Where’s My Newspaper ?

Here’s the scenario :

Everyday, I go into a convenience store or stop at a newspaper box and try to buy a copy of USA Today.

Too many days I get my heart broken by an empty box or an empty shelf.

Subscribe dummy !, is what you’re screamin’.

Well, I’m a salesman and not at my home every weekday, so that ain’t the solution.

The solution is for those that fill the shelves and the boxes to increase the number of papers they put in the box UNTIL they have 1 left everyday.

Here’s how it should work. You go into Duke’s Donuts, on Monday, and you leave them 10 papers. They sell donuts, coffee and newspapers to people like me.

Tuesday morning when you come back, all the papers are gone, so you leave 15.

Wednesday you come back and they’re all gone again, so you leave 20.

Thursday you come back and there’s 2 left so you leave 20 again, not 18.

Why ?

Because you always want some product on the shelf or in the box. Never, ever leave so few that there’s no product.

I buy a USA Today at 10 PM, sometimes on my way into my hotel. Old news is still news and it beats the heck out of the TV news, so don’t think the sales of a newspaper stop at noon.

Never let your shelf or box run dry. All that does is make people like me stop at other boxes or convenience stores.

Adjust your inventory til you average having one or two left every morning…not zero !