Month: August 2008

We achieve some good sales success with co-location of some magazines. Co-locating works particularly well with Notebook, Real Living and Martha Stewart Living. While we regularly co-locate weekly magazines and major monthlies on rotation, we permanently co-locate Notebook, Real Living and Martha Stewart Living because they sell well in the Women’s Interests and well as in the Home categories.

Marie Claire with the free Lancome Black Mascara is a worthy title to have on display at the front counter as shown in the photo. This is the space we have allocated to titles with what we judge as a genuinely valuable giveaway. The latest issue of Dolly is a good choice too but Marie Claire won because of sales and how the title performs in the on-sale week compared to Dolly which has a slower decay. We have created this display in each of our stores.

We are promoting this weeks special edition of New Idea at the front of both our newsagencies in different ways.

At Forest Hill we have a display in front of our cards. Since New Idea is well covered at our sales counters and in our magazine department, we felt it more appropriate to get in front of shoppers in another category. There is less visual noise and the cover of the magazine speaks for itself.

At Frankston we have New Idea displayed right at the front of the shop, at the end of the counter which faces the mall. We usually sell weeklies and high volume monthlies from here. The photo does not show the detail of the display – writing on the yellow balloons, baby items and gifts.

Customers behave differently in each newsagency and our approach reflects strategies we have found to be successful in each when promoting a special edition such as this week’s New Idea.

Holding New Idea back a day so it could provide full coverage of the twins born to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has paid off if sales figures I am seeing are reflected across the retail network. In two of our newsagencies, sales today (as at 4:30pm) are ahead of what we usually achieve with New Idea for a full Monday. In the third store we are just under usual Monday numbers. This is an extraordinary result for a Tuesday, the quietest day of the week. It says something about the pulling power of this story.

The photo shows the value of the full face fixturing we use at our newsXpress Watergardens store. With an issue like this seeing the full cover is what sells the magazine to its target market.

The latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar has a stunning cover – even in newsagent fixturing, which shows only the top third of the cover. Bazaar stands out among the sea of colour in the magazine aisle.

We are debating whether to lose the bag rail at the counter when we do the shop fit at our Frankston newsagency. As the photo of the current counter shows, we use the bag rail for magazines. While watching customer behaviour confirms that this drives good impulse purchases, it is old school retail. But if it works well, why change? Our plan is to find a way to retail magazines at the counter but with a 2008 feel.

We will also ensure the new counter provides flexibility as this is key in the design of newsagencies today. No more old style fixturing which has one purpose only.

Who do you think you are? is a successful BBC show with a good companion magazine. The latest issue, featuring Jeremy Clarkson on the cover, provides an opportunity to attract new readers. We have it in the usual category and with the car magazines. What’s a cover for if not to find new readers?

We promoted Family History magazines at the counter of our Forest Hill newsagency at the weekend. This is a category rarely given any attention here. In the UK, the interest in family history appears to be huge – many newspapers have given away free software and content CDs to drive sales. Our very basic display delivered excellent results on the weekend, showing that even a small interest category can work at the front counter.