US stationery retailer OfficeMax has announced that it will run its Back-to-School for Pennies promotion again this year as part of its back to school strategy. The pitch included in their press release includes this:
For back-to-school season, OfficeMax is lowering its prices on more than 100 items. The promotions will feature competitive deals on school supplies common to most school lists, including 70-page, one-subject notebooks, 24-count crayons, rulers, folders, compasses & protractors. Each week, OfficeMax will feature new “Penny Offers” that will rotate from a single-priced item for one cent to bundled offers such as “Buy one, Get one for one Penny” deals on supplies throughout back-to-school season. Customers can view the weekly specials in OfficeMax’s weekly circular advertisements or on the OfficeMax Weekly Ad page.
OfficeMax provides a one-stop shopping experience for time-pressed parents during back-to-school. From eco-conscious to high-style to budget-friendly, OfficeMax’s back-to-school products enable students to express their personality while doing their best work. In addition, OfficeMax offers computers and technology products, desks and furniture, organization products and printing services for students preparing for back-to-school.
Back to School is big for newsagents, but not huge as it used to be. We struggle to compete with Officeworks, Big W and other majors who buy, price, promote and manage as one. What I especially like in the OfficeMax pitch is their broad appeal from the environment to budget to style. They have all buying triggers covered. The overall pitch is so positive.
We tend to focus on price and ignore our real points of difference are convenience, local community connection (and support), quality and service.
I’d encourage newsagents to take time to look at the OfficeMax back to school pitch. There are opportunities to learn from this in crafting the story for BTS here in Australia – even at the local newsagent level.
We have a Back to School that grows each year. We focus on convenience (putting book packs together while you wait). We acquire the school lists in November and ensure that we have all the requirements for the schools in the surrounding area.
We focus on an approach that isn’t centred on low prices. I understand the market is different up here in Queensland, and that to gain a reputation as experts in the Back to School arena can take a few years, but surely there is opportunity everywhere to service the local area in this manner.
I think it is very important to have competitive prices, but it is only one part of a total strategy. I think if you used a flyer not too dissimilar from the Office Max one (one page, brand name specials and the enviro bag pitch) as well as having back to school experts in store it would be a better strategy overall.
Look at the bottom line of an OMax flyer and you will see that they charge an ‘admin’ fee for the BTS. This is why we took a lot of their schools back.