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crosswords

Promoting Annette Sym cover on Lovatts BIG

fhn_big_annette_sym1.JPGAnnette Sym graces the cover of the latest issue of Christine’s BIG Crossword from Lovatts.  Annette’s Symply Too Good Cookbooks have been sold in newsagencies for years.  We are promoting BIG and Annette’s books at the end of our busiest magazine aisle.  We also have BIG in the crossword section and in a pocket on the display near our main lottery counter.  Click on the image to see a larger version of the photo.  We were fortunate to have Annette at our store for a demonstration a few years back – she was very popular with our customers.

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Promoting Lovatts Mother’s Day crossword title

lovatts_mothers_day.JPGChristine’s BIG Crossword from Lovatts which went on-sale today is a special issue for Mother’s Day.  In addition to the usual location for BIG, we have it on display in the stand (as shown in the photo) next to our newspaper stand as well as part of our Mother’s day display in our card and gift department.  We know that promoting seasonally connected issues of magazines can achieve a lift in sales when the promotion is outside their usual location.

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Crossword magazines for Easter

frank_easter_lovatts.JPGWe have the Easter themed issue of Lovatts Big crossword displayed with Easter products.  Anything to introduce crosswords to new customers.  Obsessing about small opportunities is how we demonstrate our magazine specialist status.  That’s what newsagents are, right?

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Promoting crosswords with lotteries

fhn_lov_cwords.JPGWe are promoting the Lovatts special bonus pack at one of our lottery counters as part of a Brain Awareness Week promotion. This $9.50 pack includes two current titles and a How To booklet from Christine Lovatt. $16.00 value for $9.50. What I especially like is the header cards provided with the latest product from Lovatts. Their claim to be Australia’s BEST! reminds shoppers that not all crossword and puzzle produycts are the same.

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Valentines crossword tip

lovatts_valentines.JPGNewsagents with a Valentine’s Day display should grab copies of the latest issue of Lovatts BIG Crossword magazine and place this appropriately in the display.  The Valentine’s Day themed cover is bright and sure to be noticed – it is certainly too good and too topical to leave languishing in the crossword section while you’re busy pushing Valentine’s Day.

Bringing magazine product into a seasonal display such as this is important because it reminds the irregular customers who visit for Valentine’s Day (and other seasons) that you see other categories of products too.

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Promoting crossword magazines to lottery customers

fhn_cwrod_front.JPGWe are promoting crossword titles on a stand leading into the counter from where we handle the majority of our lottery sales.  Starting from the left, we have the Lovatts full size titles followed by a column of smaller format Lovatts titles.  In the middle we have two columns of the Women’s Weekly Puzzle Book which came out yesterday.  This is followed with a variety of small format crossword titles and a column of Puzzler titles.

Our reasoning for choosing crosswords is that it is the holiday time and people who do not usually do crossowrds might be looking for some low-cost entertainment.

This promotion is in addition to the column of crosswords we have next to our women’s weeklies and our regular crossword category.

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How much sudoku is too much?

sudoku_titles.JPGHow many sudoku titles is too many?  As the photo shows, we currently have eleven sudoku titles at our Forest Hill store.  We often have more than that.  Between 60% and 70% of our sales come from one title – Super Sudoku from Lovatts.  We do not need most of all of these other titles.  I am certain that if two thirds of the titles were cut, our total revenue from sudoku titles would not be affected.

The Australian magazine marketplace is flooded with UK and US imports.  They are sent to us because there is no risk.  We provide access to our space and our labour for free.  We even pay for shrinkage, theft.  We carry the risk.  This flooding of an already well satisfied, saturated even, market is something the ACCC could look at.  Especially given that small business enwsagents are the victims.  This plays out to a consumer cost because it impacts on the services we can offer and on our very viability.

As comments here over the last few weeks show, it is difficult for newsagents to cut titles from their product mix.  Many who have tried end up giving up and just accept the dumping as evidenced in the number of sudoku titles in my newsagency. 

I’d like to see a small working party established between Australian publishers and several newsagents to formulate a joint strategy on this issue.  Nothing fancy – meet online, gather data (which is easy to get) and develop a position paper which could form the basis of a submission on dumping to the ACCC.  I’d start in the crosswords area because it is an easy target and rife with dumping.

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How to sell more crossword magazines

crossweekly.JPGIf you want to sell more crossword titles, place a selection of titles from the category next to your women’s weeklies section. The photo shows our display at Forest Hill on Saturday. This space in a high traffic area to your target demographic will work, crossword sales will increase.

We know from UK newsagent sales data that crosswords outperform our sales here – this may be due to their location next to women’s weeklies.

Newsagent magazine benchmark data I have for more then 100 newsagencies indicates that crosswords should account for between 6% and 8% of total magazine sales. Newsagents aggressively pursuing magazine growth are achieving unit sales increases of 10% and more year on year.

Here are some tips for how we manage our approach to co-location:

  • Create the space by compressing slower moving categories further along in the display.
  • Only use this found space for Lovatts and Puzzler titles.
  • Put Lovatts titles next to each other and the same with Puzzler titles – don’t mix the brands.
  • Place titles so they colour contrast – for example, don;t put two titles with green covers next to each other.
  • Know your demographic in selecting titles. For example, if you aree in an older area, be sure to include the Lovatts Large Print product.
  • Use the first column – otherwise you may confuse browsers.
  • Place the same number of each issue in each pocket – this quickly shows if there has been movement from this space.
  • Remember to update the titles with new product.
  • Rotate the titles weekly.
  • Use the whole column and flat stack area for crosswords.

If you try this, please let me know how you go.

We have tremendous opportuniies in our magazine department since most other retailers do not have or range or our space. The tips in this blog post about crosswords are all about us demonstrating our range, showing off our point of difference.

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The problem with overseas crossword titles

os_crosswords.JPGNewsagents must take action on overseas crossword titles.  All three magazine distributors, Gotch, Network and NDD are supplying us with these titles.  Collectively, overseas crossword titles perform appallingly.   This performance is driven by having too many titles on offer.

Given that the distributors seem unable to resolve this problem, the only option is to tell one or two of them I no longer want overseas crossword product from them.  This will leave me with selection from one distributor and, hopefully, better sell through rates from a smaller range.  Based on performance, I am likely to drop NDD and Network (except for Puzzler titles which perform well).

The only alternative is for distributors to agree to a pay for performance model.  If a crossword title has a sell through of lower than 50% they pay me a service fee. This has been put before and rejected.

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Crossword competition hots up

crossw_apr08.JPGIt is good to see the heightened competition between the Puzzler and Lovatts brands in newsagencies. 

The fight for the best shelf space, in-store promotions and counter offers for crossword / puzzle titles is healthy and provides newsagents with choices they would otherwise not have.

Puzzler and Lovatts dominate a strong category for newsagents and the heightened competition between them can only grow the success of the category.  Smart newsagents will review their space allocation for crossword / puzzle titles and find ways to have more facings seen by more eyeballs.

In each of my stores, outside of the traditional crossword / puzzle display, we have key titles from Puzzler and Lovatts on display next to or very near women’s weekly titles such as New Idea and Woman’s Day.

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Lovatts sales rankings success

cross_oct26.JPGWe heard this week that newsXpress Forest Hill is ranked #7 nationally and #2 in Victoria for sales of Lovatts titles. The Lovatts brand dominates the crossword and puzzle space and we have made a concerted effort around this category for several years. That effort is paid off in these rankings – both are way above our overall state and national magazine sales rankings. I’d put our success down to obsession with the catgeory and smart use of technology – our in-store actions are data driven.

newsXpress stores accounted for seven of the top sixteen newsagency outlets for Lovatts product. Newspower had five, Nextra three and one was unaligned to a marketing group. I appreciate Lovatts tracking sales and reporting at the marketing group level – nothing like a bit of health competition.

I see crosswords as a crucial category for newsagents. Done well, they demonstrate a point of difference to a very loyal and cost effective consumer – they are a honey pot around which you can build other success. The key is to carry a broad range yet ensure that the magazine distributors do not load you with foreign titles which are dumped here and soak up too much real-estate.

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Overseas crosswords drain cash

returns.JPGThe photo shows one of several stacks of overseas crossword titles which arrived in our newsagency today from magazine distributor NDD. We have advised NDD that we do not wish to receive overseas crossword titles from them yet they continue to supply us. Today’s supply has a retail value of $404.80. While we are early returning all of them, the magazine returns processing being what it is we are likely to be out of pocket to the tune of $303.60 for at least a month.

NDD has data which shows that these titles will not sell; sufficiently to justify what they have sent. There is no data based justification for their action. Supply can only be based on the cash-flow requirements of NDD.

If I extrapolate the cost of these dud titles from NDD today across all newsagents, I’d suggest that the cost is in the order of several hundred thousand dollars – money sucked out of newsagents under false pretences. Maybe I am wrong. I was asked about this at the end of one of my presentations at the ANF conference last week and made a similar point about overseas crosswords. The NDD representative in the audience did not challenge me.

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