Data from several newsagencies comparing November 2013 with November 2012 indicates excellent card sales results. In six newsagencies, card revenue is up: 28%, 18%, 13%, 12%, 8% and 7% respectively. For perspective these businesses did between $10,000 and $25,000 in card sales in November 2013.
Looking deeper at the data, the good news is that in all six the growth is across the board: Christmas singles, Christmas boxes, everyday and lifestyle. This is important – that the growth is not just in seasonal product.
While each of the businesses was operating a loyalty program the cost to sales was 1% or less.
Three of the businesses are 100% with one supplier – this includes two with the highest YOY growth.
The other interesting comparison is the percentage contribution of cards to overall revenue. The highest is 31% and the lowest is 6%. Outside of lottery sales, the benchmark I target is cards accounting for close to 30% of revenue.
There is opportunity for all newsagents in these results. here was have newsagencies in shopping centre, high street and rural situations growing card sales. The common factor among all is their engagement with the category. They own the category in-store rather than leaving it for the supplier to own.