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

Author: Mark Fletcher

New approach to managing magazine supply

Newsagents Direct Distribution and Tower Systems are proud to announce the most significant development for newsagents in the magazine supply model in decades.

Thanks to new software and back office processes developed over eight months through a joint project with NDD, Tower Newsagents will soon have access to a supply model which more closely matches their specific needs.

The Tower software provides NDD with category level data which enables NDD to benchmark at the store level and regionally.

Mark Darton, General Manager of NDD said “Until now, like the other distributors, we haven’t had the tools to assess total market trends on such a timely basis. This initiative provides visibility and will assist retailer, distributor and publisher decisions.”

Mark Fletcher, Managing Director of Tower Systems said “No one profits from unsold magazines. For the first time, the allocations team in a magazine distribution business will have visibility of the data they need to drive more beneficial allocations for Australian newsagents.”

The NDD/Tower initiative has been running in two newsagencies for several months. Next week, the trial will be extended to fifty newsagencies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Mark Fletcher (Tower Systems) 0418 321 338; Martyn Alberry (NDD) 02 9381 3102.

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magazine distribution

More on the future of journalism

Media Watch on the ABC last night presented excellent coverage of the future of journalism conference in Sydney last week. You can catch the show online here. Every newsagent in Australia ought to watch this as the discussion goes to the core of our model. If ever we needed a a push to break out from our complacency and belief that our existing suppliers will guide us to a bright future this is it.

I despair some days at the ignorance of some newsagents about the future of the core products of newspapers and magazines – and when I say future, I mean longer term. We cannot ignore the trend in the US and UK. While our model is different, Australia is not that different to permit us to ignore the trends overseas.

When I talk about disruption impacting traditional print media some tell me to stop talking it down, they want me to stop.  My words will not alter what will happen.  However, I hope they alter now newsagents embrace change.

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Media disruption

Victorian budget cover-up

afr_may07.JPGThe front page of today’s Australian Financial Review newspaper has a garish post-it type ad stuck over the photo of Victorian Treasurer John Lenders demonstrating again that the advertising department in Fairfax has more clout than editorial.

This demonstrates little respect for the story, the photographer or for the newspaper itself.

The AFR is better than the damage on today’s front cover demonstrates.

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newspaper masthead desecration

Supanews mediation in Tuggerah dispute

I’ve maintained contact with Corie and Tammy Schwarzl, the former Supanews franchisees from Tuggerah in NSW who found themselves in dispute with the company a year ago.   They head to mediation tomorrow in their Supreme Court case against the old and new Supanews structures.  If this does not resolve the situation then they are off to court again on May 15.  My understanding is that a defence is yet to be filed in the matter, making Corie and Tammy’s preparation for the case challenging.

Court is difficult for anyone, even more so for individuals taking on a big business.  Newsagents may want to wish Corie and Tammy all the best.

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Newsagency challenges

Coles makes a pharmacy push

pharma_direct.JPGWith a Coles Online grocery delivery at the office this morning we received this catalogue for Pharmacy Direct, the online pharmacy business purchased by Coles a while back. Maybe Coles is finally leveraging the online pharmacy business through their broader business. The catalogue is a reminder to local pharmacists that the supermarket giant is committed to playing on their patch. It is also a lesson in how to leverage one part of the business for another – how many distribution newsagents leverage home delivery customers for other business?

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newsagency marketing

Artline, the pen more people pinch

artline.JPGGraffiti artists love Artline markers. Theft is a problem. I wonder if they steal them because of the tag on the Artline TV commercial and website:

Artline, the pen more people pinch.

While it may sound churlish, this tag line is nuts. It’s attempt at humor is lost on me. Yes, Artline pens are stolen – especially the thicker markers. Graffiti artists love them and prefer not to have to pay for them. Why promote that they are stolen? It is offensive.

The theft of Artline pens is such a problem that we have moved them several times and they now reside behind the counter. I’m a newsagent carrying the cost of theft of Artline product in my shops. While theft is my problem, I don’t need people being encouraged, no matter how indirect that encouragement may be. The Artline folks ought to review their advertising strategy and think of their retail partners.

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Stationery

The next challenge for Bill Express

Newsagents angry at their treatment by Bill Express are closing bank accounts in order to stop the company sweeping their account for the lease payment on the Bill Express equipment. Newsagents I have spoken with tell me they are taking this drastic step because of the lack of a response from the company to their request to terminate the lease agreement on the basis of a breach by Bill Express.

Bill Express was already losing revenue through newsagents leaving their network for ePay terminals or the PC based eziPass (established by me). The loss of equipment lease revenue will hit harder.

The company is also losing revenue because of network downtime. Around 500 newsagencies were down for most of this last weekend. Calls to the Help Desk went unanswered.

Yesterday, the company emailed newsagents with what can only be described as a big stick communication about various contractual issues. Here is an excerpt:

Q. This is illegal and unfair!

A. At Bill Express we gave very careful thought to the changes before making them. In the end, we simply couldn’t continue to run a sustainable business without them.

When the subsidies and rebates were put in place five years ago, they were only ever intended to be temporary.

The agreement terms have been in place for five years. They are well understood by the ANF who have consistently reviewed the agreements. The facts here are simple: you entered into Rental and Merchant Agreement with TBI and Bill Express respectively for a period up to five years. This is much like a mobile phone contract. If you wish to prematurely terminate the contract, there is obviously a cost associated with doing so.

Our legal advice is that we are acting within the terms of the Merchant and Rental Agreement(s).

You are welcome, of course to get independent legal advice.

Today’s Australian Financial Review has a story which does not add to knowledge of the situation as it primarily regurgitates the Bill Express ASX announcement. FN Arena, a financial news outlet has more in their online report yesterday.

With most newsagents losing money from Bill Express, it is no wonder they are angry at the company, those who recommended the service and themselves. Their actions as a result of this anger are a story the media ought to look at.

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Bill Express

Seeing three Real Living incarnations

real_living_three.JPGSeeing double early in the morning is not unusual but seeing triple? I really thought something was wrong. Three different versions of Real Living, who odd is that?

One is the regular copy, another is the value pack and the third is the same as the first but with a free set of notepads.

I’ve see the value pack before from ACP magazines for other titles. I’m not a fan. I think having two versions of a title on the shelf is confusing for the consumer. Also, how should we merchandise this to leverage the offer – and if we did this would it hurt traditional sales.

I don’t know what the deal is with three versions. We figured it deserved a display at the counter so that’s what the team did. I’m not sure if this achieves what ACP would like – looking at the display as a consumer it is confusing.

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magazines

Magazine robs newsagents

gg.JPGGuerrilla Guide Recording and Production has an on sale period of eight months. How ridiculous is that. Okay, it might sell out before them but I suspect not. This segment of the magazine department is not known for strong sales in most newsagencies. If a magazine publisher or distributor wants to take my shelf space for eight months they ought to pay rent. And while I am on this title – the $19.95 cover price is a problem. The risk of theft being what it is all I need is one copy stolen and the title is a waste of time. The terms for Guerrilla Guide Recording and Production – long shelf life and high cover price – are a good example of an abuse of newsagents. I’ll be returning unsold stock this month, it’s not worth the risk.

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magazines

Bill Express suspends for two weeks

Bill Express requested the ASX suspend their shares for a further two weeks this morning. What is not clear from the announcement is the status of Optus mobile phone recharge on the Bill Express / Dialtime network. The status is complicated by some newsagents reporting that they cannot access Bill Express / Dialtime through their in-store terminals.

Like many newsagents, in my stores we have contingency plans in place and have purchased Optus prepaid cards for sale to customers. Â This product along with what we can access online from our eziPass platform helps us maintain satisfaction for most customers.

The challenges faced by newsagents through this uncertainty are not dissimilar to those being faced by Bill Express and OnQ shareholders as the their recently appointed corporate adviser investigates the complex related party structure inside the businesses. In each case, the value of what we have is outside our control and is changing rapidly under our feet.

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Bill Express

Meeting with newsagents

Tower Systems is hosting a  national series of face to face (free) newsagent user meetings starting this. We will demonstrate new features in the latest update of lour software, provide free training and answer technical questions.  Bookings are made by email: bookings@towersystems.com.au.

  • Hobart – Thursday, May 8 – 10am
  • Launceston – Friday, May 9 – 10am
  • Canberra – Monday, May 12 – 2pm
  • Melbourne – Tuesday, May 13 – 10am
  • Geelong – Tuesday, May 13 – 2pm
  • Adelaide – Wednesday, May 14 – 10am
  • Albury – Thursday, May 15 – 10am
  • Wollongong – Tuesday, May 20 – 10am
  • Sydney (Camperdown) – Tuesday, May 20 – 2pm
  • Penrith – Wednesday, May 21 – 2pm
  • Newcastle – Thursday, May 22 – 10am
  • Gold Coast – Tuesday, May 27 – 10am
  • Brisbane – Tuesday, May 27 – 2pm
  • Sunshine Coast – Wednesday, May 28 – 10am
  • Cairns – Thursday, May 29 – 10am
  • Darwin – Tuesday, June 3 – 10am
  • Perth – Wednesday, June 4 – 10am

These events are available free to all of our users as well as those contemplating using our software. Several of us will be at each meeting covering management, technical and sales.

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About us

Refreshing weekly magazines

weeklies_0508.JPGWe have adjusted our display of weekly and top selling women’s magazines at Forest Hill.

The column of crossword titles next to Australian Women’s Weekly has been lifted and put into two rows across five titles.  Replacing the crossword column is a selection of women’s health titles such as Women’s Health and Good Health.  Above Notebook we have allocated three pockets to environment related titles – currently these display G and Real Simple.

We refresh the crossword and health titles weekly based on new product arrivals.  The overall approach will be re-jigged again within two months.

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magazines

Think Big magazine and space

think_big.JPGThink Big is a magazine about leadership. I like it, a lot. What I don’t like is its physical size – it’s wider than most magazines and encroaches on titles placed next to it – as the photo shows.

This is a small but important point. For decades newsagents used to fan magazine out, almost on top of each other – because of lack of space. Now, we have allocated more space to enable us to display the full width of a cover. This is the best practice approach. Think Big makes that harder, they are stealing some of the next magazine’s space.

While they could argue that they are not the only wider-than-usual title, it’s them I am writing about here. They could also say the magazine is designed for display outside regular magazine racking, few newsagents can afford that.

My message for publishers is – understand the limitations of retail space allocation and design product which leverages this to your advantage without taking space from others.

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magazines

Passive marketing in retail

mday_mag.JPGThis booklet from Coles promotes Mother’s Day activities and items they sell to support these. It’s good passive marketing. Coles produces one for each season – sometimes two seasons with the booklet flipped around when the new season kicks in (as they did at Easter). We try for something similar with our newsletter but it’s not the same since consumers shop a newsagency differently to a supermarket – we have not created the same checkout opportunity.

Newsagents did have something like this years ago – Nmag – it was well products but the content was too dominated by magazine related content and offering focus across other categories we sell.

Newsagencies have many connections with seasons and there is where a seasonal promotional publication like this would work. Take Mother’s Day – cards, magazines, gifts, even lottery products.

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newsagency marketing

All quiet on the future of journalism

The MEAA hosted a conference in Sydney on Thursday on The Future of Journalism. Crikey published a review as well as a report on a meeting with respected UK media commentator Roy Greenslade. Greenslade himself has blogged about the conference – be sure to read this as well as the comments.  But that’s about it. Nothing from what I can see in the mainstream press here in Australia.

In the UK and US, the conversation about the future of journalism is public and in the pages of newspapers and on mainstream media websites. Here, it appears to be the topic of which we do not speak, certainly not in the mainstream press.

From an Australian newsagency perspective, the future of journalism is important as there is cross-over in challenges facing journalism and newsagencies. I was hoping to read more about the take of journalists on the future of their craft and see how that applies to our channel.

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Media disruption

Mother’s Day card innovation

simson_mday.JPGIt’s is good to see card companies innovating with Mother’s Day. Not only are we seeing greater variety in captions (and therefore more card giving opportunities) but also in design. The card in the photo is from Simson and is certainly not your traditional Mother’s Day card – this on is all about shopping and fun. One customer point it out on the weekend, saying it was good to see a card which reflected some of the best times she had with her mother.

Seasons like Mother’s Day give newsagents an opportunity to extend our card range, and restate our place as the go to retail network for cards inn Australia. Research from card companies and others tells us that Australian consumers trust newsagents for major card giving occasions – this is why we cannot be half-assed about opportunities like Mother’s Day.

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Greeting Cards

View from the kitchen

view.JPGI was in the kitchen at our newsXpress Forest Hill store yesterday for the first time in a while and admired the view through the window. Looking down on the water … mmm, very inviting. For a second or two I thought it was real. Behind the stuck on photo of the beach and curtains in the same old concrete wall we’ve had for years. Oh well, it’s good to dream.

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About us

Media interest in Bill Express

The media interest in the difficulties of Bill Express is growing. I did three interviews yesterday with journalists writing pieces about the history of the network and the impact of the current situation on newsagents. This follows the Herald Sun and News Ltd interviews earlier in the week. I am finding journalists confused about how newsagents became involved with Bill Express and why we agreed to lease the equipment for $495 a month. There is also confusion in their minds about ePay, eziPass and even, for one chap, Ezipin.

The journalists are more interested in writing about the future of the public company than the impact on the newsagency channel and this is disappointing. Right now we have 3,500 outlets unable to sell Optus recharge vouchers. That is a huge story in my view – along with the story about the impact on country towns and in other locations where the newsagency is the go to place for recharge. This is one reason I am not so sure that Optus will stay off the Bill Express / Dialtime platform forever.

The other aspect of the interest from journalists which is interesting is about bill payment. Well, their lack of interest actually. They see it as yesterday’s news. I asked one journo and she said what’s the deal – I pay all my bills online.

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Bill Express

USB sticks as collectibles

hero_usb.JPGThe photo shows a small super-hero like figure I picked up at the trade show in Hong Kong earlier this week. At shows like this you are given many trinkets, pens, rulers and characters like this one.  But he’s different – remove his head and you see that he’s a USB stick.

The company behind this product makes personalised USB sticks as corporate giveaways.  They also make collectibles, especially around sporting teams.

So, we see USB sticks as a business tool.  They see USB sticks as fashion and fun.  This difference can be applied to many products in our newsagencies – we often treat and merchandise stationery as a chore when we cold treat and merchandise the department from a fashion and or fun perspective.  It would change the mindset of our customers just as this action hero changed how I look at USB sticks.

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Newsagency challenges

Great Mother’s Day poster

mother.JPGI saw this Mother’s Day poster in the window of a gift shop I passed in Hong Kong earlier this week. I like the simplicity, it works well against the visually noisy background of a gift shop. The blue backing on which it has been placed helps frame the poster – without it I would have missed it.

This Mother’s Day poster would work well in a newsagency – with so much colour in our shops, often even the best designed posters get lost. I like that it’s has flowers stuck on – the photo does not do these justice.

I think we get too caught up in making pretty posters for seasons and other promotional times and forget where they will be situated and what they compete with for attention.

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retail

Mum’s Bags from Darrell Lea

We have Darrell Lea’s Mum’s Bags at the front of our newsagency as part of our Mother’s Day offer. While they are visually attractive, they don’t pop as they have in years past. These Darrell Lea gift bags are an important part of the seasonal gift mix for us since the retailers around us play me-too with Cadbury products.

mday_dl.JPG

Excuse the average display on then table – our merchandising unit from Darrell Lea went missing.

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confectionary
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