Point of Sale Software

Here are some Articles from the Blog Subject - industry news -

USA 2009/10 Magazine Handbook Released

POS SOFTWARE

MPA in America is still going strong unlike Australia.

Recently they just released their 2009/10 Magazine Handbook Released

Looking though it, I could see the affect that newsagents have in Australia in magazines. There they depend on subscriptions for 68% of sales.

Overall it is worth a look.

 

Nextra makeover

POS SOFTWARE

[Images have been removed]

It is amazing how some paint and graphics on a wall can dramatically transform a shop at a fraction of the cost of a shop fit out.

Here is one Nextra concept has just done. I think it looks much better this new sign in blue.

This is how it looks in the shop.

I do not know if they intend to run with this idea of using red and black in the front and blue in the back. But I think it looks good as it draws your eye in without clashing as the red one does.

Here is another view up close
 

If you want to see more details on what Nextra wanted to achieve with this makeover let me know.

Drop in weeklies to last long term

POS SOFTWARE

Any reader here would have read for almost 16 months our concerns with the sales from weekly magazines. Many went into denial even though I had access to some of the best information in the industry through our benchmarking system.

Now it is clear we were right. Here are some people in the industry talking openly about this drop in weekly magazine sales and whether this drop in sales is structural.

To newsagents even if there is a big structural drop in the weekly magazine market, magazines are still a big market thus still attractive.

Our clients just have to be smarter and use for example the posbrowser magazine sales reports to identify those magazines that sell. As I blogged early, currently 41.6% of all magazines coming into a newsagency are expected to sell nothing.

Bad article about newsagents

POS SOFTWARE

I certainly was not impressed with this newspaper article [Link removed] on the rumour that News Limited metropolitan might become free.

I was thinking of commenting but the article was so bad, I just dropped it. I doubt any newsagents make only around $25 a week on newspapers. Newspapers are worth between 5 to 40% of a newsagent’s turnover. That is a lot more than $25.

Also although distribution revenue varies greatly in newsagencies. Many do not do it. Nor is distribution subsidised by the newspapers. It is subsidised by the newsagent. As newspapers become less important, many newsagents are rethinking on the distribution costs.

His conclusion is correct, newsagents have to change to survive. One newsagent looking though the profitabilty reports in posbrowser reported that of his 10 lines, only three were newsagency lines.

Retail magazine growth

POS SOFTWARE
 

MPA in the US wrote a pamphlet for retailers for magazines. Although written for the US, I think this study makes some good points for Australia too so worth reading. It is available now.I particularly liked the comment that people feel the queues at the cash register are shorter if magazines are present.

It is a shame the Australian MPA did not produce an Australian version. Not that I have heard much from the Australian MPA in months.

New Fairfax subscription system

POS SOFTWARE

Although it is very much a work in progress the current information on the new Fairfax subscription system is now available.

As always there is no change or restrictions for anyone to download this document.

POSBrowser users are automatically upgraded.

DOS users require version 3G2 or better for the Fairfax changes.

Some nice shipfits here

POS SOFTWARE

We were was looking for some publicity photographs to advertise our software in some shops. While doing a search on the net, we found this site with photographs of newsagencies almost all who are our clients.

See what you think of these shops.

 

{link has been removed}

Newspapers advertising to lose law notices

POS SOFTWARE

I have read that in the US now in many places, law notices are no longer in newspapers but on the web.

This is now spreading to Australia. You can read an article about it. Although this article talks of the Age, many Australian newspapers do law notices.

Some new designs for the Cardplai birthday cards

POS SOFTWARE

Cardplai has been busy.

Clearly they took on board many comments from newsagents and consumers and have sent me a list of what they have done:

Removed all logos from front of cards

Increased stock quality and weight in line with greeting card industry standards.

Improved colour and graphics on cards.

Focused on birthday cards (including 18th & 21st Milestone cards)

Copy on all new cards links to music as a gift

'Thumbprint' graphics on back of all cards to help consumers understand how cards can be used as gifts (eg. 'Blondie' card highlights extensive back catalogue)

Graphics on back of card help newsagents understand they scan this code only after they have scanned code on inside of card.

Code has been reduced from 16 to 12 digits

We are also supplying a 'thinking of you' caption card to replace the 'sympathy' caption card (confusion between 'sympathy' and 'condolences')

We have also updated to the point of sale posters with the following amendments:

Colours are more dramatic and will stand out in busy retail environment

Messages focus on price point and gift

Posters include artist IP & new card designs

We are also supply 10 pocket size Cardplai 'how to' cards for newsagents to hand out to staff (we have identified that much of the information supplied to newsagents has not been read or passed on to staff, creating a situation when customers come into store and ask for the product the person behind the counter often doesn't know anything about the product).

The B2B site will be up in the next 72 hours and will act as a resource centres for participating newsagents

We will begin sending out new product, POS and training material next Tuesday.

We are currently developing a 3 minute online training video to help improve product knowledge.

The next issue of Jmag has editorial and a full page ad on Cardplai

We are also working on an instore promotion with a major instore prize per participating site.

We are also waiting on approval of a national promotion with News Ltd for late March.

Free newspapers

POS SOFTWARE

To those interested in what is occurring worldwide with free newspapers, I think you will find this article informative.

One point he makes here.

2. The more newspapers rely on advertising, the
more vulnerable they are. This explains why free
papers and paid newspapers that rely mostly on
advertising (like in the US) are hurt more.

This is exactly what we are seeing now in Australia, the more a publication depends on advertising the more affected it is by the current economic conditions.

Congratulations to our clients in Victoria

POS SOFTWARE

POS Solutions’ clients just picked up all the awards at the prestigious for excellence Victorian Newsagent of the Year Awards 2009 in newsagency management and operations.

This year's winner was Hadfield Newsagency and Lucky Lotto.

East Ringwood Newsagency won the Distribution Newsagent
Yarrawonga Newsagency won the Employee of the year
Morwell Newsagency the Retail Newsagency

It makes us all at POS feel good as all these people picked us.

Morwell Newsagency, I remembered immediately after it was burnt in an arson attack coming to see a depressed owner, Ray. Everything was broken, trashed or burnt. Many business documents that are irreplaceable were gone. It looked dangerous as the electrical wires were hanging everywhere so we were all so careful just in case one was live. Later it was rebuilt. When I saw it at a user meeting, it looked terrific. Clearly the judges agreed, as they awarded him the prize. Ray is shocked about winning. He said to me that he was amazed that so many people are happier about it than he is. He is just in shock.

New Newsink flyer, great prices below Officeworks and Big W

POS SOFTWARE

Exclusive promotion only to Newsink with offer of free packet of Inkjet paper to customers.

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Featured items on flyer:

Free paper offer

Customers receive a free packet of paper when they buy the following-

1. 1 off HP #02 Twin pack CEO15AA, receive 1 free packet paper Q8694A

2. 1 off HP #21/22 Twin pack CC630AA, receive 1 free packet paper Q8694A

3. 1 off each #92 C9362WA + #93 C9361WA, receive 1 free packet paper Q8694A

4. 1 off Epson T073N value pack T105192BP, receive 1 free packet paper S042072

* Twin pack & Value packs of Canon, Epson & HP have been featured to show value to customers if they buy them.

* HP Pack A Picnic offer customer buys 2 pink cartridges+ P&H; of $14.95 and receives picnic pack, claim it online.

* Keytek compatible cartridges #LC-47 BK, PGI-5, CLI-8 SERIES featured to give customers cheaper compatible option.

* Verbatim USB 2 GB featured (brand name)

REGARDS

NEIL CHANDLER
NEWSINK PTY LTD
M: 0417340817
P: +61 3 9879 4319
F: +61 3 9870 3552
 

Fairfax newspapers could dramatically change soon

POS SOFTWARE

I think a dramatic change could soon appear in the newspaper industry in Australia with Fairfax.

Here is an interesting article in the Australian titled Fairfax has some trouble with the fair facts

For those who have not been following the story, Fairfax owes about 2.5 billion dollars. It has debt covenants with the banks and these are close to the limit.

The market is clearly worried. Fairfax's share price was $4.80 at the start of last year, last month it was $1.32 that is a 72% drop. Now it is 93 cents. A 30% drop in a month. Two days ago, it went into a trading hold.

Now they are looking here to make a special issue at 75c a share, a discount to market of 20 percent on what is already a cheap price to try and raise 684 million dollars.

What is troubling to the newsagency industry much of the problems are blamed on the newspaper side of the Fairfax! That is why I am concerned.

There could be a major change in Fairfax soon

POS SOFTWARE

Yesterday Fairfax released some bad financial figures to the market. The problem is their metropolitan titles, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. These were once jewels in their empire. Now it is dragging them down

However, the immediate danger to them is their debt. It is about 2.5 billion and if it gets much higher the banks could move. The immediate solution for them would be to move some of their debt to newsagents. This may be why their policy now makes newsagents responsible for some booked advertising debt if the person does not use a credit card.

The Lucky Charm Group benchmarking results

POS SOFTWARE

The Lucky Charm Group (TLC) is an example of what a small group of committed newsagencies can do together. For TLC, this year has been terrific. What is surprizing is the benchmark figures, they released at their conference.

I can believe it as I remember a person who worked in a newsagency for years. He became an expert on newspapers and magazines. He decided to buy at a bargain price a rundown newsagency, only to see it go worse. He discovered there is more to a newsagency than newspapers and magazines. Realizing that he was not doing it alone he decided to join TLC. Some of the ideas caused positive changes to his shop almost immediately. His business turned around.

What is disturbing is their big growth was not in newsagency lines. It also was pleasing that many winners at their conference, use posbrowser.

The Age threatens to sue newsagent devastated by bushfire

POS SOFTWARE

 

One of my clients got this story about them. Click on the picture above for details. I was shocked so I rang Neil the newsagent up immediately. We had a talk about it.

Neil has no idea how the story got out. Although he did tell me that they have had a rough time with the bushfires there. He reported the only thing working there now is our computer system.

One part of the story they confirmed is that now they have a problem getting drivers and that is causing problems with the Age. I hope the Age is more reasonable than the story states.

Free newspapers in trouble

POS SOFTWARE

In Australia, about 10% of newspaper circulation is free newspapers. This competes directly with many of our client’s newspaper products. So some good news for many of our clients is that now overseas free newspapers are reporting serious trouble.

The problem is advertising. Free newspapers rely on advertising for their revenue since that revenue is down many free newspapers are in serious trouble. Some of the big ones have closed. This has resulted in a dramatic drop in circulation.

AUSTRALIAN newspaper sales remained robust in the December quarter.

POS SOFTWARE

An interesting report in the Australian. It shows the same trend is continuing with newspapers that I blogged about in February 2008. Generally, the national papers are up and the state newspapers slightly down.

Overall compared with international newspapers sales overseas for example in the USA and Britain we are doing well especially considering the current economic crisis.

From what is happening, I think the newspapers have delivered as good a result as can be expected.

Newsagents should be more concerned with magazines than newspapers as the results for weekly magazines from the Audit Bureau of Circulation are just dismal, the magazine companies blame the economic times but I think it is the internet.