Newspaper distribution

In my survey last week I asked: What marketing initiatives or incentives would you like from newspaper publishers to help you sell more newspapers? Here are all the responses to this question:

1. If it did not cut the commission.
2. In-store prizes, ad on sale incentives, combos etc
3. Sell the paper to us at the same ridiculous price that some subscribers pay for their paper. We could preorder with no returns for a 7 day at $2.70, $3.95, $4.95 per week.
4. More positive attitude to newsagents
5. Stop delivery agent under suppling so you have product to sell after lunch time would be a good start before instigating any marketing initiatives
6. Work on a tier system for better profits/margins
7. Pair 2 titles together, ie our local paper retails $1.50 and smh retails $2.00 both fairfax publications sell 2 for $3.00
8. Retail newsagent only special offer, with a healthy margin to offer
9. Extra commission because 10% is nowhere near enough.
10. Margin must be 25%, promotion items must be 25%. The rest we can do ourselves.
11. Assistance with meeting delivery costs.
12. Better content, more local content, more incentives for customers to buy the product
13. SPECIAL PROMOTIONS/COUPONS/COMPETITIONS FOR READERS
14. Promote Newsagents to public via Newspaper or via Commercial. Incentives – Commission on all promos to be 50%, Initative – Remove atrocious attitude towards its core customers which are Newsagents, these are the faceless men & women who we do not see not the Reps.
15. Need to have less outlets so it becomes a destination not in every servo/corner store
16. Increase the supply so we don’t run out. When people find you have run out they stop coming Advertiseheadlines on local radio
17. Ability to sell deals/packaged subscriptions at the counter
18. Being able to sell them (retail) in Week Blocks would work well.
19. Reliable supply would be a good start. Margins need to improve. If we sell 400 papers a day thats good, but we need more than $80-90 in GM to justify the prime space. The publishers should advertise the masthead in the other media more ( e.g. radio, web etc)
20. More margin. Nothing in our store should be less tan 30% margin. Punctual supply (it is an early morning product). More advertising of Newspapers on other media. Building an emotional link between customer and newspaper brand.
21. for them to be supplied on time and the correct quantity. Good merchandise material, ability to seek commercial customers by giving them two weeks free papers delivered , once they see the benefits they usually continue paper delivery for years
22. In SA News Ltd runs promos giving a free paper with a $2 purchase instore, only after 2pm, normally during the week. (a waste of time) Other channels, supermarkets and conv run these promos all day, normally weekends. I’d like to be treated equally with these promos. I’d also can’t understand why my competitor is my agent and shares in my profits 50/50 simply for delivering papers the last 1% of their journey. I prefer to run out of papers rather than paper for the labour cost on a Sunday night of processing the return. I make approx $120/wk from newspapers(on a good week) and spend $20 to $40 on labour processing returns.
23. Better posters, subscription drives, more frequent giveaways and promotions
24. Position newspapers as a premium product, for example in an office, junior employees read news on-line; senior managers get daily newspapers on their desk.
25. When they have incentive programs like the recent one for news ltd for the children’s books that they not supply more of the books to Coles than they do us. As everyone came to us to collect the books as we had the ability to hold books and papers for them. Make sure they look after newsagents before chains like Coles.
26. Reward customers for purchasing paper. Something like the old accident insurance that subscribers received about 40 (or more) years ago.
27. Do special promotions for newsagents only, be it linked with magazines or free stock.
28. Cooperation firstly then perhaps we can look at initiatives
29. “at your local newsagent with your paper you will recieve x (special bonus) but only at your newsagent” etc etc – showing we are the specialist retailer of print products.
30. DEALS
31. The promo toys etc they do with the papers would be better if we actually got a better margin for them.Would like to see them actively push news agents in their advertising
32. Our biggest day to day problem with papers is distribution quantities, i would like more control each day, so that we get the numbers right. sales targets – $$ for increase in sales per week : same time last year.,
33. More sales margin
34. Fair remuneration for home deliveries would incentives the me to chase new customers – current levels of remuneration actually discourage that! Promotions that use or encourage educational involvement e.g. Attenborough series
35. Be reliable with timing delivery of papers to us. Have extras available within an hour. produce an online app to help us track sales taking into account weather events, school hols, sports events etc etc.
36. Higher commission
37. The West Australian used to do a 5-week car giveaway. The customers would then have to come back to the store to put the envelopes in the box. Their new campaign is just bingo, where all they have to do is buy the paper.
38. I would like to have simply more margin. 12.5% is not enough. Reliable delivery (They’re so often late) would also be helpful. For us newspapers is an early morning product. We promote gum, quik-eze and enos, small confectionary and milk based drinks alongside highlight magazines
39. Less low margin promotions like kids books and aust day hats which chew up newsagents time. If their going to do promotions stick to the bingo’s and car give away’s where the customer has to buy weekday papers to enter and the newsagent isn’t involved.
40. Reasonable 25%+ margin (the current 12.5% does not even cover costs_ – Control over supply (not all distribution newsagents are good operators and many newsagents aren’t selling their full potential because of chronic undersupply) – Gradual price increases to abate the effect of declining sales on profitability
41. They need to stop free papers for a start. They need to stop cheap – shitty give aways that belittle the price of the paper. Customers think the paper is desperate for sales by DVD giveaways etc. They tarnish their own brand. They need to reward customer loyalty of home delivery with special giveaways ONLY for those that regularly purchase papers NOT the whole world. They could run sweeps – where each day you get a code – could run for weeks – need the whole code (issued bit by bit in daily papers) to win a prize. Like Hallmark card promotion, purchase 20 papers (and get card stamped) get a free paper etc etc. Even without commission structure changing, if it encouraged an increase in newspaper sales (rather than decrease) it is off sets the lack of commission by more sales. Also it does not encourage people to download the paper if there is not any reward system or giveaways.
42. Pay me more money you only get what you pay for no money who cares
43. Promote newsagents as an outlet for there paper
44. CONSTANT , REGULAR SUPPL,Y WITHOUT SHORTAGES WOULD BE A GOOD START
45. Higher comm
46. There should be a sliding scale commission basis, the more an outlet sells the more commission they get. This will weed out the poor performers and encourage all agents to better handle the product. At the moment there is no incentive.
47. To have adquate supply of papers so that we are not sold out by late morning. This is the easieast way to lose customers. To consider the supply we request for holiday times (we are a big tourist area) and not cut supply to what they think we should have. We are finding people still like to read the paper either early before work or first thing in the morning to read over a cup of coffee. To accept that sales every day are different depending on the activities in the town, tour buses and to accept that newsagents with subagents serving hotels have different day requirements. The Advertiser ran a very successful book promotion but ran out of books in the country whilst the city had plenty. Good promotion and Advertiser sales spoilt by lack of product.
48. CUT THE GOSSIP PAGESRUN PM CBD EDITIONS.DONT PRINT NOSENCE POSTERS.
49. Bundle offers eg 5 papers to a business eg lawyers,doctor surgeries, cafes etc. for a reduced price. i think proactive newsagents would push and make up their own deals if their was a better commission base for newsagents
50. Marketing is ok but we NEVER get enough supplies and topups never have extras so we have stopped trying
51. Just advertising on TV would be a start with a subscription offer.
52. EARLIER DELIVERIES, NO GRAVEL RASH ON PAPERS. INSERTS IN 99.9% OF PAPERS NOT 80%. FORGET SENSATIONAL JOURNALISM
53. A Representative to call occasionally to keep us informed – as Retail only info is limited.
54. I would like to see engagement on a retail level. It frustrates me when i see papers being offered to those outside the channel at better rates than we retailers ever get i.e. get 50% etc etc
55. None, I want a higher GP to make it worth chasing more sales
56. Supply more papers.
57. More promotions, better content, more local news,
58. No more discounted offers. No freebies at movies, gyms etc.
59. Valid content.
60. Emphasise quality & value of product. The closer newspapers get to being free, the lower their perceived value.
61. None, get them here on time!
62. Have a direct relationship with us for diving sales and not through a distribution agent.

A useful cross-section of feedback for newspaper publishers.

For me, the key is a direct publisher / retail newsagent relationship.

As News Limited and Fairfax migrate more newspaper customers from newsagent acquired newspaper home delivery to publisher controlled subscription arrangements and the management of distribution of newspapers moves from inside the newsagency shop to separately run depots, newsagents need to let go of their customers.

Losing ownership of the direct customer relationship is proving difficult to navigate for some newsagents. It won’t work some say, how can they help customers from so far away others say, they don’t know our area others day.

None of this matters of course as the decision is made and the course of action set. Newsagents need to focus on letting go in a way that respects their long-term customers yet serves the business decision made by newspaper publishers.

The new arrangements don’t give newsagents the opportunity to provide the level of customer service they have provided in the past. This is the way of the world being pursued by newspaper publishers. So, let go in a way that helps customers understand and still think good of the newsagency.

Newsagents facing this, losing ownership of newspaper home delivery customers at their shop, need to develop a strategy for navigating this. Such a strategy needs to have at its heart good customer communications – explaining what is happening and why and how the business will continue to serve them in other ways. At the same time, the newsagency should have a process or mechanism of keeping any predominantly newspaper delivery customers engaged with the business – for the future of the business.

I see too much energy being spent complaining about what is happening and not being spent on how to mitigate the situation for the newsagency and its customers.

Newsagents transitioning to retail only need to focus on that and let go of distribution customers. Newsagents focusing on distribution need to be clear about what they can manage and control and focus on that. Publishers who want to own the customer need to take responsibility for that and own it through professional processes that do not harm the supply and service chain.