The traditional card department in Australian newsagencies has not significantly changed in decades. A good looking card department may not be enough in this new marketplace with more competitions than we have ever had before.
Too often card departments are located too far into the business to be seen from outside.
In a new David Jones store in Wellington yesterday I saw the card department located adjacent to menswear. This is an odd placement since many would say men are far less likely to purchase cards than women. However, David Jones shop layouts are carefully considered and placements deliberate.
I think they have done this in part because of the challenges of their space and because they think it will work adjacent to menswear.
Maybe it is time you placed cards in a different location in your business. If you are open to this, think about what is right for you. You are more likely to have the right answer than your card company as you are the retailer and they are not.
In addition to department location and layout, think about what you pick to shoppers as they leave. Coles has recently started rolling out this placement near the store exit. My understanding is this is a Coles driven initiative.
I have covered this in my newsagency management workshops and at this blog.
Walk from your counter to outside the business and actively notice what you pitch to shoppers as they leave.
In one of my stores I have replaced a hole magazine unit with freestanding fixtures, including three card spinners. The spinners and other units in the photo run next to a magazine unit on the right, just out of shot.
The objective of the placement of the three card spinners is to offer magazine and other shoppers in the two aisles a secondary card range pitch to drive impulse purchases. The three spinners offer plenty of range, accessible from both sides. We selected these spinners as the cards they offer lend themselves to impulse purchases. Plus, the three spinners together tell a card range story – far better than a single spinner would do.
This location of cards with magazines is one of four card locations in the business.
I think newsagents can no longer run a single card department with cards in one location.
We need to change our approach to cards if we want to increase the performance of cards in our businesses.
I find it odd DJ are opening new stores when department stores are retreating the world over. In their Adelaide CBD store cards have a great display but well away from foot flow, there are few customers. I think they are driven by sales per sq metre which can result in odd placements of departments. Great merchandising though.
I agree we need to evolve. Differentiation is the key. Hallmark needs to be careful with all this change, their scattergun gun approach to who they will supply is not unlike magazine suppliers.