I have been talking this week with some newsagents who participated in the recent sales benchmark study and in particular about their success with stationery.
54% of newsagents particpating in the study reported growth in stationery sales between January and March this year compared to the same period in 2008 – with the average increase in revenue reported as 7%.
When you are talking about upwards of $50,000 in stationery for the quarter the increase is quite valuable, significant in a tough marketplace. I wanted to understand how some of these newsagents achieved such good numbers. Their feedback on why they have been successful with stationery can be distilled to three points:
- Keep the stationery offer fresh. Change displays regularly. Keep product clean. Quit old stock.
- Be brand conscious. Customers like brands they know. Stock brands which are promoted regularly.
- Work the department. Train staff to engage with customers and to guide their decisions. This engagement, based on good product knowledge, is a key point of difference over supermarkets and Officeworks.
Stationery is hard work. But the rewards are worth it – more than twice the margin for newspapers and magazines. If we buy well we can establish a significant local point of difference. I saw this first hand last weekend in a newsagency which dominates the town for stationery. This is not just a country town opportunity, we can be the 7-eleven of stationery if we are smart. Newsagents reporting growth this year are doing this now.
One of the reasons I do the benchmark studies is to show that there are newsagents driving excellent success – in the hope that this encourages others to engage more deeply with their business.