I am shocked to see some retailers, including newsagents, are discounting calendars. This does not make sense so early in the season. Trawl back through blog posts here over the last five years and you’ll see that I have learned my lesson on calendar discounting – leave it until after January 1.
While discounts of 25% and 50% – yes I have seen this already this year – may drive calendar sales, this gives up margin unnecessarily in my view.
The key to maintaining maximum margin with calendars is range. What the team at Forest Hill is achieving this year is proof of that. Sales are up 14% on last year. What makes this even more special is that our store manager controls the range. He has backed himself and it is resulting in excellent dividends.
By holding the line on price, based on an excellent range and brilliant customer service, we are banking good results. It is not too late for all newsagents to take this approach.
BUY 2 GET 1 FREE OR 10% OFF. the sale of calendars getting worse every year.
eric, what are you doing wrong? calendar sales are growing by more than 10% year on year. A brilliant high margin category.
our next door selling $2 calendars with quality looks like $24.99. How ?