I was at a newsagency recently and discovered that they had sold only two copies of the latest issue of ACP Magazines’ Good Food. I was surprised since we have sold out of this same issue twice over. They had the title on the shelves and the free sample bag in the back room – yes, the back room! I took Good Food off the shelves and created the simple display in the photo on the corner of the counter at the front of the shop.
In just over a week they sold sixteen copies from this location. A simple move and good sales as a result.
How often do we fail to make the most of a good business opportunity? In the case of Good Food, the publisher has a good title promoted with a valuable giveaway and supported with strong marketing collateral. While the original display in this newsagency looked attractive, it did nothing to sell the magazine on impulse. Many good and great displays are lost in visually noisy newsagencies. Too many displays are not in the right location to actually sell product.
We make excuses about being time-poor, not having space, publishers sucking our cash. Sometimes we miss opportunities which lead us to see the magazine side of our business through negative eyes.
We need to be our own toughest critics if we are to make the most of opportunities which come our way. Being average does not cut it in retail, not in this marketplace.