While their competitors switch to house brands for stationery, newsagents have an opportunity to develop a point of difference around established brands. At the same time, they could inform customers of how superior established brands are compared to house brands. Such a pitch, built around quality, would resonate with consumers.
Brands like Post-IT, Scotch, Spirax, Uniball and Collins are respected. It would be easier to build their stationery sales around these brands than to invest in newsagent house brand product.
Stationery customers are becoming wary of cheap imports from China. They understand that lower quality is a hallmark of lower priced house branded product. This is why smart newsagents are pursuing branded stationery items.
I was talking with Jim O’Toole, a regular commenter here, in Albury on Tuesday and he gave me the example of scissors and staplers. In his Rutherglen Newsagency in each of these two categories the well known branded product outsells the house brand by a long shot – to the point where the viability of the house brand has to be questioned.
This branded product issue is important for newsagents. What do we stand for? If it is quality then we ought to more robustly embrace brands which manufacturers spend millions developing and promoting.
I am 100% for merchandising with a brand name focus.
The big purpotrator in the price-fighting bland-brand category for newsagents is Sovreign. This brand is diluting customer perception of newsagencies stationry offering.
As part of the stationary strategy we are developing we plan to almost eliminate Sovreign and other cheap brands. We will focus heavily on brand-name products by selecting particular brands for each category. This isn’t going down to well with staff who have been loooking after the stationary department for some time, but im hoping they will come around.
Unfortunarly GNS needs to lift their game in the range of brand name products they supply. The marketing groups should also be working closely with the manufacturers of brand name products. Standardisation of selected brand names across each marketing groups network would send a strong message to customers as well as the manufacturers.