Gifts are not what they used to be, and that is a good thing

There was a time when gifts were easy to stock for newsagents. There were wholesalers who offered access to spinners and packs that fit with the key seasons as it is those seasons that we all focussed on for ur gift stories through then year.

That all started to change ten or so years ago. Slowly, the gift opportunity evolved to a point today where plenty of newsagents do not purchase season specific gifts, leaving that space to discount variety and other similar mass retail businesses, including c-stores, which are playing more and more in this space.

Gifts today are more carefully purchased by newsagents in the space, to appeal to unique local interests or to use as a lure to a specific and valuable demographic for the business. Often, the best gifts are those you would never expect to see in a newsagency. In my own situation, I put pursuit of a demographic ahead of season and other factors s that can provide buying guidance that is ore useful than some hard and fast rule on price.

In my experience, terrific gifts today come from suppliers who to not make calls on retailers as that means you are less likely to have another local retailer following you, or at least not following you as easily as if they spoke to the same rep visiting the town.

The short version of this is that the days of mediocre cheap gifts as the standard in newsagencies has passed. We now see less of the forks bent into art for guys and colourful oven mitts or gaudy soap packs for ladies. We see more short run products, locally made products and higher priced art like pieces … that you would never have seen in a newsagency a few years ago.

The gift space is strong and have plenty of opportunity to get stronger. I am optimistic about this category for our channel.