We are experiencing double digit growth in ink sales this year – in a year on year in a mooving annual total comparison just undertaken. We are seeing excellent sales from repeat business as well as new customers visiting as a result of our marketing. We have been using large posters in the shopping centre as well as flyers distributed to homes in the area. The double digit growth is excellent given that we have a new style Dick Smith with a great ink office a few metres from us, Australia Post oppposite, Big W pushing hard in this space as well as an Officeworks and Harvey Norman nearby.
Our manager and key architect of the competitive strategy, Jason Schwarten, outlined how this has been achieved at the newsXpress conference in Melbourne today. His positioning of the ink offer in the face of significant new competition has seen us do well in the face of tough new competition, proving that small businesses can grow in such circumstances by playing to their key points of difference.
Ink is now used to drive sales of other categories.
We sold out of a particular ink cartridge and to keep a regular customer happy we went to officeworks to get it for them that day. They were $5 dearer on most of their ink lines then we were and the service was non existant.
I should send all the customers that want cheap ink to them so they can see newsagents can do most things better and cheaper then the majors. We are also seeing good double figure growth year on year for our ink.
Just a quick question.. ive seen certain newsagents around illegally parallel import ink (especially epson, seen lots of “only for sale in taiwan/china product).. mainly independents or nextra branded. I’m assuming most of the members here are getting it through the right channels? Just Curious. 🙂
Have you guys also considered fax rolls and toner for more popular brands as well? I know that thermal fax rolls seem to always be in demand, and the GP on them is pretty good.
We used to sell fax rolls but now focus on the top sellers in each category. We are chasing stock turn and therebore greater business efficiency.
Nahcoob ,i am an indepenent newsagent and i do not sell the dodgy ink i do not see what being an indepenent newsagent has to do with selling dodgy products .And yes you can assume i am getting it from the right source as being an independent newsagent i can still source quallity products for my store with out being part of a group ….
Brand is key. As is the heritage of the ink – no grey market stuff. If you sell the branded product you have more access to brand backed promotions too.
Where do you get yours from Shaun? I’m independent too, and haven’y been able to source any at a good price.
Shaun S, wasn’t offending anyone here just noticed it was a worrying pattern amongst the newsagents in my area to sell off-brand or grey import epson product.. caught me out by surprise purchasing before, but I wouldn’t expect many newsagents to do it.
What does it matter if the ink is imported via “official” or grey channels? My understanding is that it is still genuine product manufactured by the OEM offshore (although there has been some instances of counterfeit product in the marketplace in times past). To refer to grey product as “dodgy” is inaccurate. Same product in a different box arriving on a different boat! Customers in the main have no clue nor any concern as to how the product gets into the country – they simply want value for money on a highly price sensitive commodity. We purchase both and have no issues with either. Brand backed promotions have done little, if anything, to enhance our sales. Price, product range, service, promotion and display are the keys to success in ink, not where the cartridge comes from.
And if you want the best pricing, you need to be part of a group. As an independent you cannot hope to get the prices associated with buying power of a group (hotink, newsink etc).
Glen, I disagree with you.
It is what you spend on locally sourced product which funds advertising for the brands. Grey market purchases do not contribute to advertising funding.
I get excellent pricing on fair dinkum (not not buying grey market) product and know that my spend is what helps fund advertising for those selling grey market product.
It is important to understand supplier relationships.
Mark, I understand that and agree – to a point. My customers do not come to me because the vendors have a nice advertising campaign, they come because my pricing leaves the “majors” in the shade. Buying “fair dinkum” is fine to a point, but then the price disparity can get too big to ignore. If a person has a printer, they will obviously need ink and they will want it generally when they have run out. This is independent of any marketing push.
If I can’t get my price right my sales will suffer irrespective of any advertising campaign, and to do this I will have grey product on my shelves from time to time and it causes me no issues. There is nothing wrong, immoral or dodgy with grey product, as has been intimated in previous posts in this thread.
Glen, I buy fair dinkum (not grey market) product and win business based on excellent prices. PLUS, my money suppiorts the advertising which helps retailers who do buy grey marekt and therefoire do not do their bit to support these national brands.
It all comes down to how much you want to do your bit to support the brands you sell.
You can get non grey market product for the right price … easily.
Mark, Please show me how to get them as we do not have any ink products in our shop. We are an independent newsagent.
Hong,
I do my ink through newsXpress as part of the HOT ink! offer. If you are operating independently, contaact Tonnex and follow their advice.
Hi Mark,
How does Tonnex compare to GNS prices… and if you do accept a reseller arrangement with them do they provide local promotional support and returns…
Cheers
Peter
we spent over $1000 perweek on inkjet from gns and our price is equal or cheaper than majors. i support GNS
Peter I’ve not looked at GNS pricing recently. I’d expect them to be close. I should have noted GNS as a good entry point for getting into ink.
May I ask what are ‘grey market’ products?
They are products made by the brand (HP, canon etc) but imported by a company not associated with or approved by the local offices of those brands.
I’m also curious on how you guys deal with expired product, can be quite an expensive problem with other ink retailers since the boxes are labelled “use by” or “install by”. I’d say the best way to avoid it if a newsagency starts up in ink sales would be to do some research on each manufacturer, and say the past 2 or 3 years of printer models from HP/Canon/Epson/Brother (Wouldn’t bother stocking Lexmark ink). Nothing worse then getting into an area then a year later having a pile of product you have to take below cost to get rid of.
I started stocking cartridges late last year/early this year. I used the newsink and newsxpress catalogues as a starting point as to what to order. I ordered 1 or 2 of each through GNS. then just learnt was is more popular and to stock more of, my pricing is cheaper than the majors. was rough at the start because intially my stock was well priced which customers noticed, but then there was a price rise, and people saw me as expensive (especially lexmark) until they realised that the increase was a across the board and came back to me when the majors had gone up higher than me. also a recent problem i have encountered over the past couple of orders with GNS is poor packing of catridges, they arrive squashed due to packing them in the same box with exercise books, or just packed in too tightly
i stopped using GNS for ink about 18 months aqgo for the same reason, squashed boxes. have moved to a couple of new supplies, delivery much quicker and prices much better than gns. ink continues to grow and now a major part of my business and easily shows the best growth.
Nahcoob, Expired product is dealt with by selling it on eBay or discounting in retail. The key is to buy carefully. Newsagents often buy badly and this leaves them overstocked. Buy only based on what you are selling. Small steps in chasing growth.
we throw away $1000 of stock last year , well we stock everything , we have complete range , ‘ you ask , we have it”