Australian Newsagency Blog

The new Swobbles range from Skansen in our window at Forest Hill is working a treat. The bright coloured fun looking animals are drawing attention to the shop and driving some good sales. It helps that school holidays has started. Since the window is in front of our card department there is a […]

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When I saw the items a customer was purchasing on Friday last week I had to take a photo as it was a perfect example of the newsagency working across multiple categories to build a better basket.
The customer was buying Country Style magazine, a birthday card and a small inspirational booklet from Compendium. […]

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The team at our Frankston newsagency has claimed ownership of the new range of Jamie Oliver mugs we have. Each mug has a saying like I’m Single, Dead Handsome, I’m Cooking. Someone at our newsagency has allocated mugs to team members based on these sayings. They are great gift, a perfect add-on […]

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We have had these newspaper mugs in two of our newsagencies for less than three weeks and they are selling well. At Frankston we have sold 17 and at Forest Hill We have sold 12. Without any special promotional effort. We have placed the newspaper mugs near our greeting cards because they […]

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This school days journal is a product we have at our Sophie Randall business which should work equally well in newsagencies.  It’s a folder with all sorts of sections for recording information about the school experience.  This is the kind of gift item which suits newsagencies.

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Digging deeper into the benchmark study we undertook based on sales data from 89 newsagencies, it is clear that there is a correlation between gift sales and card sales.  In each store with strong gift sales, the card sales were considerably above average for the benchmark.  Based on this, why would a newsagent not have […]

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Our Sophie Randall cards and gifts business is expanding to a location on Toorak Road, Toorak.  Documents have been signed and the design of the new location is almost complete.  Our hope is for an opening some time in late June.
Sophie is the card and gift model we are developing through newsXpress as a complimentary […]

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In every sale or catalogue there is the sleeper product which comes out of nowhere and performs exceptionally well.
The card organisers in the photo are the sleeper products from our recent book sale. For a couple of weeks they sat on display and did not sell. Then, in no time at […]

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With close to 4,000 exhibitors from 40 countries and booths covering 78,000 square metres this is the biggest gift fair in the world. From 9am the floors were packed with people looking for products. While there is junk, there are many good items worth considering.
While I am here looking for gift related items, […]

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In our Frankston newsagency the team has created a display of funky boxes and bags for packaging Mother’s Day gifts.
In the middle of the dance floor, the bright display is drawing attention to our offer and showing a range people would not often see in a newsagency.
As with any retail display, the key is an […]

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We are experimenting with these newspaper mugs in a couple of our newsagencies.  Each mug features a letter of the alphabet.  On the mug as well as on the box is a bunch of trivia connected with the letter: unusual words, famous people, the kind of person you could be, the origin of the letter […]

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We are trying some new products for Mother’s Day this year.  In addition to Darrel Lea (the Mum’s Bag is a good seller!) and social stationery we have a range of small gift packs, some mugs and other items.
We have also changed our approach to display - located it closer to our greeting […]

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Our Frankston newsagency has a pole right near the counter, a big ugly pole.
We have tried several approaches to hide the pole and or work around it. In each case we were making excuses. We found that by embracing the pole, making it the hero, it works for us beautifully.
Last week we made […]

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We continue to play with the blending of gifts, social stationery and stationery at our Watergardens concept store.  The ‘playing’ is part of our contstant movement streategy - we’ve leaned this from gifts that every day or two products need to move to present a fresh view.  The resulting sales tell us the labour investment […]

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We have sourced some nice small bunnies for sale at our counter. They are proving to be a successful up-sell. Several customers have commented that it’s good to find an Easter gift which is not chocolate. We figured, what’s the point of trying to look like a supermarket or one o the […]

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We are experimenting with small toy/plush products at the counter in one of our stores. We think they will be a good impulse item!
This is part of our play outside the traditional newsagency mix of confectionery at the counter. Think about it - in a major centre with, say, 200 stores, confectionery is […]

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It has been fascinating watching the different waves of Valentine’s Day card customers over the last month.  First it was the older customers, often in a long-term relationship, then it was the hopefuls and this week it’s been more of the oh, no, it’s Valentine’s Day and I don’t have anything.  We are […]

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We have changed the fixturing we use to display gifts at our newsXpress Watergardens location, drawing on learnings from our Sophie Randall business. The table in the photo below, buried by part of our plush range, offers multiple level and angles for displaying stock in an easily accessible form.

Beyond efficiently displaying gist related stock, the […]

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To hear our first radio commercial for Sophie Randall, please click here. The commercial will air 89 times over the next six days on Melbourne radio stations GOLD104 and MIX101. We chose these two stations for their demographic reach. The commercial is as much about airing to suppliers and possible landlords as […]

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This little bear with his leg in a cast and a crutch under one arm is a popular gift purchased with a get well card.   We have him and other card giving occasion bears located near our card display.
The message is simple, while flowers are nice, the don’t last that long.  Appropriately themed bears […]

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We’re planning for an interactive Easter. This is one of several characters we are bringing to have some fun. Watch him in action: click here or click the play button on the screen below. We spent the night rolling around the floor of the office in stitches of laughter.

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Prince kiss-a-lot is a hit for Valentine’s Day at two of our newsagencies where we have stocked him. So much so that we’ve organised extra stock. Squeeze his foot and he sings My Girl. He sways along to the song too.
We have extended our range of plush following success over Christmas. […]

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Further to my previous post this morning about displaying product at the counter, at our Frankston location we have a small display area right at the front of the shop, on the corner of the counter.
Sherie created the display Momiji dolls you can see in the photo - it’s an excellent display with the fan […]

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The chap in a suit walked into the shop, headed straight to the display of bears and other plush and thrust his arm deep inside.  Therapy he said when I shot him a glance. 
While this happened in one of our gift shops and not a newsagency, it made me think about therapeutic opportunities we […]

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