Placement of this issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly at the counter as the palace papers story is top of mind is tactical and smart. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, the Queen was involved at the time and in seeking to block access to the papers.
The second lockdown in Victoria a week old and we can see that people are reacting to it. They are distancing more carefully and shopping less for non-essentials. Malls across Melbourne are all but empty. Even supermarkets in malls have been hit – harder than in the first lockdown. On the high street, for essential businesses there is a business as usual, but safe, feel.
After talking with a range of retailers and looking at sales data, I put together these trend notes for retailers in my POS software company community. I share it here as some insights may interest:
Here are trends from the latest Victorian lockdown:
While the pandemic has disrupted business, in that disruption are opportunities. The Victorian situation is a reminder that disruption is not temporary. We think history will show that winners will be those businesses that adapted early and were able to finesse their offering and processes as the market demanded.
Newsagents with lotteries may find this Twitter thread from last week interesting:
@theLott This is your website right now. It’s been 40 minutes, I still am unsure if the tickets I selected 38 minutes ago have been purchased. pic.twitter.com/spL1ESIQLu
— Sean Desu (@blind_aussie) July 9, 2020
The New Yorker earlier this year published an excellent piece on the impact of the closure of local / regional newspapers. What Happens When the News Is Gone? is a terrific read for people interested in local news.
There is some relaxing and therapeutic about this video showing the making of yellow pencils.
Making the colour bit of pencils. Transfixed 😳pic.twitter.com/JULOfiExee
— Bernie'sTweets (@berniespofforth) July 13, 2020
Being online with the right product and the right mix of purchase options can deliver sales like this one, $1,082.99, at 7:48am yesterday, Sunday, on a day the store connected to the website is closed. This was one of 5 sales in the day for the store, $2,000+ in revenue, which the shop remained closed. Every sale above 50% GP.
This website, like all websites I have been involved with for my shops and others connected to groups of newsagencies, the online pitch is not through a newsagency related shingle. I think this matters. Indeed, the most successful online pitches are through either a known product brand or a widely loved product category.
Newsagents can sell online and doing so successfully can help you adjust physical store operations to be more overhead cost efficient.
The key thing to understand about what you an do online is … the only barrier is you and what you think you can and cannot do.
Wrapaway, a niche magazine and newspaper distributor, late yesterday wrote to NSW / ACT newsagents advising them of a cut to their commission (gross profit) from 25% on their titles to 12.5%. Their letter to newsagents explains that the move has been brought about by a 500% increase in what News Corp. charges them to deliver their product.
This is another of many changes in the News Corp. that are impacting and will impact newsagents.
The challenge for impacted newsagents is when is it too much, when do you quit suppliers. While financially such a move may make sense, when it comes to niche titles, such as foreign language titles, you may accept a reduced margin to maintain your specialist status.
The other options of course, is to increase the cover price.
If the Wrapaway letter is accurate and News Corp. has increased their charges by 500% the company needs to fully explain the basis for this increase, it needs to prove that such an increase is necessary.
This iconic jigsaw at the front of the shop in Victoria makes a timely and powerful statement right now.
While the image on this jigsaw represents a message from another time, the simple words resonate today. I was at the shop Thursday and heard a couple of customers comment positively about it. It reminded me that sometimes products can be a better advocate than pretty signage.
Based on what we have seen over the last few days in Victoria since the government announced a second lockdown, people are nervous. While the news reports show empty toilet paper, pasta and baby formula shelves, it is more than this, people are distancing again and they are touching products in-store less. So, it’s back to basics in retail, back to what we know is important:
I get that this list is common sense. I mention it as a reminder.
Part of what has happened in Victoria, I think, is complacency within the population due to people thinking we were through it. This has been encouraged by some media reporting on top of corona fatigue. Indeed, some in the media and some politicians have driven the push to get back to normal with dumb Dictator Dan headlines and labels.
As an employer my my primary interest in the shops is employee health and safety. This is why I have taken a strong position on face masks. I am grateful to have a team that gets it.
Newsagency businesses are selling through the covid challenges. While retail businesses in some other channels are not selling, newsagency businesses are selling and some have sold quickly, in a week or two of going on the market.
This is good for the channel. The number of buyers looking speaks to how the channel is viewed as an investment opportunity.
I have heard of a couple of instances where the purchasers were able to obtain bank finance, too, which is a nice shift from recent times.
Being essential through the pandemic is helping to reset how the channel is viewed.
This is a terrific news story from the UK about how UK newsagents have been helping their local communities through covid:
Newsagents have played a crucial role in their local communities during the coronavirus pandemic, from ensuring residents can get their daily news fix to keeping emergency stashes of toilet paper behind the till for customers unable to get their hands on any elsewhere.
Yet unlike many other essential workers who have, rightly, been praised for keeping the country going during the hardest of times, the contribution of newsagents has been largely overlooked.
As fears about the likelihood of a Covid-19 outbreak in the UK spread prior to lockdown, many shoppers who had previously bypassed their local newsagent in favour of the larger supermarket chains started dropping into convenience stores closer to home in order to avoid the crowds in towns any city centres.
…
Some newsagents have gone to great lengths to help customers and their local community during the pandemic.
Asiyah and Jawad Javed, who run the Day-Today Express store in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk, have given away hundreds of free Covid-19 hygiene kits to elderly and vulnerable people in their area to help to keep them safe during the public health crisis.
The kits include antibacterial hand gel, sanitising wipes and facemasks, and have cost the business more than £4,000. The couple also offered free delivery services for any residents unable to get to the shop.
What a great story!
Plenty of magazines are worth promoting right now given the unique circumstances of this point in 2020. Food titles, of course, as well as craft, crossword and hobby titles.
This create and decorate one shot from Bauer is an easy pitch with crafting currently popular in homes around the country.
I only rarely pitch magazines on social media as I’d rather attract shoppers for higher margin and stickier products. However, these days are different.
With Spotlight and other craft related businesses experiencing a huge sales surge, magazines like this can give us some connection to the opportunity.
I was in a couple of Victorian shopping malls yesterday and plenty of stores in those malls were already closed for the lockdown – jewellery, clothing, services and some gift.
Of the gift and related businesses that were open, in more than usual there were sales on – 20% through to 50% off. One national brand franchise gift business had everything in-store at 20% off with the look of quitting the centre.
Shopper traffic was down by, I am guessing here, 75% – based on people I saw and based on car park emptiness.
Out on the high street, from those I spoke to who were open, it was business as usual.
Looking at my own businesses in Westfield centres, yesterday we were down by 25%. I expect the decline to be greater today and into the weekend. What is interesting this time around is that card sales have not collapsed as they did in the early days of the first lockdown.
Reed just issued this statement:
An Important Update From Reed Gift Fairs
Reed Gift Fairs would like to express our ongoing concern for everyone impacted by Coronavirus.
After closely monitoring the rapidly escalating situation in Victoria and following the State and Federal Government directives, we have made the decision to reschedule the upcoming edition of Reed Gift Fairs Melbourne to 2021.
Reed Gift Fairs Melbourne will take place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 31 July to 4 August 2021.
We are in unprecedented times and continue to witness first-hand the challenging impact of COVID-19 on all industries, both professionally and personally. Prior to the recent escalation of COVID-19 in Victoria, we were optimistic that Reed Gift Fairs Melbourne would run safely and successfully in October this year, and our principle focus was on ensuring that the rescheduled dates were ideally positioned to support our community. However, following consultation with you, our customers, and all other stakeholders, we have concluded that the best option is to refocus on maximising business opportunities for wholesalers and retailers in 2021 at both Reed Gift Fairs Sydney (February, ICC Sydney) and Reed Gift Fairs Melbourne (August, MCEC).
We appreciate that this is disappointing news, however we have made this decision with everyone’s health and safety as our number one priority. We can now look ahead to the 2021 editions of Reed Gift Fairs in Sydney and Melbourne with more certainty.
We will continue to do our utmost to help all our customers, partners and attendees to prepare for the 2021 events. While we are disappointed that we are unable to meet face-to-face in Melbourne in 2020, we remain committed to keeping Australia’s vibrant retail community connected over the coming months.
We once again thank all of our exhibitors, visitors and partners for their encouragement and support during this challenging time and we apologise for any inconvenience that the rescheduling to 2021 may cause. We look forward to Reed Gift Fairs in both Sydney and Melbourne returning next year with even stronger events.
The sales of toys, games, plush, cards and nesting (candles etc) surged yesterday, Wednesday, in Melbourne as the city prepared for lockdown.
In my own experience, sales more than doubled in these and some other categories as people stocked up. The surge was greater in shopping centre businesses than on the high street – I suspect because shoppers expect the shopping centre businesses to close.
the card result was particular interesting. It said to me that people understood what was coming and that they wanted to ensure they had birthdays etc. covered through lockdown.
Bauer today launches on the 7 Network a new TVC pitching magazines: https://f.io/8gpyUtcH
‘The little things’ will run on the 7 Network from today as a 4-week campaign through to early August. Across the 4-weeks our investment will see more than 360 spots run – booked in as a 70% peak split. Highlighted programming includes Big Brother, Home & Away, Seven News, Sunrise, Night movies.
I am collecting basket data from newsagents for an April – June 2020 compared to April – June 2019 newsagency sales benchmark study.
I already have data from seventy stores and am hoping for data from another 50 at least.
My goal is to have the data collated and assessed early next week.
based on what I saw for May 2020 compared to May 2019 and May 1 – 30 2020 comp[ared to April 2020,l I anticipate seeing a strong result from regional and rural Australia and a good result from high street suburban.
It is the shopping centre b businesses that I anticipate will provide challenging results as that was the trend in both May data sets.
There are plenty of newsagents doing well right now and kudos to the engaged retailers who have taken the steps necessary to position themselves for this success. Agility is key to this success.
Small business newsagents have helped their local communities in many ways through COVID-19 and here are some of them:
Covid has been challenging and continues to be challenging for retailers. Newsagents are here every day, trading, serving their communities and often helping beyond what one might expect for a business. It is this commitment to community that runs through the veins of newsagents.
With older Australians as their customers, newsagents have been particularly focussed on safe retail for them.
Covid has a long way to go, as the current situation in Victoria shows. Newsagents are doing their best to offer local safe and helpful service to their local communities.
Great to see Gympie Today announced today, for an end of July launch.
Tabcorp pays a business to send people to lottery outlets to check (audit) compliance with signage and other requirements.
Through Covid, Tabcorp suspended this service and instead asked (encouraged) retailers self assess. The company offered no compensation for this. Indeed, it was put as a polite request.
Retailers have told me they have been threatened with a breach by a Tabcorp representative if they do not complete the self assessment.
If true, this is the company using a heavy financial weapon against these businesses because the businesses have not done for Tabcorp, for no compensation, something that Tabcorp wants only for themselves.
This would be appalling and bullying behaviour.
Tabcorp preferences paperwork over sales, it preferences keeping small business retailers performing like circus monkeys with threats if they do not complete the circus performance routine exactly as Tabcorp demands.
You can have a small business retailer delivering net sales growth to Tabcorp and yet the company will issue bullying emails and threats of breach if the retailer does not do the act that Tabcorp demands.
Making financially harmful threats to small business owners in the middle of covid is appalling and bullying behaviour.
The harm of threats by Tabcorp against small business retailers have been considerable emotional, but the compare does not appear to care. It takes a toll at a difficult time, in the middle of Covid, with challenges in-store and in local communities, but Tabcorp and its people do not appear to care.
Tabcorp has been no help through Covid, it has offered no support.
I get that there will be people at Tabcorp who will say he is just ranting against us as he usually does. They’d be right for there has been plenty to rant about when it comes to Tabcorp and its treatment of small business retailers. They screw up time and again, hurting businesses and those who run them. Indeed, the personal emotional cost I have seen has been considerable.
Frankly, I don’t personally care as I don’t have The Lott (Tabcorp) in my businesses and never will. I cannot and will not work with that company as their treatment of small business retailers is unprofessional, disrespectful and bullying.
As regional central Queensland newsagencies started to close yesterday afternoon, Saturday, some had not received their News Corp. newspapers for the day.
What a failure by News Corp.
There is no point delivering newspapers for sale after the Newsagency has closed.
What makes the News Corp. cock up worse is that some newsagencies get their papers by 7am while newsagencies 15 minutes away do not get theirs until hours later.
This is an appalling situation. What makes it work is that newsagents are finding it challenging to find anyone at News Corp. who accepts responsibility suability for the situation.
Newsagents have a right to be angry. News Corp. has stuffed this up. The changed implemented are their changes, months in the planning. No consultation., No listening to local experts.
What a mess.
What makes it worse is that News Corp. through its mismanagement is hurting small business newsagents. News Corp. It is adding to personal stress, an emotional toll, on these newsagency families and the communities they serve. Yet, no one in News Corp. is accepting responsibility.
Part of the problem appears to be News Corp.’s decision to not employ drivers. It wants people with an ABN, to be contracted. I wonder if this is a decision by the company to circumvent labour laws. If what I have heard about driving time is true, I can understand why you’d want to contract a business rather than hire someone. A 10 hour drive each day feels unsafe to me, but this is, I am told, what is being required by the company.
A newsagent colleague wrote this to a News Corp. executive, who washed their hands of responsibility in response:
What happened to all the conditions we signed up too, when we were interviewed all those years ago to be acceptable newsagents for your company.
You don’t hold yourself to the same standards.
This is not only, not acceptable to your loyal retailers, loyal customers but it is a huge health and safety risk to your contractors.
This should never have happened. This should have been sorted out before the closure of The Morning Bulletin and the closure of the Rockhampton Print site.
…
We are beyond angry at the appalling standard of service Newslimited is giving it’s long term retail partners, but not surprised.
News Corp. failed early on this and they have maintained their failure. It’s like they don’t care.
This tweet tells the story:
It’s been 10 weeks since the Ararat Advocate was born. 10 weeks of bringing the community the news that they would have otherwise missed out on. A local independent team working hard to give the Ararat community what they deserve: a “local” paper. 🗞 pic.twitter.com/gWeLttaWhl
— Jack Ward (@JACKTWARD_) July 3, 2020
The Age and the SMH today offer up How a German media company brought Australia’s greatest magazine empire to its knees, a deep dive into the Bauer family’s impact on the once great ACP magazine empire and the wreckage it left. It is worth the read for the reminder of history, the (finally!) acknowledgement of what a stuff up the Bauer influence has been in Australia. It ends on a note of hope for a brighter future.