In Canberra today I saw first-hand the Australia Post commitment to gift cards. This stand is impressive – four sides of gift cards for all manner of businesses. They are driving traffic through bold ads in newspapers. It’s a compelling pitch for a space newsagents ought to have been strong in years ago.
I was fortunate to attend the Western Union Global Agent Summit in Colorado Springs in mid 2004 and heard first-hand about the tremendous growth in gift card sales in the US. It was clear that this was a space in which retailers, especially financial services retailers (such as newsagents) ought to operate. I came back excited by the opportunity for newsagents.
Australia Post was represented at the conference as they are also a Western Union agent. Clearly, they heard the message. Kudos to them.
While newsagents have a gift card offer today, any fair assessment would be that it is lame. Not because of the cards offered but the return delivered.
In the agency i work in we have a spinner with all the cards Aus post is offering. Not as big but a big draw card anyway
I agree, impressive stand. But i wonder if the commission they receive makes the space a very profitable one?
Given the low commission available to newsagents in this category I don’t think many could justify allocaing the floorspace to a stand such as this.
Its also worth noting that the stand appears to fit in well with the Australia post brand (look at the colors) – its not just another supplier stand that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the store.