Two years after we were flooded out as a result of construction being undertaken above our shop we received this week a cheque from the insurance company for the builder for the $10,000 in stock which was water damaged and removed by them at the time. I hope newsagents affected by the floods in Queensland don;t have to wait two years.
The New York Times has a sobering report about book sales in the US from the Book Expo America, the industry’s annual convention which ended Sunday in New York.
I found the report interesting on a couple of fronts: the evolving challenge of print and the reliance of the channel on mega brands – Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer to name two. In the magazine space we are challenged by mega brands too, the top selling titles account for most of our sales.The opportunity newsagents have had for years is to focus on range. We have not done this well and now that it really matters we are losing out. I know people who will travel to a Borders for range of magazines instead of to their local newsagent.
Newsagents can embrace range and build a marketing campaign around this point of difference – if we are serious about our future in the magazine category.
BUYING a paper’s getting tough. It’s not the cost or walk to the newsagent that’s the problem, it’s the waiting that kills; having to line up behind all those Lotto jockeys snaking to the counter in front of you to lodge their mortgage-busting dreams, the Powerball, Pools and Motza Megapick numbers.
If they’re not lodging, they’re handing over fistfuls of crumpled tickets to be scanned by the GamblerTron. They then stuff about studying the forest of instant scratchies displayed under the counter.
From the Heckler column in today’s Sydney Morning Herald. Read the whole thing as he turns his attention to the post office.
Wayne Swan, Treasurer, and Craig Emerson, the Minister for Small Business tonight are making plenty of noise about the Government’s decision to increase the tax break for capital investment in small business – from 30% to 50% for items purchased prior to the end of this year. Their joint press release outlines examples:
The increased Tax Break provides small businesses with an even greater incentive to invest in new capital items, such as computer hardware and business vehicles, and to make capital improvements to existing machinery and equipment.
While the 50% tax break is an incentive, I’d note that computer hardware without any form of software is no investment at all.
If the government was serious about helping small business improve productivity they would have extended the temporary tax break to business software, especially Australian business software.
Smart business software, coupled with quality hardware and appropriate training could help a small business better cope with the challenges of today’s marketplace. Indeed, good software could help small businesses more effectively compete.
This is a missed opportunity by the Federal Government. I was the only newsagency representative to make a submission on this. Unfortunately it did not achieve its goal.
Disclosure: I own Tower Systems, the software company serving more newsagents than any other – in excesss of 1,600 Australian newsagencies.
The Take 5 tips book sent with our magazines a week back is lost in traditional newsagency magazine fixturing. Since we do not have a regular book department there is nowhere else to put this one-off publication. We ought to be asked about specialist publications like this because sending them to many newsagents is a waste of money – I took it off the shelf after I took the photo.
For some reason we were not allocated any copies of The Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping by distributor NDD. This is a pity because we missed plenty of sales. It featured in The Age a few days after release – this is the first we had heard of it, when customers asked us for it. While we now have stock, it is frustrating that we had to chase The Guide to Ethical Supermarket Shopping yet have no challenge in receiving titles which do not sell. I shake my head some days at the magazine allocations process.
We received Jobs Guide 2009 this morning. It is published by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace relations. The Jobs Guide has a sell price of $26.95 and is not due for return until the end of January 2010. These are not terms which are small business friendly. Especially for a print product which is unnecessary – given that all content is available online.
And while on their website, it should list that the guide is available from newsagents.
Half our Take 5 supply was missing on Wednesday and Network Services was unable to correct this Thursday so we miss out. The magazine distribution model does not deal well with missed magazine deliveries, especially in odd delivery weeks like around Easter. We have customers who are frustrated. I am frustrated.
Every Take 5 sale lost as a result of this is an opportunity for a customer to try somewhere else. We estimate that we will lose between 40 and 50 sales as a result.
The Tattersalls network in Victoria is up and down again today. Retailers cannot get through to Tattersalls on the phone. Being the last day before the Easter break, customers are understandably angry.
In between the newsagency management workshops I am involved with this week (off to Perth today), I have participated in several meetings with national suppliers to newsagents. I am fortunate to be able to do this often. In each meeting there has been mention of the challenges of engaging with newsagents. It usually starts with concerns about newsagent uptake of a promotion and that leads to a discussion about how the supplier engages.
Newsagents receive many communications from suppliers each day in the form of emails phone calls, letters and faxes. Way too many to be manageable an average size newsagency yet each sender expects the newsagent to read the communication and fully engage. More than half the communications I see are inefficient and unclear in terms of the actions they expect from newsagents. These are key factors in poor uptake.
I’d encourage suppliers who read this blog to look carefully at their communications with newsagents and consider:
I see many communications from suppliers which are unclear in their goal and inefficient. Some judicious editing could help newsagent save time and improve outcomes for suppliers in terms of responses.
We are a time poor channel so suppliers please respect this, make communication more efficient and help us save time in working with you.
The rep for these bright fluffy pens said they were selling well. Since this was a new relationship for us we trusted them and placed an order. A few weeks later we found the same product in a discount shop for what we paid the wholesaler. Ours are not selling and I doubt they would in any store buying from this wholesaler. The buy price is not good. Based on our experience, we are less likely to trust this rep.
