These four tables represent more data from our study of 8,000,000 shopping baskets of data from Australian newsagencies. I’d note that while we’ve looked at 8,000,000 baskets, across the period and for the newsagencies involved, it is a small data set and the results should be approached with this caution in mind.
The most concerning results to me are the fall in basket penetration for stationery in Centres and for magazines in high street. I’m not as worried about newspapers in centres since this is due to the aggressive push by publishers into more outlets in centres and due to the high percentage of newspapers sold alone.
Stationery is one area of newsagencies which the local owner controls in terms of ranging, pricing and displaying. There should be an increase in penetration rather than a fall.
While supermarkets and other channels newsagents compete with measure everything with pinpoint accuracy, newsagents do not. This data in our analysis has been gathered from a small selection of businesses over a long period of time and with considerable effort. The lack of data for newsagents to understand their businesses puts them at a disadvantage. Too many are too caught up in keeping their businesses operating to have the time and energy to understand its performance and make appropriate decisions for the future.
In my newsagency we are using the basket data to increase penetration and cross category efficiency. We have excellent traffic and we are focused on harnessing that for more balanced sales. This means breaking rules and promoting products in ways which frustrate suppliers yet which deliver the sales growth they seek.
It starts with understanding and that comes from accurate measurement.