A newsagent I spoke with yesterday told me they struggled to get customers purchasing a Set For Life ticket to take the free News Corp. newspaper. I’ll have to throw them away was their position. So, on their behalf, I am posting this here today and asking:
How has the Set For Life promotion gone for you? Did customers love the free newspaper?
It finished last week , didn’t make any difference in sales
up about 25% in sfl sales and a spike in the fee papersof about 20 each day
Andrew , how many set for life tickets do you sell a day on average
I actually sold 3 tickets less than the week before , so for me no impact at all
about 50% of the customers that purchased set for
life , during the promotion, did not want the free paper, so the free paper was no incentive
a very poorly researched promotion
Shauns
went from 75 for the week before to 102 sales the week of the promo
I had a 80% pick up rate and the overall feedback was customers were happy to receive a free newspaper. They just didn’t understand the connection between a newspaper and lotto!
It was a waste of money in promotional expenses as I cant see how any future goodwill (sales) was created from it.
They could always ask retailers for feedback on what customers tell them they would like and use those ideas to start targeted promotions. But what business consults with those who are doing the work??
We were up 65% on S4L tickets sold on the previous week, approx. 70% happily took the free paper. I was very surprised at the success in that our customers engaged really well with the promo. I don’t think they understood the connection between Tatts and the paper but it made them smile and was different. Time will tell if they retain their interest in S4L.
From 65 to 112, it works for us but probably not for everyone
There was some interest, but most copies were taken by existing set for life customers.
The planning for the promotion was bad :
– initial allocation along with many SA outlets was for one extra paper, being the net sales increase envisaged. Nobody considered that existing set for life customers might also want a paper
– revised allocation not acted on by distributor, no additional papers received on 1st day
– promotional poster for the Tuesday recalled as it did not have required “gamble responsibly”
I had a very good response, most customers took the free paper. We as retailers miss the point a little, Set for life was advertised on the front page of the Advertise for 1 whole week with a freeby
I was skeptical at first, but our sales were up every day. The trick will be to turn those new customers in to repeat buyers.
The odd thing to me is that 98% of customers took the paper, yet on weeks like this one, where we give the paper away with purchase after 2pm I will get about a 30% take up.
And no, it isn’t to do with the time of day as we were giving papers away with SFL right up until close last week.
Customers. Go figure
I am in NSW and it was advertised in different sections of the Daily Telegraph every day but in my store this had a small if not no effect on sales of SFL. The point of the promotion is to increase sales of the Daily Telegraph and SFL in the future. Do I believe this will occur from the promotion, maybe a little but by not enough to cover the expense incurred in conducting the promotion.
My view is limited by what I have seen in my store so if it was a raging success everywhere else then good job.
All promotions conducted by the News Ltd brand bring out very strong opinions from people who dislike “Rupert”. No other products in my store bring out such negative reactions.
You only get out of a promotion as to how much you are prepared to work the promotion.
It worked for us because we believed in the concept.
My advice to the negative comments here is – start working your business…. we did and won !!!
David how much growth ?and did it continue today ?
I don’t think anyone has said that they didn’t promote it. Not all promotions work, if it worked for you David then well done.
I didn’t realise you were in a position to judge how other retailers “worked” their business during this promotion. Maybe just stick to commenting on your own experiences and not assuming what happens in other shops.
If a promotion did work, great but if it hasn’t in a decent percentage of shops then I think Tatts needs to consult agents and get feedback on what happened so it can be more successful next time.
In my store I am not prepared to give Tatts or News Ltd premium promotional space or air time for the following reasons:
A) News Ltd and their products are in decline
B) Tatts are trying to push customers from retailers to online (eg the flip to win promo this week which makes customers go online).
And yes I work on my business and I am seeing awesome growth in new areas that are exciting as they are all in my own control.
Sorry to vent but I really dislike seeing comments where people make judgement’s on businesses they have no knowledge of. Stick to telling from your own experiences please.
Chris, well said…hurrah
The flip to win is an insult, especially right after last week’s promotion.
David, I do “work my business” but for financial return on profitable lines where suppliers interests gel with mine. I’m sure (LOL) Tatts and News Corp will appreciate your efforts and reciprocate accordingly.
Chris, you are so arrogant and rude to a fellow Newsagent. ( If you are a Newsagent)
Maybe next time read comments a second time and realise people are trying to help each other.
Just makes me not want to even bother coming to this site when you carry on like that.
How did you know! I am actually not a newsagent but a spy sent to this blog from out of space to find out why there are retailers bothering to promote suppliers products who are at the same time aggressively trying to take away that market share. Oh well, I have been caught out, back to my UFO.
Wow, those painkillers have really kicked in this morning…
Rubbish promotion. Don’t need these type of promotions in the modern day newsagency.