Everything depends on the code
If you want daily newsstand sales figures, you have to print a barcode on the newspapers
If you want daily newsstand figures, you have to print a barcode on the newspapersBy Markus Knöpfli Since last September, all Kiosk AG sales outlets should actually be able to provide publishers with daily sales figures. But this is not the case. Kiosk AG has stopped its investments for the time being. The main reason: 30 percent of daily newspapers still do not have an EAN code. They are thus hindering the project.
What Kiosk AG announced at the beginning of 1999 made people sit up and take notice: By September 2001, it wanted to equip all of its 1350 sales outlets with scanner checkouts (see WW 13/99). To this end, it planned to invest almost 33 million Swiss francs. In addition, the press wholesaler also wanted to encourage the 6,000 or so depositaries it supplies daily throughout Switzerland to join in. The advantage of the so-called POSI (Point of Sale Information System): The titles and products sold, provided they are bar-coded, can be immediately registered centrally and the sales figures can thus be called up daily, even hourly - and according to each individual, connected point of sale. This enables publishers, as well as all food and non-food suppliers, to make quick subsequent deliveries and control the delivery quantity on a daily basis.
But Kiosk AG does not yet provide this data - or at most only in rudimentary form. Of course, it has only installed 500 scanner checkouts to date, albeit at those sales outlets that account for 60 percent of its total sales. "We will maintain this status at least until the end of 2002, and only then will we decide on any further expansion," clarifies Josef Jungo, Managing Director of Kiosk AG, which is part of the Valora Group. In any case, Kiosk AG's 1350 own sales outlets will be equipped with scanner checkouts at the end of 2003 at the earliest, but it could well be the end of 2004.
Publishers have not yet come up with the bar code
Jungo cites several reasons for the delay, including internal ones, but the main reason seems banal: "An EAN code is still missing from the front page of 30 percent of all domestic and foreign daily newspapers," says Jungo. Still others are unable to print a clean bar code. The same applies to Kiosk AG's food and non-food suppliers. Missing or defective codes, however, would make work at the kiosks more difficult instead of easier, and would also reduce the informative value of the data.
Jungo also mentions another point: So far, only Kiosk AG has invested in scanner checkouts, while nothing has happened with the depositors (with the exception of Coop). Even if Kiosk AG were to further expand its own network, only about one seventh of all small sales outlets would be able to provide daily updated data. Jungo's conclusion: "As long as publishers, product suppliers and depositors don't make any more moves, we are not prepared to install any more scanner checkouts.
At the same time, he wants to dispel any doubts: "We are sticking to POSI. Only the path and duration have changed." For example, other areas are now being made POSI-ready: Next year, Kiosk AG is setting up a data warehouse (for processing POSI data) and a new picking system. Furthermore, a new press control system is currently being evaluated. In short: "Kiosk AG is not simply standing still."
But do publishers and product suppliers know that they are preventing a multi-million investment and an excellent market research opportunity if they do not tag their products with clean codes? According to a survey by WerbeWoche, this is hardly the case. Not even at WerbeWoche, which is also one of the "obstructors" without an EAN code on its front page. "Kiosk AG has never approached us. Nor has it ever set any standards in this regard," says publishing director Otto Eisenegger.
Jungo also admits to certain deficits on the part of Kiosk AG when it comes to communication. "We have recognized this and will be making greater efforts in this area next year," he says.
On the other hand, the major publishers have so far shown little interest in daily POSI data. In any case, only Ringier accepted Jungo's offer to test the existing scanner checkouts over a longer period of time for a certain surcharge (see box). This is astonishing, because two years ago, the publishers were still putting a lot of pressure on Kiosk AG.
Another new offer seems more likely to arouse their curiosity: Thanks to the 500 POSI cash registers, additional, but for the time being only selective, market data can be obtained on the approximately one million daily kiosk customers. For example, Jungo says, it is possible to find out which products a kiosk customer buys in addition to Blick or NZZ. This kind of market research could serve as an additional argument in advertising acquisition.
Children's diseases
What Kiosk AG announced at the beginning of 1999 made people sit up and take notice: By September 2001, it wanted to equip all of its 1350 sales outlets with scanner checkouts (see WW 13/99). To this end, it planned to invest almost 33 million Swiss francs. In addition, the press wholesaler also wanted to encourage the 6,000 or so depositaries it supplies daily throughout Switzerland to join in. The advantage of the so-called POSI (Point of Sale Information System): The titles and products sold, provided they are bar-coded, can be immediately registered centrally and the sales figures can thus be called up daily, even hourly - and according to each individual, connected point of sale. This enables publishers, as well as all food and non-food suppliers, to make quick subsequent deliveries and control the delivery quantity on a daily basis.
But Kiosk AG does not yet provide this data - or at most only in rudimentary form. Of course, it has only installed 500 scanner checkouts to date, albeit at those sales outlets that account for 60 percent of its total sales. "We will maintain this status at least until the end of 2002, and only then will we decide on any further expansion," clarifies Josef Jungo, Managing Director of Kiosk AG, which is part of the Valora Group. In any case, Kiosk AG's 1350 own sales outlets will be equipped with scanner checkouts at the end of 2003 at the earliest, but it could well be the end of 2004.
Publishers have not yet come up with the bar code
Jungo cites several reasons for the delay, including internal ones, but the main reason seems banal: "An EAN code is still missing from the front page of 30 percent of all domestic and foreign daily newspapers," says Jungo. Still others are unable to print a clean bar code. The same applies to Kiosk AG's food and non-food suppliers. Missing or defective codes, however, would make work at the kiosks more difficult instead of easier, and would also reduce the informative value of the data.
Jungo also mentions another point: So far, only Kiosk AG has invested in scanner checkouts, while nothing has happened with the depositors (with the exception of Coop). Even if Kiosk AG were to further expand its own network, only about one seventh of all small sales outlets would be able to provide daily updated data. Jungo's conclusion: "As long as publishers, product suppliers and depositors don't make any more moves, we are not prepared to install any more scanner checkouts.
At the same time, he wants to dispel any doubts: "We are sticking to POSI. Only the path and duration have changed." For example, other areas are now being made POSI-ready: Next year, Kiosk AG is setting up a data warehouse (for processing POSI data) and a new picking system. Furthermore, a new press control system is currently being evaluated. In short: "Kiosk AG is not simply standing still."
But do publishers and product suppliers know that they are preventing a multi-million investment and an excellent market research opportunity if they do not tag their products with clean codes? According to a survey by WerbeWoche, this is hardly the case. Not even at WerbeWoche, which is also one of the "obstructors" without an EAN code on its front page. "Kiosk AG has never approached us. Nor has it ever set any standards in this regard," says publishing director Otto Eisenegger.
Jungo also admits to certain deficits on the part of Kiosk AG when it comes to communication. "We have recognized this and will be making greater efforts in this area next year," he says.
On the other hand, the major publishers have so far shown little interest in daily POSI data. In any case, only Ringier accepted Jungo's offer to test the existing scanner checkouts over a longer period of time for a certain surcharge (see box). This is astonishing, because two years ago, the publishers were still putting a lot of pressure on Kiosk AG.
Another new offer seems more likely to arouse their curiosity: Thanks to the 500 POSI cash registers, additional, but for the time being only selective, market data can be obtained on the approximately one million daily kiosk customers. For example, Jungo says, it is possible to find out which products a kiosk customer buys in addition to Blick or NZZ. This kind of market research could serve as an additional argument in advertising acquisition.
Children's diseases
As part of an initial regular trial, Ringier has been receiving daily Blick sales data from Kiosk AG at 4 p.m. for the past year, but at its own request only from 290 of the 500 installed scanner checkouts. According to Clint Reichenbach, Head of Sales at Ringier, this data cannot (yet) be relied on absolutely - due to technical problems. Josef Jungo confirms "teething problems" and promises a remedy with the new data warehouse.
