The stationery department in a newsagency responds well to attention yet it it often the poor cousin when it comes to labour and capital investment. A small investment in rejigging stock can drive sales growth. I have seen this first-hand in my own newsagencies and in others. Here are some suggestions from the stationery page of the notes I handed at out at the recent Kick Start Your Newsagency workshops which newsagents may find useful:
- Decide what you stand for. Your stationery department must have a focus. It could be brand, range, price or something else. Whatever you stand for, it will guide every decision you make. If it does not guide every decision, you are not standing for the right thing. I’d suggest you not stand for being the retailer of last resort. There are too many newsagents who think like that already. You cannot retire on profit made from selling a obscure stationery item once or twice a year.
- Eliminate dead stock. I usually find that 30% of stationery in a newsagency is dead. Print a report of stock items which have not sold for six months. This report should include the value of current stock holdings. In an average newsagency we often find this to be around 30% of all stationery stock holdings. Look at the list carefully. Do you really want to carry these items which are not selling?
- Restock to serve your customers. Determine the space which would become available by quitting these items and plan on how this space can be best used in the business. Now would be a good time to talk with GNS and others who guide your stationery decisions. GNS can provide you with a top sellers list for your state. There may be extensions to current ranges you could consider or whole new categories.
- Clean up. Once you have a commercially viable use for the space, quit the items in a way which deals with this quickly – any cash is better than none which is what you are getting now.
- Refresh. Use the opportunity to reinvest the look and feel of stationery, re-price all stock if price has been an issue for you. Re-train your staff. re-educate your customers. Re-launch.
- Manage by touch. Take every item off the shelf and put it back. This process of touching every stationery stock item will have you review your position on stationery.
- Obsess about what you stand for. Remember, your business must stand for something. With stationery, it could be brand, range, price or service. If customers don’t perceive that you stand for something they will not think about you when they need to purchase stationery. Whatever you decide to stand for, pursue it relentlessly.
Stationery responds well to attention in newsagencies. Give your stationery department attention and expect good rewards in return.
Will these simple ideas turn stationery sales around? I don’t know. They have worked in other newsagencies and they may work for you. They are not bad ideas and, if followed, will do no harm to your business.
My key point is that your stationery department needs to be worked. Invest in it and it will better serve you. In today’s climate especially.
Mark
I must add merchandising. Specifically vertical merchandising strategies work better for many sub-categories.
Good point Dennis. Unfortunately you might be hard pressed to find a newsagent who has heard of merchandising strategies, such as that which you mention, let alone understands them.
Vertical merchandising is always a prominent one. There is also, blocking (by range, brand and/or colour), colour direction (using colours in a certain order to draw the eye in a particular direction), vertical positioning (where the product at eye level and just below is in the most prominent position). These are just a few we use on a daily basis. There are plenty more. I would encourage any newsagent who admittedly isn’t merchandising savvy to take a basic course. Take a few of your key staff members with you. I guarantee the skills you will learn will be invaluable.
Don’t forget cross-aisle stuff either!
Dennis – excellent advice.
Jarryd – there are many newsagents who merchandise well, vertically. Your suggestion about doing a course is well made.
I was thinking that seeing my Mondays and Fridays are my quietest, I might do someting like a 10% off stationery on one or both of these days only.
I’m thinking the turnover that might be driven by this might make up for the discount.
Has anyone tried this or have any thoughts?
Michael,
I believe you would be better off offering a giveaway… We don’t discount stationery unless we are quitting a line and instead focus on what our customers want and making sure we always have it. It drives sales. We measure on a weekly basis as most customers purchase on the day the need arises. Even if you discount the stock, you still require a customer with that need to come in – 10% may not be a reason to buy something they don’t need.
Mark, Dennis, Jarryd, Brett all great ideas. Thanks for shaing them. I have let my stationery rep manage the department but think I am ready to do it myself. It is daunting.
Thanks for your view Sarah, it makes a lot of sense.
What have you done with givaways?
Denise,
Good for you. It can be daunting when you first begin to manage a category. Take control and you won’t regret it.
I don’t even see a rep from any stationery supplier. We generally don’t take advice from reps – they are sales people, not business advisors (although they would love you to think different). We manage every category ourselves; even greeting cards where merchandisers only order top-up stock for pockets.
If you are part of a marketing group they should be able to provide plenty of advice on how to manage the category and where to begin.
Mark and fellow contributors, thank you. You have given me the inspiration to take a fresh look at our shop and we have decided to completely changed our stationery marketing strategy and remodel our shop for a more first contact and sales driven model and not our current model that has continued from when we brought the shop 5 years ago and hadn’t changed for the previous hundred years. Old fixtures are coming down and we are going to use branded displays for specific lines. My question is, and not knocking GNS, is there a competitive supplier? And do I approach the manufactories for marketing products or GNS and/or other suppliers.
Any help would be appreciated. Obviously tis will be done on a strict budget and I will be negotiating with suppliers for displays and replacement stock to gain our retail opportunity. Marketing groups have their place but with the size of my shop and more importantly the small size of the town does not justify the expense.
Pete.
PeterS, I’d suggest you retain as much control over the sapce as possible. My experience is that it can be false economy to take fixturing from suppliers as they see this as their space when it needs to remain your space.
That said, suppliers will welcome direct contact and arrange for stock to come through GNS.
GNS will supply you with a list of top sellers in your state. This could also help guide your decisions.
In terms of fixturing, if you are making changes – ensure that they are flexible. It is vital that this can change as the needs of your business change. Have as little purpose built fixturing as possible.
Peter,
Here’s a supplier I use :
http://www.stationers.com.au/
I’d listen to Mark’s comments on fixturing, you don’t want your space locked into something that you are told will work.