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. Total value in excess of $17.00 – considerably more than our average sale value.
In choosing gift and gift related items to add to our newsagencies we focus on card giving occasions, especially those which lend themselves to impulse purchases. Adding value to card sales is easy if we buy well for the business. This does not mean we ignore basket building opportunities around other categories of products – cards are the easier opportunity.
Old style marketers tell newsagents to pitch up-sell opportunities across the counter and to use noisy posters to promote discounts and the like. While there is a place for the old school noisy approach occasionally, sustained business growth comes from smart buying and even smarter product placement. In the case of the inspirational booklets, we have them on display as you enter the card aisle. This adjacency is smart, the shop pitches the up-sell for us, the customer makes their own choice without any pressure.
We track basket performance in our Tower Systems software. This helps us improve on our own performance and drive more efficient sales.
People love the inspirational books. They are a very good product with cards, as they are a bit of a present, without being a full on present. They just say a bit more than a card, but are often sent with a card. Magnets and angels go well in this area too for us.