Australian Newsagency Blog

We are promoting crossword magazines to shoppers as they walk toward the car park.  The simple display attracts sales we would otherwise not have achieved.  We do this with crosswords two or three times a year and see a lift in sales as a result.
As the photo shows, we primarily support Lovatts and Puzzler.  This […]

[Read more →]

Last month, 80% of sales of Lovatts BIG Crossword were achieved from this one pocket next to the Australian Women’s Weekly.  That’s close to 30 units sold from one pocket.  In the first two days of on-sale of the new issue of BIG Crossword, all copies sold have come from this pocket.  Newsagents who do […]

[Read more →]

The Herald Sun is giving away a crossword puzzle book with the newspaper today and sudoku puzzle book tomorrow.  The books have been compiled by Lovatts.  In each there is a full page ad promoting Lovatts products as being AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL NEWSAGENT.
No one ask Lovatts to do this.  They used the page to […]

[Read more →]

I asked the creative team at my software company, Tower Systems, to create a poster to promote crossword titles as a New Year gift for newsagents.  I was looking for something to connect with crosswords as a holiday activity, something with which I could promote the category in the front of my own newsagencies.  The […]

[Read more →]

With the additional space requirements for Christmas crosswords, we moved them out of our women’s weeklies area a few weeks ago.  Late last week made room deeper into our women’s magazine area, between our British titles and women’s fashion.  In two days we sold four magazines from this display.  We will see how this space […]

[Read more →]

The creative team at Tower Systems has developed another poster for use by newsagents in promoting crosswords.  I like this one more than the artwork I published here two weeks ago as I think it will stand out well against the sea of colour in a newsagency.  I also like how it represents the health […]

[Read more →]

Here is an updated version of the crossword poster we are developing to be available for newsagents through this blog.  Any further feedback is most welcome.
We plan on finalising this by Monday.

[Read more →]

This is a draft of a crossword promotion poster we are developing to promote the category and share with other newsagents.  While not yet completed, I thought I would post it here for feedback.
What I am not sure of is the hyphenation of crosswords - it does not look right to me. Fitting crosswords is […]

[Read more →]

The latest issue of Lovatts Colossus Crosswords magazine makes the reason for placing crosswords nest to women’s magazines even clearer.
As seen in Women’s Weekly is printed on the cover because they know this will appeal.
For around two years we have had a column of Lovatts and Puzzler crossword titles next to Australian Women’s Weekly and […]

[Read more →]

We have placed the latest issue of Lovatts Clue Words title above The Age newspaper thanks to the use of Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton (from ABC1’s At the Movies) on the cover.  I am certain that Margaret and David will appeal to our customers and hopefully drive sales of Clue Words to people new […]

[Read more →]

With more newspapers getting out of printing puzzles, there is an opportunity for newsagents to better promote the crossword range.

[Read more →]

We are promoting a selected range of Crossword magazines in the lead-in to our main lottery counter at the front of our newsagency.  Crossword magazines sell well to lottery customers.  This display presents range and well known brands.  We have sought to make it visually appealing to passers-by.
We have timed this to fit with the […]

[Read more →]

This is a first draft of a poster to promote crossword magazines which we are developing in-house at Tower Systems to provide to newsagents through this blog without cost.  I’d apprecaite feedback either here or direct by email.  Ignore the actual titles - we will drop in current titles representing several publishers before we are […]

[Read more →]

Annette Sym graces the cover of the latest issue of Christine’s BIG Crossword from Lovatts.  Annette’s Symply Too Good Cookbooks have been sold in newsagencies for years.  We are promoting BIG and Annette’s books at the end of our busiest magazine aisle.  We also have BIG in the crossword section and in a pocket on […]

[Read more →]

Christine’s BIG Crossword from Lovatts which went on-sale today is a special issue for Mother’s Day.  In addition to the usual location for BIG, we have it on display in the stand (as shown in the photo) next to our newspaper stand as well as part of our Mother’s day display in our card and […]

[Read more →]

We have the Easter themed issue of Lovatts Big crossword displayed with Easter products.  Anything to introduce crosswords to new customers.  Obsessing about small opportunities is how we demonstrate our magazine specialist status.  That’s what newsagents are, right?

[Read more →]

We are promoting the Lovatts special bonus pack at one of our lottery counters as part of a Brain Awareness Week promotion. This $9.50 pack includes two current titles and a How To booklet from Christine Lovatt. $16.00 value for $9.50. What I especially like is the header cards provided with the […]

[Read more →]

Newsagents with a Valentine’s Day display should grab copies of the latest issue of Lovatts BIG Crossword magazine and place this appropriately in the display.  The Valentine’s Day themed cover is bright and sure to be noticed - it is certainly too good and too topical to leave languishing in the crossword section while you’re […]

[Read more →]

We are promoting crossword titles on a stand leading into the counter from where we handle the majority of our lottery sales.  Starting from the left, we have the Lovatts full size titles followed by a column of smaller format Lovatts titles.  In the middle we have two columns of the Women’s Weekly Puzzle Book […]

[Read more →]

How many sudoku titles is too many?  As the photo shows, we currently have eleven sudoku titles at our Forest Hill store.  We often have more than that.  Between 60% and 70% of our sales come from one title - Super Sudoku from Lovatts.  We do not need most of all of these other titles.  […]

[Read more →]

If you want to sell more crossword titles, place a selection of titles from the category next to your women’s weeklies section. The photo shows our display at Forest Hill on Saturday. This space in a high traffic area to your target demographic will work, crossword sales will increase.
We know from UK newsagent sales […]

[Read more →]

Newsagents must take action on overseas crossword titles.  All three magazine distributors, Gotch, Network and NDD are supplying us with these titles.  Collectively, overseas crossword titles perform appallingly.   This performance is driven by having too many titles on offer.
Given that the distributors seem unable to resolve this problem, the only option is to tell […]

[Read more →]

It is good to see the heightened competition between the Puzzler and Lovatts brands in newsagencies. 
The fight for the best shelf space, in-store promotions and counter offers for crossword / puzzle titles is healthy and provides newsagents with choices they would otherwise not have.
Puzzler and Lovatts dominate a strong category for newsagents and the […]

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

[Read more →]