Looking at card sales year to date, their average for 2024 verses 2023 is 2% growth. That average does not tell the real story though.
I’ve seen data for newsagencies achieving 20% year on year growth in 2024 over 2023. Those achieving this are working on their card department, usually with two card companies in place and on the back or a store level data-driven pocket / caption review.
I have also seen data for plenty of newsagents lies reporting a decline of 10% and more. One was as high as 30%. Typically, the stores experiencing decline have these attributes:
- One card company dominating supply.
- Orders are done by the card company without store level consultation.
- The card company has provided cash or fixtures for the business to lock them in.
- new cards are put out by a merchandiser and not staff in the store or the business owner.
- There is no card shopper loyalty program.
- Cards are only pitched in the card department.
Our channel has the best range of card captions in Australia. It’s a foundation category for each newsagency and needs to be managed as such.
If your card sales this year so far are not up more than 2% on last year, you need to take action. If they are in decline, you need to take urgent action.
I see terrific upside for card sales in our channel if we manage the category ourselves and engaged with it daily in our shops.