January-May at Forest Hill looks good compared to January-May 2007. Number of sales is up 4%; Average sale value is up 16% – as a result of selling more items and some for a better price. We focus on traffic, items and margin – nothing smart in that.
While of magazines are up 8%, we are relying less on this category thanks to expansion of Ink and Toner (up 63%), Art (up 130%), Books (up 247%), Bill Payment (up 31%) and
This analysis is important to us because we are our key competitor. While this should be true for every newsagency, that I blog here so much about what we do it is important to see that it is working.
There is some not so good news in the numbers: Newspapers are down 3%; Stationery down 5% and Confectionery down 7%. Stationery is the department we accept the most responsibility for. I’d note, however, that stationery sales are low and the 7% is under $5,000 in revenue.
Many newsagents I know look at their numbers once a year when the accountant has done the figures. Any good point of sale system can produce the kind of comparison I use in seconds. It’s essential to good newsagency management.
While the growth we are tracking is good, it is soon eaten up by annual rises in wages and rent. These days we need to innovate just to cover the growing cost of doing business.