Our November newsagent sales benchmark Study shows that conditions are tough for newsagents. Greeting card unit sales fell, on average, 9%. It also shows that some newsagents are doing well in this environment. Rather than focus on reporting falling sales for cards, magazines and newspapers, the report highlights growth opportunities. The keys appear to be that newsagents assert more control over their business and embrace change. The benchmark data set shows newsagents having success in doing these things.
it is important that we have a wide range of cards from different suppliers, even though we may get less margin from doing so, but i found that by doing so actually i improve my card sales by 30%.Those who commit only to 1 or 2 suppliers will not increase the buttom line.
Eric,
Depth of brand range needs to be evaluated for each individual store. We only have one card supplier and our sales continue to increase month on month. We find moving cards around, cross promotion, altering the ranges carried and embracing promotional ranges drives strong growth.
We’re only a small store and to introduce more suppliers will only decrease our ability to effectivly manage the category in such limited space.