It’s easier to copy than innovate I guess. Newsagents now have not one, not two but three major ink and toner campaigns running thanks to the launch last week of something called Inktek by the Victorian branch of the ANF newsagents association.
While the competition is healthy and will force the two established players Newsink and newsXpress (of which I am a shareholder) to be more competitive, I question whether it is smart to launch another newsagent connected ink and toner brand in what is a well serviced marketplace. If it were up to me I would guide the non Newsink and non newsXpress newsagents into equally profitable yet unchartered territory.
I know a bit about the ink and toner space having been involved with the original group out of which the Newsink group grew some years ago and having started Inkfast two years ago. Inkfast is a pure online play. It generates fifteen to twenty times more monthly ink and tiner revenue than my newsagency – orders are bigger and involve quite different product. On the downside the margin is slim, hence the focus on volume.
While ink is hot, newsagents are competing with Australia Post, Big W, K-Mart, Dick Smith and Harvey Norman. It is the categories these majors ignore which provide newsagents with better opportunities.