June 2007

fast&ezy IS FULL

SPEED AHEAD

USING YOUR

LOAF FOR

MORE THAN

CRUMBS

DOING WHITE

RIGHT A DAIRY

GOOD IDEA

COFFEE

GETTING THE

OFFER RIGHT

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FOREWORD

Welcome to our June issue of the INformer. The year is starting to get to the pointy end and before we know it, it will be National Conference time.

Yes, our biggest event of the year is just around the corner. You should have received your invitation to our MAD National Conference. If you haven’t, please phone Sarah Conoley on (02) 9899 4800 or e-mail her at sarah.conoley@ucbstores.com.au.

This year’s conference should be our best ever. Everyone at UCB has put maximum effort into the planning, so don’t miss THE EVENT. Send your registrations off now to Storpak and the Conrad Jupiters Gold Coast. Remember, it’s October 30-31 on the beautiful Gold Coast.

I have just received a great article from Mike Stewart from Market Concepts where he is talking about convenience.

“The global trend in retailing is – Price is not the primary arbiter for the top-up shopper on the run. There is no need to try and match the supermarket price. Convenience in terms of location, accessibility and parking are critical. The ability to be in and out in minutes is also a key factor.”

These are things the CTP survey from HIM pointed out and things that we at UCB are trying very hard to develop with you.

They are right. Price isn’t that important but RANGE is. You need to make sure that you are offering a wide enough range in key top-up and distress purchase categories.

An example would be bread. If you only have white bread, nowadays that is not good enough. You need to make sure you have some of the specialty breads – not the whole lot but enough to satisfy the distressed purchasers. Use this thought pattern to run through your categories and make sure you have the right range.

It is worth getting right the difference between the UK and Australian shopper. The UK shopper visits three times more per week and what is driving them shopping in the C-Store is distressed or top-up, where in Australia they see our stores for snacking because we don’t offer them the RANGE needed in distressed and top-up categories. So think about it, get it right and you will double your store sales. If you don’t believe me, think about what your store turnover was 10 years ago!

Next in their thinking is location. There’s not much you can do about that. I am sure you are convenient but what about those trailers and staff cars parked on the site? Have we left any space for our customer to park their cars except at the bowsers? This is worth looking at and seeing if space can be freed up for customer parking.

Finally, speed of service. In and out in a minute – a powerful driver of customers. We only need look at how our shop sales have grown, thanks to the shopper queues at Woolworth’s and Coles’ service stations. So, invest some time in making sure all your staff members are efficient at processing sales and that your store is easy to navigate and that you have signs helping your customer find what they want.

Enjoy your June INformer and hopefully this gives you food for thought in continually improving your store.

Reg

Reg Johnston

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the INformer

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4 Doing Right With White I

6 NEW Freshness Seal I DAIRY FARMERS

7 Boost Your Sales With Our NEW Look Norco Range I NORCO

8 Norco I NORCO

10 Flavoured Milk I PARMALAT

12 Using Your Loaf I

16 Display & Point of Sale Innovations I GOODMAN FIELDER

17 June Jokes I

18 Coffee – Getting the Offer Right in Convenience

21 Introducing Mrs.Mac’s Cruizer I MRS.MAC’S

22 Aussie Master Blasters

26 60 Seconds with Swanno

27 Full Flavoured Profits, Ripe For The Picking – Solano I WRIGLEY’S

28 Stock Up On Wrigley’s NEW Bottle Packs NOW I WRIGLEY’S

29 NEW Picnic Honey Almond Nougat I CADBURY

30 Hunt For Homer & WIN D’OH I NESTLÉ

31 Kinder bueno

32 FLING – The Next Big Thing In Confectionery I MASTERFOODS

34 E-Learning & Interactive Training Programs I ATMP

36 Drive your tobacco sales with the NEW UCB Planograms I BATA

38 fast&ezy is Full Speed Ahead I fast&ezy

40 HIM Boss Says ‘No Excuses’ I UCB National Conference

42 Are You A Prepaid Pro? I DIALTIME DETAIL

44 Voucher Re-prints I DIALTIME DETAIL

45 Pre-paid Mobile – Talk’s Cheap I DODO

46 Retail Products – Order Form I DODO

47 UCB 2007 National Conference I UCB

48 NEW GV To Go I GOULBURN VALLEY

Dairy Farmers is one of Australia’s most well-known brands, producing an award-winning range for more than 100 years.

That range now covers a wide variety of offerings to suit a variety of consumer needs including Whole Milk, Lite White, Skim Milk, Shape, Farmers’ Best and Dairy Farmers Kids Selection.

Variously, these products offer the consumer a range of different nutritional benefits such as low fat, no fat or no cholesterol, Omega 3 and essential nutrients including Vitamin B, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin B2.

According to Catherine Cannings-Bushell, the company’s Marketing

Manager for White Milk, Dairy Farmers’ best selling milk products in convenience are the two-litre Whole Milk and, in the specialty category, two-litre Lite White, but all products are constantly under review.

“Although milk is a mature category, the dynamics have steadily changed over the last five years and Dairy Farmers believes there is a good opportunity for growth in the convenience channel.

“As a result we are continually looking to improve our understanding of the market and the purchasing habits of consumers, to enable better targeting and ranging of our products.”

However Ms Cannings-Bushell says while types of milk change, the basic product remains a favourite.

“Australians have always enjoyed the taste of fresh milk, and on average they consume 100 litres of milk per year.

“That said, the key trend we are seeing is towards health and well-being, with consumers increasingly looking to reduced fat or low cholesterol options. This is driving strong growth in the specialty milk segment of the market.

“Consumers are also looking for more assurance as to the quality and freshness of the product they are buying. Recently we became

One of the absolute staples of the convenience store business is white milk but in the same way that “oils ain’t oils” any more, milk is no longer a one-size-fits-all product. We asked our suppliers for an update…

DOING RIGHT WITH WHITE

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the first major milk company in Australia to include a freshness seal on our range of bottled white milk products, which gives consumers extra assurance of the high standard and quality of our milk.”

Ms Cannings-Bushell says the introduction of the freshness seal is in line with an international trend, which has seen some European and North American dairy manufacturers also including such a seal on their products.

“We believe category growth will be driven largely by product innovation, particularly in relation to health and the reduced fat segment of the market, as well as packaging.”

She says to ensure value growth, store owners need to stock a range of white milk products.

“Whole milk currently holds the greatest share of the convenience store market at 65 per cent, and this presents C-Store operators with a strong opportunity to bring in specialty milks and achieve growth.

“It’s important to remember that in many cases the shopper is not actually the consumer of the milk. Offering a variety of white milks enables the shopper to buy multiple products for all the family or household’s needs.”

Ms Cannings-Bushell says another tactic which can help boost purchases, is to offer more than one opportunity to buy the product.

“The best way to do this is by placing a variety of milks in smaller fridges as close to the cash register as possible, as well as in the traditional location in-store.

“This, and also verbal prompting from the cashier, can act as a reminder for consumers to make a milk purchase when they have come in to buy other products or services.“

The milk shopper within UCB stores is very much a female destination shopper who uses C-Stores for a top-up of essentials between supermarket visits, says Brett Barclay, of customer survey group, HIM Australia.

“The only problem is that these shoppers have been disappearing to supermarkets to buy these essentials due to issues with quality (freshness) and also availability.

“Part of this problem can be put down to the fact that the growth in the milk segment has come out of modified milks and often stores are reluctant to have a strong milk

HIM ON MILKrange due to fear of code issues. However, if all the focus remains on only having white milk, then you are again not satisfying your customers’ needs.”

Brett says of all UCB shoppers surveyed, when asked what product should the store always be in stock of, 51 per cent said milk and this was the top category.

“The key is to make milk visible to the shopper and ensure that the product is as fresh as possible. Consumers are aware of the use-by date and if all you have is low code stock, then it does not portray ‘fresh’ to the consumer,” Brett says.

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Fonterra is the company responsible for the Norco brand of full cream milk and modified milk as well as a range of flavoured milks, thickshakes, creams, custards and yoghurts in a variety of pack sizes.

Norco’s largest volume selling product is its two-litre bottles and C-Stores are an important part of the company’s business, according to Peter Watterson, Major Account Manager for Fonterra Brands Australia.

“Our company has identified C-Stores as our greatest potential growth area. This is where we see our largest incremental sales coming from. P&C is a very popular retail outlet for consumers for its convenience and ease of purchase.”

Mr Watterson says milk consumption varies among consumers at various life stages and neither dairy producer nor retailer can afford to ignore the different demands.

“Whilst a greater proportion of milk sales volume is as full fat milk, modified milks attract a price premium which increases their value contribution to the category.

“There is a strong focus on health and well-being now – they really are the key market trends. You will see the trade allocating more

space to functional foods and milk is definitely benefiting from this opportunity. Milk itself is a good source of nutrition, but innovation in functional milk has given consumers more options on how they can help address their specific health concerns.”

Mr Watterson says two key trends have emerged in recent times that will help grow the sector.

“There is an increase in demand for larger pack sizes – two litre and three litre – as consumers seek better value. Typically these are young families who consume large quantities of milk and are on tight budgets.

“The second is strong growth in modified milks such as fat modified, fortified and functional milks as health and well-being trends

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continue to influence consumer decisions.”

Norco is revising packaging this year for white milk as well as its FM and Coffee Fix and is planning a range of different promotions. Mr. Watterson says promotions and displays, including point of sale material, are great sales drivers.

“Our experience leads us to believe successful promotions drive sales if they appeal to the target market and provide strong cut-through for your product.”

NORCO

PARMALAT

The portfolio of specialty milks has also experienced strong growth with brands such as Zymil (lactose free, low fat and full cream milk) Pauls Goat Milk and Pure Organic Milk.

According to Jan Bedford, Account Manager – Petrol & Convenience, the white milk category has held its dollar value but decreased in total litres, down five per cent on the previous year.

“This highlights the fact that consumers are trending towards higher value modified milks which contribute to the total added value of the milk category in store.

“Success is dependent on maintaining our relevance to our consumers and retailers. To do this we have to continue to innovate the market with products that drive the

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Parmalat produces a range of white milk products under names such as Pauls, Physical, Rev and Trim.

The company had a strong year in 2006, predominantly driven by products in the modified milk category. Its best performers were Pauls Smarter White Milk (only two per cent fat), Physical Low & No Fat, Rev, Trim and Skinny & Slim.

category and supply consumers with products that meet their needs.”

Ms Bedford believes that white milk will continue to be a key offering in P&C but with more emphasis on modified milks because of the focus on obesity and other health issues.

“In October last year we launched Trim healthplus+ Fibre in Queensland and the Northern Territory and Rev healthplus+ Fibre in Victoria. The products are high in fibre with three grams per 250mL serve. They’re also low in fat and have a low GI for sustained energy release.

“The successful launch of these products has shown that the addition of natural dietary fibre has been embraced by consumers as they recognise that most of us have a need for more fibre in our diet.

“It really is an easy way for consumers to increase their fibre intake, without changing anything else but the milk they use. The natural fibre used in both TRIM and REV healthplus+ Fibre is inulin which is sourced from the chicory plant and best of all, you can’t taste it!”

Ms Bedford says the development of the modified milk segment will see an increase in people looking for products that meet their specific needs, such as those mentioned above and the company’s other ‘specialty’ products, but she has some words of warning.

“From a retailer’s perspective the growth will be driven by value-added products, such as those mentioned, not simply fat free or ‘light’ products. Consumers are looking for multi-functional products and this is what will drive growth.

“However out of stocks continues to be one of the main drivers of missed purchases and retailers need to be aware of this.

“Focussing on product adjacencies and location will drive further sales of milk but also other categories. The retailer needs to look at how they can turn milk into an impulse

purchase and capitalise on the fuel only shoppers.

“Milk enjoys high returns yet it is generally positioned at the back of the store. Why make it hard for time poor shoppers looking to top-up?”

Parmalat has several promotions planned for this year and after the success of the “Community Store of the Year” program last year, will run it again in 2007.

In our previous issue’s feature on flavoured milk, we inadvertently left out photos of the range produced by Parmalat.

Parmalat is one of UCB’s key suppliers with a range of flavoured milk products in a variety of pack sizes. The company’s range includes Ice Break, Breaka (Choc, Coffee, Strawberry, Lime, Vanilla Malt) and Rush (Wicked Choc, Intense Coffee, Vanilla Malt and Latte).

For more information on these products, please contact:

Jan Bedford Account Manager - Petrol & Convenience, telephone (07) 3840 0798

I apologise for any inconvenience.

Liz Swanton (editor)

FLAVOURED MILKAN APOLOGY

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They say variety is the spice of life, but it’s certainly important in C-Stores, especially when it comes to a staple such as bread.

Australian consumers are becoming far more aware of health and good nutrition and bread manufacturers are meeting the demand by changing their range to meet the change in their customers’ buying habits.

“The total white bread segment is currently showing decline in volume and flat value growth, while grains, wholemeal, fruit, breads of the world

USING YOUR LOAF

When children’s nursery rhyme character Tommy Tucker sang for his supper, he wanted white bread and butter. These days he would want more of a choice – and that’s the challenge that faces retailers…

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and health breads are growing in Volume and Value, (Source: ACNielsen Scantrack) ” says Mathew Wilmott, National Business Manager – Independents, for George Weston Foods.

“For this reason it is important for all stores to stock a wide variety of breads, such as wholemeal, grains, and fortified white breads, in order to appeal to the changing needs of their customers, and maximise their profit margins.”

GWF produces a variety of breads such as the Sunblest range (Soft White Sandwich & Thick, Wholemeal & Thick, Multigrain & Thick and Whole & White) and Tip Top Up with its low GI and healthy ingredient varieties including UP EnerGI White (low GI for sustained energy) UP Omega 3 DHA White (for healthy brain development), UP Omega 3 DHA Wholemeal (healthy heart) and

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UP Calcium and Hyfibe (for strong teeth and bones).

Other products from GWF include Noble Rise varieties (such as Rye & Spelt, Soy Linseed and others), Burgen and 9Grain (Mixed Seeds, Sunflower, Oats and Honey etc). GWF also produces the Golden range of crumpets, pikelets and pancakes and muffins and fruit breads under the Tip Top umbrella.

Aside from the increased demand for healthier products, Mr Wilmott says there is increased demand for variety within the bread category which has led to increased acceptance for ‘world breads’ such as Lebanese and Turkish bread varieties.

“The primary strengths of these products are their versatility, variety and taste,” Mr Wilmott says.

“Because Breads of the World suit a wide range of eating occasions and allow consumers to create their own inspirational cafe-style meals in the home, they have now become an established part of the food repertoire of the modern Australian family.”

Mr Wilmott says the good news is bread will always be a must-have category in C-Stores, providing it is handled properly. He suggests there are tried and proven methods to drive the category.

“Cross merchandising with bread being merchandised on top of milk fridge units is a great way to drive bundling purchases. A number of trials have proven to increase both bread and milk sales.

“Presenting bread in a prominent store location has proven to drive sales, especially in peak selling times. If you use bread stands on wheels, you can place bread in different locations to capture these periods. “

Mr Wilmott says winter is a great time to capitalise on all types of bread and

similar products because they are great cold weather comfort food.

“The end of Easter marked the start of our 18-week bakery snacks season campaign which focuses on our winter range of products including crumpets, pikelets, muffins and fruit breads.

“Bakery snacks are a great impulse purchase driven by the strength of the Golden and Tip Top brands and this season we have two fantastic new products which will drive interest and excitement in this segment.

“For the first time in Australia, Golden has made the much-loved crumpet into a sliced loaf. It’s a unique twist on one of Australia’s favourite breakfasts. It captures the crumpet taste and texture enjoyed by consumers of every age, right down to the signature holes, and is delicious at any time of the day.

“We have also launched a new range of thick-cut fruit breads under the Tip Top brand – Café Raisin and Café Sultana & Choc which both make great breakfast food or eaten as a snack at other times.”

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Goodman Fielder is another leader in the bread segment, producing household names including Helga’s and Vogel’s (premium), Molenberg, Wonder White (value-add) and Mighty Soft (family) to appeal to the constant demand for white bread and the growing demand for variety, particularly in the health awareness area.

According to National Account Manager Melissa O’Neil-Shaw, the premium segment (heavy grain/health) continues to lead the way in terms of growth in value.

“We’ve responded to this by offering grain and wholemeal variants across our range with the newest being Molenberg 10 Grain and Seed and

Wholemeal Grain, Wonder White Wholemeal and Helga’s Farmhouse Wheat.”

Ms O’Neil-Shaw says while it is tempting to have a wide range of products, it’s a tricky decision, given limited shelf space.

“C-Stores serve customers with different needs so it’s best to limit yourself to your consumers’ favourite brands, the top selling brands, with the spread also catering to a range of budgets. Shelf space for each product should be allocated to reflect their share of potential sales.

”We like to work with retailers to better understand their consumer segments in order to provide the

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GOODMAN FIELDER BAKING

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The bread shopper within UCB is very much like the milk shopper, according to the latest results from customer survey group, HIM Australia. They are mainly females, using the store for destination products in between supermarket visits.

“The bread category is actually the worst category in terms of shoppers who intended to buy compared to those who actually buy,” says Brett Barclay of HIM.

“One in seven bread shoppers indicate they did not purchase due to a number of reasons. As for milk shoppers, a significant reason for this can be put down to the growth of the segment coming from wholemeal/multi grain and the lack of exposure and availability

HIM ON BREADwithin the convenience channel. Freshness is also an issue.

“Of all the UCB shoppers surveyed, 43 per cent of customers highlighted that bread should always be in stock when the shopper wants it.

“As with milk, making bread visible and also linked closely to milk will help build sales and potentially bring destination shoppers to the store,” Brett says.

“Those shoppers whose main intention was to buy bread are twice as likely to buy milk, as those shoppers buying milk were to buying bread. So forgetting about a good offer on bread also leads to lost sales on milk.”

range and promotional activity that is most relevant.”

Ms O’Neil-Shaw says retailers should identify the peak days and peak times for bread purchases in their own store to ensure they have enough stock on hand, and in the shelves, to suit customer demand.

“If you’ve sold out of the product before your peak periods, it will mean sales are lost.”

Ms O’Neil-Shaw says shoppers in a convenience store are less price-

sensitive than those in grocery so price is not such a big issue.

“However, our research shows that shoppers select the cheapest loaf available from their favourite brands – in other words, they are more likely to trade down the category than up, so it’s important that the cheapest loaf is not too cheap and does not have too many facings, or it will take most of your sales at the expense of slightly dearer products.

“Given the ‘ease of shopping’ is one of the reasons people shop in

C-Stores, it’s a smart move to encourage your customers to buy premium products by placing them on the shelf at eye level.”

DOOR DECAL

WOBBLER

A3 POSTER

Latest research data shows that many consumers cannot find bread or milk in many convenience stores. Source: HIM CTP report

The latest data also suggests that when they do locate the bread or milk those consumers spend up to $30.00 in store. Source: HIM CTP report

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GOODMAN FIELDER DISPLAY & POINT OF SALE INNOVATIONS

This represents a sales opportunity for every convenience store. We have developed a range of secondary off location solutions which allows you to bring bread & milk to where your consumer can find it.

To secure the complete POS offering this includes. Please contact

Goodman Fielder direct on the following customer service numbers:

NSW 1300 131 133VIC 1300 134 566QLD 1300 306 050SA 1800 807 742WA 1300 306 050

17

Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to

catch speeding drivers, a police officer sees a car

puttering along at 22kmh. He says to himself, “this driver

is just as dangerous as a speeder!”

So he turns on his lights and pulls the car over. Inside he notices

there are five old ladies - two in the front seats and three in the back

– four of them are wide-eyed and white as ghosts.

The driver, obviously confused, says to him, “Officer, I don’t understand.

I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?

“Ma’am,” the officer replies, “you weren’t speeding, but you should

know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger

to other drivers.”

“Slower than the speed limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit

exactly... Twenty-two kilometres an hour!” the old woman says a bit

proudly.

The police officer, trying to contain a chuckle, explains to her that 22

is the highway number, not the speed limit.

A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for

pointing out her error.

“But before I let you go, Ma’am, I have to ask... Is everyone in this car

OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven’t made a peep

this whole time,” the officer asks.

”Oh, they’ll be all right in a minute officer. We just got off Highway 189.”

Two blondes are facing each other across a wide stream. One yells to the other,

“How do you get to the other side?” to which the other blonde replies, “You are on the other side!”

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked

the Director what the criterion was which defined

whether or not a patient should be institutionalised.

“Well,” said the Director, “we fill up a bathtub, then

we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the

patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.”

“Oh, I understand,” said the visitor.

“A normal person would use the bucket because it’s

bigger than the spoon or the teacup.”

“No,” said the Director. “A normal person would pull

the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?”

JUNE JOKES

The old adage that “oils ain’t oils” could be reworked these days to refer to one of Australia’s favourite beverages – coffee.

All of us have tasted the good and the bad and know what our future behaviour will be. If the coffee is good, we’ll go back to where we bought it; if the coffee is lousy, we won’t.

According to UCB’s Retail Manager Andrew Flynn there is huge potential in good coffee for any C-Store without the need to compete with, or become, a coffee shop.

“For our customers, McDonald’s is probably the benchmark when it comes to fast coffee. Anything beyond that is probably reaching into the café sector, and that’s not what we’re about.

“If our customers had that sort of time, they would go to a café. They don’t, which is why they’re in a convenience store. Our customers’ taste for coffee is far more sophisticated than it used to be, but they still want it to be fast. The difference is that they want a good coffee – quickly – and the old-style coffee machine with powdered coffee is no longer enough.”

With the old-style machine at the bottom end of the scale, Andrew says the next step up is probably freeze-dried coffee – and these days, that’s not good enough either.

“Then you have the bean-to-cup arrangement where the machine grinds the beans and makes the coffee using freeze-dried milk. After that, you’re probably looking at the McDonald’s push-button type of machine, with freshly ground beans and fresh milk, which can either be self-serve for the customer or done by your staff.

“After that, you’re looking at a full professional operation and that’s where the staff training aspect becomes an issue. In fact, there are a lot of factors as to whether it’s a good or bad coffee, once you move beyond a push-button machine – especially in an industry where there is traditionally a very high staff turnover and customers really want to be in and out quickly.”

Andrew says the smart move is to take as much of the human element out of the process as possible – because of the cost of training staff – so you are producing a consistent, good quality coffee fast enough to suit the customers’ needs.

UCB’s preferred supplier is Espresso Essentials (Essential Brands Group) and the model best suited to C-Stores costs around $6000. One satisfied customer is Jeff Griffiths, MD of Endeavour Petroleum which has 10 BP/UCB stores in south eastern Victoria – and 10 Espresso Essential machines.

COFFEEGETTING THE OFFER RIGHT IN CONVENIENCE

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coming in at night to our stores which meant more sales generally – and it was better for our staff having more people around.

“We also converted the grateful night shift people to regular customers. They really appreciated us appreciating them.”

Jeff says if convenience stores are doing coffee well, they will reap the benefits.

“Our coffee sales are now more than four times what they have ever been. Even taking out the cost of the coffees we give away, it is one of our big-profit areas on its own and continues to grow.

“I went overseas with the last AACS tour and we looked at the top end of the market and the ‘shit’ end of the market and I realised my stores were at the ‘shit’ end so I decided I better do something about it.

“We had been using an older style machine for a long time, but we never really looked at the quality of the product. It produced a hot tea or a hot coffee and the machine was serviced regularly, but we just had not given it a thought.

“It was just a product that we sold but we never thought of it as a ‘product’ that we could do something with, but once I had seen what was going on overseas, I realised that while the top end wasn’t right for us, the bottom end was not doing us any favours.”

Jeff says one of the best pieces of advice he received was to use good quality coffee – and to not be afraid to charge properly for it.

“And you can hang a lot of things off good coffee, whether it be coffee loyalty programmes, linked selling or even to the extent of using your coffee as a loyalty reward in itself, as a marketing tool.”

Jeff came back to Australia and started doing some serious homework to re-jig his coffee offer. The end result was a total revamp – even the cups, serviettes and stirrers have changed. Customers get the best of everything.

“The machines are a lot more expensive, but people are happy to pay for a good quality cup of coffee.”

To get the ball rolling, Jeff enlisted his staff, providing them with free coffee. The feedback was that they loved the coffee, the sound of the beans crushing, and the smell – and they became the best coffee sales people he could wish for.

Jeff followed through by creating a ‘Cuppa Club’, a distinctly Aussie loyalty programme which rewarded customers with a small prize after every five coffees. He also introduced a policy of free coffee for anyone in uniform and working night shift – taxi drivers, fire fighters, SES volunteers, nurses.

“There were several positive results from this. The regular customers were buying more coffee and with the night offer, we had more people

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“Plus it generates more sales of associated products like Kit-Kats and biscuits, muffins and cakes and we never really had a market for that before.

“We also hear people saying they love our coffee. They definitely don’t come in saying they love my petrol! If you offer a quality product, customers will respond to it and I’ve certainly learnt that.

”You need to ask yourself ‘what is the best quality we can provide’ and go out to achieve that. There’s a lot more on offer out there than you may realise – and not just with coffee. We’ve now taken that approach with five other categories with very positive results, and I’m going to be doing it with everything we sell.”

Ben Dunn has had a very similar experience to Jeff, after lifting the coffee offer in his stores. Under the umbrella of The Dunn Group, Ben has three BP outlets in Sydney and also runs a Hungry Jack’s franchise.

He’s also been involved in truck stop roadhouses so it’s his experience in the food service business that helped shape his perspective on the coffee offer for his C-Stores. His outlets use the Caffina machine that is used by McDonalds which produces a really good ‘cuppa’ in around 40 seconds.

“Having seen the opportunities in coffee with our roadhouses and with

Hungry Jacks, we do concentrate very heavily on it. These flash push-button machines are expensive but the result is a high-margin product that is easy to produce.

“You can put a lot of time and money into training staff, but there is such a high turnover of staff in service stations that it can be frustrating trying to ensure the quality of the coffee is what it should be when your staff are coming and going.

“The difference with these machines is incredible. At Hungry Jacks, for example, even if you take out all the coffees that are included in meal deals, we do more than 700 cups of coffee a week.”

“So for me, putting one of these machines in, that anyone can make a coffee with no training, makes sense. You can have someone on their very first shift on the coffee machine and they will make a great coffee.

“So the Caffina machine we’ve put into our new BP site at Botany cost $15,000-plus but there is no investment in training and anyone who is in this industry knows how hard it is to train and retain staff. That investment in the machine ensures that our coffee is spot-on every time.”

Ben believes that to make the coffee offer work properly, you have to provide staff with the tools to

do the job and he describes his machine as a ‘no-brainer’.

“It tells you when it needs to be cleaned, gives you a couple of opportunities to do it and if you don’t do it, it shuts down, so it can’t be damaged – which is a good thing when you think of the cost. But it does pay more than its way.”

Like Jeff, Ben also uses a loyalty programme to build the interest and support of customers.

“Not that they can miss it when they’re in-store. It dominates the front counter and the smell of the fresh beans permeates through the shop. We gave it away the first month to the truckies that come in, and now they’re in like clockwork between 6am and 8am to get their coffee, along with people getting out at the bus-stop out the front.

“And once they’re in the shop, the chance to up-sell is fantastic. You can sell them a muffin or a pie – or if they buy a muffin, you can upsell them into a coffee, which is high GP. And it’s 40 seconds from order to finish.

“The alternative is to buy a machine like you see in a coffee shop, which is a lot cheaper, but the amount I have saved in training costs, I will have made up within 18 months.”

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Mark Webber is probably Australia’s best known international motor racer – the former Canberra Raiders’ ballboy is now in his sixth season of Formula One.

Sadly though, despite his natural talent and a whole nation willing him on, the world championship will certainly elude the unlucky Webber this year. However, several of his countrymen are contenders for a global title and many others are making a huge impact on the international motor sporting scene.

Team Australia’s Will Power confirmed his blossoming talent when he won the opening round of the Champ Car World Series in Las Vegas in April – the first Australian to win in the long-running championship. He then backed up with a podium at the high-profile Long Beach Grand Prix to send a loud message that he is a championship contender.

Toowoomba born and raised, Power landed in Champ Cars after a long, bumpy learning process that began in Australian Formula Ford. He finished second in that series in 2002, graduated to Formula Holden, winning that and finishing runner up in Formula 3 in the same year, made his debut in the Bathurst 1000, and then headed overseas. Two seasons of British Formula 3 championship racing followed and in 2005 Power was given a chance in the Renault World Series, scoring impressive victories at Le Mans and Bilbao. That same year Power was rewarded with two Champ Car drives – at Surfers and Mexico – and last year he secured a full-time job with Team Australia.

He qualified his car on pole at Surfers last year and was in the hunt for a win when taken out by eventual champion Sebastien Bourdais.

AUSSIE MASTER BLASTERS

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When it comes to Australians doing well overseas, the list of stars includes many in motorsport, as PETER MCKAY discovered…

The 26-year-old racer was thrilled to get the Vegas win under his belt after only 17 starts in the Champ Car World Series, but he has bigger goals in mind than winning races.

“It’s all about winning a championship,” Power says.

“I feel good about the season. I think it’s going to be a good one for us and I really want to win Derrick Walker’s first championship.” Walker, a Brit and a veteran team owner in the sport, is co-owner of Team Australia, along with Australian businessman Craig Gore.

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Marcos Ambrose’s brave move out of his V8 Supercar series comfort zone and into tough American NASCAR racing is starting to pay off.

Learning the black art of drafting at 300km/h on the Yankee ovals is a tough ask – the cars behave very strangely with other machines to the front, the side and right up their tailpipe. But Ambrose, now aged 30, has posted a couple of top 10 finishes and is embroiled in a mighty battle with ex-Formula One star, Juan Pablo Montoya, for rookie-of-the-year honours in the Busch Series, NASCAR’s second-tier competition.

That duel is hotting up nicely. The pair has clashed on the track in one recent race, with Ambrose sportingly accepting the blame. He will attempt to qualify his Ford Fusion in two races for the NASCAR Nextel Cup – the premier league – this year.

Australian motocross hero Chad Reed has homes in California and Florida, a bevy of luxury motor vehicles, and is our best salaried two-wheeled motor sporting star with an annual income of an estimated $6million.

The spectacular and popular Reed has won the 2003 FIM World 250cc Supercross championship and the dirtbike sport’s most prestigious title, the AMA US Supercross Championship in 2004. On both occasions, however, his great rival Ricky Carmichael was out injured and Reed wants desperately to win against all comers.

Racing injured, he finished runner-up to James Stewart in the recently concluded 2007 world and US titles. He was also runner-up in 2005 and 2006. Carmichael has semi-retired, but Stewart is proving a handful for Reed as he guns for the number one plate.

Chris Atkinson is Australia’s first full-time driver in the World Rally Championship, where he is part of a two-car Subaru factory team with former titleholder, Petter Solberg.

The 26-year-old Gold Coaster and holder of a degree in commerce, is yet to win a WRC round but has

a podium finish and three fourth-places to his name.

Very quick on dirt from the moment he burst on to the world scene, he is also starting to be very competitive on tarmac, and ice and snow but Atkinson at times struggles for consistency.

Fit and dedicated, Atko first came to serious notice internationally in 2004 when he successfully defended his Asia-Pacific Super 1600 Championship in a front-drive Suzuki.

He also contested four rounds of the World Rally Championship, a highlight being taking his near-standard Group N Subaru to fifth outright in his first attempt at the world championship round in WA (Rally Australia).

Atkinson was wooed by Ford and Subaru but signed for the Japanese

team for the 2005 WRC, his best result in that learning year being a wonderful third in Rally Japan.

After finishing sixth in the championship points last year, Atkinson began 2007 impressively but has struggled in more recent times.

He has also had to deal with the upheaval of the mid-season resignation of his long-time co-driver Glenn Macneall. Experienced Belgian co-driver Stephane Prevot is now in the passenger seat.

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Two top-class and wonderfully adaptable Australian exports – Ryan Briscoe and David Brabham – are prominent in the high-profile American Le Mans Series.

Brabham’s career began humbly enough in a one-make Ford Laser series in Oz, competing against Mark Skaife. After winning the Australian Gold Star, he went overseas and won the British F3 crown and the Macau Grand Prix before racing for the fading Brabham F1 team in 1990.

The versatile racer then won the Nurburgring and Sugo 1000 km races of the World Sports Car Championship in a Jaguar and triumphed in the Spa 24-Hour race in a Nissan GTR.

In recent years, Brabham, now 41, has swung between the US and Europe, racing prototype sports cars for Panoz, Bentley, Aston Martin and now Acura. He makes annual appearances at Le Mans, and was second there in 2003. Still regarded as one of the great sports car racers, Brabham already has a pole to his name in ALMS this season.

Briscoe, 25, is the ex-kart ace who went on to win the European F3 Championship before getting a gig as an F1 test driver with Toyota.

The politics of F1 cruelled his grand prix aspirations so Briscoe headed to the US to race in the Indy Racing League before a frightening, and fiery, high speed crash interrupted his career.

After sporadic Champ Car and A1 Grand Prix outings, the personable Sydney driver this year landed a plum gig with Penske Porsche in the American Le Mans Series. He has already notched some podium finishes.

Briscoe made his debut in the world’s biggest one-day race – the Indy 500 – in 2005. He qualified 28th in an underpowered Ganassi Racing Toyota and finished 10th and is hoping for a better result (at time of writing) in this year’s event.

In the tyre-tracks of Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan on the world motorcycle championship battlefield are a bunch of talented Australian riders, a couple with real title potential.

Winning two of the first three MotoGP races of 2007 elevated Casey Stoner, 21, to the top of the world championship points table ahead of Valentino Rossi.

Looking like an escapee from primary school, the baby-faced Stoner along with his Ducati is

looking good for a serious title tilt this year. Chris Vermeulen, the former World Supersport champ and runner-up in the World Superbike Championship, is another premier class contender (with Suzuki).

A collector of old American hot rods, the affable Queenslander (25 this month) notched two pole positions last year and scored a fighting second place at his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

• Casey Stoner, MotoGP• Chris Vermeulen, MotoGP• Troy Bayliss, World Superbikes• Troy Corser, World Superbikes• Karl Muggeridge, World Superbikes• Josh Brookes, World Superbikes• Steve Martin, World Superbikes/World Supersport• Broc Parkes, World Supersport• Kevin Curtain, World Supersport• Andrew Pitt, World Supersport• Jason Crump, World Speedway Championship• Leigh Adams, World Speedway Championship• Chad Reed, World Supercross/US Supercross Championship• Mat Mladin, AMA US Superbike Championship• David Brabham, American Le Mans Series• Ryan Briscoe, ALMS and Indy 500• Brooke Tatnell, World of Outlaws Sprintcar Series• Kerry Madsen, World of Outlaws • Will Power, Champ Car World Series• Marcos Ambrose, NASCAR Busch Series• Ian Dyk, A1 Grand Prix of Nations• Chris Atkinson, World Rally Championship

AUSSIES ON TOP

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His steely resolve was evident at the recent Turkish round when, after being skittled by a green Kawasaki bowling ball, he remounted and ultimately finished 11th, setting the fastest lap on his damaged bike.

Troy Bayliss, the reigning World Superbike Champion, is enduring a tough title defence this year, losing a finger and badly bruising the family jewels in a crash at Donington, England.

The manner in which the former spray painter from Taree fought his way to a dramatic last gasp win in the Dutch TT in Assen shows he isn’t going to go down without an almighty fight.

Decades before Gardner became Australia’s first 500cc world motorcycle champ, other Aussies were winning with 500cc bikes…on speedway dirt tracks.

Australian Lionel van Praag won the first world speedway title in

1936 while in 2004, Jason Crump ended a half-century drought for Australian riders when he won the world championship.

Crump, 31, earns more than a million dollars annually but works hard in a risky business – he races weekly for speedway league teams in Britain, Poland and Sweden.

Crump reclaimed the crown last year and is taking aim at the 2007 title. Interestingly, one of his great rivals is another Aussie, 36-year-old Leigh Adams, who is currently the world number five.

Other dirt tracking speedway men succeeding internationally are Sydney sprintcar racers Brooke Tatnell and Kerry Madsen, both competing in the World of Outlaws, a virtual world series. Tatnell was the first Australian to win an Outlaws feature race in the United States, and has since won several others. Madsen is getting close too.

Ian Dyk is a charming and effervescent Sydneysider who raced for A1 GP Team Australia in the last three rounds of the 2006-07 World Cup of Motorsport, scoring a fairytale podium in his first race on foreign soil, in Mexico.

Dyk came up through Formula Ford, F3 and Porsche Cup before being given his big break in A1 GP by former world champion Alan Jones. Now 21, Dyk is hoping to get the job for Team Australia in the next series.

Name: Mary Lynch

Star Sign: Aquarian

Born (and bred): Born in Beechworth, Victoria, where I stayed until I was eight years old when the family moved to Traralgon, due to my father’s work. I went to school in Traralgon and the majority of my employment has been based in this area, with the exception of a couple of years in Melbourne.

I have the best of both worlds. My base is in Traralgon, which has been very good, and frequently enjoy my second home, Melbourne. Position/company: General Manager – Operations, Horizon Petroleum.

Family: Three brothers, father and Peppe the poodle – and my very close friends.

Favourite sports: Cycling

Favourite drink: Bubbles (orange label naturally)

Favourite food: Any thing after that beautiful orange label champagne. Career summary: The last 10 years have been working with Horizon Petroleum in the petrol and convenience industry. Prior to

60 Seconds with Swanno

this I had a career in credit unions as a finance and administration manager with a couple of years in between jobs running hospitality venues.

Best retailing idea: Focus on rewarding our current base. While growing the business is important, it is imperative we retain the customers who are our bread butter.

Motto/philosophy: Remove the obstacles to allow yourself to think differently. Don’t be afraid of innovation – just make it happen!

Long term goals – business: To be successful and have a positive influence in the areas of my employment.

Personal: To have good health, an abundance of laughter, happiness and peace.

Short term goals – business: To make the retail environment not only an enjoyable place for the customer but for people who work for us.

Personal: To prepare my fitness for cycling Around the Bay in a Day in October (around Port Phillip Bay, 210km).

What bugs you most in your life: People not being positive.

How do you best ‘get away from it all’? Water – preferably on a yacht and naturally with a glass of that beautiful orange-labeled champagne – or cycling.

Best memory/proudest moment: Time spent with my mother during her illness.

Most embarrassing moment: Going to a breakfast meeting and realising two hours into the meeting that I had very nice shoes on but unfortunately they did not match.

Who would you most like to have dinner with – and why: A sensitive, mature, confident, interesting man who knows how to be a gentleman.

How would you like to be remembered? As a good friend.

If I was writing your headstone, what would you want on it? “Where you plant kindness your harvest love.” Plus a statue of a bottle of Verve Cliquot.

If a genie gave you three wishes, what would they be?1. 38 ft yacht with an experienced sailor to enable me to sit back with friends, drink Verve Cliquot and enjoy good food and company.2. More of number one.3. More of number two.

If you could tackle and solve one world problem, what would it be? World peace. If you could tackle and solve one problem closer to home, what would it be? Start a business that would encourage a segment of the community to acquire skills through opportunities that they may not normally be exposed and have available to them.

I’m calling from Lotto and you have won $10 million…what happens next?Many cases of Verve Cliquot and a party for my friends and family to share the in the excitement.

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In June of 2007 MASTERFOODS SNACKFOOD

brings you the next BIG THING IN CONFECTIONERY!

We all know that new lines are one of the two key drivers of the confectionery category, and that the market has experienced a proliferation of flavour variants from many of the major brands in recent times. What sets FLING® apart from these?

FLING® is Masterfoods’ first significant brand launch in the Australian market since TWIX more than 12 years ago. FLING® is set to redefine the light-eat sub-segment of the category, and it is here to stay.

FLING® is chocolate with “no strings attached”; a light chocolate flirtation that just dissolves away. Unlike its major competitors FLING® does not rely on wafer to give it these qualities – it is a delicate liaison of chocolate, a creamy centre, and, um, something light and crispy. Don’t take our word for it though…try it for yourself!

Masterfoods’ launch package includes $5.5M in print and electronic media, and a significant sampling campaign in places where consumers like to congregate.

UCB is supporting the launch of FLING® throughout June with a 2 for $2.99 promotion to be merchandised from a themed tower unit, available from your Masterfoods representative. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to drive your confectionery sales for 2007!

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When we talk to C-Store and service station operators about training their front-line staff we normally receive a range of similar responses.

“I have too much staff turnover to invest a lot in training programs” or “It’s too expensive to send my staff to external training courses” or even “I don’t have the time to spend training my staff”.

These are self-defeating statements for businessmen. Understandably all small business operators need to watch their costs. However they also need to recognise that their stores need front-line people to

serve the customers, maintain the standards of the stores and keep the stores operating efficiently to earn a return on investment for the owner or operator. After all, C-Store operations are all about repeat business from customers.

These front-line people need to be well trained in service and making sales, not to mention processing transactions efficiently and performing all the routine tasks like re-stocking, shift balancing etc.

Also, in today’s society, where operators have to demonstrate their Due Diligence in meeting their Duty of Care and to comply with all such legislation, it is essential that appropriate training and documentation of the competency of the staff member is covered. Under OH&S legislation, store managers and operators have

a legal obligation to provide appropriate training for all staff, and to verify that staff members are able to work safely in their workplaces.

Traditionally there have been a number of options available, from doing it yourself one-on-one coaching, to employing trainers or sending staff away to training induction programs. All of these take time and money.

As technology becomes more and more available and the younger population becomes more and more IT literate, one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring that all staff are trained and assessed as competent to a consistent level, is to utilise CD or DVD training combined with simple assessment tools.

E-LEARNING & INTERACTIVE

TRAINING PROGRAMS

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What is E-Learning?E-Learning is where staff members log on to on-line training materials and assessments and this will be the optimal training and assessment tool for use by C-Store operators.

In the near future, providing staff members have access either at work or at home to a PC or laptop and the internet, they will be able to work through structured consistent training especially designed for the industry. E-Learning will be available to UCB members in the second half of 2007 and will be launched at the UCB conference later in the year.

atmp, in association with AACS, has also produced three simple DVD training packages especially for the

C-Store industry. These inexpensive training tools are designed for all staff to watch:• New staff inductions.• Existing staff competency documentation.• Regular review of all staff to maintain competency levels.

The three core packages cover the following set of competencies for C-Stores and service stations and will also support the future E-Learning packages as reference materials:

Merchandising and Stock ControlThis program covers the basics of a C-Store’s layout and planograms. It focuses on identifying and

discussing the core tasks of staff to maintain the C-Store merchandise presentation for customers as well as identifying the critical areas of stock control and rotation.

Food Hygiene SafetyThis program deals with safe food handling practices and procedures to ensure that all food sold in C-Stores meets the stringent food hygiene requirements of the various State and Federal legislations. In various ways, these laws state that ALL food handlers must be trained in the skills and knowledge of handling food safely and hygienically.

This DVD covers all aspects of safe food handling and procedures in C-Stores and service station cafes.

SafetyAll C-Store operators and staff have a duty of care to ensure they are practicing safe work procedures and are able to:• Identify potential workplace hazards• Follow safe work instructions and control those hazards• Deal with any emergencies as they occur

The program also includes a separate module on forecourt safety and the dangerous goods obligations for service stations.

atmp pty ltd – Training & Skill Development has long been associated with UCB and with AACS in delivering quality training programs both on and off the job to retailers.

Contact Graeme Lees or Jennifer Gregory to enquire about your training needs on (03) 9397 1656 or visit the web site www.atmp.com.au

Call or email and ask for an order form today. Lauren@atmp.com.au (03) 9397 1656

Competency assessmentEach DVD training program has its own accompanying assessment document on a CD ready to print for each staff member. After watching the DVD and identifying specific procedures in their own workplaces the staff member completes the questions and demonstrates to their supervisor their ability to perform specific tasks at their store.

Supervisors will have access to a Markers Guide on the CD, to guide them when assessing the level of skill and knowledge of their staff. The final documentation that forms part of the competency assessments can be placed in staff records to allow operators to produce documentation when required by investigators and auditors.

As I have mentioned in several previous articles, well trained and motivated staff will always be better placed to deliver to the customer your retail promise. Training is an investment in your business future and C-Store operators need a consistent training standard and need to record and document competency for compliance purposes.

www.atmp.com.au

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Our store in Carlton (NSW) is currently changing its look to fast&ezy. Watch out for the August edition of the Informer for the full story and amazing after shots.

IS FULL SPEED AHEAD

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Here is some of the great branding you’ll receive when you refit your store as a fast&ezy store.

Aisle Marker Menuboard

Restroom Sign

fast&ezy In response to demand from our independent stores, UCB has launched an all-new convenience brand specifically for independent operators.

fast&ezy comes as a result of repeated requests from the group to establish an umbrella brand and store format that can help independents survive and improve their retail offer against the big chains at a time of increased competition.

The new group is to be headed up by UCB’s new Retail Development Manager, Steve Brown, who has been developing the brand since joining UCB eight months ago. Steve’s background includes 16 years with some of the best C-Store operations in the UK.

Steve says fast&ezy is not a franchise, but rather a partnership arrangement between UCB and the individual retailer, targeted at non-BP-affiliated operators. The first store is being refurbished in the southern Sydney suburb of Carlton this month.

“We have devised a very strong signage programme which makes the store instantly identifiable and makes it easy for customers to find what they are looking for.”

Steve says the goal is to create an outlet that will build both shopper frequency and basket size, using a combination of presentation and ranging and a heavy emphasis on training, for which funding is available.

“Currently in Australia, only 10 per cent of people have visited a C-Store in the last seven days and people who do shop at C-Stores do so around 1.5 times a week on average. We’re looking for return business of up to four times a week.

“We believe speed of service, staff friendliness, store cleanliness and adequate stocks drive the size of the customer’s spend, their visiting frequency and their perception of value and we’re confident this combination will help build fast&ezy into a market-leading brand for independents.

fast&ezy is available as two levels of investment. The packages are designed to suit every store owner, allowing you to allocate your resources according to your store needs.

One level is designed for stores that have recently undergone refurbishment and need only a small amount of refreshment as well as the new branding to excite customers, while the second level is a more comprehensive revamp. The best way to decide which works for your store is to call Steve or your UCB Retail Manager to discuss it.

Much of the fast&ezy concept is in line with research by HIM Australia which shows that consumers want convenience for all sorts of goods and services, with increased emphasis on fresh product and more extensive services (ATMs, mobile phone credit top-up etc) as well as the more traditional C-Store items.

The clear message from the customer is ‘if I have run out, I don’t want you to have run out too’. It’s a major part of fast&ezy’s mission to ensure the fast&ezy customer never has cause to think that. Site owners John and Frank Carigliano

working on their new fast&ezy store – check out the next issue to see the completed store and hear their comments and what their customers think of the new fast&ezy store

There’s an old adage that suggests common sense isn’t as common as you might think and sadly that can often be the case when we’re trying to boost our business.

Often it can be a case of spending too much time in the business rather than on the business, which is where internationally renowned research group HIM can help.

HIM – Harris International Marketing – has been operating for 40 years as of April this year, helping retailers to understand their shoppers and sell more to them through researching customers and their product and service needs. After both starting as employees Mike Greene and Tom Fender [who spoke at last year’s conference] bought the business nearly four years ago.

While he was still at school, Mike envisaged himself in finance or

accounting, but his weekend jobs in retail changed his mind. He started in retail management and soon moved into store development, working with convenience stores and newsagents. As ‘convenience’ as a buzzword started to move and the stores began to open for longer hours, Mike joined Spar’s development team helping retailers to adapt their sites to become more ‘convenience’ oriented.

After that, he joined Circle K, working as development controller with the company and was responsible for opening 180 stores across the UK. From there to working with global convenience consultants Strasburger to develop Shell Select and on to Conoco, which is where he met Geoff Harris and discovered HIM and its work.

“I hounded him, because HIM was doing a huge amount of research and I wanted him to give us less research and more of the ‘so what’, in terms of what does that research mean, what do we need to do. So I ended up working with him, doing exactly that!”

As far as this year’s conference is concerned, it’s not surprising to know that Mike will be putting a very firm emphasis on the practical side of HIM’s research.

“I thought I would start with something on global convenience – in other words, what is the best in the world and what we think makes them the best

“Then I’m going on to what I call ‘No Excuses’ which is all about breaking down the excuses for not trying something different. We can all find reasons for not doing something

‘because it’s different around here’, or what ever we won’t do the things that will make us more successful.

“I want to break down those excuses, making the point that failing to change is a decision in itself which will create more impact on your business than deciding you will change. Indecision is a huge decision because you’re actually deciding not to move your business on.”

Mike understands that it’s easy to hear someone come from another place and talk about what’s happening there and then convince yourself that it is different in their market. He’s had that sort of response from retailers one kilometre away or eight kilometres away or 8000km away, but he says shoppers are shoppers are shoppers.

“The interesting thing is that no matter where you are, there is very little difference, what’s important to shoppers doesn’t change that much. They want good service, fast and friendly, they want their loyalty to be rewarded, they want availability of products.

“So, if they have so much in common, wherever they are, and I can get retailers to see that, then they will also see that a solution that works in one place will also be valid in different stores, in different countries.”

Another of the subjects Mike will touch on is the issue of retailers being ‘wastage paranoid’.

“Some can be so scared of throwing things away that they never actually stock fresh product.

The annual conference always features great speakers and Mike Greene, Chief Executive of HIM (UK) will be our guest at the Gold Coast this year. We decided to find out more about him…

HIM BOSS SAYS ‘NO EXCUSES’

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I want to change the mentality to one of ‘category investment’ rather than ‘category wastage’.

“One of the things that I’ve done with a lot of retailers in the UK is to introduce ‘minimum wastage’. That means, for example, that if you’re not throwing away at least five per cent of your sandwiches, then you’re not really stocking enough of a range, enough of the time, to be a credible retailer of sandwiches.

“So rather than thinking of it as a 40 per cent margin category, you need to think of it as a 30 per cent margin category, because we need to invest 10 per cent to really optimise the sales we can do through it.

“But if we accept that, we’re not only getting 30 per cent of a much higher figure but benchmarked against categories that we’re only getting 10 per cent or 20 per cent, so at 30 per cent, it’s a good category to focus on. It’s a matter of shifting your thinking.”

In terms of ‘doing it best’, Mike says the Irish are doing ‘fresh’ particularly well, with the category going from 10 per cent of turnover to around 50 per cent of turnover.

“I use the Field of Dreams analogy, you know, ‘build it and they will come’. You can’t just dip your toe in and do food service in a small way and think ‘as it grows, I will put more effort into it’.

“You’ve got to do it wholeheartedly. And if I look at the US, UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Asia, fresh seems to be at the foundation of all really good convenience whereas, from my point of view, in Australia there are some good pie and sandwich offerings but that’s about it for fresh. There’s far more canned and packet and impulse than I see elsewhere in the world but you don’t stop doing that either – you optimise fresh alongside it.”

Mike will be giving plenty of examples to back up his comments, one being Sheetz, the US C-Store chain of 350 stores, and the role fresh is playing in their success.

“It’s interesting to note that over the last 10 years, fuel profit has gone down by half and it’s predicted to decline by another half in the next five years. So you can choose not to change your offer, but if you’re making half as much from fuel in five years’ time, what are you going to do to make that up.”

Mike says he can understand some of the reluctance, especially on that basis: ‘if I’m making less money, why am I going to throw more at it’.

To strengthen their arguments, he and Tom look at behavioral psychology, why people do what they do and the different personality types.

“What you see in the way C-Stores are run, is that it’s a business that seems to attract people who are very engineer or accountancy-like in their approach to life and when you get that, it seems to be more about control rather than marketing.

“The minute you’re thinking control, where you’re looking at the wastage and the cost of labour and the investment, rather than where it might be, so they can’t take that leap of faith. They prefer it to be proven before they do it and of course, sometimes you have to do it before it proves itself.

“Even though we do have proof around the world, there is still resistance. They might say ‘we tried this and it didn’t work’ but you’ll find that it didn’t work was that all they had was two sandwiches on offer and nothing else until those have sold, and they won’t have marketed the offer.

“So it was a self-fulfilling failure based on poor execution rather than because it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Mike says most people will only use two C-Stores, one near home and one near work, and the ones that get used are those which ‘tick’ more of our boxes, in terms of meeting our needs.

“So, if you bought one of those two sandwiches today and then

tomorrow you’re thinking about buying something for lunch, you’re going to stop at the place that gives you the widest choice and that you know will be fresh. So the memory of that sandwich means that store loses a tick.

”People might buy the same thing every day, but every now and again they want to break out and try something new, so they will remember the store which offers a choice.

“If beef pies are your number one seller, they will probably always be your number one seller, but if you only stock beef pies, the customers will think that the day they want something different, there won’t be any choice at your store.

“There is a breadth of range in core categories that is needed to be seen as credible in that category. It’s vital to understand where that boundary lies and how it changes over time – like the fact that ‘sandwiches’ used to be white slice triangles and are now wraps, baguettes and different types of breads. What might have worked for you a year ago has changed.

“It seems like commonsense but if I can show what’s going on, then I know the lights go on and people take it on board.

“It’s also important to remember that there are lots of businesses chipping into traditional convenience areas, so your competitors aren’t just other convenience stores. If you don’t look at being as good as them, with your product and with great people working for you, then don’t be surprised if you lose business.”

** In his ‘spare’ time, Mike is the chairman of the UK’s Association of Convenience Stores, his second time in office for the group which represents around 33,000 convenience stores. He’s also on the board of the Association of News Retailers, which represents around 19,000 newsagents.

As any successful business owner will tell you, it pays to know your products, and know them well… because knowledge of your product is by far the key ingredient to possess when it comes to sales and the difference between making one, or not. Of course, you sell many products, and offer many different services so how can you be expected to know the intricacies of every product under your roof? You of course aren’t expected to know everything, but to help you out in one portion of your business at least that’s where the INFormer can help… knowing your prepaid products.

If knowledge is power, then the most potent weapons in your company’s competitive arsenal are well-trained, knowledgeable staff. And this knowledge tree should start from the top down.

There are five prepaid product groups that you can vend through your DialTime terminal and they are:• Prepaid Mobile• Prepaid Internet• Calling Cards• Text• Prepaid Extras (entertainment)

internet for the same reasons as their prepaid phone counterparts – i.e. no set bills, no contracts, no maximum usage or additional download fees. Users aren’t constrained to the restrictions of a contract with an ISP (which can span 24 months) and only pay for the internet hours they actually use when surfing the net. Once their hours have been used they lose connection to the net, and until a new voucher is purchased, they no longer have access to the internet. Prepaid internet is currently predominately ‘dial-up’ based.

How it worksUsers purchase internet hours from as low as $9.95 to maximum $189.95 in the form of vouchers from your DialTime terminal. For first time prepaid internet users, carriers often recommend the purchase of a ‘starter kit’ CD which assists users step-by-step with getting connected. Once the customer has purchased their voucher they simply follow the instructions printed on their voucher to top-up their internet account. Prepaid internet vouchers will expire if they aren’t used within a set period of time (varying from carrier to carrier) and a new one will need to be purchased.

UsersIdeal for users who only need an internet connection for a short period of time, who don’t want to be restricted to a contract or monthly bills and who only want to

DIALTIME DETAILARE YOU A PREPAID PRO?

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Prepaid MobileWhat it isThe prepaid phone market in Australia is booming and this is due, to a large extent, to the low consumer commitment requirement, flexibility and convenience the plans offer. No contract is required and users only pay for the airtime minutes they actually use when making calls.

How it worksUsers purchase airtime minutes from as low as $5 to a maximum of $100 in the form of vouchers from your DialTime terminal. This is either done in advance, or on a pay-as-you-go basis. Once the customer has purchased their voucher they simply follow the instructions printed on their voucher to top-up their phone account. Prepaid mobile vouchers will expire if they aren’t used within a set period of time (varying from carrier to carrier) and a new one will need to be purchased.NB: customers also have the option of purchasing phone top-ups from their carrier via the internet using a credit card/ bopo prepaid visa card.

UsersThis kind of pay-as-you-go phone plan is ideal for consumers who don’t use their mobiles often, first-time buyers, teenagers, users who want to put themselves or family on a budget, backpackers etc.

Prepaid Internet

What it isMuch like prepaid mobile phones, consumers often opt for prepaid

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information once contained on the physical cards onto paper vouchers. Calling cards can focus on specific benefits such as better calling rates to certain countries or regions and have specific features.

How they workUsers purchase calling cards from as low as $5 to a maximum of $100 in the form of vouchers from your DialTime terminal. Once the customer has purchased their calling card they simply follow the instructions printed on their voucher to call overseas, interstate via their home or business landline. Like prepaid mobile, calling card vouchers have a predetermined value tagged to them, and as a customer uses them to make calls, the value on them recedes. Calling card vouchers will expire if they aren’t used within a set period of time (varying from carrier to carrier) and a new one will need to be purchased.

UsersIdeal for backpackers or travellers, people who have relatives overseas or need to make long distance calls whether it’s on a continual basis or just as a one-off.

utilise the sms mobile function. Mobile carriers often offer special rates on texting by purchasing prepaid text vouchers.

How it worksUsers purchase their text vouchers from as low as $10 to a maximum of $25 from your DialTime terminal. Once the customer has purchased their text voucher they simply follow the instructions printed on their voucher to top-up their text credits.Like prepaid mobile, text vouchers have a predetermined value tagged to them, and as customers use them to text, the value on them recedes. Text vouchers will expire if they aren’t used within a set period of time (varying from carrier to carrier) and a new one will need to be purchased.

UsersIdeal for consumers who predominately use their phones for texting.

Prepaid Extras (entertainment)

What they areOn your DialTime terminal you have the ability to vend a range of entertainment based prepaid

products. These range from products consumers can download from the internet (music, games, movies), gift cards, shopping vouchers, prepaid home phone or even multimedia content for their phones (games, ring tones, pictures etc).

How they workUsers purchase their desired product vouchers from your DialTime terminal and use it to purchase entertainment content from the internet, as a gift voucher, or to purchase content for their phones. All vouchers are printed with instructions for consumers on how to use their vouchers and access the funds tagged to them.These vouchers have a predetermined value tagged to them, and as customers use them, the value on them recedes. Vouchers will expire if they aren’t used within a set period of time (varying from carrier to carrier) and a new one will need to be purchased.

UsersIdeal as gifts for friends/relatives, consumers who prefer to download entertainment content online, online shoppers or consumers who use their mobiles for entertainment purposes (gaming, listening to music etc).

Because your DialTime terminal is continuously being updated with new products, it’s important that you keep up to date with all the new developments. A good way to ensure this is by obtaining as much information from DialTime prepaid carriers as possible, especially from their websites.

It may take a while to easily articulate your product knowledge, especially with new products, but over time you’ll become comfortable and confident in providing helpful information to your shoppers. Remember that the more you know about your products, the easier it will be to sell them. Good luck.

pay for the hours they use with no additional fees.

Calling CardsWhat they areIn Australia calling cards, or prepaid phone cards, are a cheap way of calling overseas, interstate or mobile phones. Traditionally, a retailer kept a stock of physical cards in-house to sell to customers. DialTime however vends the

TextNB: prepaid text products lie under the ‘prepaid mobile’ carrier categories on your DialTime terminal. i.e. for an ‘OptusText’ voucher you select prepaid mobile and then the vendor (Optus) to acquire the Optus text voucher.

What it isPrepaid text vouchers are designed for mobile users who predominately

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The DialTime Customer Service Centre has reported an increase in the number of service calls regarding voucher reprints. So here’s a quick run-through for this function for those who weren’t aware of its existence, or those just wanting to brush up on their terminal features.

The reprint facility on your terminal allows reprinting of the last transaction – handy if a prepaid voucher hasn’t printed properly or becomes stuck. The ability to reprint the full voucher can also help to avoid a recent example of attempted fraud in a prepaid retail outlet. The staff member had their attention diverted and the “customer” insisted that they had not been given a voucher. The voucher could not be found and the customer left without paying for the “lost” voucher. By reprinting the voucher the problem would have been avoided and the retail outlet could have insisted on payment for a valid sale.

If a sale is reprinted, both the customer copy and merchant copy will be reprinted. If the sale contains more than one voucher, then all the vouchers in the sale will reprint. If another transaction has been performed, you cannot reprint the previous voucher. In this case, contact the Customer Service Centre for assistance on 1300 139 677.

Note: It is the responsibility of the merchant to ensure that reprinted vouchers remain secure and

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suspect behaviour monitored. A clerk must log in to reprint a voucher and it is strongly recommended that each staff member has their own clerk ID. Staff should NOT share clerk ID’s and should not know the Manager’s PIN. It is in your best interest to implement these security procedures.

All activated vouchers are charged to the merchant regardless of circumstances.

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This year we are really excited about our national conference. If you thought last year’s conference was great, then get ready for October 30-31 when this year’s national conference will be bigger and better than ever.

This year’s theme is MAD – Making a Difference. We have a number of guest speakers who will not only entertain you but give you some important information to take back to your stores. Our venue will be Conrad Jupiters on the Gold Coast.

Last year’s gala dinner was a great success with so many of you dressing in your funkiest attire. This year we are out to top last year. It’s still top secret but it will be a night to remember. At this stage dress is smart casual. If it changes we will let you know, but start training

now for the party night of the year! To get things started, our welcome BBQ dinner on Tuesday night will have a beach theme so make sure you pack those board shorts and sarongs!

Jupiters has two types of rooms available at the special conference rates of Standard Room $190 per night and Executive Room Singles at $245. This year UCB will be subsidising your room rate for the three nights of the conference. This will bring down the room rate to $149 per night for the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

We will leave the travelling arrangements to you, as we have found it much better for you to find the best airfares to suit your plans or, if you are close enough, you can drive.

BP will be kindly supporting the conference with their annual cocktail party on Tuesday night for BP Dealers.

If you haven’t already signed up for this year’s conference, please make it a priority now. Registration forms, if you haven’t received one, are available by calling the office, (02) 9899 4800. Please remember to send your forms back before July 30 to confirm your attendance.

This year with your invite we have included a DVD of last year’s conference so you can catch up on all of the information from our speakers and try to spot yourself on the dance floor or enjoying the antics of Austin Powers.

We look forward to seeing you there.

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