A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Cloud based school booklist software for newsagents helping newsagents win school books business

Months ago my software company launched Booklist, a cloud based school booklist management solution designed to help newsagents more effectively compete against big businesses chasing school book list business. The goal was to provide newsagents a facility through which they can be seen by customers as more up to date and through which they can cut the time it takes to manage booklist orders.

Newsagents have had direct input into the facility as it has been enhanced over the last couple of months.

Using the site, newsagents can:

  1. Setup a school.
  2. Setup classes in a school and load all the booklist requirements.
  3. The booklist items could be loaded by a CSV file. You would record item description, price, supplier and supplier stock cost.
  4. You would setup order close dates.
  5. Plus you would have the ability to note when an order is ready for collection.
  6. The site would allow for you not having stock, thereby adjusting the amount to be collected.
  7. Share a link for parents to sign up and add their kid(s) to a class and to either take the whole booklist or select what they want.
  8. The site would allocate logins to parents so they would have access to their order.
  9. Receive payment from the parents.
  10. Alternatively, the site would give the transaction to your Retailer software for payment by the parents in-store.
  11. Export a file of all items required to fulfil booklists, by supplier and by school. CSV you could load into Excel.
  12. Report on total revenue by school and class.
  13. The site would be accessible by desktop, tablet and phone.

In addition to the per year fee there is a small card processing fee, on a cost recovery basis, for payments made online.

Here are the enhancements guided by newsagents:

  1. Category Sorting to enable easier management.
  2. Picklist production for product picking.
  3. Group products by category in the store booklist page.
  4. Display the store ABN on the store page, and allow store to edit their ABN from store backend
  5. Allow store to adjust the display order of products in the store booklist page
  6. Allow store to create different prices to booklist per school
  7. Display store contact phone and fax number on the store page
  8. Allow store to manually create/update category from the store backend
  9. Allow store to manually drag and drop the marker on Google Map to the correct position, if the store location is not showing correctly on Google Map
  10. Allow store customer to reset their login password via forgot password page
  11. Added validation to Pin Payment API Keys field to indicate store if invalid API details entered
  12. Added “Booklist Review” step, before store confirm to create the school booklist.
  13. Fixed the website URL from frontend.booklist.com.au to www.booklist.com.au

From this project it is clear there is no one approach to managing school book list sales. The developers at my company and sought to address the most common and commercially viable needs to provide a cost effective solution for newsagents.

To access the preview please follow these instructions.

  1. Go to the website: http://www.booklist.com.au.
  2. Click on login.
  3. Enter user name: demo.
  4. Enter password: booklist.
  5. Any questions, email help@booklist.com.au

If my first job in a newsagency decades ago I packed school book orders. I remember the manual accounting process well. My hope is this cloud based facility encourages more newsagents back into this area newsagents once owned.

13 likes
Newsagency management

Officeworks pushing hard for Back to School

IMG_1095Officeworks is making their usual big noise about back to school for the 2017 year. Their centrepiece claim is the price match offer – to beat the price on a booklist by 20%.

Many schools enter into booklist fulfilment arrangements as a means of raising funds for the school. Parents buying outside the preferred arrangement can reduce funds available to the school, meaning they may end up paying the gap through other fees.

This is why I see the Officeworks 20% discount offer as being false economy. It all depends on the school funding arrangement in place with the booklist partner, which is often a local family run newsagency business that invests back in the school and the community.

Newsagents doing booklist fulfilment work need to more actively talk about their financial support for the school and the community – to counter the Officeworks 20% saving claim.

Discounts by big businesses come at a cost somewhere but I suspect usually not at a cost to the big business. We hear about the pressure supermarkets place on farmers and other suppliers – they fund the supermarket discounts that the supermarkets claim to give to consumers.

This 20% discount offer by Officeworks on school booklist items feels like that – a discount that is not real as someone somewhere ends up paying for it. It could be the parents who actually pay over the course of the year.

My advice to newsagents doing booklists and who offer a rebate or other benefit to the school – be open about this, let parents know the good being done by supporting your business.

9 likes
Competition

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: 40 Christmas marketing ideas

Each year, my POS software company, Tower Systems, publishes Christmas marketing tips for independent retailers. Here is this year’s list:

  1. Make it easy. People often talk about how hard Christmas is. Be the local business that makes it easy. The ways to do this are with easy Lay-By, free wrapping, better shop floor help, guide buying advice or tips on perfect gifts no one else will think of. Consider making Christmas easy as being a key part of your messaging.
  2. Be thrilled people are in your shop. Your personal smile or greeting is something they may not see in a big business where employees are less invested in each shopper and where the owner is usually thousands of kilometers away.
  3. Make the giving easy. If people purchase items from you to send somewhere else. Offer a one-stop shop. Save them the trip to the post office.
  4. Make the shop less about Christmas. Consider pulling back on the Christmas visual noise. Go for something simple, muted, respecting the season but making a calm statement. Consider declaring the shop a Christmas carol free zone – not because you hate carols but because you want to help customers take a break.
  5. Help people rest and recharge. Create a Christmas shopping rest and recovery zone. Offer free tea, coffee, water and something to eat. Encourage people to take a break in your shop – without any obligation for them to spend money with you.
  6. Let your customers help each other. Setup a whiteboard or sheets of butcher’s paper, yes keep it simple. Get customers to write gift suggestions under different age/gender groups. For example: Girls 18 – 25, Boys 55+. Encourage your customers to help each other through their suggestions.
  7. Make price comparison difficult. If you sell items people are likely to price compare with other businesses, package them so price comparison is not easy. Put items into a hamper as a perfect Boy 8 to 12 bundle for example. Or offer the item with pre packages services if appropriate for an item.
  8. Less is more.  The stack em high watch em fly mantra can be wrong. Indeed, it is often wrong in retail. Shoppers can be store blind because a shop is too full or a display is too busy. Consider creating simpler less cluttered displays and window promotions. Draw attention to what you want people to see by promoting that one thing. Every time someone asks if you have something that you think through should be able to find easily – take it as a challenge for you to address rather than a commentary on a facility of the customer.
  9. Change. Christmas season in your shop should evolve. Major change weekly is vital for people to see what you have that they could buy.
  10. Be socially engaged. On Facebook, Instagram, twitter and elsewhere, be the calm voice, the person people enjoy reading or seeing photos from. Provide entertainment this Christmas rather than the usual retailer shrill of come and shop here!
  11. Be community minded. Choose a local charity or community group to support through Christmas. Consider: a change collection tin at the counter; a themed Christmas window display; promotion on your social media pages; a donation to their work; a collection point for donations from customers.
  12. Facilitate sharing stories. Find space in your shop for customers to share their Christmas stories. It could be a story wall inside or in front of the shop. This initiative encourages storytelling by locals and better connects the business with the community.
  13. Award a prize at a local school. Fund a year-end prize at a local school. Attend a school assembly to award the prize. Work with the school leadership on a prize appropriate to your business.
  14. VIP preview. Host a VIP shopper preview night when you show off your Christmas ranges ahead of being available to the general shoppers. Respect and reward your local shoppers with deals and the opportunity to preview ahead of others.
  15. Leverage Christmas traffic. Encourage the Christmas shopper traffic surge in after Christmas. Give them a reason to come back. A coupon promotion or a discount voucher on receipts could be the enticement to get shoppers back in-store. Note: the Tower POS software produces discount vouchers to rules you establish.
  16. Become a gallery. Work with a school, kindergarten, community group or retirement village to bring in local art for people to come and see through Christmas. A small space commitment can drive traffic from family and friends of those with art on show.
  17. Dress the shop. Fully embrace Christmas. Create a Christmas experience such that shoppers know they have stepped into somewhere special this Christmas. Go for more than some tinsel and a tree. Fully embrace the opportunity.
  18. Make your shop smell like Christmas.
  19. Send cards. Send Christmas cards early in the season to suppliers, key customers and local community groups. This connects you with Christmas. Invite all team members to sign each card.
  20. Host a Christmas party. For shops nearby. You are all in the season together – let your hear down before things get crazy.
  21. Ensure you have gifts targeted at occasions. For example: Kris Kringle, by price point and by recipient. Make it easy for people to know what they could give.
  22. Stocking stuffers. At your counter always have one or two stocking stuffers for impulse purchase.
  23. Offer gift vouchers – for someone to give when they are not sure what to give.
  24. Be local. Ensure you have a selection of locally sourced products available for purchase. Make it clear in-store that these products are sourced locally.
  25. Tell stories. On your Facebook page, talk about what is important to you at Christmas. Personalise the season and deepen the connection with those who could shop with you.
  26. Offer a free gift. Bulk purchase an item to offer those who spend above a set amount. For example, spend $65 and receive XX where XX may have cost $5.00 but could have a perceived value of $20.00.
  27. Keep it fresh. Every week make significant change to your Christmas displays and promotions to keep your offer fresh.
  28. Share Christmas recipes. Each week for, say, four weeks, give customers a family Christmas recipe. This personalises Christmas in your business, creates a talking point and makes shopping with you different to your bigger competitors.
  29. Free wrapping. Sure, many retailers offer this. Make your offer better, more creative and more appreciated.
  30. This is essential in any business. Manage it through your computer system with strict rules.
  31. Work the floor. Increase time on the shop floor. Be present to manage shopper flow and to facilitate purchases.
  32. Christmas is crazy busy I most retail situations. Give yourself and your team members sufficient time to recharge so the smile greeting shoppers is heartfelt.
  33. Keep a secret. If yours is a business selling gifts a partner may purchase for their loved-one, create some mystery with a closed off display for the shopper to see the products.
  34. Free assembly. If you sell items that require assembly. Offer to do this for free.
  35. Free delivery. Offer free Christmas Eve delivery for items purchased for kids for Christmas.
  36. Sell training. Leverage the specialist knowledge you have in your business by selling as gifts places at classes you run sharing your expertise.
  37. Hold back. Don’t go out with everything you have for Christmas all at once. Plan the season to show off what you have as the season unfolds. This allows you multiple launches.
  38. Share a taste. Regardless if your type of business, bake a family recipe of Christmas cake, Christmas pudding or Christmas biscuits and offer tastings to shoppers on select days. This personalises the experience in your shop.
  39. Offer hampers. Package several items together and offer them as a hamper. Time-poor shoppers could appreciate you doing this work for them. We have seen this work in many different retail situations.
  40. Buy X get Y. Encourage people to spend more with a volume based deal. Pitched right, this could get customers purchasing items for several family members in order to get the price offer you have. Use your technology to manage this.

Christmas is the perfect time to plan for next year. It is the time to do everything possible to leverage bonus Christmas traffic to benefit your business through next year.

Tower Systems offers Point of sale / retail management software tailored for your specific type of retail business. Our software can help you leverage Christmas traffic for year-long benefits.

18 likes
marketing

Behind the newsagency counter

We change our behind the counter display at least fortnightly, to provide shoppers with an impulse purchase opportunity. We go for bold, brand-focussed displays. This latest one has worked a treat.

IMG_0971

My advice on behind the counter displays is: keep it simple, have a single focus, be bold and shine a light on a hero brand. You know you are on a winner when shoppers add to the basket at the counter.

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Counter offers

Australia Post dropping the ball on deliveries

Over the last few months to number of times Australia Post has lost items has increased in my experience. In the most recent situation, a post pack, with a barcode for tracking, was lost. It turns out the pack was not scanned at any location. More than $200 worth of goods went missing.

Here is the Australia Post response:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about the parcel 60204183857099 you sent. I can understand that it’s concerning when your parcel is not delivered as expected. My name is Erik and below is the outcome of your enquiry.

I have checked the details for your parcel and can see that there has been no tracking events. If your parcel was not able to be delivered, it may be forwarded to our Returned Mail Redistribution Centre, which is where undeliverable, damaged or loose items are sent. I have subsequently used the contents description you provided to check this database, but was unsuccessful in finding a match.

I’m sorry to advise that the parcel you have sent has been lost in transit. As you have not taken out Transit Cover for this parcel, we cannot compensate you for the contents. As a result, all possible avenues for our investigation have been exhausted and we are unable to investigate this matter further.

Maybe this is part of the management plan to drive the sale of Transit Cover.

The whole experience is frustrating.

12 likes
Australia Post

Simple counter offer for stationery

Going through some photos from a couple of months ago, I found this one from a counter offer at a Ryman store in the UK. This is a good simple stationery pitch at the counter.

IMG_2929

Vary smart, easy to do and difficult for others to price compare. Ideal for a newsagency.

7 likes
Stationery

Take a look at the Bauer Media magazine discount offer in Woolworths

I took a close look at the BUY ONE GET ONE HALF PRICE offer for Bauer Media titles in Woolworths yesterday, if the Park Street Sydney store.

You only have to look at the in-store promotion to understand the damage this Woolworths exclusive promotion could do to the sale of Bauer titles in newsagencies.

Why Bauer would fund this promotion for Woolworths is beyond me. Well, I guess not actually since they were probably put under pressure by Woolworths.

Here is a photo of the magazine department. Your eyes are drawn to the orange collateral for the offer as you approach the display.

IMG_1087

Now take a closer look. here is how The Australian Women’s Weekly is being promoted.

IMG_1083

The message is clear side on and front on. Now look at Woman’s Day:

IMG_1085

Again, a clear message, which I get since the goal of the promotion is to drive incremental purchases of Bauer titles. The question is whether Bauer wins at the cost of other publishers. Bauer would win from this but maybe not the retailer.

Off location is this floor unit:

IMG_1086

This promotion will run a total of three months. That is three month of preferential pricing for Bauer titles in Woolworths. I suspect newsagency businesses located near Woolworths will suffer from this. If my business was affected I;d be unhappy with Bauer and taking the matter up with the company.

This promotion looks like Bauer wants to migrate shoppers from other channels to Woolworths. While I expect the folks at Bauer would disagree, the facts speak for themselves – a compelling offer, exclusive to Woolworths.

It surprises me why any supplier supports a retailer like Woolworths when they don’t engage with the category like you see in most newsagencies. I guess only big businesses understand big businesses. Time till tell how that pans out for them.

Magazines are important to our channel. Indeed, they are more important to us than they are to Woolworths. Yet Woolworths gets the deals. They are able to say magazines are cheaper there than in newsagencies – why should shoppers shop with us when we are more expensive? For discretionary purchases price does matter.

20 likes
Competition

The simple Facebook posts work the best

With social media content being swiped past quickly on phones, the short and simple posts are the best.

Here is one post I did two days ago that worked a treat online and in-store:

Screen Shot 2016-11-23 at 6.56.47 PM

Can you see what I did? Three different panda products, from different categories, together in this one post. And with a single word text message, which was suggested by a colleague newsagent and for which I am grateful.

The engagement with and from this post made the $5.00 spend worthwhile.

13 likes
marketing

Star Wars the top licence this Christmas

IMG_0974Licence experts in the toy and games space have declared that Star Wars will be the top licence this Christmas in Australia.

One expert in the field who I heard from this week claims it will outperform its nearest licence rival by more than three to one. If this happens it will be an extraordinary result.

The time for picking successful licences was back in March this year when most major brands released their Christmas lines.

With Star Wars licenced products from a range of suppliers, engaged retailers are able to tell a terrific story across multiple product categories, some of which are traditional to newsagency retail while others are not.

If your business has a Christmas catalogue out with toys and no Star Wars representation – ask those who created the catalogue why they have ignored this opportunity.

What is fascinating about Star Wars for newsagents is that through this licence you can sell items that are far more expensive than the average item value sold in a newsagency. This type of move is key is you are to life basket value and dollar margins per sale.

Licence insights and trends are vital to understanding the opportunities down the road and around the corner. Being able to decide in March, for example, what will dominate in December is challenging even for major retailers. However, it is vital to have a go at this, to try and ensure you are in the game. Otherwise, it will be a low-margin Christmas based on cheap toys and that is a game newsagents should have got out of years ago.

12 likes
newsagency of the future

Changes at ANCOL in South Australia

ANCOL, the newsagent owned stationery wholesale business and local shareholder in Newspower, issued this statement two days ago:

We have conducted  a review of the ANCOL Group’s operational requirements.

As a result of this review the position of ANCOL Sales Manager has been made redundant, effective immediately.

Your existing Account Manager will continue to call and be responsible for the day to day needs of your business. There are no changes to call cycles and the Account Managers will continue to provide the exemplary service levels the Co-operative currently provides.

If you need additional assistance with an issue, query or problem do not hesitate to contact the Operations Manager, Ben Myles or myself.

In my opinion there will be a rationalisation of stationery wholesale in South Australia as the changes under way at GNS play out. South Australia is too small for ANCOL to help newsagents to source stationery on competitive terms.

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Newsagent representation

So what happened about the newspaper flat wrap project?

Back in 2006 the flat wrapping of newspapers for home delivery was a big issue. After various trials, flat wrap papers became a standard in South Australia.

But what about the rest of the country? Why did flat wrap not become a national standard?

Ten years ago this was a big story. There were many meetings and many arguments. It was thought by some to be crucial to the success of newspapers into the future.

We now know flat wrap has had no impact on the sales success of a newspaper.

The South Australian situation was and is unique because of how home delivery agents are clustered in depots, groups of newsagents sharing infrastructure. Even so, newsagents with larger distribution businesses elsewhere have not embraced flat wrap.

In Adelaide yesterday I saw a flat wrapped paper in a cafe and this reminded me of the discussions in 2006. here is a photo of the paper:

IMG_1059

That flat wrap has not taken off around the country makes me wonder about the claims in 2006 of how vital flat wrap was and about the costs of the infrastructure given the poor return newspapers provide today.

I am writing about it today in the hope some newsagents till involved in flat wrap share their experiences as I am sure there are newsagents in the channel who know nothing about this type of newspaper delivery.

10 likes
Newspaper distribution

Tatts double standards for On the Run in South Australia?

Go into almost any On The Run c-store in South Australia and you see Tatts product placement at the counter that is not permitted in newsagency businesses. Unless I am missing something tatts is permitting a major competitor of newsagents to have a lower cost and more commercially valuable lottery offering in-store.

Here is one store I saw in Adelaide yesterday.

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I know of newsagents who have been fined for non lottery products placed this close to their Tatts terminal.

If I was a Tatts outlet in South Australia I would want to know why On The Run has been permitted what appears to be more competitive terms than newsagents.I would want this tested with those in authority over such matters.

14 likes
Ethics

Don’t do as I do, do as I say

News Corp. asks, some say pressures, newsagents to give prime position in newsagencies for newspapers. Check out how the company promotes its print product on their office in the Adelaide CBD … they don’t promote print and have not for more than a year. I took this photo yesterday morning.

IMG_1060

14 likes
Newsagent suppliers

The Australian reports magazine sales data shake-up for supermarkets

IMG_1051The Media column in The Australian yesterday reported a shake-up in the way Coles handles magazine sales data and payment. The Australian claims Coles will move to a scanned sales model with Woolworths soon to follow. I thought Woolworths had scanned sales in place already – they certainly provide overnight sales data from what I understand.

Regardless, the story is interesting for a few reasons:

  1. Public acknowledgement that retailers until now have had to pay for shrinkage.
  2. Surprise that Coles supposedly pays for all magazines supplied and then claims for unsold stock. This does not sound right.
  3. Supermarkets sell fewer magazines than newsagents yet they appear to have a better deal than us when it comes to shrinkage.
  4. We can offer a scanned sales model today – at least newsagents with accurate data can and that number of newsagents is close to 1,000.
  5. Shrinkage. We already know that the magazines most affected by shrinkage in newsagencies are the top 50 titles. The average cost is around 3% of sales. Being compensated for this would be a valuable benefit for any retailer.

This brief diary piece should interest newsagents as it goes to matters at the heart of our competitiveness in the magazine space. The item puts publishers on notice not only from supermarkets but from other retailers including newsagents.

17 likes
Competition

Gross oversupply of New Statesman or bad management at Gotch?

New StatesmanThe unjustified massive increase in supply of New Statesman for one newsagent, from 13 to 31 – probably a data entry issue – is a headache. I suspect the folks at Gotch will say it was a mistake. This is happening so much that to me it looks like a broken technology system in need of urgent replacement. Why would there be data entry at all?! Human error was the problem a decade ago so I wonder when Gotch will have a state of the art allocations system that stops mistakes like this.

10 likes
magazine distribution

Someone is trying to damage all newsagency businesses

Screen Shot 2016-11-20 at 2.47.11 PMSomeone has started a blog that appears hell-bent on harming all newsagency businesses. The Bad Newsagent has only just started but the venom is obvious.

The author of the blog is not confident enough of their opinions to publish their name. Shame on them.

I wonder what they hope to achieve from their blog. reading the few posts, it is as if they want to make selling a newsagency business difficult. It also reads like they don’t want others to try and help newsagents evolve their businesses to be relevant to today.

If we knew the author we might have context and understand their anger.

23 likes
Ethics

The ethics of selling magazines for which you have claimed a credit

I have been contacted by a newsagent expressing concern about another newsagent who sells in-store and online magazines and newspaper publisher supplied items they have processed for return, for which they have received credit.

This behaviour is unethical, it gives our channel a bad name and is likely to lead to more audits of returns costing all newsagents time.

13 likes
Ethics

Sunday newsagency challenge: be serious about your data

I was talking to a newsagent last week who said they don’t have time to scan their sales so they use their out of date computer system as a cash register and process magazine returns through the Gotch website.

Data is vital in guiding the best business decisions you can make. By not tracking sales you open yourself to undetectable theft, poor decisions, a less attractive business when you decide to sell, slower customer throughput and being out of date with today’s marketplace.

Retailers need to own their data situation. It is 100% on them to respect data as much as you respect cash.

13 likes
Management tip

Sunday newsagency management tip: cut employee theft – check the resume

A newsagent colleague recently was stolen from by an employee. The cost to the business was $2,500. The person’s story at the interview was they had been out of the workforce for a year taking time off. However, given their age and health the story did not make sense. But it was not questioned. The reality is they were working in another newsagency for much of the year and were intimately sacked because of theft. They paid money back and left without prosecution. They found a new job in a newsagency an hour from the old job and the new boss eventually discovered their dishonesty.

If there is a gap in a resume, pursue it, ask questions. If you are not sure, don’t hire them.

There are people who like working in newsagencies because of the family aspect and the last of strict controls managing cash. This can provide a window long enough for them to steal, as they did in the latest case, thousands of dollars.

Employee theft costs between three and five times more than shopper theft yet small business retailers obsess about shopper they and tend to ignore employee theft – until it hurst them.

10 likes
Management tip

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: use Nexus emails

Newsagents that are members of the Pacific magazines nexus program has access to a free email service allowing you to send an email to customers in the database you have built every two weeks.

I know form personal experience these emails work. I have had people in the newsagency as a direct result of receiving an email.

The service is free. Emails are easy to setup.

This is no brainer marketing in my view.

8 likes
marketing
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