the issues / challenges raised.

Newsagents have a tremendous opportunity to control their future, all it takes is willingness to embrace change and a desire to think and act as business people focused on the future as opposed to the past.

Here is the second installment of tough decisions for newsagents which I covered in my presentation to the ANF Conference yesterday.  Here are the store level tough decisions for newsagents as I see them.

Allocate space based on financial return.  This may seem logical.  It does not happen in newsagencies.  Stores are often laid out by retail designers who have not been shown financial data to determine allocation.

Quit declining products before they hurt.  Newsagents hang onto stock long after it is useful  They need to quit old stock early.

Adding categories which fit your demographic.  Newsagents need to forget the rules and play outside the square, chasing new opportunities which connect with their businesses.

Get serious about business.  This is business after all.  A newsagency is not a retirement fund.  It is not a place to hibernate once you are made redundant.  It is business and ought to be treated as such.

While the points in part 1 are bigger picture and have greater ramifications, these store level challenges are also important for newsagents.

Take the issue of allocating space on financial return.  We get it wrong so often and allocate space because it is how it has always been.  We get it wrong so many times.

As part of my presentation at the ANF Convention yesterday I put on the table several tough decisions newsagents which I think need to address. I broke these down into network wide decisions, store level decisions and supplier related decisions. Here are the network wide tough decisions for newsagents as I see them.

Forget about territories. Newsagent commitment to territories is holding us back. It’s dark ages thinking. Unless we can ditch this we will run and be treated like second-class businesses.

Resolve the exit and entry conflict. We need to price our newsagencies for sale in a fairer way. Otherwise, we charge too much and leave incoming newsagents with a business which cannot support the price paid.

Drop the newsagency shingle. Is the term newsagent relevant any more? Maybe not. It ties us to our roots and since we have strayed so far from them maybe we stop calling our selves newsagencies and our businesses newsagencies. We are no longer agents after all.

Improve supply chain efficiency for us. Our supply chain is grossly inefficient at our end. We need to cut costs out so we can compete with others. We should stop pandering to out of date practices suppliers require us to follow such as paying freight on stock which we did not order and which has not performed.

There was more to the presentation than these points. I wanted to share them here to open a broader conversation on these points. Each is a challenge to our future. Each has the potential to block us growing.

Take the issue of territories. That newsagents still think in terms of territories is a major barrier to us thinking and acting as competitive business people. Territories were all but abolished in 1999 yet we cling to them in parts of our business sin a hope of protection. We are kidding ourselves.

As part of my session at the ANF Convention on the Gold Coast today I have asked newsagents and their suppliers this question.

What do we stand for?

This is a crucial question which newsagents must answer individually and collectively.

In my first conference session this morning, suppliers and newsagents agreed around convenience, being local and service. While these are good, I suspect we need to stand for something which drives cut through consumer attention. Some stores stand for range, others low prices every day and others the happiest shopping experience. These are unique selling propositions which can be represented and which guide every business decision.

How does being local guide our business decisions? Are our products local or our employees local? How does convenience guide our business decisions? Do we really make shopping easy? Are we open convenient hours? Are our shops laid out to facilitate convenient shopping?

What we stand for has to be so compelling and clear that it is reflected in every decision from shop design to staff training to product range to business marketing.

This is a conversation I would like to have with many newsagents – what do we stand for?