People are loving this card. A couple of times now people have bought it as their second card, their fun card bought for a reaction. Indeed, the second card purchase is a trend for Mother’s Day, too. Not a huge trend, but a trend nevertheless.
We have pitched the card at the counter, where it is easily purchased on impulse.
One argument put forward by the government in support of their proposal to have Facebook and Google pay some but not all Australian news outlets has been challenges.
The Giant Stuff news and information business in New Zealand quit Facebook in July.
On ABC radio’s AM this morning information was shared indicating that the traffic impact for the news site has been minimal.
While I have shared my opinions here and here, I’ll note, again, that I think the code proposed by the government is poor policy that is being propagated to appease supporters. It is not the wise action of a free market economy. It is technically ignorant of how the platforms work and the control the publishers have.
The publishers set to benefit from the code, if there is a benefit, have broken business models. I doubt that any mon ey that may flow from implementing the code would support good journalism in Australia. That, in my view, is up to individual Australians, through the choices we make.
Jeff Jarvis is a journalism professor and an expert on news and, in particular, digital platforms of news. His tweets, in a thread, just now are interesting and timely in my opinion. be sure to read the full thread:
As ever, Rupert Murdoch ruins everything for everyone. He has pushed ridiculous legislation in Australia to get platforms to pay him and big publishers. Facebook just said if that happens, they will forbid the posting of news, which hurts everyone. https://t.co/sD3EH9z5kF
— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) September 1, 2020
As I have noted already, the proposed move by the government is foolish, ill-conceived and pandering to media giants. They choose where their content goes. They have demonstrated the value of journalism in all their giveaways and discount deals on platforms line the Apple News platform.
You can see how ridiculous the move is by excluding the ABC and SBS.
The proposal by the government is dressed as supporting journalism but, I suspect, it has nothing to do with this.
Further to my post last week about opportunities for regional newsagents, there have been several media reports over the last few days about businesses making these moves, long term committing to work from home and quitting plans for city based office facilities.
A quick search will deliver access to more reports like these.
Businesses, especially office based businesses, are looking at how and where their people work. This is where opportunities for newsagents emerge.
I do think there is a new niche of products and services regional newsagents can offer to facilitate relevance in these emerging opportunities.
Back in March it was a punt to pitch jigsaws online. Online was crowded with discount jigsaw websites selling at 25% and more off retail and, often, offering free shipping.
Six months on, the decision to offer at SRP and to not offer free shipping paid off. As jigsaws became scarce, price was not an issue. Sales have led to return business, with no queries over price.
Over the months, the offer has been expanded to include more puzzles, not just jigsaw puzzles.
Range is key as people often buy 2 or 3 jigsaws in a transaction. From this we can see age diversity in their product picks.
Click and collect has proven to be as important as delivery. Also, as with any website connected to a physical shop, the website drives in-store purchases. We know this as shoppers come in and often say I saw that you have xx online…
Back in March another hesitation was around the shipping of the products. Safe shipping of jigsaws requires an attention to detail to ensure the box arrives intact and safe. Given that the box will not fit in letterboxes, there was also the factor of parcel delivery and ensuing collection.
After several trials, the process was set and it has worked well since.
Looking at the data, less than 10% of sales are to local addresses and more than half of all shipments are out of state. There is something special about selling to someone who is unlikely to ever visit your shop.
I like Beanie Boos and have liked them for many years. They are an excellent product with broad appeal.
There is more to like about Boos in 2020. The latest independent toy sales data collated by the respected NPD group shows Boo sales as being up by 30% in July. This is on the back of an excellent January to June.
Thinking about the success in 2020, in the middle of Covid, even in Melbourne where stage 4 is in force, Boos are successful and growing because they are:
It’s kind of an I told you so thing for me because there are some in the newsagency channel who five or so years ago mocked me for talking up Boos. Here we are, five years on, sales continue to be terrific, growing. Better still, Boos are a perfect online sale with two of my stores achieving at least $25,000 in online revenue. Add this to excellent in-store sales and you can see why I like the brand.
One final point – Beanie Boos from ty inc. sell to anyone from 6 to 90. People buy them for many more reasons than you may expect and this if what makes them a commercially valuable property … the breadth of appeal makes them space and capital efficient. They also play a key factor in birthday card and thank you card sales.
This is all great news, which makes me happy.
We are pitching pre-set packs for Father’s Day 2020 for the shoppers who want everything ready to go. Here are 3 of the packs we have been pitching.
We offer to substitute items, including the card. We have other pack, too.
People can pre-pay for even faster collection. Plus, they can purchase and we will deliver locally.
Being in a stage 4 lockdown area we have had to innovate in our approach to handling Father’s Day. We did this early because we could see the season kick off early.
The three gift pack selections above and our other packs are designed to reflect the diversity of products on offer for a broad range of father’s Day gift giving situations.
People are engaging with Fathers Day, which is good, cared especially.
Click here to access the investor presentation slide deck from Ovato’s FY2019/20 report. Click here for the full year results. Unfortunately, the reports on the ASX website do not provide much detail related to our channel.
Through my POS software company I get to connect with suppliers across 11 specialty retail channels. From what I see, the cost borne by newsagents to access electronic invoices is higher than any other channel. It is a commercial disadvantage for newsagents in my view.
As an owner of newsagencies since February 1996, as the owner of a software company serving newsagents since 1981 and as the owner of a software company serving other retail channels …
XchangeIT roots date back 30 years ago as a different product, quite removed from what we have today. While the world has moved on, XchangeIT has not. It does not serve newsagents well.
Now, before folks at XchangeIT clutch their chests crestfallen by what I have written, this is not personal. The world has changed. EDI has changed. What is imposed on newsagents through the XchangeIT, supplier controlled, platform is out of date, it makes newsagents less competitive.
These days, we should be spending less and less time on back office tasks, especially for meagre margin products such as magazines.
Great, too, to see the Souther Highlands Express pitch newsagents…
The Southern Highlands Express newspaper is packed with local news. Get a copy at newsagents, general stores and selected retailers across the Highlands every Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/nEnuiHDZRW
— Southern Highlands Express (@SH_Express) August 27, 2020
A few weeks after Australia Post was in the news with a report it was considering 7 day delivery and 24 hours after a news report in Victoria of a flood of Father’s Day deliveries, we received an Australia Post notice at our Hawthorn office advising mail deliveries will now be every second day, until mid 2021.
I am grateful to the colleague who shared this image from a recent Facebook Marketplace ad. It’s an issue of The New Idea for women magazine from July 1, 1956 – selling for $10.00.
Interestingly, the RBA website inflation calculator calculates the 1956 6 pence cover price for the magazine to be worth 83 cents today.
Related to this, I know someone who has collected music and motorbike and car magazines since the 1970s. They started selling them on eBay a year ago and sales are excellent, earning between $10 and $75 a magazine, plus shipping.
Suppliers, like retailers, have had to adjust their businesses in response to the challenges of Covid. Smart suppliers have engaged early, and cleverly.
With close contact the core challenge for infection, reducing contact in-store has been key. This means less desire for reps in-store, which makes sense. Thoughtful suppliers understand this, they have put in place alternative opportunities representing products.
Zoom and other tools are proving to be useful in connecting retailers and suppliers. Easy to navigate websites are key too, with more supplier business being done online. The beauty of Zoom and similar is that meetings can be recorded and made available for others in the business to see.
This is where the banner groups can play a role and are playing a role. I know the newsXpress the daily Zoom sessions which have been running since March have been helpful in getting more suppliers in front of more retailers – pitching product, providing back stories and helping to better target customers.
Retailers benefit from not having supplier reps in-store because there is less emotional purchasing. It is hard to say no to someone face to face. Indeed, several retailers have mentioned exactly this to me, that they find it easier to say no to an email or in a phone call than face to face. I suspect some suppliers know this and thereby preference in-store rep visits – for emotional selling.
A good website is key for suppliers keen to replace rep visits. Too many suppliers to our channel do not have a good online presence.
I suspect that post-Covid we will not go back to where we were when it comes to rep visits. Personally, that’s what I hope for as too many rep visits do not deliver the necessary commercial benefits. They are inefficient and facilitate an inconsistent supplier pitch.
The other change smart suppliers are embracing is through product range. For example, some suppliers have embraced the categories doing particularly well and making easy to purchase packages available. On top of this, we are seeing suppliers pitch products not usually pitched to our channel, which is good.
Change is the name of the game. Suppliers embracing change are more likely to be the winners from this year.
Newsagents used to always be tagged in partwork launch TV commercials, for years and years. This was key to driving traffic and sales success. The TV campaigns always resulted in a traffic surge.
The lack of a tag on the TVC for the new Warhammer Mortal Realms partwork launch could be a reason for dismal sales so far.
Given that they show the Australian price, it would have been easy to tag newsagents on the screen and in the voice-over. What a missed opportunity! Here is the Australian TVC:
Regional Australia has proven to be a safer place too live and work as COVID-19 has wreaked its havoc here and around the world.
Higher population density has been shown to have its disadvantages. Large offices and busy workplaces, too.
People have learned to work from home. Businesses have adjusted – what was not an option in 2019 is commonplace in 2020.
I suspect that some, maybe plenty, of the changes implemented for the short term earlier this year will stick, that regional Australia will remain appealing for families, and for businesses. Indeed, that appeal could grow.
Business owners I have spoken with are reassessing their need to bring people to an office for 8 hours to work when productivity can be as good, or better with folks working from home. On top of the commute time saving, there is a cost saving – to individuals and business.
In this evolving world we will see new businesses spring up, serving people working regionally who need an office, but maybe only for a few hours a week.
On the issue of offices, small to medium sized business owners I talk with are all considering their on-going city based infrastructure needs – office space, workstations, big photocopiers and more. There could be savings, too, from less of a need for company vehicles. It is easy to cost the benefit of retreating from this as the costs of the central office are well known.
In all of this there are opportunities for retailers and local, regional, service providers. This is where local regional newsagents can play a role – as suppliers of more stationery for people working from home and businesses re-locating regionally, as providers of services in support of these situations and, for some, as providers of shared workspaces where people need an office or more privacy than home offers.
COVID-19 has shown us the extent to which people and businesses can and will change for a healthier situation. Regional Australia is well placed to serve in this situation.
I think it is safe for regionally located businesses to invest time in working on leveraging the opportunities uncovered. If my retail businesses were regional, this is what I would be doing. I would be looking to serve the needs of individuals and businesses through providing short-term office rental, easy access to supplies and easy access to business support services.
COVID-19 has shown us all how to transact business differently. Smart businesses have embraced those changes and done so in a way that offers employees a healthier and more enjoyable work life.
Forward thinking newsagents and others are already embracing the opportunities revealed in 2020.
Given recent comments here on Google and news, here are investigative journalism outlets in Australia that, in my opinion, lead the pack on investigative journalism in Australia.
Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. I don’t care if you like my list or not, it’s my list, just as your list is your list.
The Nine papers late Thursday night reported actions by Westfield against some major tenants over unpaid rent.
Westfield shopping mall owner Scentre has begun locking non-rent-paying retailers out of their stores in a dramatic escalation of tensions between major landlords and their retail tenants.
ASX-listed retailer Mosaic Group, which operates stores such as Noni B, Rivers and Katies, told investors on Thursday afternoon 129 of its stores in Westfield nationally had been “temporarily closed by the landlord Scentre Group”.
…
Scentre’s approach is the newest escalation of tensions between landlords and major retail tenants over rental amounts paid during coronavirus lockdowns, where many stores were shut or receiving significantly reduced income due to social distancing measures.
Mosaic, along with other retailers such as Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments, have either refused to pay rent or paid a reduced level of rent to their landlords during the period, saying that proprietors should share the burden of the economic crunch brought on by COVID-19.
The ABC published a story about this yesterday.
I was surprised months ago to read that several major shopping centre tenants had stopped maying rent. I have shops in 2 Westfield centres and have kept paying, albeit at a reduced amount and with transparency to Westfield, as I knew at some point, once the national code discounts are applied, there’d be a call what is owing.
While I am interested in any pressure on landlords on rent overall, deliberately not paying rent is not a good negotiating tactic in my view. It will be interesting to see where this story plays out.
OUT NOW
This week's edition of The Horsham Times is out today at newsagents and Coles.
Can't get to the shop? Access a digital copy at https://t.co/gmkQpTkpSV or better yet, sign up for a digital subscription. pic.twitter.com/yS08JuKlhE
— The Horsham Times (@thehorshamtimes) August 13, 2020
A year ago this week my newsagency software company Tower Systems moved from the old-school purchase approach for software to rental, introducing a $185.00 a month all-in bundled pricing.
It was a risky move in that we switched from a model where newsagents pay up front to one where they pay a dramatically smaller amount every 30 days and can cancel at any time without penalty.
We knew the software was good because more newsagents use the Tower newsagency software (1,700+) than all other newsagency software packages combined. What we didn’t know is whether the rental model would work.
The shift in how the software is acquired has led to a surge over the year in new rooftops for the software.
A few months ago, we released new newsagency software with a more modern and cleaner look and feel, a new-tech database engine and tons of new features too.
The $185.00 a month includes updates and support. It comes with:
Since Covid hit is February, how newsagents are using the software has evolved. For example, there has been a surge in seamless online connection as well as using the software to manage click and collect, contactless retail, managing shop data away from the shop and pivoting into new product categories – leveraging tools line government approved scale integration, product care help, serial number tracking and email marketing.
The $185.00 a month rental offer for the newsagency software was launched in August 2019. There is no finance contract to secure, cashflow management is easy and it is a one-stop price.
In addition to newsagency software, we also develop websites in Australia for Australian newsagency businesses, helping you get online.
Here are some of the POS software connected sites we have recently delivered:
Footnote: I own Tower Systems, making this an ad of sorts.
Australians visiting Google in recent days have received a message from the company, a single line below the search box:
If you click on the link, it takes you to this open letter:
Open letter to Australians
We need to let you know about new Government regulation that will hurt how Australians use Google Search and YouTube.A proposed law, the News Media Bargaining Code, would force us to provide you with a dramatically worse Google Search and YouTube, could lead to your data being handed over to big news businesses, and would put the free services you use at risk in Australia.
The way Aussies search every day on Google is at risk from new regulation
You’ve always relied on Google Search and YouTube to show you what’s most relevant and helpful to you. We could no longer guarantee that under this law. The law would force us to give an unfair advantage to one group of businesses – news media businesses – over everyone else who has a website, YouTube channel or small business. News media businesses alone would be given information that would help them artificially inflate their ranking over everyone else, even when someone else provides a better result. We’ve always treated all website owners fairly when it comes to information we share about ranking. The proposed changes are not fair and they mean that Google Search results and YouTube will be worse for you.Your Search data may be at risk
You trust us with your data and our job is to keep it safe. Under this law, Google has to tell news media businesses “how they can gain access” to data about your use of our products. There’s no way of knowing if any data handed over would be protected, or how it might be used by news media businesses.Hurting the free services you use
We deeply believe in the importance of news to society. We partner closely with Australian news media businesses — we already pay them millions of dollars and send them billions of free clicks every year. We’ve offered to pay more to license content. But rather than encouraging these types of partnerships, the law is set up to give big media companies special treatment and to encourage them to make enormous and unreasonable demands that would put our free services at risk.This law wouldn’t just impact the way Google and YouTube work with news media businesses — it would impact all of our Australian users, so we wanted to let you know. We’re going to do everything we possibly can to get this proposal changed so we can protect how Search and YouTube work for you in Australia and continue to build constructive partnerships with news media businesses — not choose one over the other.
You’ll hear more from us in the coming days — stay tuned.
Thank you,
Mel Silva, Managing Director, on behalf of Google Australia
This is an emotive campaign by Google, arguing points not core to the proposed code. Google understands people better than most businesses thanks to the data they have. I get why they are arguing through an emotive narrative it makes sense. An article at The Conversation discusses the issue.
In my opinion, the planned move by the federal government is an interference in the free market economy, something the current government claims to hold dear.
News outlets have sought to be listed on Google and other online platforms. They have done this using techniques to lift their rankings online. They have done this deliberately, when they could have, alternatively, blocked their sites from being listed. They are where they are because, in part, of their actions.
News outlets have, from time to time, also encouraged the sharing of their stories on online platforms.
I get that news outlets don’t like that Google and other platforms have taken their ad revenue. That’s competition as they well know. I think the loss of ad revenue is the core issue here. Publishers need to realise the world has changed and that old media platforms, newspapers, TV and radio are not as interesting to consumers as they used to be. That’s not the fault of Google and others.
This move by the government looks and feels like pandering to media giants like News Corp. It’s political, and as such is not, in my view, good policy. This is demonstrated by the government exclusion of public broadcasters from benefiting from the proposed legislation.
The ACCC, responding to Google’s open letter says A healthy news media sector is essential to a well-functioning democracy. I don’t see the code as facilitating a healthy news media. One could argue that the extraordinary concentration of media ownership, especially newspapers and related online platforms, in Australia is a considerably bigger challenge to democracy.
I hope the code does not get up as it would set a precedent for government intervention. Indeed, it reminds me of 1999 when the government facilitated the taking away of the exclusive and protected status of newsagents for the distribution of print media products in Australia. It did this without supportive compensation for newsagents. Newsagents were told it’s business, suck it up, we’re not going to protect you.
News outlets worried about their journalism being on platforms like Google can stop this themselves. That is what they should do. However, I suspect that is not their concern as much as is the collapse in ad revenue.
Google, Facebook and others are not heroes in my view. I wish they would make a heftier tax contribution in Australia based on considerable revenue. I wish they did not engage in tax minimisation. schemes that reduced the contribution they make to Australia and Australians. Indeed, I wish that of all big businesses, including big media outlets.
Hmm, now there’s a thought, how much could Australian journalism benefit from big media companies that do engage in tax minimisation through offshore arrangements not doing so? Plenty, I suspect.
The Guardian has provided good analysis as to the proposed legislation and why Google is opposed to it.
The folks at Freshwater Fishing Australia magazine are offering it to retailers with a 50% GP offer and sale or return. Plus, it’s freight free.
I suspect we will see more direct to retailer opportunities like this from niche, special interest, publishers.
Freshwater Fishing Australia magazine is an ideal niche title in that readers are loyal. It works well with the decades-old cutaway service many newsagents offer.
I’d be interested to know if this 50% GP pitch works for the publisher.
The Border Watch, a regional newspaper in South Australia, along with sister pub locations, will close tomorrow. Here is the full announcement put on Facebook:
TBW PRESSES COME TO HALT
For 159 years The Border Watch Newsgroup has been the voice of the Mount Gambier and district community, so much so it became known as the “Community Watchdog”. During those 159 years it fought to protect society against any wrong doing and look after the interests of its readers and local community.It has always remained proudly locally-owned by firstly, the Laurie and Watson families and since 1977 it has been owned by the Scott family.It has also had the distinction of operating for 159 years without missing an edition – that will no longer be the case.Sadly, today, the Board of Directors of The Border Watch Pty Ltd, which includes The Border Watch, South Eastern Times (Millicent) and The Pennant (Penola) announce that these newspapers, along with Millicent Print and the company’s associated digital platforms will cease production as of Friday, August 21.The 38 staff employed by the company were told of the decision today.They will receive all redundancy, annual and long service entitlements.Like regional newspapers in the United States and Europe over recent years Australia’s regional newspaper network has struggled in the past few years with many down-sizing or closing.The Border Watch Board of Directors said every effort had been made to keep the presses running.“As currently experienced throughout the regional media industry the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly worsened the financial viability of TBW that was already severely impacted by declining advertising revenues and newspaper sales as well as increasing competition from a variety of digital media platforms.“Taking these issues into consideration TBW has made the very difficult decision to close its operations.“The company employs 38 staff and their loyalty during some difficult times in the past year is of the highest order and directors paid tribute to these talented, hard-working and in many cases, long-serving members of The Border Watch family.“To our loyal readers and advertisers we say a big thank for your support over many years.“Finally to our loyal and dedicated staff who have given so much to this company and its various media operations over so many years, we say a big thank you and our hearts go out to them and their families during this difficult time.
“Today is a sad day for everyone.”
Reading this, I am reminded that the Seattle Post Intelligencer moved to digital only in 2009. I wrote about it at the time. They made the move ahead of the curve and repositioned the business ahead of the major hit of disruption. Publishers confronting disruption now are coming at it late and have fewer options because of this.
Click here to access the full year results – investor presentation from Tabcorp. Overall, Tabcorp shareholders will, I suspect, be happy with the results as they contain plenty of good news.
Of interest to lottery retailers will be the growth in digital (online) from 23.5% in FY2018/19 to 28% in FY2019/20. It hit 20.9% of revenue in the fourth quarter of the financial year.
Growth in revenue overall for Lotteries and Keno was 1.8%. Growth in digital was up 19% on the previous year. I guess that puts a different light on their reasoning for the 4% decline in retail revenue noted in the report. While retail closures would have impacted, I’d be surprised if closures accounted for a major portion of the decline given that newsagencies were not required to close.
This annual report is not good news for lottery retailers. The transition of lottery customers to online continues. While Tabcorp will point to the omnichannel commission arrangements, they do not deliver sufficiently for the additional work required.
My advice to lottery retailers is – work on your business to attract non-lottery shoppers to purchase good margin products that you carefully select and that can play as a basis to attract return business from those shoppers. This is upside you can create.
While the lottery traffic and revenue are appealing, Tabcorp must put the needs of its shareholders ahead of everyone else.
This notice from the publisher of the North Central Review yesterday speaks to the challenges faced by independent local newspapers as a result of Covid. Their explanation of the situation is well made:
No print edition next week
The North Central Review, The Free Press and the Whittlesea Review will not print newspapers next week, on August 25, 2020.
The Review is taking the opportunity during the second COVID-19 lockdown to close for one week.
Normal print editions will resume Tuesday, September 1.
General manager/editor Lauren Duffy apologised for any inconvenience caused to advertisers and readers.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all small businesses, and we are no exception,” she said.
“We have weathered the storm so far this year and printed as normal in 2020.
“Advertising from local business has significantly dropped and we feel we need to take this step.
“We thank you those local businesses who do advertise with us for their support thus far in 2020, and hope this continues in the future.”
Newspapers and media organisations across Australia have been significantly affected by a downturn of advertising revenue, with many newspapers forced to close their doors.
“While we provide an essential service to many people because in many communities we are the only local news service, we are also a business – we employ more than 15 local people, plus many, many more to deliver our newspapers, and we have costs like all businesses have,” Ms Duffy said.
“We are trying our very best to ensure the longevity of this newspaper.”
The Review’s journalists will continue to publish news online here at www.ncreview.com.au to keep the community updated with essential news.
