We fully embraced the Melbourne Boxing Day Sales season in all of our newsagencies. Sales yesterday and today have been excellent, just under 10% ahead on last year (on a same store basis) but ahead nevertheless.
We are discounting all Christmas products by 50%. A third of the Christmas stock on sale was purchased specifically for the sale. We also purchased calendars, gifts and some stationery items at heavily discounted prices to give us good bulk for the Boxing Day Sale – these are at varying levels of discount.
We are using the Boxing Day Sale to show off the diversity of products we sell – this is essential given the new traffic generated by the sales. We want these people thinking of us more for gifts and other non newsagency traditional lines we offer. Our participation in the sales also helps combat the feeling among shoppers that newsagencies are expensive.
We follow the approach of the majors and start on the morning of December 26 with all Christmas decorations down and with product lined up to reflect deals – i.e. no pretty displays. This is about value shopping where the price is more the hero than the product itself.
Core to our sale offer is our range of boxed Christmas cards. We have been in this space for years and are known for having an excellent range before Christmas as well as after. It is great to see power card shoppers back in over the last couple of days hunting for their bargains. Our sales in the week after Christmas will come close to matching sales in the week before – with most at 50% margin or better.
We make more money out of our Boxing Day Sale than we used to make from Back To School. This says something about our demographic. It also says something about our ability to buy for the Boxing Day Sale and achieve an excellent good margin.
Our Boxing Day Sale will run for a week before we modify it into a summer sale for two weeks.
I noticed that Big W had their Christmas stuff discounted at 50% off, 2 or 3 days BEFORE Christmas.
On a different note, 2 friends of mine have teenage daughters and both gave their daughters a years subscription to their favourite magazine (Girlfriend I think). The fathers can’t remember where the wife bought it but it was through a website and not through their newsagent.
If you check the Girlfriend web site you will see that subscibers save 27% oer annum. Most magazines work on such discounts; it’s the only way I buy magazines. Steer well clear of your local newsagent who will expect you to call in to pick it up plus pay full cover price!!!
Aub, That’s a shortsighted view. Newsagents provide a premium service. Your magazine is well cared for, dry and available with wonderful local customer service.
Aub oh what a shock it would be to leave the house and go out and purchase something …. get a life
Shaun, I’m lucky enough to have a very full life which takes to me a lot of wonderful places around the world, however, I avoid shopping malls like the plague. Shopping malls are not “life” to me.
I can’t think of many worse places to have to go than shopping malls either. However, as a newsagent, I can’t help but think ‘serves you right’, if Aub has trouble with his subscriptions. I don’t know anyone who has ever had a trouble-free subscription. You really do get what you pay for.
i am not sure of what % of newsagents are in a shopping Mall but i am sure there are a lot out there that are not . did you also know that you can go to virtual world on the internet that way you do not have to deal with real people at all . What line of business are you in Aub
Hi Shaun,
Makes you wonder… With these offers at below our comm rate, perhaps we should subscrive and sell over the counter…
Mark,
Where do you get such stick as to be able to discount by 50% and still make 50%… What lines do you stock in the sale, as I noticed you have a lot of boxed cards? We only make 50% on ours… even the non core supplier lines…
Cheers
Peter
It’s funny, Aub claims to have a full life that takes he/she to many wonderful places around the world yet is mortified at the thought of paying full cover price for a magazine! So how much do you save a year on a mag subscription Aub? a whole $20-$30?
I’d have thought such a worldly person wouldn’t/couldn’t care less about paying full cover price for a magazine, especially given one so well travelled as your good self. I mean what’s a few bucks when you’ve obviously spent tens of thousands traipsing around the globe? Nice attempt trying to convince us you have a life though…..
Now i’ll leave you be to live your life behind the keyboard, i mean given you can pay bills online, have groceries and pretty everything else delivered and purchased online then you have absolutely no reason to ever have to have contact again with the outside world. Especially those nasty opportunistic newsagents who have the nerve to sell magazines at the reccomended retail cover price set by the publisher. How dare they not match subscription prices online and sell the magazine at a loss!
We are in a centre and did as much on boxing day as we did Christmas Eve. It was fantastic. Half what we sold we got as remainder stock from a few suppliers.
Peter, We buy boxed cards, gifts and calendars at remainder prices. This is usually between 50% and 75% off wholesale. Some boxed cards we buy in bulk and put our own prices on them knowing that we will have a post Christmas sale.
I hope this helps.
Steph well said
Hallmark keep on increasing my suplly everyear so NO MORE 50% OFF ON BOXED CARDS. I HAVE ENOUGH DOING THEM A FAVOUR.
Hi Mark,
Where do you source these… are they from the regular suppliers… We are not in a big centre, but had a lot of people asking if we had discounted box cards and wrap available… We would like to offer this next year, but are unsure how to go about it getting the ‘right’ amount…
Cheers
Peter
Peter, Talk with Lynn Mason at Cardpac. 03 5975 2999. She works with plenty of newsagents.
Mark – Thanks