The product mix in the majority of newsagencies is the same as any other newsagency. To a shopper, the product mix in a newsagency can also be found in a supermarket and variety store.
Newsagents often reinforce this sameness by not breaking free visually. Looking from the front of the shop in the message is often one of variety with no point of difference or no local branding standing out.
We face a similar challenge to the eateries in New York. There are hundreds, of diners and eateries on the streets of Manhattan. By diner I mean a walk-in venue where you can get a simple meal to go or have a quick bite sitting in. There is usually not a big difference in fare,l the menu in each is often quite broad but the same. Each diner needs to find a way to cut through so that they attract some the considerable foot traffic on the streets.
Check out Fluffy’s Cafe Bakery. Click on the image for a full-size version. How they stand out is through bold branding of their own and making choice easy. Their pitch is that for any meal you want you can choose one of their sit items or create tour own. From outside the store a passer-by get’s this pitch from four points – each supports the other. If you’re in a hurry, choice is vey easy. If you are fussy, getting exactly what you want is easy.
Inside Fluffy’s the experience matches the pitch. They make it about choice, easy choice. I have been into plenty of diners in New York over many trips and Fluffy’s is a place to remember because it breaks free from the average. They do this with a bold street presence backed on a good and consistent message in-store.
This is what each newsagency needs: to stand out, to reflect a point of difference and to live the point of difference. Newsagencies which don’t do this will suffer from the increased competition we are seeing from the supermarkets and others.
So, what do we do? From the front of our businesses in we stand for something, something we own, a point of difference which is ours and ours alone. This is a big challenge for out type of business. It’s a challenge we must meet.
Fluffy’s shows that the customer comes first. They make we want to come back again. The challenge for us is whether we reflect a message as strong and simple as that to people who walk past our newsagency and to customers who shop with us.