A young girl was in the shop yesterday asking if she could buy one of the posters we had promoting the TV Week One Direction competition. I let her take it for free – it cost us nothing and the new issue is out tomorrow. As she went to re move the poster she called out I love you! I am guessing that the poster was a pretty good get for her. I appreciated her response.
We are promoting the Total Girl Star Awards Poster Book with a double half-waterfall facing in our teen and tween magazine section. The target age group has money to spend on products like this – you only have to see the magazines the buy and the shows they purchase tickets too. The key is getting the title in front of them.
Too often we look at a title like this as nothing special, probably because we don;t understand its appeal to the target audience. Get it in the first place for young firms to see and it’s sure to sell. It’s also a good product to mention to parents and grandparents who may be looking for gift ideas.
The latest issue of Homespun magazine is the Easter issue. We are tapping into this seasonal connection by promoting Homespun in the best location in with our quilting and craft titles.
Being aware of seasonal opportunities like is another way of driving sales growth of magazines. I refuse to do nothing to grow magazine sales. Our current year on year numbers show that the obsession is commercially valuable.
I love watching customers because I can learn plenty. Watching how they enter and exit the business, where they want in the shop – observations can inform better business decisions.
One of the reasons we changed the location of our crafts titles was the observation that 70% of people purchasing from our women’s weeklies display turned left as they exited the women’s aisle. This revealed to us the importance of what they saw on their left side. We moved craft titles to this position and have enjoyed extraordinary year on year sales growth as a result.
So, we have made good money from watching customers. You can too. It’s easy.
Take time to stand still and observe. No, you can’t do something else while you do this. It’s important. Watch your shoppers and how they move around the store. Look for patterns. Use your observations to determine what you place where.
Remember, selling to shoppers as they go to the counter and then leave the newsagency is as important as selling to them as they enter.
Yes, watching customers can be commercially valuable.
Australia’s two major supermarket chains are reportedly set to open more than five hundred high-street based convenience shops which will offer the 200 top selling magazines, 200 top selling stationery items, 200 top selling greeting cards, transport tickets and ready to eat food items.
These small format convenience stores will also offer lotto products sold direct from their Point of Sale registers. Each store is to employ only local staff and will operate from 5am to 10pm.
For more information click here.