Card company representatives usually reorder cards for newsagents. Unless told otherwise by the newsagent, they set the criteria. Some reorder when a pocket has three cards left, others two and few on one. The best way to see if this works for you is to look at your card pockets and count how many have more than six cards.
If you have many card pockets with more than six cards, record the details: the number of pockets with seven, the number of pockets with eight and so on.
Next, check your card storage area – the back room, drawers and elsewhere. How much stock do you have which is not on display? How long has it not been on display?
Some newsagents doing this will find oversupply others will find a card supply model working for them. A better approach is to treat this as a business challenge – meet with your card suppliers, agree on ground rules and become engaged in the card department.
While the card department is one of the best margin departments in a newsagency, it is often the one receiving the least attention from the newsagent. This needs to change. The more we engage with our greeting card suppliers, usually the better the performance off the department. This is a great turnaround opportunity.
To answer the question at the top of the post, look at your card sales. Most newsagencies I see could cope with ordering when down to one card in a pocket. Just this move alone will improve cash flow.
Sales of RUSSH and frankie have been growing steadily over time in my newsagencies. They are now important titles in our magazine mix, titles which we can use to signpost their particular segment. It is terrific to notice this growth and have more titles we can use to support broader magazine sales growth. What I especially like about RUSSH and frankie is that I don’t see them in supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol outlets. They support our positioning as magazine specialists.
