Coles Supermarkets have an exclusive offer from Bauer Media with the latest Australian Women’s Weekly that is being promoted by way of a sleeve surrounding the current magazine. Shoppers can choose food, healthy, beauty, royals, entertaining or lifestyle title to go with their AWW purchase.
Amazing Loom Bands is a title that has arrived in-store a few months too late as the latest incarnation of the Loom band craze has passed for now. Australia is ahead as Loom bands seem to be big in the UK right now. The other issue with this magazine is the price – $16.95 is too expensive for the Loom Bands fan.
Using scents to engage shoppers in retail is not new, not even in newsagencies. I remember Darrell Lea supplied us with a diffuser in the late 1990s for spreading an aniseed scent through the shop to drive liquorice sales. It worked a treat – sales increased when we used it!
Today, many retailers use scents – from coffee shops to soap shops. Too often, newsagents do not use scents.
My marketing suggestion today is to deliberately source a range of products for their scents. Of course, they need to fit in your business, to be of interest to shoppers you attract and to attract shoppers who will like what else you sell. The scented products need to fit in your business.
You could consider diffusers, candles, soaps even perfume. Given the cards we sell there are plenty of scented gift ideas that could fit in a retail newsagency with a focus on the future.
Place scented products where they will have maximum impact – ideally, on the lease line if you are in a shopping mall so passers-by can be attracted by them.
For more on using scents in retail check here, here and here.
Do you employees know exactly what you expect of them? Do they each have a position description? If not, how can you be certain they are certain they know what you expect of them?
A good position description outlines the goals of a role, specific tasks and how the performance of the incumbent is measured in the role. I don’t like to make it too formal as I think that is not helpful in a small business. Indeed, to me, the best position description is one that is read when someone starts a job and not referred to thereafter because they employee and their magazine (often the owner) deliver on their commitments.
My suggestions for a position description are: use plain language, keep it under a page, write it with a view to the development of the employee and get feedback before you lock it in.
Your position description is also useful for people not in a role yet keen to develop their skills to get into a role.
Here is a position description I wrote for another newsagent recently who asked me for help with one they could use for a store manager:
POSITION DESCRIPTION: RETAIL STORE MANAGER
REPORTS TO: DIRECTORS
ENGAGEMENT WITHIN THE BUSINESS: AT ALL LEVELS IN A RETAIL STORE
This incumbent in this role is responsible for the successful and profitable operation of the nominated retail business.
The role includes the following tasks and functions:
- Selecting, managing, training and motivating employees.
- Dealing with employee management matters.
- Creating and adjusting the employee roster to best serve the needs of the business.
- Liaising with current and potential suppliers.
- Purchasing stock as agreed within the budget set by the directors.
- Ensuring proper processing of stock into the business.
- Accurate recording of all sales by all employees.
- Approving all accounts to be paid.
- Ensuring the shop is clean, safe, well presented and that products displayed in a creative and commercially successful way.
- Developing and executing marketing of the business.
- Engaging with newsXpress for maximum effect for the business.
This is an autonomous role without major management overhead. It is important that the incumbent manages their own time effectively and with due care and caution.
Given the level of responsibility of business assets, resources and finances, attention to business processes, details and honesty of all involved is vital.
The key measure of success in this role will be the financial success of the business.
Position descriptions provide structure for your business and those who work in it including you. Think of them as part of the foundation of the business.
We have ensured customers see the full Jamie Oliver cover for the current issue of English Woman’s Weekly as this is what will drive impulse business for us. If you leave this issue in a usual magazine pocket you are less likely to achieve impulse purchases. I obsess take notice of covers as they are an important factor in driving magazine revenue growth.
We have one copy of the current issue of Woman & Home left thanks to the Hillary Clinton cover. I am certain interest in her has been the driver of this excellent result – demonstrating the value of a strong cover to drive incremental sales. We drove the success through prime position placement and with the full cover on show. Yes, we can grow magazine sales.
With shopping malls and the high street to be empty from just after lunchtime today as almost all of Victoria and plenty of Australia turns to the AFL Grand Final, it’s a terrific opportunity to work on your shop floor – relocating products, creating new displays, resetting your business.
Take a moment this morning and create a plan for the few hours or quieter than usual time you have this afternoon. Make it count.
The name of the product screams: STABBING MAN WITH BLOOD CLOTH. A few weeks ago I thought this was pretty cool. Today, with the higher terror alert and the recent tragedy in Endeavour Hills I wonder about the name of the product and whether it has a meaning that does not work today as it might have a few weeks ago.
No offence is meant by the product name but the news of the day could impact that and invite offence and this concerns me.
I’m not taking it off the shelves or hiding it from display. In fact, right now it is a feature in the Halloween display. I guess I am raising it here to see what others think about the product name. Personally, I have no issue whatsoever but I would not want to unreasonably offend someone touched by recent events.
I’m thrilled with the sales of the My Little Pony products we have got in. They are appealing to a different shopper than the other plush we have in store – including the Bronies I wrote about almost a year ago … a non-traditional plush shopper.
We have them on the lease line – to attract traffic in this business school holidays season … and they are doing just that. I wasn’t sure, I thought the current interest may be fading. That does not appear to be the case.
The good news is the traffic they are generating leads into sales of other items.
It is a challenge for card companies advertising their cards in industry journals. Cut through is difficult promoting products that often need to be see in person to be appreciated.
Card company is Spirit cleverly using their irreverent cards in an ad in the latest Greetings and Gifts magazine with excellent effect. Their ad gives us the can they really say that? thought by showing off what makes their humour range different. Good on them – their cards sell well and their spinner attracts people looking for some entertainment.
In a retail business earlier this week I was offered a discount of $5.00 off my next purchase and subject to a charge of 3% for using a credit card for payment. My purchase was $165.00 as it happens. the credit card surcharge was $4.95.
The discount off my next purchase was funded by the store – it was not a brand related offer.
As a shopper, the message I received was confused. It certainly did not encourage me to consider returning to the store.
If you have a surcharge applied based on method of payment, think abut this carefully in the context of any loyalty offer you make at the counter as you could be knocking the good out with the bad. Your messaging needs to be carefully considered.
The moment people at The Age discovered they had incorrectly identified a teenage boy in a photo on the front page of yesterday’s newspaper as a terror suspect they should have immediately recalled every copy from sale.
It is appalling the publisher allowed this dangerous and mistaken identification to circulate a moment longer.
The coverage of the story in The Age today is inadequate.
I love the use of Vine being made by the publisher of Empire magazine. Check out the Vine video – 6 seconds – they have done for the latest issue of this terrific magazine.
Vine is a brilliant platform for this type of social media promotion.
Their tweet mentions newsagents:
Empire’s #Interstellar issue is finally here, both in newsagents and on iPad and Android. https://vine.co/v/OZzbzFIZZBO
With selfies so much in the news, newsagents have had an opportunity. Earlier this week News Corp. ran a story about using a Selfie Stick for this. Newsagents have had access for some time. I know newsXpress has been promoting it to members. The product in the photo is from newsagency supplier Last Diary Company – all newsagents have access to this.
If you are thinking about selling this selfie stick you are coming to it late in the day. You need to work on being more engaged with trends through which you can drive more traffic and sales.
This is what proactive newsagents are doing – responding to trends through which they can broaden the relevance and appeal of their business.
Yes, it’s hard work being ever-vigilant looking for trends and opportunities. But it’s part of what being a retailer today is all about. Thanks to social media and mobile technology our world is moving faster than ever and the time gap for leveraging trend opportunities is shorter.
We need to be connected and aware of trends and linked with others who can guide us on trends. There is money to be made by being an early adopter. This Selfie Stick is a good example.
Australia Post has For Arts Sake cards at 50% off up until October. The offer excludes Christmas cards and Father’s Day cards when they had them out. I am not sure who is funding this discount. regardless, it is disappointing that government owned and protected retail businesses are so aggressively taking sales from small business newsagencies.
This is poor small business policy in action.
Yes, I get that Australia Post is run at arm’s length from the government. however, politicians control the act under which this massive retail network operates, they control how far Australia Post encroaches on our small businesses.
If I had my way, Australia Post would divest itself of all corporate stores with small business newsagents having first right of refusal on acquisition.
This photo reflects the value value of detail in visual merchandising. In addition to careful product selection, thoughtful adjacencies and compelling displays, you need to entertain and surprise when shoppers are close to a display. That’s what is happening with this Halloween display.
Yesterday, I was thrilled when a kid was scared when he saw the spider. He thought it was real. That’s just what we wanted.
We get a kick out of seeing people surprised and scared at the display. We love the sales that result.
Our nearby competitors in the Halloween space don’t engage with the season in this theatrical way. More fool them for not having fun with this season.
The souvenir edition of the AFL Grand Final Record looks stunning. We have it with sports titles, at the counter and next to our newspapers. I love their attention to detail on the cover, it stands out well – especially in this placement where one cover looks like a reflection of the other.
For a one-shot title, the this grand final edition of the AFL Record is important for us. Many copies are purchased on impulse – adding welcome margin dollars to a purchase.
We have been promoting this week’s Woman’s Day with this placement above our weekly magazines in addition to the usual stock on the shelves. It’s a call out to connect with theTV commercial running for this issue.
The acrylic with the title has been placed so that it is seen by people as they leave the aisle – small details like this are important.
While this video was created as part of newsXpress newsagency marketing group campaign, I’m sharing it here because it captures some of the excitement of participating in a newsagency conference.
The video was shot on the Gold Coast two weeks ago when more than 100 newsagents and 40 suppliers came together to work on their businesses for a day of conference sessions and a day looking at other retailers.
A good newsagency conference can excite and reenergise you and help bring your goals into focus.
newsXpress is not the only group offering these types of opportunities.
The Guardian has published a report on WH Smith which includes analysis from Barclays. Included is this about their international business:
For International, we estimate that the division will generate around £2m of earnings in 2014. However, with 118 stores now open we believe that earnings will grow to £9m by 2017 as store productivity builds and 30-40 new stores are added each year.
There continues to be plenty of chatter here in Australia that WH Smith will soon have more acquisitions under its belt.
For months now we have been selling meerkats from several suppliers as part of a campaign to leverage the popular meerkat TV commercials that have been running for several years. People are buying the meerkat figurines and plush solely because of the TV commercials.
Our most successful location has been the counter – yes, people will spend $20 and more on an impulse item like this if it’s something they like.
I was drawn to the colourful display of shredders at Officeworks in Sydney on the weekend. This is an excellent example of driving sales of stationery items based on fashion over function.
Someone who loves purple as their colour is more likely to purchase the purple shredder because it is purple than because of the specifications of the device.
Colour is an excellent way to sell office products as Smiggle proves.
The Walking Dead 20515 calendar is a perfect example of the type of calendars newsagents who want to drive traffic and drive impulse purchases should stock.
We can choose products like this and negotiate terms that are 50% and more better than the calendars we get through magazine distributors.
The difference between seeking out calendars like this and dealing with what is sent by magazine distributors is the difference between being an engaged retailer and a victim agent.
A small investment of time and money in calendars you choose can pay excellent rewards not only from the calendars but also from other products shoppers attracted by the calendars purchase.
Here is how we launched into Halloween 2014 las week:
This was done in time for the start of school holidays.
A few newsagents I have spoken with recently have said that Halloween is not a big season, not big enough for them to sell halloween products. My own experience is different. It’s bigger than some more traditional seasons for us. More fun too. The value of Halloween is reinforced with the cover story in Time Out magazine. Other titles will embrace the season in coming weeks.