Australian Newsagency Blog

The O’BON journals, pencils and folders we have are selling well.  Our customers like the environmental story. The journals are made using sugar cane pulp and the pencils are made from recycled newspapers - yes, an excellent like to one our core products there! The good environmental story with O’BON is enhanced by excellent product […]

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The HOT Ink! ink and toner campaign which started a week back is working very well for us.  Sales have been fantastic - brilliant yesterday!  The brochures distributed to homes and businesses around our centre are generating good traffic including plenty of new customers.   The brochure shows us as competitive on well known brands of […]

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We have brought in a range of pencils, notebooks and other items with excellent green credentials. The pencils are made using recycled newspapers.  The paper in the notebooks is made from sugarcane pulp.  The manufacturer uses wasted pulp, a by product of sugarcane, to produce the paper in the notebooks.
The design of each item is […]

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We moved our social stationery recently and in the course of undertaking this work customers noticed items and purchased them on impulse.  Every retailer has stories like this.  Experiencing it is a reminder of the value of moving stock regularly, or working with stock on the shop floor - being more accessible to customers who […]

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Customers browsing pens in newsagencies tend to test pens on anything including stock. To combat this, our team at Forest Hill came up with this simple yet brilliant pen testing station. So far, we are noticing fewer test squiggles on other stationery, the boxes of ink nearby and the labels on our pen […]

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After careful consideration, we have decided to quit the Crayola range after two years of trying to make what we need to justify the capital and labour investment.  The decision is in part due to challenges the company presents to newsagents who want to carry a broad Crayola range.
If I could buy direct and on […]

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Further to my post on Thursday, US stationery group Office Max overnight reported a 17% fall in sales - within one point of the fall experienced by Office Depot.
I suspect that the majors in Australia in stationery are experiencing similar falls, Officeworks, Corporate Express and others.   This is where newsagents can benefit.  While people […]

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I have been talking this week with some newsagents who participated in the recent sales benchmark study and in particular about their success with stationery.
54% of newsagents particpating in the study reported growth in stationery sales between January and March this year compared to the same period in 2008 - with the average increase in […]

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RetailWeek reports that Amazon in the UK is now offering home and office stationery online.
What statred as an online book store has become a diverse online retailer. The move into stationery is a natural progression for them and will, I suspect, hurt bricks and mortar stationery retailers in the UK - especially their exceptional upselling […]

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The new Pop’npop correction tape from Pentel looks more like a ladies fashion or make-up item than correction tape.  This is why we have it at the counter rather than in our stationery department at our Frabkston store where we are trying the product.
If Apple can turn phones and computers into fashion purchases then why […]

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We are seeing excellent results from each part of our stationery department which has been planagrammed.  Among the best results are those we are achieving around the 3M brands.  Not only does the display look stunning, it is appreciated by our customers - as reflected in sales.  Planagrams are easy to implement and can be […]

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As we see more retail evolution in our space - OFIS closing, Officeworks tweaking their model, others moving in and out of products newsagents sell - our role as independent retailers will change.  Or, at least, there is opoportunity for us to embrace change.  While our major competitors will play more with house brands, we […]

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Staples announced this week that it will rebrand its Canadian Corporate Express operation as Staples Advantage Canada.  I’d expect to eventually see the Staples name here in Australia  and with that more of a consumer focus applied to the traditional Corporate Express offering.  Such a move would shake-up stationery retail here - hence the need […]

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We are experiencing the value of marketing outside the shop with the latest Hot Ink! campaign.  Customers are bringing in the brochure in with the products they want already circled.  The Brother $20 cashback offer is popular as is the exclusive coupon offering a 10% discount off a second cartridge.  As we find each time […]

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The stationery department in a newsagency responds well to attention yet it it often the poor cousin when it comes to labour and capital investment.  A small investment in rejigging stock can drive sales growth.  I have seen this first-hand in my own newsagencies and in others.  Here are some suggestions from the stationery page […]

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In-store Marketing reports that US stationery retailer Staples is actively promoting its private label products with bold aisle end and other displays.
The chain is devoting a majority of endcaps to Staples-brand products, which are merchandised beneath headers that read, “Save the easy way” and “Save with Staples brand.” The theme is also communicated on ceiling […]

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Judging by the radio ads playing in Melbourne over the weekend the Harvey Norman OFIS outlet here will be closed in weeks rather than the months originally indicated.  If I had a store located nearby I’d be promoting around the store with some outdoor advertising - letting customers know that my business can continue to […]

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Harvey Norman announced to the ASX today that all five OFIS stationery and office products stores would close by the end of this year and that no further investment would be made in the OFIS brand.  Here is part of my assessment of their first store from my April 10, 2008 blog post:
The store itself […]

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In the home stretch of the Back To School sale season it seems that everyone is selling Reflex paper at a discount. The best price I have seen is $4.75 a ream. Reflex is the best known copy paper in Australia, it is a brand consumers trust. Given this respected position, why […]

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US retail group Office Max has launched a convenience-store type stationery model. Called Ink Paper Scissors by OfficeMax, these store will carry a limited range according a report to Convenience Store / Petroleum magazine:
Inside the new Ink Paper Scissors by OfficeMax stores, customers will find approximately 2,000 of the most popular items in […]

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I have been contacted by several newagents about my post on Tuesday about funky looking back to school stationery.  The Spencer Burford range is proving to be very popular with primary and secondary students.  It is well priced and gives newsagents carrying it point of difference over many others in this back to school space.  […]

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The cool designs of the Spencer Burford range are attracting new Back To School customers.  It is good to have a range which visually appeals to the students compared to notebooks newsagents have sold in the past - fashion sells after all.  While there is a place for traditional designs for school and university notebooks, these […]

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N-Stock is the buying business established by VANA to seek out deals for newsagents.  The latest promotion sent out today provides further evidence why VANA should try and become a good industry association rather than getting involved in commercial deals.  N-Stock prices on some items are more than individual newsagents are paying for the same items.  […]

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Forget Big W, Officeworks, Target, K-Mart and other big retailers chasing back to school business this year.  Their deals are not so hot.  Australian newsagents have excellent deals.  I know from my own experience that newsXpress has some excellent deals which beat the big boys.  There are twenty Nintendo Wii up for grabs as well.  […]

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We are seeing excellent diary sales this year compared to last, from the beginning of the diary season, almost two months ago, we have been ahead in sales on last year.  We have kept promotion of diaries on the move, most recently promoting the category in the window which was home to our Christmas display. […]

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