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Ethics

To the person taking photos in my newsagency

Ask. Next time you want to take photos of products and displays, ask. Twice yesterday someone, a middle-aged male, walked around my newsagency taking photos. The first time as I approached him he fled. The second time he fled when a team member made eye contact with him.

If I take photos inside another shop I ask and if there is no one in authority to ask I do it openly. This guy was being sneaky, holding his phone camera close to his chest, positioning himself with his back to the counter where he could. He was photographing gift products and displays.

We get plenty of visitors and the majority ask if they can take photos and we agree.

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Ethics

Reusing a supplier stand can confuse newsagency shoppers

chupstandI was intrigued by the tins of Chupa Chups on the stand I noticed in a shop (not a newsagency) yesterday. On closer inspection I discovered that they were tins of shortbread biscuits on a Chupa Chup branded stand. The message was confusing.

If I was this retailer and I no longer had access to the Chupa Chup product for this stand and I wanted to reuse the stand – at the very least I’d remove the Chupa Chup branding.

Too often small business retailers including newsagents use stands for products they were not intended for. Take magazines in our channel, I often see Pacific titles in Bauer supplied stands and Bauer titles in Pacific supplied stands. Such misplacement of stock harms our suppliers and us.

We need to be more diligent about supplier supplied branded stand use. Suppliers spend money promoting our brand and if we work against this is dilutes what we can gain from their investment.

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Ethics

Serious questions surround another ANF promotion to newsagents

crimvidNewsagents this week received a fax purportedly sent by Crimvid, a supplier endorsed by the ANF. Click on the image to see the main page of the fax in detail.

Before I get to the fax itself, I’d like to raise the question of  how Crimvid got fax numbers for newsagents.

Did the ANF provide Crimvid with these? If this is the case, has the ANF breached the Australian Privacy Principles that came into effect on March 12, 2014.

The Australia Privacy Principles are clear and data cannot be used for a secondary purpose.

The ANF has newsagent contact data gathered for a specific purpose that does not include use by a third party.

Hence the question: where did Crimvid access the fax numbers of newsagents?

Now, to the fax itself. What a poorly written document. read the first paragraph and see for yourself.

  1. If they have thousands (000’s) of purchase orders from newsagents as they claim, why are they chasing more before they start manufacturing?
  2. Why are goods to be promoted for Easter related purchases yet to be manufactured?
  3. How can the ANF be encouraged to see Crimvid is delivering significant earning potential when there is no data yet supporting this?
  4. What’s the ANF involvement here. It owes all newsagents transparency on its commercial relationship with Crimvid.
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Ethics

Stolen newspapers challenge distribution newsagents

Every newsagent who owns or has owned a newspaper distribution business has experienced the theft of home delivered newspapers. I experienced it years ago before I sold my delivery run. In one instance a resident at a church run retirement village was regularly stealing the paper delivered to a fellow resident.

I know of people who have been caught who say it’s a victimless crime. It’s not, of course. The newsagent carries a considerable cost – replacing stolen product, making good the situation and often soaking abuse from the customer.

I’m opening the topic here for discussion following recent comments on another threat.  Over to you…

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Ethics

Charity connections attract the ethical shopper

charityMore and more shoppers are looking for products that do good beyond the products. In the gift space especially, shoppers are looking for products that support charities. While we have seen this for years through programs like the Hallmark support for breast cancer which has raised over $1 million, support through other products has been less obvious. A charity connection can drive shopper traffic and engagement.

Worldwide Orphans is a charity supported by the Bunnies By The Bay range from Jasnor. The charity connection gives shoppers another reason to consider purchasing this product. I gives us a reason to feature the range outside the plush department. The more reasons we can give shoppers to consider products the better.

Easter is a good time to feature this range given the range of bunnies available.

Retailers like The Body Shop own this space of ethical retail. There is no reason why we can’t. In each department of today’s newsagency – stationery, magazines, gifts, plush, toys, cards – we have access to products with charity connections. We could leverage these so that our businesses make bold and clear statements about doing good and providing our customers the opportunity to play a part in doing good.

FYI, Jasnor has not asked me to write about this.

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Ethics

Are newsagents being sent consignment goods they did not order?

npocproductsNewsagents Products on Consignment – a business offering newsagents counter items that I wrote about recently – has sent at least one newsagent products that were not requested or agreed to. This is contrary to how the company said it would operate.

The newsagent who contacted me advised that they received the goods in their shop with an invoice despite having had no contact with the company prior.

While I am no lawyer, I’d be surprised if the supplier had any rights in relation to getting paid for the unsolicited goods.

On the products themselves – touch screen bullets,  newsagents have access to better packaged versions that provide a considerably better margin.

Has anyone else been sent these items unsolicited?

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Ethics

News Corp. newspaper stoops to a new low in the UK

BhlgFWZIYAAwsex.jpg-largeI’d refuse to sell this edition of The Sun newspaper if I was a newsagent in the UK. The headline suggests that the chiefs of the British Labour Party say it’s okay to have sex with 10 year olds.

One now ex labour minister was named in a 1976 press release about an age of consent discussion.

News is alone in its depiction of this story.   Check out the report at The Huffington Post.

This is It’s typical of some stories published by News Corp. in Australia – distorting and or time-shifting facts to serve their own commercial agenda. It’s disgusting. One can only hope that one day people spending money on titles that publish misinformation stop doing this. We deserve better.

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Ethics

Magazine distributor Gordon & Gotch harasses newsagents on payment

Gordon & Gotch this morning emailed a newsagent claiming that their account is overdue when there is still half a day left to pay the bill.  This is appalling treatment of this newsagent by Gotch, a company that does not provide newsagents with reasonable control over their level of indebtedness. I suspect others have received the same email.

Here is today’s email from Gotch to one newsagent:

Dear Customer,

We take this opportunity to remind you that your January 2014 account was due on the 20th of February and is now overdue.

Regrettably supplies to your outlet will be suspended unless payment is received promptly.

Please see payment methods below:

· Direct Deposit (Bank details) ANZ Banking Group,
Cnr Queen & Creek Streets Brisbane, QLD.
BSB: 014 002 Account: 7758 12207
(Please use your Gotch Billing account number as reference)

· Credit Card using GotchConnect Please note that only Mastercard and VISA accepted

If you require a copy of your statement, please log on to www.gordongotch.com.au to view / download.
For any queries or clarification, please contact your credit officer on 1300 650 111.
We thank you for your cooperation.
Yours Faithfully,

National Credit Department

Some newsagents actively discussing closing their magazine accounts down.

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Ethics

The Age disrespects closing the gap message

theage-coverupFairfax yesterday stuck an ad over the top of the lead image in the front page of the newspaper yesterday, a story about the Closing the Gap report delivered by the Prime Minister in federal parliament on Tuesday. Fairfax took money to advertise the Mexican Fiesta show on SBS TV. I am shocked that people in production didn’t realise the insensitivity of the placement of the ad and I am more shocked that this has not been more widely covered.

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Ethics

How some newsagents act harms others who trade under the newsagency shingle

being-cheapIn a newsagency a few days ago I noticed them selling Hallmark 2014 date books at the counter for $2.00. This is an item they got for a few cents to be used as a customer gift to help drive sales. The same newsagency had other items at the counter, also priced at $2.00, such as freebies with magazines – including a craft kit from the cover of Mollie Makes.

While the independence of our businesses is a strength, it is also a weakness. The image of every newsagency can be tarnished by the actions of one newsagency.

Newsagents selling items that should be free disrespect their fellow newsagents, their customers and the suppliers of the products involved. The same is true for newsagents who keep for themselves any item provided by a supplier as a customer prize.

The newsagent selling the date book could have been offering it to customers to drive care sales. Instead, they disconnected from the opportunity in pursuit of a small amount of revenue.

I know of a supplier some years ago that retreated from proactive engagement with the channel to barely active engagement on the back of evidence of some newsagents behaving poorly.

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Ethics

When was the last time a supplier said they would report you?

A successful newsagent with a growing business told me yesterday that a magazine publisher representative visiting their business was unhappy with the shop and said they would have to report them. The representative said the newsagency looked too much like a gift shop.

This is in a business achieving double-digit year on year growth, a business worth more today than a year ago as a result of lifting gross profit. A business worth more to this publisher than it was worth a year ago. Yet the publisher representative treats the good retailer like a naughty school kid.

No magazine publisher or distributor has the right to complain about how a successful newsagency looks, they gave up thst right when they supported deregulation fifteen years ago.

Have you been told you will reported? If so, please share your story here and out overbearing behaviour.

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Ethics

Pot, kettle News Corp. on ABC journalism standards

journalismstandardsThe media pages of The Australian newspaper today continue the co-ordinated News Corp attack on the ABC. This time, they are calling the death of journalism standards at the ABC.

The relentless attacks on the ABC by the News Corp. media outlets are disgusting. They are designed to achieve a commercial outcome for the company, nothing more. Their federal election victory has gone to their head.

News Corp. questioning the journalism standards of the ABC would be laughable if it were not such a serious matter.

While the ABC is not perfect, their journalism is of a considerably higher standard than that published by News Corp. newspapers.

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Ethics

When hiring new employees and engaging with new suppliers newsagents should check their history

One thing to look for when hiring new employees is how long they have stayed in previous roles. If you like continuity in your business, look for people who stay with a business longer, especially if you are hiring for a full time role.

It’s important to take time to look at employment history, even when someone is with the one company for years. If they are changing roles every year or 18 months, maybe their eyes are always on their next role and not their current role. Healthy suspicion is important.

In corporate businesses developing intellectual property this is especially important. A candidate who has moved from role to role in two years or less will not get an interview with me.  I’m a loyal employer and look for loyal employees.  Resume builders – people who chase early success and then jump to another role to build their resume – are of less value to a business than more stead employees who may not be chest-beating stars but who do deliver stability and commercial benefit over the long-term.

It is hard to spot the resume builder. They are usually charming and can attract you to wanting them on your team with ease. Too often you don’t see them for what they are until it’s too late, until they have crashed and burned or have started to move to their next opportunity outside their current role – a role they have often not fulfilled.

This discussion about resume builder, selfish and opportunistic employees, can also apply to some people who work for suppliers we encounter or supplier businesses themselves in the newsagency channel – suppliers who come in and say they will save the day or who will give us new purpose. Often these people and businesses enter the channel in a blaze of publicity, talking up their past, attracting followers through charisma and show. Too often, they depart without delivering on their promises.

Newsagents need to be as wary of new suppliers as they are of prospective employees. We need to do thorough due diligence and engage with healthy skepticism. While we will want a smart, articulate and inspiring prospective employee or supplier to be good, great!, for our business, we need to impose a reality check and take time to see if they are likely to deliver on their words.

Now more than ever newsagents need employees and suppliers who can help us embrace change but who have the commitment, stamina and understanding to walk with us for the marathon.  That’s what we are in – a marathon, not a sprint.

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Ethics

Extraordinary breach of confidentiality by PMP’s Gordon & Gotch

Gordon and Gotch, the magazine distribution business owned by public company PMP today breached the confidentiality of many newsagents by disclosing email addresses of all small business newsagencies that it claims are in arrears with their accounts.

I was sent a copy of the email by several newsagents and the email list appears to be different – making it hard to see the extent of the security breach by the company. The lists, in the wrong hands, could be detrimental.

I have reached out to senior management of Gotch, a lawyer who fights for justice and a shareholder activist.

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Ethics

The Australian pokes at Bauer Media

Mark Day writing in The Australian recently criticised Bauer Media for repurposing overseas content and making it appear that a story which occurred in the UK actually occurred in Australia, in Redfern. Mumbrella first wrote about this. Their report is detailed and fascinating.

Bauer Media’s real life magazine Take 5 has been accused of misleading its readers after suggesting the story of a British “crooked copper” who used the police database to access information about women in order to sleep with them, actually occurred in Australia.

The magazine implies to readers the offences took place in NSW.

The German-owned publisher – which has been increasing the amount of syndicated international copy it uses – claims the change was a typographical error. Bauer claims that the location of “Redruth, Cornwall” was accidentally changed to “Redfern, NSW” because the names were similar.

While I wouldn’t regard Take 5 as a credible news title, what happened here is a new low.

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Ethics

Is Black Pete racist in Australia?

dutch-courierI was surprised to see the cover of Dutch Courier newspaper today. The black characters jarred with the Christmas theme. I discovered online that that this is Black Pete (Zwarte Piet) a character, some say servant, who accompanies St Nicholas.

In Canada recently a politician came in for criticism for being photographed with someone dressed as Black Pete.

Siji Jabbar writing for The Guardian a year ago offered a valuable contribution on this issue and race more generally in The Netherlands.

We put this issue of Dutch Courier on display as it’s not our job to act as censor or to judge taste. As to whether this depiction is racist? I’d say it is but I’d also acknowledge that this is a traditional character like the black dolls we used to call golliwogs. Traditions take time to change.

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Ethics

A new tobacco retailer masquerading as a family-friendly gift shop

cigstobaccoCigarettsTocabboCigars opened in our shopping centre last week. Except for the name above the door and the cabinets of tobacco products behind the counter this looks and feels like a gift shop that is targeting to women and kids as customers.

The Tobacco Station store that has been in the centre for ages offers gifts aimed at guys that you could say sit appropriately with tobacco products. CigarettsTocabboCigars is the first tobacco store I have seen that is appealing to a completely different shopper to that which would usually see being targeted by a tobacco business. It feels to me like the products are a bait to attract a different shopper.

While I doubt they are breaking any laws by targeting young kids, I do think there is a question to be considered given the steps already taken to cut tobacco consumption and take-up of tobacco products by first time smokers. They are using brands that appeal to kids to bring them into a business that is primarily focused on selling cigarettes and tobacco related products. While the shop floor does not reflect this, the business name does as does the cabinets behind the counter.

The question for society and regulators is: what if all tobacco retailers switched to this model of looking and feeling like gift, plush and toy shops with a prime focus of selling tobacco products?

A reasonable comment would be what about newsagents? Newsagency businesses are kid friendly but they have a far broader appeal.  I’d say that newsagencies selling tobacco – a number that is falling by the way – have a far broader appeal than that of what looks in the photo like a toy / gift / plush shop. Our businesses have not been set up with the bait I’m seeing in this new shop.

Click on the image for a larger version.

For the record, I don’t see tobacco products. I quit the category in 1998.

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Ethics

Newsagents should get angry at Optus over 25% pay cut

Newsagents should read the financial performance report from SingTel and consider this in the light of the 25% pay cut Optus has hit us with.

I think Optus is targeting small business retailers because they expect we will live with the cut and not do anything about it.

The only way to deal with this is for us to hunt the company down at every opportunity and challenge them as to why they have cut commission from 4% to 3%. We should demand a reason why given that their profit has only fallen .2%.

Go on Twitter and tweet using their @Optus. Get to their Facebook page and ask why they are hurting small businesses like ours. get your customers engaged too. The more public we complain the more attention we will get form the company.

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Ethics

Optus CEO should address the 25% commission cut about to hit newsagents

Fairfax media on the weekend reported candid comments from Optus CEO Kevin Russell about overcharging and what the company has done to improve the customer experience. Russell’s comments are uncommonly open for a telco CEO.

“Let’s be crystal clear. As an industry, we know how people use their phones, we know that young people will get their first smartphone and go bananas on it, we know people are going to get hit with a $500 or $600 bill, and we know that if they don’t complain we’ll get an extra whopping bit of revenue,” Mr Russell said on Thursday night. “It’s just crap.”

But he said he honestly believed Optus had been doing a number of good things to address “some of the things that piss people off”, such as bill shock.

I wonder if Kevin Russell would be as forthcoming in talking about his company’s soon to hit 25% cut in commission for small business newsagents.

The Optus commission newsagents earn for selling Optus mobile phone recharge product is set to drop from 4% to 3%. The company has not disclosed commission and commission movement for supermarkets and others selling its recharge product.

With SingTel (Optus’ parent company) profit down .2% YOY there appears to be no financial justification for hitting small business newsagents with a 25% cut in commission. Kevin Russell should be held to account for the decision by the company to hit small businesses in this way.

The company’s fairer approach to its customers should be reflected in its dealings with its small business partners – if it’s serious about being a better corporate citizen.

3% commission on Optus mobile recharge equates to 90 cents for a transaction that would take, on average, two minutes – by the time the shopper pays. The 90 cents does not even cover the hourly cost for retail staff on a Sunday and barely covers it for weekdays.

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Customer Service

Magazine oversupply an environmental issue

magjunkThis photo showing unsold magazines from a regional newsagency yesterday is evidence of what I suspect will (or should) ultimately drive change in the magazine supply model.

What is on show in the photo is waste – magazines that have been topped. This newsagency is not required to return full copies so they remove the cover, leaving  this pile of what is now waste to get rid of for themselves and at their own cost.

This is an environmental and economic problem yet the environmental issue is the one that could get action. No matter how newsagents dispose of topped magazines, even recycling them reflects a wastage that could be avoided through a better management of magazine production and distribution.

Multiply this photo by thousands of newsagencies and you can feel the scale of the problem, the trees and ink wasted – and the time wasted in small business newsagencies.

That the magazine distributors have allowed this to continue for decades is shameful.

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Environment

We sack employees for stealing, why not our politicians?

The questionable claiming of travel expenses by many Australian federal politicians as disclosed over the last few weeks is disheartening. If some of what I have read is true it amounts to theft. I would sack employees for such blatant and systematic misappropriation of money from a business.

What is more disappointing is the double standards being applied. One person’s dishonesty is another person’s oversight. These matters ought to be black and white. The wriggling over the last couple of weeks on some claims and the support from within especially the Coalition parties is shameful.

The only solution is for oversight of politician expenses and salaries to be handed to a commission of everyday Australians outside the control of politicians.

The way the stories are coming out, in a tit for tat game, indicates that each party knows what people on the other side have been up to and that the disclosures are being fed for political purposes.

Shame on the media in Australia for not uncovering this story sooner and for not relentlessly pursuing all politicians with the same vigor. News Corp. stands out for its double standards most recently given their pursuit of Peter Slipper.

The same politicians who are claiming travel expenses to go to weddings, buy a home, attend an AFL game or for other dubious reasons set policies that affect us and our small family businesses. They tell us there are not enough funds to more effectively support small business. They tell us that they have to increase this charge or cut that service because money is tight. Yet they vote themselves pay increases every year and too many of them rort travel and other expenses in acts of utter dishonesty.

What does this have to do with newsagents? We have been let down by politicians for decades. They have fed excuses to us for too long and those representing newsagents have, in the main, accepted the excuses. All the while the politicians have looked after themselves. We have every right to feel let down. They have not served the Australian voters or the national interest ahead of serving themselves.

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Ethics

News Corp. security breach a case for not centralising newspaper home delivery data?

The admission by News Corp Australia today that a vulnerability had been discovered in its subscriber data systems is a reminder of the risk of centrally managed data banks.

For decades newsagents held subscriber data at the local business level and it is only in recent years that the newspaper publishers have sought to centralise this. While there were significant benefits for News, at the time of centralisation there was considerable concern by newsagents and some of their customers about the risk of unauthorised access to the data.

I recall one newsagent lost newspaper home delivery customers because of the centralisation of their data. One customer, a barrister, said they trusted the newsagent and their systems more than they trusted a publisher.

Today’s announcement by News could serve as vindication of concerns expressed at the time even though this breach relates to newsletter subscriber details.

Any company holding customer data needs to take the security of the data seriously. The greater the centralisation of data the greater the risk and the more valuable the reward for those who trade in data.

For a more complete report on what happened check out the report published by The Age.

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Ethics

Racisim at the newsagency counter

Earlier this week I saw several customers refuse to be served by a newsagency employee who is Asian. Even though the employee’s customer service skills and English are excellent, these bigoted customers declined to be served until a caucasian employee was free. It was disgusting behaviour that I am told is common from customers in this newsagency when ‘confronted’ with the Asian employee.

The employee accepted the behaviour as normal when it is anything but. Have others seen this?

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Ethics
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