Homelink is an electronic mapping programme that contains all of the Newsagents and Roundsmen within the UK whom carry out a home delivery service.

Each service provider has been asked to provide the parameters of their delivery area in order that we can effectively provide a map of the UK that shows clearly defined areas where home delivery of newspapers and magazines can take place and conversely, where no delivery service is currently available.

The programme has been specially written by our own software engineers to provide a professional method of dealing with the placement of home delivered orders, whereby a potential reader can respond to any promotion (in-paper, mail-shot, local radio, TV etc.) and by just dialling into our bank of dedicated 0800 numbers can talk to one of our operators and place their order.

All they have to do is provide us with their postcode and the promotion reference number and the relevant retailers will appear on the screen, together with the actual promotional offer (e.g. four weeks at half price for instance). The order will then be placed with the retailer of the customers choice and confirmation letters (with vouchers in the customers case) sent to the customer, the newsagent and the publisher.

So, the main objective of Homelink is to maximise home delivered orders where we know delivery can take place and to try to improve home delivery capacity where we currently cannot place orders.

Publishers:

• Mail Newspapers
• News International
• Telegraph Newspapers
• Mirror Group Newspapers
• The Guardian
• Financial Times
• The Independent

Multiples:

• T M Retail
• T & S Bells Stores
• GT News
• Northcliffe Retail
• Star News
• Independents
• The N.F.R.N. and their membership

Currently 86% of ALL independent retailers whom carry out home delivery have agreed to participate in Homelink.

These are the salient points:

• Any publisher can conceive a promotion aimed at increasing home delivery and promote this by whatever means they feel appropriate – e.g. by TV region, local radio, in paper ad, mail-shots etc.
• The publisher would then inform DVS of the promotion and we would allocate a specific promotional code number and enter all details upon our system.
• The promotion would encourage recipients to dial an 0800 number allocated to the relevant title and this would be answered as “Homelink Sun line” for instance.
• The recipient can then quote the unique reference number together with their postcode and we can then allocate the retailer of their choice or give them a selection whom cover the area to choose from.
• Once the preferred retailer is agreed with the customer we contact them by telephone and offer the order.
• If the retailer agrees to accept the order we will send out a confirmation letter to him/her and a letter with vouchers attached to the customer in order that they can use these to pay part of their weekly bill.
• If the retailer decides he/she cannot fulfill the order, we will then re-contact the customer and offer an alternative.
• We will also have a regular outbound call operation that will encourage people to take a home delivered national newspaper of their choice (later to be extended to magazines). This will be within specifically defined areas and retailers within these areas will be properly briefed and their commitment sought before canvassing commences.

The main benefits of enrolling in Homelink are as follows:

Increase home delivery rounds Help with marketing data within these defined boundaries (we have full UK household) database. Being part of a national initiative and forum aimed at improving home news delivery and becoming as an industry more professional than the usual image of a small child with a bag on his/her back. This may mean in future using adult labour and customers paying more for a superior service.

We will soon be expanding the Homelink service to include regional newspapers and all magazines in order that the customer can choose from a varied selection of goods, which actually could include food items etc. A totally interactive website is now in development which will enable customers to order their newspapers on-line and allocate their order to their preferred retailer. There is envisaged to be a facility for retailers to have “sub sites” within our site in order to develop two-way communication with the retailers and their clientelle.