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Newsagency management

Marketing Tip: Award a Newsagent For a Day

Shake things up for your business and appoint one of your customers the Newsagent for a Day. Get them into the business, behind the counter and into the back room. Their fresh-eyes insights could let you see opportunities you are missing.

An alternative to this opportunity is awarding the status to one of your team members, probably a junior who is more likely to have challenging ideas.

The idea here is to get you shaken up, to see what you may not see in your day to day work … you know, wood for the trees.

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marketing tip

Good to see shop hours decision upheld

I was pleased to see that the full bench of fair Work Australia dismissed an appeal by the main union covering shop workers against an earlier decision permitting shifts shorter than 3 hours for school kids. This is particularly helpful in newsagencies where after school work provides an excellent learning opportunity for students.

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Newsagency management

Donald Trump wants us all to be rich … who cares?

The full and half page ads promoting the loftily titled National Achiever’s Congress featuring Donald Trump read a bit like a scam to me. The ads are full of hype-drenched text.

For a discounted price of less than half of their claimed ‘value’ we can sit through three days of money-making experts.  I wonder how much of the three days will have Trump on stage.  An hour or so I am guessing.

Like I said, the ads read like a scam. I’ve watched Trump on his TV show and seen him interviewed many times. I can’t recall any business advice he could give which would help an Australian small business owner.

Too often businesses are told to look elsewhere for guidance and answers on the big questions. Besides Trump, we are told to get mentors, business advisors and the like to guide us. Of course, the people telling us to look elsewhere are usually those who want us to pay them money to help with this.

The best advice we can get is that which we can give to ourselves, by being the business leaders we should be as owners of our own businesses.

I have seen excellent business leaders emerge from their own times of challenge, without having to spend money on imported celebrities to guide them.  What can Donald Trump tell us which is relevant anyway?  he lives in a very different world to us small business people.  His friends and networks are completely foreign to us.  There is little relevance or connection between his community and ours.

I think this Donald Trump headlining National Achiever’s Congress is a waste of money.

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Newsagency management

Newsagency Management and Marketing Tip: Own your point of difference

While I have written here about the need for newsagencies to have a point of difference, a unique selling proposition, my sense is that most newsagents ignore this, considering it to be a waste of time.

Sadly, I think too many newsagents live with the mindset that it is our channel which is difference and therefore our USP.  Certainly, we are unique in the world.  Okay, there are newsagencies in the UK, but they are not the newspaper / magazine / greeting cards / stationery channel that we are.

The reality is that our channel is not unique., not at all.

Everything we sell is available elsewhere, often in just one or two shops.  Check out your local supermarket or Big W, K Mart or target store.  I bet that around 90% of your non gambling product sales could be satisfied from these much bigger, more aggressive and better known competitors.

Twenty or thirty years ago we were unique.  We were protected and we loved it. The bubble of protection has burst.  We are on our own.

In today’s world and with our stronger than ever competitors, we MUST stand for something, each of us in our own newsagencies.  We can’t do it as a channel because we would never work together to an agreed standard.

I have a suggestion for you: take some time to stand in front of your shop and on your shop floor and contemplate what it is that your business stands for and consider whether you see and feel that point of difference being embraced in how you are running the business.

Your USP must be obvious from outside your newsagency and within.  It must be felt and experiences at the counter, on the phone, in your newsletter, in your community work, on your vehicles and through your product mix and your people.

Is your USP, your point of difference, obvious to your customers?

Now more than ever, with the national retailers pursuing our businesses with aggression we have never seen before, we, each of us, MUST nail our USP,  otherwise we will fade in the minds of shoppers and with that fading we will see a retreat of foot traffic.

I am concerned that not enough newsagents get the importance of this, of standing for something, of offering something which is unique … something so tangible and appreciated that your shoppers tell their friends about it.

I got hooked on the British comedy series The Inbetweeners a few months ago.   It’s hilarious.  The sitcom genre is a challenge, too often characters blend into each other and those involved in the show get lazy – this is true for many US sitcoms.  Also, laughs are often too cheap.  The Inbetweeners can shock you and make you laugh all at once, even after three series. I love this show so much that I told people, plenty of people.  I know that they have told people. You can see where I am going.  Word of mouth has a powerful ripple effect.

Don’t you want to unleash the power of word of mouth for your business?  Your point of difference is key to this happening.

You don’t get good word of mouth for your newsagency if you do not nail, embrace, live and drive your point of difference.  It is vitally important to loyalty.

So when you are in front of your shop or on your shop floor, think about this – what is it that you do or sell which is so compelling and appreciated that your customers will tell their friends?

I can’t stress enough the importance of resolving this for your newsagency.

No one can tell you what your point of difference should be.  You must discover this for yourself, from within your newsagency, working with your team.  Once you have made your decision, everything you do in your business should be done with your point of difference in your mind.

Sorting this out is one of the biggest challenges for newsagents and the channel as a whole.  Get this right and even the smallest of newsagencies can grow and know tremendous success.

FOOTNOTE: If you think you have your point of difference sorted out, check with your customers and find out what they think.

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Newsagency challenges

Interesting newsagency model in Malaysia

mynews.jpgI was in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week in time to see the opening of the new myNEWS store at Bukit Bintang in downtown Kuala Lumpar.  This is a very interesting store, a nice evolution from the more traditional myNEWS model.  To us here in Australia it is like a 7-Eleven store with a much stronger traditional newsagency product mix and customer service focus.

The layout is terrific, inviting.  The shop looks as visually clean inside as it does outside.  Each area, magazines, confectionery, stationery and convenience lines, is well signposted.  The store has at least ten times the range of magazines you would see in a 7-Eleven store.

I got to see several of these myNEWS stores this visit and you can see the evolution represented in this latest store.  It leverages the convenience model without detracting from being a destination for key categories.

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Newsagency management

Leveraging the greeting card sale

matz.jpgWe had this range of Rollmatz in-store for less than three months, as part of a broader toy offer, before selling out. They have proven to be a profitable line, easily sold when working with a customer on the shop floor who is looking for something for their kids to play with (on) or as a gift. Adding a $34.95 item (with a 50% margin) to a shopping basket containing a couple of greeting cards makes for a nice sale. I saw this happen last Saturday. A shopper wanted something difference for her niece’s birthday. The suggestion of the Rollmatz worked, doubling the value of the sale to that point.

Having gifts and other stock items which sell easily with the cards we carry is the smart way to leverage greeting card generated traffic to its full potential. This is where working with our customers is important, talking with them about what else they are looking for, listening for what could sell with their destination purchase.

The other key is to have products which are not easily price compared. This provides valuable margin opportunity.

I can think of plenty of reasons to not try Rollmatz in a newsagency. Our recent experience, however, encourages me to look for more items we might reject at first glance.

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marketing

Push on retail pay

The Age yesterday has a report about a push by the Australian Retailer’s Association on retail pays.  With governments supporting an open all hours policy, they need to provide businesses with the ability to operate viably under these conditions.  In a newsagency with an average overall business GP of 32%, paying $40 an hour 9and more) on a Sunday is not viable.

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Newsagency management

Nice treatment of the Australian newsagency

newsagent-cartoon.JPGThe Nicholson cartoon in The Australian today (pg. 27) is a nice treatment of our channel, representing some of the key products we sell while having a crack at the current financial health of Fairfax.  I like that Nicholson has the shopper visiting a newsagency to purchase a newspaper, that there is a shopper looking at greeting cards for key occasions and that it acknowledges that we sell stationery for school.  Thanks Nicholson!

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Newsagency management

Marketing Tip: How to Use Competitions to Drive Sales in Your Newsagency

Winners are grinners as they say. Shoppers who win from a retail store are happy and they tell their friends. Whether it is a large or small prize, the value to the business of making winners of customers can be considerable.

An active and co-ordinated approach to competitions is a vital part of newsagency marketing.

The best competitions are those where a customer of the newsagency is guaranteed to win. That is, there the competition is store specific. While participating in larger national and state wide competitions around products brands and even franchise brands can be good for business, it is the local competitions which provide the best opportunity for local promotion and local leverage.

Here are some tips on how to use competitions effectively to promote your newsagency:

  1. Every competition needs a focus. Promote a specific product or product category or a certain level of spending. Competitions open to anyone without a tactical focus are likely to be less successful.
  2. Make entering easy for everyone. Ensure that the mechanics of the competition – how to enter – are easy and understood. You don’t want to slow down the sales counter or have customers reject entering the competition because of complexity.
  3. Promote well. Promote the competition well in the business from the front window throughout the store.
  4. Encourage participation. Get all employees actively promoting the competition. Offer a reward for the employee who achieves the most entries per hour worked.
  5. Drive impulse purchases. A good competition is one used to drive impulse purchases at the counter. They key here is that the item being sold, the trigger for a competition entry, must be easily understood.
  6. Show off the prize. If possible, show the prize of offer for the competition. This can drive people to engage in the behaviour you are promoting as they more easily understand the opportunity.
  7. Show off entries. If entry in the competition requires shopper activity like drawing or coloring, show off the entries as this will drive more traffic to the store.
  8. Promote winners. Take photos of competition winners, with their permission, and use these in newsletters and on a winners board in-store. This is how you can promote the store as a place where winners shop.
  9. Host and event around the prize draw. Make the drawing of the winner a special event with its own retail hooks to drive sales.
  10. Create a competition calendar. This can provide focus to the competition program throughout the year and ensure that they are a consistent part of the marketing mix.
  11. Engage with suppliers. Call of key suppliers to support the business with prizes for your competitions. This is more easily achieved if the competition connects with specific brands.
  12. Promote externally. Use the competition to promote the business externals in advertising and promotional flyers.

Competitions, regardless of size, can drive excellent results for a newsagency. Professional execution is the key from the planning stand right through to the drawing of the winner. Ensure that everyone involved including customers have fun with each competition you run.

When you find something which works, be sure to share it here.

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marketing

Watching supermarket competition

I noticed the announcement this week that Aldi is to open longer hours and release special deals twice a week in an effort to combat the work done by Coles and Woolworths over the last year which has seen them encroach on the Aldi end of the supermarket space.

As the these three and other supermarket chains battle it out to own supermarket shopping in Australia, we can learn something from their fights.  For example, the decision by Aldo to release specials twice a week is interesting to me on a couple of fronts:

  1. Most newsagents don’t offer regular, weekly, specials which are marketed as such.
  2. Any who do probably have not changed their approach in years.

Specials are not about deep discounting for the sake of it.  In the supermarket model, specials are used to reinforce the overall value proposition of the supermarket to the consumer.  They lure shoppers who then purchase other items at regular price.  Specials almost always are funded by suppliers in a way which protects the supermarket margin.

But the approach to specials has changed in the last year with the down down and other campaigns.

The challenge to this non expert in the area is that through the focus over the last year on lower price, they have educated shoppers about price, that price is the most important point.  On products on which we compete, this presents us with a challenge.

Given that price is the easiest point of difference for a competitor to respond on, I would have thought that supermarkets would have been better of pursuing points of difference in other areas where competition is harder. I think this is why we need to focus on non-price competition points in our businesses, especially around products where we compete with supermarkets.

Blue Ocean Strategy is an excellent book to read about how businesses should differentiate.  I read it a few years ago and consider it to be one of the best business books I have read.  It talks down price as a point of competition and urges focus on competing in other, exclusive, ways.

With plenty of what we sell being also available from supermarkets, how do we position out businesses against their aggressive campaigns and this latest battle now joined by Aldi?  Do we try?  While many newsagents leave supermarkets to play their games, not seeing them as our competitors, we need to ensure we are aware as our retail channel is of tremendous interest to them.  We take close to one billion dollars in revenue which they would like to get through their registers.

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Newsagency management

How can newsagents cut costs?

The media section of The Australian this morning carries a report about a drive within News Limited to cut costs by 5%.  While this is a story abour News Limited and its costs, there are two levels on which newsagents could consider this story:

  1. Newspaper distribution is a considerable cost for the company.  How much will there be an expectation that they can find cost savings in the distribution model?  Based on their research of the distribution model I’d expect them to be targeting significant savings through the forthcoming distribution changes.
  2. The second issue is one about our own costs.  When was the last time you reviewed your operating costs?  When was the last time you acted on reducing your costs? For many newsagents the answers would be never and never. From insurance to rent to labour we need to look at our costs and operate as lean as practical.  Don’t make excuses.

Imagine the impact on your bottom line if you were successful at cutting costs by 5%.  Every cent saved would hit your bottom line and benefit you this year and when you come to sell.

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Newsagency challenges

South Australian newsagents upbeat despite News Limited

South Australian newsagents I spoke with at the Ancol Trade Expo in Adelaide yesterday were upbeat about business despite the uncertainty surrounding newspaper distribution caused y the News Limited ‘study’ into the future model of newspaper distribution.

Many newsagents now realise that they need not wait for news to decide since they can make decisions themselves about the future direction of their own businesses. It was good to hear of the proactive plans of some newsagents. It was also good to hear people ‘owning’ their future by embracing change before change hunts them down.

My only criticism of the day is that I would have liked to see magazine publishers and distributors represented.

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Newsagency challenges

The Important Community Connection – a Newsagency Marketing & Management Tip

When speaking at conferences and workshops I am often asked by newsagents to help them address flat sales. The discussion often come back to what the business stands for. When I ask what do we stand for? A common answer from independent retailers is community connection, being local. This is often said by newsagents with a less than complete community connection strategy.

Being connected with the local community is a good unique selling proposition when most of what is sold is available from other businesses, usually bigger businesses.

By trading off the local connection, independent retailers connect with others who are community-minded.

In just about any retail business, more could be done to connect with the community. Here are some questions you could ask yourself to test the community connection of your independent retail business:

  1. What local charities does the business support?
  2. What local schools does the business support?
  3. What local organisations is the business connected with?
  4. What local events does the business actively participate in?
  5. Have you compared the savings of shopping locally at your business compared to further away? Do you communicate this?
  6. Do you buy from local businesses where possible? Do you promote this?
  7. Do you promote your business with other local businesses?
  8. Does a representative of the business attend events and charities supported by the business to make awards?
  9. Do you hold events in the business for local groups – art shows, competition entries and the like?
  10. Do you participate in local government business forums?
  11. Are your employees encouraged to share in your community involvement?
  12. Are you part of the local traders association?
  13. Are local organisations able to publicise events in the window or using other resources of the business?
  14. If your newsagency closed, would the community care?

This last question is the real question: If your neewsagency closed, would the community care? Would what you perceive as your value be lost and noticed? If the answer is no then your community connection is not as good as it could be.

Connecting your business to the local community is not something you can fake. It must be genuine from the owner of the business right through. You need to pursue as many touch points as possible for the sake of the business and to demonstrate and drive value for the community.

There are initiatives independent retailers can take to help the local community and build a mutually beneficial community connection. Here are 20 ideas for your consideration:

  1. Establish a what’s on noticeboard in your window or on a wall for promoting local events.
  2. Sponsor a locally focused newsletter which covers issues of local interest. Create this as a forum for local groups to use.
  3. Link to local clubs and groups on your business website.
  4. Talk to your local council – they are bound to have suggestions on ways you can connect with the local community.
  5. Create or support a local traders website.
  6. Collect change from customers for local charities. Track what you collect and keep your customers aware of the value reinvested in the community.
  7. Talk to local schools, do they have activities which you can support and for which they promote your business?
  8. Sponsor an annual encouragement award at a local school and present the award yourself.
  9. Talk to local health and nursing facilities. Do they have needs which you can meet with excess stock?
  10. Create a newcomer pack with other businesses and deliver this to families new to the area.
  11. Support at least one local sports club. This is best done through either uniform sponsorship or sponsoring a regular award.
  12. If appropriate to your product mix, offer products from local businesses and individuals.
  13. Offer to sit on local boards and committees for groups known for doing good work in the community.
  14. Offer space in-store for community groups to promote their work.
  15. Office space in front of your store for community groups to run a sales stall.
  16. Offer your front window a couple of time a year for a community group to promote their work.
  17. Support local causes – offer to have petitions available for customers to sign in your store.
  18. Write to the local newspaper about local issues – let your passion be seen.
  19. Run local events which connect with the local community. The nature of the event will depend on your business niche and skills of locals nearby. For example, you could sponsor a local art show.
  20. Price compare popular items in your shop with bigger businesses further away. Promote your savings for the local community as a point of difference.

Newsagents with consistently strong community connections can rely on this to deliver better business. The return for the community is greater support from the business for community activities.

I suspect there is a big difference between the community connection of a retail business in the city compared to a regional area. Regional businesses tend to be more community focused as they pull their customers from a smaller pool.

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marketing tip

How would like a newsagency to open next to you?

districts.JPGI have been in India for much of this week as part of the retail study tour I’m undertaking with a colleague from my Tower Systems newsagency software company. We have been broadening our experience and knowledge of retail beyond what we already knew from Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Rim region, the US and Europe.

This week in India we have seen very different retail situations from the structured to the unstructured. Just as we have seen over the last three weeks in the Philippines and Vietnam, the retail section is highly competitive – way more so than what we are used to in Australia.

There are kind of districts where similar businesses clump together. In Vietnam, in Ho Chin Minh City, we were in the photocopy services district (seriously) and saw at least twenty photocopying businesses right next to each other.

In India this week we saw something similar. For example, we passed through what could only be described as the ladder district – at least eight or ten ladder shops in a row. Yes, ladders.

I took the photo on the road from NOIDA to Delhi to illustrate the competitive situation evident not only in India but also in Vietnam and the Philippines – competitive photocopy businesses located next to each other. There were more than the two photocopy businesses in the photo.

Seeing this up close competitive situation has left me wondering what it would be like with a newsagency next to another newsagency. Or a string of twenty newsagencies next to each other. Imagine the challenge of differentiation. Imagine the opportunity of this.

I think this is an interesting prism through which to view and run our businesses …. How we would operate if there was a competitor (or more) next door.

Yes, I know that we have competitors in various categories: magazines, stationery, greeting cards. That is not the same as a business just like yours located right next to you.

How would you act? What would you do to differentiate? How would you compete?

I am certain that if we think about such an intense competitive situation we will soon discover ways we can differentiate our businesses today. The Indian photocopy service businesses in the photo have to. Beyond price – as price is the easy way to differentiate. No, it really comes down to customer service, the customer experience.

Our need to differentiate around customer service is one of the key takeaways from by recent trips overseas.

We have to run our businesses and compete as if there is a business exactly like ours next door to us.

Now is not the time for us to be average.

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Newsagency challenges

Kudos to VANA for Love Your Newsagent campaign

VANA is funding radio commercials, in-store signage and an outdoor advertising campaign around the theme – Love Your Newsagent. This is a ballsy thing for an Association to undertake. It demonstrates in a practical way their assistance for newsagents. Click on the link above to the website with more details about the campaign.

The ANF gave this campaign good presence at the ANF Conference in Melbourne this week.

Here is a video which explains how Victorian newsagents can engage.

Kudos to VANA for this initiative. It’s a good start. Hopefully more associations engage in such practical in support of newsagents.

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Newsagency management

Finding $17,500 extra gross profit this year

I am writing this blog post for newsagent suppliers. There are plenty of newsagents in shopping centres who face a minimum annual rental increase of 5% every year. If a newsagent paid $300,000 in base rent last year, this year they will pay $17,500 more.

I know of newsagents paying considerably more than $300,000 a year in rent.

Newsagent suppliers – how would you react if your largest fixed cost increased by 5% every year and if this fixed cost accounted for between 40% and 50% of your gross profit?

You would look at how you could increase your gross profit? Of course!

Retailers can increase gross profit by increasing customer traffic, increasing sales (through more traffic and getting existing customers to buy more) and or by increasing prices.

Newsagents can chase more traffic and sales efficiency but for many products they do not have control over margin.

Newsagents are in the hands of their suppliers on the margin front. Are you taking note suppliers.

On top of this, many newsagent suppliers also control many operating costs for newsagents by controlling supply levers: greeting cards, magazines, newspapers.

I’d note that it is unfair to list greeting cards here as the margin for newsagents from this category can be three times the margin from newspapers and magazines. Plus newsagents can achieve a higher margin by increasing sales.

One way newsagents can address the 5% rental increase each year is by carrying less of the products over which they have little or no control and expanding into other areas where they can exert more control. Unless suppliers of these products improve how they do business with newsagents they will see floor space cut and have no choice but to reduce supply.

While we have seen more newsagent suppliers try and understand these and other challenges newsagents, especially shopping centre newsagents, face, I would like to see more suppliers engage.

Ask yourself, how would you react if your largest fixed cost increased by 5% every year? This is a big challenge for newsagents.

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Newsagency challenges

Good start to GNS Market Fair in Melbourne

The first day of the GNS Market Fair in Melbourne yesterday was terrific.  While there will be some who say the numbers were down, my experience was that the quality and level of engagement was up.

I floated between the Tower Systems and newsXpress stands and these were located across from the VANA stand.  You can tell a lot about a newsagency trade show by the business of the association stand.  The VANA stand was constantly busy.  I know that both Tower and newsXpress had a good first day too.

Newsagents attending the GNS Market Fair yesterday were upbeat … I saw lots of smiles.

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Newsagency management

Marketing tip: What is the upside of your newsagency?

People considering the purchase of any business (including a newsagency) look at, among other things, the upside opportunity for the business. While they will often have their own view of the upside, they also often ask the vendor what upside they see.  Having an answer is important.

This is a good question for newsagents to consider: What is the upside for your newsagency?

Your answer to this question could be vital in building the confidence and interest of a prospective purchaser.

Beyond that, however, your answer to this most important of questions could open your eyes to opportunities which have need been top of mind for you. I say this because the next logical question is – if these are genuine upside opportunities for the future, why not engage with them in your newsagency now?

Think about it. Take your time. Let the question – What is the upside for your newsagency? – rest with you for a few days and nights. Make notes of every idea which comes to you. Talk to others and make notes of their comments.   Think about this question as if the answer is critical to you being able to sell your newsagency, that your answer will unlock excitement in your prospective buyer. It could / should unlock excitement for you on things you can do in your business.

When you have an answer, which is hopefully several answers, you then have an opportunity to think about the next question and consider whether you act on any of these opportunities yourself.

I can think of plenty of general upside opportunities for newsagents and several for my own businesses. Each newsagent is in their own unique situation, facing unique challenges and certain to have unique upside opportunities.

What is the upside for your newsagency?

PS.  I have called this a marketing tip because I am hoping that by thinking about your business through a different prism you discover opportunities which you can leverage for success in the short to medium term.  One way to respond to an upside opportunity is to do it, make the change, innovate … in pursuit of the upside.

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marketing tip

Watch for the new look Coles supermarket

Early next month, Coles opens what I am told is their most innovative supermarket yet. At Burwood East, at the revamped K-Mart centre, Coles is opening the latest in their new concept supermarkets. I’d urge newsagent to check it out. I will be.

The Coles transformation is extraordinary.

It begs the question, how are we transforming? This is an unfair questions for small independent retailers. But we should ask it nevertheless. How are we transforming?

Here are my personal thoughts reflected in my shopping centre based businesses as space and other opportunities permit:

  • Size. I target no more than 150 sq m. More is not justified.
  • Magazines. No more than 900 titles. No magazine specific fixtures.
  • Cards. Located at the entrance. Preferably on the left.
  • Stationery. No more than $15,000 in stock weight.
  • Ink. $8,000 in stock weight.
  • Counter. Very limited candy range.
  • Fixtures. Every fixture to be moveable.

In the meantime, if you’re in Victoria, get to Coles east Burwood when it opens in early September.

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Newsagency challenges

The iPad and newsagents

The iPad and other tablet devices are impacting newsagency businesses in a number of ways operationally as well as at the sales counter.

In response to a comment here, here are my thoughts on the impact of the iPad and similar devices.

How the iPad can impact operationally on a newsagency:

  1. I know of newsagents who have been using their iPads as business tools since the device was first launched. They are using it for a number of purposes:
  2. To access the business from home or on the road and check sales and do back office work.
  3. To check inventory sales history from a supplier warehouse or a trade show floor.
  4. To use the iPad as an additional software access terminal without the need to purchase a full terminal.
  5. As a display device for newspaper delivery runs.

How the iPad is impacting on newsagency sales:

  1. More people are accessing news and information using mobile devices. This is leading to changes in how consumers access news and information and thereby changing the role of newspapers and magazines.
  2. More publishers are pursuing models whereby they nurture direct to consumer relationships through Apps.
  3. Some newspapers in the US have closed down their print editions in favour of and online only model. In Seattle, the publisher did this to the financial success of the business.
  4. Some magazine publishers have launched digital only titles.
  5. Many publishers are working on the reader experience to find magic which provides the reader with a better than paper experience.
  6. In books we are seeing booklets published for these devices, kind of novella in size and costing a few cents. This and other innovation is bringing more voices to the public arena.
  7. There is a move to freeing articles from mastheads, making them available for micro payments. Look at what happened when this move was achieved with music.
  8. I think that print sales will continue in slow decline. That said, I see opportunities with newspapers and magazines for proactive newsagents. This is why I will continue to champion the medium.

Ideally I would spend a couple of hours presenting about this at a conference or meeting, teasing out each of these and other points. The notes above are just some of the highlights. I hope they satisfy the interest of people here.

I’d love other newsagents to share here how they are using their iPad in their business.

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magazines

Customer anger at bagged magazines

Just went into the newsagency and yelled at the girl. She had all the dolly mags in plastic, so i couldn’t see what btc poster was in there

This was posted on Twitter on Saturday.  I found the comment when searching tweets this morning with the word magazine in them.  It was timely finding this because of my post earlier this morning about our own Dolly display.

Dolly isn’t the only magazine which is bagged at present.  There are plenty including its direct competitor – Girlfriend magazine.

The tweet is good evidence for publishers that there are shoppers out there who do not like bagged magazines … and some of these shoppers will take it out on newsagents and their employees.

Just went into the newsagency and yelled at the girl. She had all the dolly mags in plastic, so i couldn’t see what btc poster was in there

yelled at the girl … this happens regularly to newsagency employees for things completely outside their control, like bagged magazines.

I understand why publishers bag magazines – in the case of the current issues of Dolly and Girlfriend it is to keep in a presentable package their premium offer.  Personally, I am not against this bagging.  However, it dies get in the way of the consumer experience.  This is what must be considered, especially given today’s retail climate.

Retailers want and need experiences which are unique to the physical retail situation.  This is why browsing is vitally important.  Bagged magazines are not browser friendly.

As for the Twitter user who posted the Tweet, I didn’t comment to them and I don’t intend to out them.  I suspect that criticism would get nowhere.

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magazines

Productivity Commission calls on retailers to work smarter: here’s how newsagents can

Buried in the recent draft report, Economic Structure and Performance of the Australian Retail Industry, by the Productivity Commission is a call on retailers to improve productivity.

Newsagents can improve productivity and cut wages, cut waste, reduce theft and drive better business decisions.

Hang on, think about that last sentence. Don’t move on until you go back, read it again and think about how you would feel if you really did achieve these benefits in your newsagency.

Seriously. I mean it. Read the sentence again. Here it is…

Newsagents can improve productivity and cut wages, cut waste, reduce theft and drive better business decisions.

Too many newsagents do not have these as goals. Too often they blame others when they realise that they want and need the benefits embedded in the goals.

So, here are some productivity gain ideas and opportunities for newsagents:

  1. Cut magazine returns time. Take the returns out of the back office where it is a specialist function and move it to the front counter, being done every day by any employee. A newsagency with $500K a year in magazine sales should spend no more than two to three hours a week on magazine returns including counting, topping, bundling and dealing with distributors.
  2. Cut other labour intensive work. Stop manual reordering of stock. Use your computer system. In an average newsagency, going from manual reordering to computer based reordering usually saves between four and six man-hours a week. Eliminate all manual business performance reporting. Get rid of your manual roster – do it using the roster facilities in your software. Stop manually managing magazine putaways. There are plenty more ideas like these. Use integrated EFTPOS and save time on every sale.
  3. Cut waste. Reorder stock using your computer system (yes, this is a repeat idea) and find that you will have less stock which does not sell. Look at your sales by time and roster accordingly. The roster often has wasted hours. Look at product sales and quit what’s not working before it becomes a loss making boat anchor. If a rep says you need more of a product, check their claim with your business data, let your data guide your decision.Reps want to get stock to your store, they are often paid to achieve this.
  4. Cut theft. Use employee initials or a code for every sale. Balance your cash every day. Have a zero tolerance policy (I’ve written about this before here and elsewhere). Do spot stock takes. Use the theft management tools in your software. Use stock control throughout but especially on cigarettes, greeting cards, ink, phone cards and other highly negotiable items.  A newsagency without professional theft management processes should be able to increase net profit by as much as 10% in the first year.
  5. Make better business decisions. Make more fact based decisions based on accurate business data. Stop gut feel decisions. Your business data can guide you to more profit than how you feel at any time. Stop using department keys to record sales – scan everything. No excuses, scan everything. Build better data and use this to improve your business.

I know of a newsagent who has just successfully cut $34,000 from their annual wages bill by switching software systems (yes, to my Tower Systems) and implementing our time focused approach to magazine management. There are plenty of other examples like this one.

I am confident that every newsagency business in Australia can improve productivity. Yes, it’s a challenge. The benefits are substantial: reduced wages, reduced waste, reduced theft and better quality and more valuable business decisions.

Imagine how powerful our newsagency channel would be if we all did these simple things. I do. I imagine a strong, growing and productive newsagency channel leading small business retailers and powering ahead against the reports of tough times.

We can do this. We can improve productivity – individually and as a channel. We have the tools. All we need is the will.

I have been sharing specific advice with newsagents using the Tower Systems newsagency software – I have written a 2,300 article with specific business building tips and I share this with newsagents who ask.  Email me at mark@towersystems.com.au if you would like a copy.

As I noted earlier, these are some ideas. Share yours with your fellow newsagents.

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marketing tip

Good August sales numbers already

We are seeing some excellent sales numbers for August. Card revenue is up, so are sales of gifts, magazines, stationery and ink. It kind of makes me question all the doom and gloom people talk about.

We are making our own success through a number of campaigns driving traffic and some excellent in-store promotions running to drive not only traffic from the mall but also incremental business from shoppers in-store.

For magazines, for example, we are doing a lot of work around categories of titles, categories such as food, men’s, music and wedding.  This category wide work helps drive the purchase of multiple titles in the one sale. This, coupled with our successful loyalty card, is driving a good magazine outcome for us.  We are obsessive and opportunistic about magazines, taking every chance we can to sell a copy.

Being average will produce average results.

We are not running sales, no we refuse to get sucked into that game. Instead we are looking for ways to offer value and to leverage our customer service point of difference. Doing these things and using excellent traffic freeways to build a deeper basket works. Yes, it’s hard work. But it pays off.

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Newsagency challenges
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