I received this from a newsagent who participated in our Tower Systems online business management event yesterday:
I had my phone on speaker phone sitting at my computer which is next to where my staff unpack magazines. When I got off the phone and wandered down to the front of the shop to discover a different shop to the one I had before the online meeting. The good ideas you raised had been put in place by one of my ladies (with big ears!!). We have a magazines display with our papers, on the front counter, and a wire display frame near the lotto counter. She wants to know if she will have time tomorrow to tidy and rearrange the whole mag section. Such keenness has never been seen.
So the moral of the story is, the next online meeting make sure my phone is on max volume.
I love stories like this – people taking initiative based on new information. That it was overheard makes it all the more special.
Part of the session yesterday was about found space, you know, the space we create out of thin air in retail off of which we can sell products. The best found space is that next to or near products which generate considerable traffic – newspapers, lottery counter, high volume magazines etc. While suppliers push us to display their products where they think they will work, it is often when we act as retailers and place products where we see opportunities that sales kick on.
Tower Systems is hosting these free business building meetings to help newsagents grow their businesses.