In the sales benchmark report I released a week ago, I outlined some ideas for addressing the decline in stationery sales. I have added to that list to provide newsagents ideas worth considering. Our stationery sales ought to be growing, not declining. From what I can see we let ourselves down. We don’t understand the key measurements of stock turn and return on investment. We are happy to leave stock sitting on the shelves and underperforming for too long. This lack of attention to the department rives customers elsewhere. Here are some suggestions:

• Make a decision as to what you stand for when it comes to stationery. If you stand for quality, buy accordingly. If you stand for price, buy accordingly. From what I see, our best opportunity is to stand for convenience. This means trusted brands are a fair price.
• Ask your staff what they think you stand for in stationery.
• If you or any of your staff cannot say what you stand for quickly then you’re in trouble. If you don’t know then your shop will reflect this and customers will see it.
• The convenience pitch is, in my view, more closely aligned with how consumers would see newsagents.
• Print a report of when an item last sold. If it has not sold in six months and if the sales for the previous six months were less than the value of the stock on hand quit the item. Be ruthless – get it out now!
  
• Have a massive sale to quit this dead stock. Getting, say, ten cents in the dollar is better than getting nothing from stock which is otherwise not selling.
• Draw a layout of the stationery department as it is today, marking off key categories. Note down the annual revenue by category. Inf you can work it out, note the profit generated by each area – if you cannot do this, ask yourself why.
• Create a new layout based on how you think the stationery department should look – based on your business plan.
• Take every stationery item off, clean the shelves, clean the stock and put it back up, blocking by brand as you go.
• In rebuilding stationery, embrace change. Range for the customer you want. This is likely to be different to the customer you thought you had.
• Create an in-store promotional calendar, ensure you have a feature, large or small, on stationery at the counter and or at the front of the shop each week.
• Choose stationery items to feature in other categories – pens with crossword magazines, paper near ink, a hot deal next to newspapers etc.  If people will not visit your stationery department, take the stationery department to them.