Successful stickers
I hate spinners in retail but this sticker stand and another from the same supplier (Fun Products) works a treat.
In the last year we have reduced our sticker range back to one supplier – cut our stock investment, reduced floor space and increased sales. Four spinners down to two.
To generate $6,000 a year from one quarter of a square metre, as the two remaining stands do for us, is an excellent result – our overall goal is $8,000 a square metre and this beats that.
By reducing range we are able to more easily move the stickers, as they need to be, to ensure impulse purchase.
Reusing old stands
Everyone does it so this photo will not be that special for some readers. The stand for our Christmas hats and reindeer is a recycled battery stand.
Simon, the manager of our Frankston newsagency, came up with the idea. He wanted something with visual impact at eye level so rather than toss the stand he created this. Cool huh? It’s working a treat!
At this time of the year in newsagencies all bets are off in terms of corporate look and feel. Our excellent traffic demands we fill our stores with opportunities to maximise the potential of the traffic.
The Age losing identity
The Beaurepairs Direct ad stuck on the front page of The Age newspaper today obscures a chunk of the name of the newspaper.
This is a disappointing win for the advertising sales department and bean counters over what should be a proud newspaper masthead.
In the US and Europe newspaper editors would not allow this to happen and if it did, there would be a public outcry.
Music magazine of the future?
Check out idiomag for a new model in music magazines. As their website says:
idiomag is a high-quality, digital magazine currently personalized to each individual user’s interests in music. It keeps them “in the know” about the artists and genres they love, as well as finding new artists that they might like. It includes feature articles, reviews, galleries and interactive elements in an engaging format that users can access whenever and wherever they want it. Users can read the article, play the track, view the video, check for gigs, and go off to buy the mp3 or ticket or share their views with their friends.
We utilise all the knowledge this generates about our users and their interests to deliver the most relevant experience and to target the most compelling advertising.
Very impressive. Their Facebook integration is an excellent example of using web 2.0 social media to connect friends based on music stories they are reading.
No expense has been spared at this Australia Post corporate store. Two strips of tinsel in the front windows.Tower Systems strengthens support for newsagents
I am pleased to announce two new management appointments within Tower Systems which will benefit newsagents.
Gavin Williams has been promoted to the role of General Manager and joins our executive team of Norman Partington (Group Financial Controller) and myself (Managing Director). Gavin’s new role has a broad focus and carries senior management responsibility for – installation, training, support, development and admin. For the last six years he has managed our software development team and managed key projects within our business. Gavin joined Tower Systems ten years ago in a support role having worked at our newsagency on a part time basis while at university.
Jonathan Tay has been promoted to the role of Software Development Manager. Jonathan has been with Tower Systems for three years, serving as one of our most senior installation and training specialists. He has also played a key role in testing of updates. Jonathan joined us after successfully completing his Bachelor of Computing at Monash University. In this new role, Jonathan has responsibility for managing our design and development teams, product QA and change management.
Gavin and Jonathan are ideal candidates for their respective new roles. Their knowledge and skill extends our strategic management capabilities and will help us make significant advances in 2008.
I feel most fortunate that we have been able to fill two crucial roles from within the Tower business.
We are currently recruiting to fill the vacancy Jonathan’s promotion creates within our installation and training team.
Newsagents help shift magazine consumers online
Several craft titles this month have what appears to be a flyer promoting the free magazine which comes with each title. It’s only when you take out the cardboard flyer that you see it’s not really there to promote the free magazine. No, this flyer is there to try and get readers (or browsers) of the magazine to visit their website and sign up for a free digital edition of the magazine.
While publishers are at liberty to make any offer they choose inside their pages, that they are doing this on the back of newsagent generosity is, for me, a question of ethics.
Newsagent fund these products into our shops. We pay for them before they are sold and have to wait sometimes two months to get a refund on what has not sold. We pay for the labour to keep them tidy and we pay for the titles stolen. We only make money if we sell the product.
This flyer can be seen by browsers and I suspect this is what the publishers would like. It is certainly part of their pitch to move readers from the print to an online edition – and I am part of their push to achieve this.
Some magazines will move online and cease print publication. It is inevitable. Publishers who want to achieve this should work with newsagents and respect our efforts on their behalf. Going behind our backs is disrespectful.
I note that I only found the flyer when it had been removed from a magazine.
The titles, by the way, are: Papercraft, Beads etc, Downunder Quilts and Scrapbooking for keeps.
The long Christmas
Newsagents received House & Garden magazine on Monday of this week. We have been told it is to be on sale for two months. Smart newsagents will push hard to sell out in the next two weeks because who would buy a Christmas themed title after Christmas? Such a long on-sale is nuts. What this really does is stop newsagents returning for a credit prior to February which means it could be the end of March before we get our money back. What is this long on-sale period other than a boost to the cashflow of ACP Magazines?
Property and investment magazines
We have replaced our display of gree magazines at one of our counters with this display of property and investment titles.
Property and investment is an often forgotten category in newsagencies, relegated to second class real-estate. We are hoping, through the display, to remind people that we have a broad offering.
We know from our sales data that the work we have been putting into this category elsewhere in the business is delivering above industry benchmark growth – proving there is a good market in our newsagency.
While these displays are extra work, they payoff is the reinforcement that we are magazine specialists.
Pen cabinet difference
We have a good range of premium pens in our newsXpress Forest Hill store. They are also in our card shop within a shop. We also have a good range of premium pens in our Sophie Randall shop in the same centre. It’s the extraordinary difference in the shopping experience which I want to blog about today.
In the newsagency time is an issue. I wish it were not, but it is. The shop has a high frequency of medium to low value transactions. Our average basket is just over $6.00. Lottery, newspaper and magazine customers tend to not want to wait for more than a few seconds for service. Premium pen sales take time: we need to unlock the cabinet and assist with the selection. Rents and wages being what they are we don’t run with sufficient loose staff to easily afford assisting a pen customer without it slowing the main counter.
In the Sophie Randall store we experience a different beat. Customers are not in a rush. They will wait at the counter while we serve a pen customer making a careful choice. This difference in attitude – in customers and in us – between the two businesses makes the premium pen category a better fit in the Sophie Randall store.
That is not to say we ought to get out of pens in the newsagency. Rather, I am saying that we are not getting it as right as we could. We need to create a premium pen display story which serves the shopping needs of newsagency customers more effectively without overburdening the sales team.
While what we have now would be considered best practice based on what I see in newsagencies around the country, I know from the Sophie experience that we are losing sales in the newsagency because of the conflict between the needs of a premium open customer and the bread and butter traffic customers in our newsagency. People would see that we’re busy and walk away. The only way to address that now is to have a spare person full time on the floor, loose. Frankly we are not big enough to justify that expense.
Future of newspapers
For an interesting conversation about the future of newspapers, read Sad Newspapers, a blog post by Jeff Jarvis and the comments which followed. It’s about two newspapers in Detroit and how thin they have become.
We are insulated here in Australia from the trouble newspapers in the US and some European countries are experiencing because of our strong home delivery penetration and the control exerted by newspaper publishers over the supply chain.
Tarting up fishing
I am surprised at the cover of this National Australian Fishing Annual. Maybe the have used a sexy, even suggestive (look at the fish), shot before. Compared to other fishing titles, this one would look more at home elsewhere in the category. There are more photos like this in the magazine. Maybe they are chasing a new demographic to fishing. I don’t mind as I’m only the retailer. However, there is a valid questions as to where to place the title – if they are chasing a different demographic. Guys looking for bikini clad girls playing with fish will not be looking in the fishing section.
Lovatts crossword up sell
For days ago we placed a column of Lovatts crossword and puzzle titles next to Australian Women’s Weekly. While we have done this before with success, this time the results have been excellent – especially with the Christmas themed title. We are tracking a 25% sales increase for the crossword product off an already strong base. The bump from Wednesday to today is obvious on the sales graph.
We have two promotional columns like this near AWW and the weeklies.
We will leave this display in place for a week before replacing it with another – probably Christmas themed crafts.
Christmas badge rack
One of our youngest team members at Forest Hill, Mel, came up with a great use for the old stand we had for numbered birthday badges. She dressed it with these Christmas badges which light up and, now, our old stand which was gathering dust is front and centre at the counter and working for us.
The badges were lost in our Christmas display. Now, at the counter, customers see them and want to get in early.
Well done Mel!
Lottery syndicate wallpaper
We have wallpapered the wall in front of our lottery counter to promote our syndicates in the end of year superdraw. We do this with all superdraws. It works well.
Syndicate sales are rarely single sales. In addition to multiple syndicate tickets, customers usually pick up a regular ticket or two.
The idea behind the wall is to create a sense of celebration – the end of the year and all that.
We have created the collateral for the promotion ourselves. While Tattersalls will continue to judge us only on name badges, up-selling and placement of their posters, we feel that unique effort such as our wall – and similar promotions other proactive agents run – ought to be part of the Tattersalls measurement. It is frustrating that they measure agents down to the lowest common denominator – but that happens often in the newsagency channel.
ACP buys half OK! magazine
The Australian is reporting today that PBL Media, owners of ACP Magazines, has purchased half of the local version of OK! OK! has quickly carved out success in the tough weekly magazine marketplace as I have blogged previously.
While it’s a 50/50 joint venture, I’d expect ACP to lead on the distribution side – making a tougher retail real-estate battle for Pacific Magazines. They need either a much stronger Famous or a new offer in the marketplace.
As the report in The Australian says, the major weeklies are having a tough time and that OK! is bucking that trend with sales growth of 18.8% year on year. That’s what I am seeing – strong growth. Hence our decision to allocate more real-estate in the high traffic areas.
I am disappointed about this move from a newsagent perspective because of what it means for competition. However, for ACP it makes sense. I hope that OK! continues as is because it ain’t broke.
Christmas marketing tips for newsagents – 2007
In what has become a happy tradition, click here for my 2007 Christmas marketing tips for newsagents and other retailers. Print them off and share them around.
I was pretty chuffed to hear from Jurek Leon a couple of days ago that he has included my 2006 tips at his Christmas Tips for Retailers website.
Here is my 2007 list:
1. FOCUS ON HERO PRODUCTS
Have one or two hero categories in the lead up to Christmas. Make a bold visual statement at price points which represent value. Plan to become known in the district as the go to place for these products. You do this by having the best range at a good price and displaying it accordingly.
2. THANK YOUR CUSTOMERS
Write a note of thanks to your customers and place copies in bags. Thank them for their support and share what this means to you and families supported by your business. Be personal.
3. HOST AN EVENT
Host a VIP shoppers night, a 24 hour Christmas Celebration Sale or a tree lighting night. Bring in Santa and create some theatre around the start of the Christmas season in your shop. Maybe do with other shops in your area. Offering free Santa photos is a good way to draw in families.
4. REMEMBER TEACHERS, NEIGHBOURS, FRIENDS AND OTHERS
It is the once a year gifts which can be challenging. Consider a display of gifts for teachers, another for neighbours etc. The easier you make it the more people will buy from you.
5. DONATION BOX FOR A LOCAL CHARITY
Talk to a local charity and offer to put a collection box at your door for customers to make a product donation which fits the needs of the charity. Include photos of work the charity does. Invite the charity to let its contacts know what you are doing.
6. CHRISTMAS ART
Choose a theme and invite entries in your very own art competition. Give the winner a nice trophy and a gift voucher. Let the local paper know. A good theme would be Christmas in xxx where xxx is your suburb – bring out a local connection.
7. EMBRACE THE SEASON FROM YOUR DOOR
Everything about your shop must feel like Christmas. Music. Uniforms. Stock on display. Flyers. The moment customers step inside your shop they need to feel Christmas. Design your store layout for Christmas success, let it do your selling for you.
8. CREATE A TOP TEN
People love lists. Top Ten gifts under $10. Top 10 gifts for dad. Top 10 gifts for mum.
9. EMBRACE THE SEASON FROM YOUR HEART
While Christmas means different things to people, it is, overall, a happy season. Work with your team on ways to embrace and maintain a connection with happiness. Your generosity of spirit toward your team can set the tone for their generosity of spirit toward customers.
10. REST
Schedule enough time for rest. Recharge and make your days more successful.
11. COUNTDOWN
Create a H U G E handmade countdown calendar – behind the counter. 20 sleeps to go, 19 etc.
12. SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE
Christmas is stressful for shoppers. Roster extra staff to reduce customer stress.
Footnote: I first published this at the Tower Systems blog. I repeat it here for those only reading here.
More music cards welcome
It is great to see more card companies introducing music cards into their everyday ranges. It’s enjoyable hearing songs play out when the cards are browsed. One challenge is how we display these cards since they are bigger and thicker. Another is how to uniformly show that they are music cards – especially when you have more than one supplier represented in the range.
Lies from POS Solutions Director
Bernard Zimmermann, Director of POS Solutions, in a blog post today demonstrates why his company is losing newsagent customers.
He says he was approached by the herald and Weekly Times (News Ltd in Victoria) for help switching Tower DOS software users to POS Solutions. This is not true.
He says the POS Solutions Windows software is the most complaint in the industry as measured by magazine distributors and newspaper publishers. This is not true.
He says that every month newsagents switched from from Tower Systems to POS Solutions. This is not true.
Tower Systems has four newsagencies in Victoria running its DOS software. H&WT did not ask POS to help. Bernard has lied, again.
Bernard has lied in his blog post in an effort to hide the humiliation of his company in the latest moves to help newsagents switch from the old non-compliant POS DOS software.
Bernard was in the room and a year ago when industry leaders including News Ltd executives, ANF executives, software company owners and newsagents debated several times the POS Dos problem at a two day conference in Melbourne. He received feedback from newsagents and others when the failings of his POS DOS software and his company’s support for newsagents more generally was debated at the ACP Connections conference in Queensland last year.
Bernard Zimmermann knows that his POS DOS software is the problem yet he uses his blog post to create noise in an effort to divert attention.
My concern is not about Tower but about newsagents. For years, recent years, newsagents paid tens of thousands of dollars for the POS DOS software – long after it was not compliant and long after DOS was dead. Their collective investment in DOS technology is wasted. The cost to newsagents of this con is enormous. This is what I hope the industry avoids by ignoring POS.
Newsagents ought to shop around carefully. Get the claims made by sales people proven. Visit the software companies and see their operation for yourself. Find out why newsagents are ditching POS Solutions.
Losing the newsagency
I was in a major shopping centre yesterday and could not find a newsagency. It seems the landlord decided to not renew the lease some months ago and has not let space for a newsagency since. The only outlets for magazines are supermarkets, Big W and newspapers the supermarkets and coffee chains. Lottery products are sold from a kiosk, cards are in several outlets and stationery is, well, everywhere.
All that is missing is the newsagency shingle.
I wonder what this says to newsagents about how their businesses are viewed by major shopping centre landlords. I wonder, too, what it says to consumers – do they miss a newsagency in the centre, are they being trained to shop elsewhere?
I also wonder how newspaper and magazine publishers feel about this. There was a time some years ago when a newspaper publi9sher would not allow their products to be sold in a shopping centre where a newsagency did not exist.
Is this the newsagency of the future? Extinct? I don’t think so, certainly not broadly speaking. I suspect this is just a rogue landlord.
News Ltd acts on non-complaint POS Solutions s/w
The folks at the Herald and Weekly Times (the Vic. arm of News Ltd) approached me months ago looking for help to address the 180 or so Victorian newsagents using the old, out of date and non-compliant POS Solutions DOS software. This group of 180 is holding back H&WT business development plans.
News Ltd, to their credit, has said enough is enough. They want newsagents to switch to compliant industry standard software.
We agreed to help and put together an offer which helps newsagents and helps News Ltd. It is based around the same software News Ltd has purchased from Tower Systems for their own use and the same software already chosen by 1,400 other newsagents.
Newsagents use the Tower software for home deliveries, point of sale, magazine management, marketing and business management. Tower Newsagents are the most IT compliant in the industry – as measured by magazine distributors and newspaper publishers.
Victorian newsagents switching from POS Solutions DOS software to the Tower Windows software can access a one year $10,000 interest free loan from H&WT. If your hardware is up to scratch it won’t cost anywhere near that. The starting price is $5,495 (incl GST) which includes software (matching the licences you have of the POS software), on site training and two years of support.
Close to 200 newsagents have switched from POS Solutions to Tower Systems over the last two years. Plenty more have signed to make the switch over the next eight weeks.
My estimate is that POS Solutions has about 700 newsagent users nationally. This figure comes from material prepared POS Solutions which claims 1,100 users with around 400 of these being non-newsagents.
Disclosure: I own Tower Systems.
Strong calendar sales
Calendar season is going great for us. sales are strong with no discount to be seen. After a disasterous 2005/06 season when we joined the discount bandwagon we regrouped and in 2006/07 did good business in the lead-up to Christmas. This year we are tracking even better numbers.
While some customers ask if we are discounting, few walk away looking for a cheaper calendar elsewhere. The keys are range and service – no surprise there. If you have the special interest calendar people want, a couple of dollars makes no difference.
Two years on from our horror year, it’s clear that a good range well cared for is more important and more valuable for the business than discounting early in the season.
Steve Irwin tribute New Idea on stamp sheet
Kudos to the folks at New Idea and their participation with Australia Post in the new Steve Irwin tribute postage stamps. The sheet includes the commemorative cover of New Idea featuring Steve Irwin and his two children. This is the second stamp feature for New Idea and the second time a magazine has featured on a sheet of stamps. The first was when New Idea was named 2007 Magazine of the Year.