A blog on issues affecting Australia's newsagents, media and small business generally. More ...

Driving good easter business in Frankston

frank_easter_2010.jpegOur team at Frankston has created a stunning Easter display on the dance floor. Facing shoppers as the leave Coles opposite us, this display is attractive, functional and enticing. The key range is eggs and chocolates from Ernest Hillier. This is supported by an excellent range of Easter gifts as well as Easter cards. We have an excellent Easter book sale running with this important valuable season. We grew Easter sales by more than 10% last. The value of this was compounded by better margin on many lines. We have set a sales growth target this year and we have even better margins on some lines.

Easter is a month-long season covering several categories in a newsagency.  This is what really appeals to me – we get to play to our strengths.  Key to this is that newsagents will sell more Easter cards than any other retail channel.

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confectionary

Great eco-friendly journal range

recycled_journals.jpgThe Last Diary Company has a good range of eco-friendly journals which our customers like.  The photo shows three of the journals, there are other items in the broader range.  They are part of our green stationery offer which also includes the O’Bon pencils, journals and folders about which I have written previously.  Sales of the Collins Debden carbon neutral and Kyoto diaries can indicate the interest among your customers for expanding into the green stationery area.  We certainly see the green niche expanding this year.  If you are unsure, check out Officeworks and other competitors.

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Environment

Diaries now 25% off

diaries_25_off.JPGWe are offering diaries at 25% off in one of our newsagencies to move stock and free space. Plenty of what is shown in the photo was purchased at a substantial discount off wholesale for this move so the margin is excellent. We have had an excellent diary season so far and indications are that this will continue for some time. The 25% off will kick that up – attracting traffic and building basket efficiency. Our current plan is to run this sale for a couple of weeks before moving back to full price.

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Diaries

Just read: The Man Who Owns the News

manwhoownthenews.jpgI have just finished reading The Man Who Owns the News by Michael Woolf, published by Random House. It’s about Rupert Murdoch and charts his journey from Australia in the 1950s to (almost) today. It pays particular attention to the takeover of the Dow Jones Company by News Corporation. I enjoyed the book immensely. Unexpectedly, it increased my respect for Rupert Murdoch and the global business he has built. The book also provides context for some of what happens on our patch. I highly recommend it.

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Newspapers

Promoting Prevention magazine in Frankston

prevention_frankston.jpegOur team at Frankston created an excellent display promotion the latest issue of Prevention magazine – in a high profile location facing the dance floor.  While each side of the column promotes a different title, this side in an excellent location.  Prevention is performing well for us so it makes sense to promote the title as success breeds success.  As the photo shows (click on it for a larger image) we are using the display unit from Pacific Magazines to make it easy for customers to purchase the title.

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magazines

Great St Patrick’s Day sales

fhn_stpats_2010.JPGOur small St Patrick’s Day display has been out for two days and has already sold so well that we have ordered replacement stock.

The various hats have been the most popular items followed by the glasses.

Yesterday, we added the new Lovatts Colossus Crossword to the display – since it has the St Patrick’s Day cover. We always try and bring together muultiple categories for displays like this.  Next week we will add the Irish Echo for its big sale of the year.

Our team at newsXpress Forest Hill took a Collins Debden diary stand and recycled it for the St Patrick’s day product display.  We hang on to all the old display units – unless they are too damaged – and reuse there whenever possible.  This gives us visual merchandising flexibility.

We love connecting with minor seasons like St Patrick’s Day.  Shoppers remember this and come back.  There is little competition in this space.

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magazines

Leveraging the AC/DC opportunity

fhn_rolling_stone_mar2010.jpgWe are promoting Rolling Stone in front of our main newspaper display for the next few days thanks to the AC/DC cover and feature content.  Given the excellent press coverage from their concrts in Melbourne a week or so ago I expect this issue to sell well – hence our decision to promote it outside the magazine aisles.

As the display shows, we have the magazine posters in the usual newspaper poster holders.  We also dressed up an air display to hold the stock – do people can buy it with their newspaper.

Our recent Rolling Stone sales have not been as good as we would like.  Hopefully, this timely promotion will put the title back on the radar and drive sales.

It is often not the pretty displays which sell but the strategic location and easy of shopping from the displays which drive sales.

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magazines

Tapping into the slow cooker interest

fhn_slowcooker_mar2010.JPGWe have placed copies ACP Magazines’ new Slow Cooker cookbook in with our weekly magazine as well as the food section with other cookbooks.  We know from cookbook sales over the last six months that slow cookers are all the rage at the moment so it makes sense to give this new title the co-location treatment.  In the weeklies area, the title is on the flat in front of a column of food titles between weeklies and TV related titles.

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magazines

Promoting Better Homes and Gardens with free home-design DVD

fhn_betterhomes_mar2010.JPGWe are promoting the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens on an aisle end between out two busiest magzine aisles. The free home-design DVD is bound to be a hit – it went off last time it was offered with the title.  We also have the title in a display unit at the front of the newsagency and in its usual place in our women’s magazine aisle.  We will kick this up for weekends, when sales for the title peak.

Better Homes & Gardens goes from strength to strength.  It’s appeal is broad and this works well for us.

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magazines

Promoting Good Health

dsc01202.JPGWe are pitching the latest issue of Good Health magazine at the entrance to our woman’s magazine aisle.  The free gift makes this a good offer and well worth pitching in this prime position.  We are using the front, side and rear of the stand to promote the title.  We also have a pocket of Good Health mixed with our weeklies as well as in the health section of the magazine department.

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magazines

Marketing the newsagency by text message

pacific_new_idea.JPGWe ran our first trial last week of delivering a marketing message for one of our newsagencies by text message.  We have a good mobile phone database which we would like to use in promoting a range of products and offers using this technology – if we can see the return.

The mechanic was that the customer had to bring in their phone and show the message to redeem the reward – in this case a $1 scratchie with the purchase of aspecific magazine at full price.

While we were not swamped with responses, we did have customers come in, show us the message, make the required purchase and get their reward.  Some said they would not have made the purchase otherwise.

Newsagents need, more than ever, to promote outside our four walls – to new customers as well as to existing, and past, customers.  Text message marketing is more about an immediate, almost disposable, offer, it’s the nature of the technology and how it is used.

We already use email marketing so trying text messages was a logical step for us.  We have several more messages in our plans before we take time to analyse the results.  Our feeling is that we need to run a trial over several messages as the delivery method may appeal to some an not others.  This is what we want to find out.

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newsagency marketing

Thirty new newsagency locations

People interested in buying a newsagency would be well advised to check with lease consultants and or landlords given the number of new newsagency locations available right now.

I have seen a list of thirty quality shopping centre locations across the country.  Many, but not all, are in new centres where the landlord is looking to attract a national brand business to sit appropriately near other national brands.  Some are to be a second newsagency in an existing centre.

While some people prefer to purchased an established business, others enjoy the process of creating a new business from scratch.  This is where the greenfield opportunities can appeal.  It is also where we can attract new operators to the newsagency channel.

I feels to me as if there are more greenfield opportunities today that for the last few years.

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buying a newsagency

BBC set to move from print

A BBC Strategy Review released earlier this week lays out a plan to move away from physical media – magazines.  This is, in part, in response to an assessment of changes in how news and information are being consumed.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out for BBC related titles which have local presences here: Top Gear and Good Food.

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Media disruption

Staples has tough 2009

Staples released fourth quarter and full year 2009 results overnight.  They show tough trading for this international stationery business.  Staples owns Corporate Express in Australia.  The numbers are interesting to newsagents and their wholesalers who want to understand international stationery trends and how a major retailer in this space is facing these trends.  Their focus in the tough market is to drive internal efficiency and adpot a steady approach to growth.

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Stationery

iPad magazine buzz

Reports have intensified over the last twenty-fours hours about magazine publishers readying their titles for distribution through the new Apple iPad. Condé Nast is the focus of much of the attention.  Read the latest report from Wired about this here.

While we appear to be removed from iPad innovation here, I suspect we are actually not that far off given the interest in the iPad device.  All it will take is good early sales for publishers to invest in delivering content through the new platform.  Indeed, if I were a publisher, I’d have money invested in this channel already – it is an important part of the mix.

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Media disruption

Tatts wins NSW Lotteries

The NSW state government announced this morning that Tattersalls was the winning binner to operate NSW Lotteries. The government’s announcement specifically mentions newsagents:

Mr Roozendaal said the Government appreciated input from stakeholders, including newsagent associations and employee representatives, who provided valuable assistance during the transaction process.

The Government has worked hard with these key stakeholders to strike a balance between ensuring appropriate protection for newsagents and employees, and achieving the Government’s transaction objectives and a great outcome for NSW.

I see this as a good move, offering a single operator in most states.  The opportunities for cross border offers are especially good.

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Lotteries

Great gift trade shows in Sydney

The Gift Fair at Darling Harbour and the Home and Giving Fair at Homebush in Sydney yesterday. Both are terrific events, packed with product, business merchandising and business management ideas which newsagents would find useful.

It was good to see many newsagents at the fairs.

If you can get to Sydney today, visiting both fairs would be well worthwhile. You will see excellent new product ideas.

Newsagents are successfully evolving their businesses into the gift space. The best place to start is at these trade shows. Even in our own newsagencies, gifts is one of the fastest growing departments. Why just a couple of weeks ago we sold a lamp priced at over $200 which we brought in as an experiment. It was on display for a couple of weeks.

The key with gifts when walking the trade show floor is to remember that you are not the customer.

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Gifts

Ducks sell out for Easter

easter_chicks.JPGWe are about to sell out of these Easter ducks in all of our stores. The entire stock will be gone after just two weeks on the shop floor. They’re a good deal – a sound toy for under $10. The margin is healthy too. They make for a different Easter gift.

The key with a success like this is to not get too greedy next time. We are better off selling out than taking on too much stock and being left with that. We all know that story.

The ducks are like so many successful gifts in our stores, a value-priced gift targeting kids.

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Gifts

Offering AFL collectible cards at the counter

afl_cards.JPGWe gave over more counter space yesterday to the new range of AFL cards which arrived. We have placed the cards in the same location for years. Our sales keep increasing so it makes sense to not mess too much with what we do. This is probably due to the cards being at a kid friendly height. The key merchandising hange this year is the placement of the select albums in a dump bin next to the counter.

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Newsagency opportunities

Harper’s bazaar presents a merchandising challenge

bazaar_mar10.JPGHarper’s Bazaar is a challenge to display this month thanks to the hair care product in a sealed pocket to the side of the magazine. This requires more than the usual width of shelf space but now two widths as is often the case with premium gifts. In the latter case we can flow them out and take a double pocket. With the latest Bazaar gift we had to cramp the pockets on either side. The other challenge for some stores in the side of the pair product. It does not fit into magazine pockets meaning fewer facings for this month.

The merchandising challenges aside, the package itself looks compelling and should sell well.

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magazines
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