If art supplies sales in your newsagency are down, check out your local Officeworks. As fairfax reported yesterday, Officeworks has expanded into art supplies. I have seen several art supplies area in Officeworks stores. They are impressive.
The #AUSPOL Colouring Book by Zena Kells that has just been published looks like a lot of fun. I can see it doing well in selected suburbs where politics is a hot topic. I love the or dart board note on the cover.
Adult colouring titles not readily available elsewhere drive interest in the category. We use unique product to promote and thereby attract those already deep into the activity as they know a unique title when they see one. The approach is similar to dealing with collectors – focus on their specialisation and they shop with you more often.
The life of the peak of the adult colouring craze is being extended by the launch of premium licenced product such as the Harry Potter Colouring Book. This takes the art / craft craze to a new audience while enhancing the experience for the existing audience. While we already have some licenced adult colouring titles, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Harry Potter is a mega brand, one that ought to appeal more widely.
Looking in detail at the Harry Potter book, it has been done with thought and care – online some of the more rushed adult colouring titles.
I am re-thinking the longevity of peak interest in adult colouring. This is interesting to watch, most exciting.
I heard about this latest book from the WH Smith blog (the source of the images) and from there tracked the supplier.
We refreshed the front of store adult colouring display in the newsagency today. The photo does not do the A1 posters above the display justice.
We are still selling more than $200 a day in adult colouring books not including the partwork launch – we have sold 130 in just over a week. While the range selling is diverse, it is the non magazine titles that do better. I like that, of course, because of the margin from the real books.
I was considering using this space for something else from today but sales demand it stay here for at least another week. I am watching space and inventory investment as there are at least fifteen shops in the centre with adult colouring products now.
This poster is next to the door to the ladies toilet at Exeter railway station in the UK. Besides the purposeful placement, that they are advertising this adult colouring title speaks to a crowder adult colouring space.
The advertising poster is a further reminder to be careful on your stock holding of adult colouring titles in your newsagency.
I like the branding Newslink stores are using for their adult colouring titles: Colour Me In. I think it is important to bring together all related adult colouring products under a common brand as it defines your narrative.
WH Smith does this in the UK with their Explore a world of colouring branding. newsXpress does this with Colour Your World poster, shelf strip and digital marketing collateral provided to members.
Putting relevant stock on the shelf is part of what we have to do as retailers. Telling a story to encourage customer engagement is key, especially with so many retailers offering these products. This is where proactive groups play a key role – along with providing access at preferential pricing.
Newsagent retail businesses have evolved without having to be as retail savvy as other retailers thanks to the terrific traffic in decades past from newspapers, magazines and lotteries. Now, with those products available in other retail channels, we have to be better retailers. How we are handling adult colouring is an example of this.
I have no doubt that newsagents who tell a story with a sub-brand like this will do better.
With adult colouring titles now at supermarket checkout positions newsagents ought to be wary of their stock holding as low margin magazine distributor distributed titles as they will suck up some interest in this niche at the expense of better margin products we carry in our newsagencies by choice.
Newsagents doing Back to School should get their hands on an Officeworks BTS catalogue for when they do a post-season review. At 64 pages, the Officeworks catalogue is comprehensive. You read it thinking you’ll find what you need. The design connects with the marketing collateral in-store from the display to the posters to the dump bins. It all visually connects in an entertaining and compelling way.
The catalogue also pitches in an accessible way. For example on pages 22-23: Books to help young students learn and grow. This focuses on the outcome. It’s a clever and engaging pitch. On pages 10-11 the pitch is: All the tools for big ideas. Again, smart. then, on pages 60-61: File and store all their big ideas. The narrative is clear and encouraging.
Officeworks supports creativity and helps you as a parent to help your kids with their big ideas and then helps you store them for the future.
I’m not here to champion Officeworks but rather to draw your attention to this competitor and to recognise that they did BTS well this year. Our channel can learn from this.
If you have never heard of Loom Bands or are just considering stocking this product now you’re coming late to a craze than has been hot for months. Kids, especially young girls, love these things. We have been selling them since last year and have struggled to maintain stock – especially when the craze hits a new school. You can tell based on th wave of new shoppers.
If you are coming new to Loom Bands, be careful as interest will wane. You want that to occur when you’re almost out of stock. But, hey, what do I know. I thought YoYos would never come back.
We are stocking expecting to get a few months more out of the craze so by mid year we will reassess our stock plans.
We introduced the Melissa and Doug educational classic toy range to one of my newsagencies last week and while the display oin the lease line facing into the mall looked good, I felt it could look better. Here are before and after photos. Click on them for bigger size.
Here is the display as it looked yesterday when I saw it for the first time. The product was well laid out and there was good use of the Melissa and Doug logo. Seeing it though I felt it lacked what I’d call ownership of the space for the brand.
Here is the display after we had made one change, the introduction of a black cloth backdrop covering the beanie Kids fixture behind the melissa and Doug product. This simple change makes a huge difference. Now the Melissa and Doug products own the space.
Visual merchandising is all about making the product the hero, making it stand out to shoppers in your store and walking past your store. While the only test that matters is if the product sells, it will sell if it is displayed in to sell.
Since I am not in the newsagency full time it is easy to walk in and notice things people who are there all the time may miss. I appreciate their patience and cheerfulness in letting me do this and then leave while they change things.
The first display was not bad at all but I knew it could be better. Hence the small change.
sales of melissa and Doug product are excellent. We’ve reordered.
I was doing some research last night on the Mont Marte art supply range using their website to check out nearby stockists. I searched using several postcodes and each time Art Shed Online in Moorabbin came up in the search results first, listed as a partner.
I decided to widen the search from some Victorian postcodes into New South Wales and Art Shed Online in Moorabbin came up again – even though I asked the Mont Marte website to search for outlets within 5km of each postcode I entered.
The reason for Art Shed Online is listed first in these searches is that it appears to be owned by Mont Marte. That’s the inference from the website setup details at least.
While I have no quarrel with Mont Marte selling direct, I would prefer their website to take a fairer approach in listing stockists. Putting their own outlet ahead of their customers is unfair.
Suppliers should put their customers first, ahead of any direct sales outlet they establish.
I like the Mont Marte offer. I don’t like how they manipulate the search results on their website and treat their customers as second class citizens.
I am seeing wild growth in sales of art supplies in some newsagencies. From the every day for school projects to supplies for local painters, art sales are up on several newsagencies for which I have been fortunate to see data. These are all businesses with a permanent art department which is well managed.
If you have the room and don’t have a permanent art department right now, it could be a good move. I know of newsagents who have customers travelling 50km because of their range and prices. Becoming a destination is mission-critical for newsagents.
Click on the thumbnail for a larger copy of the photo showing how we are hiding the back side of our photocopier with an art display. By itself this display would not work but when seen with the display capping the next aisle it presents a good retail story. We continue to move art around as we have found that this helps find new customers.
Our team at Forest Hill has made room for a pre-Christmas Art Sale on a table in front of our main lottery counter without iopacting access. Art is one of those categories which customers forget you cover. By bringing it out every few months sales take off. This time around we have done some buying especially for the sale – with an eye to good Christmas gifts. It’s working. Impulse purchases are strong.
We have introduced a small scrapbooking department at Forest Hill. While we are yet to finish the presentation – as you can see in the photo – products are already selling. As our knowledge of the department develops, we will expand the offering. It was a smart move by the team at the shop to choose this location near the scrapbooking magazines and opposite the art department.
We have gone out with an art sale – a couple of weeks earlier than planned because we have space on our “dance floor” calendar.
This is the first time we have promoted our new range at the front of the shop and in the 48 hours since it was put up interest has been good. Change in retail, any change, is good – regulars find products they did not know you have and new customers are drawn to your business.
For a couple of years we did well with the Mont Marte artist supplies range. Things went off the rails when they could not supply some items to us while continuing to supply their own retail store in Melbourne as well as customers who ordered the same products direct through their company’s e-commerce website. Their actions made it clear that they preferred a direct to consumer relationship over their newsagent relationship. We ditched Mont Marte and replaced them with the Canson rang, an art supplier committed to the retail channel and not seeking to compete with us. Sales are great and customers are happy that we can more easily get the stock they want. Mont marte going direct to consumers is not how newsagent suppliers ought to operate. It will be interesting to see if they have learned their lesson.
We’re enjoying success by pitching Crayola art and craft products next to the range from Canson.
Beyond the solid visual message we’re attracting good sales to justify the commitment.
While Crayola is a children’s story, it plays well next to the more grown-up art products.
Laying out 230 square metres of retail space is challenge and it’s good to have well branded product we can plan-a-gram like this. It makes our job easier and provides for an easier store for the consumer to navigate.
Historically, newsagents have carried parts of ranges and ended up with displays which are not as striking as they could be and which do not do the brands justice – it’s a lose lose for the newsagent and the brand. In part, this problem was facilities by newsagent wholesalers not carrying full lines from suppliers. With more newsagents dealing direct they are unlocking the kind of displays we see from Crayola and Canson.
There are plenty of suppliers who will for with individual newsagents on plan-a-gram offers, all it takes is to make an approach.
Last year I complained here about Mont Marte, the art supplies company in Queensland – I wrote about how how getting stock was a challenge and that they were competing with us through their own retail store which appeared to not have stock challenges. We closed that relationship and sat out of art for a few months. We’re thrilled with a relationship with Canson. We have just completed installing their range in Frankston. The photo shows part of the art suppliers and a small portion of the cardboard display. It’s been in less than a week and has already lifted the back corner of the shop in terms of sales and how we relate to it.
A couple of days ago we installed a new art bar at our Forest Hill location. The photo below shows part of the range. We also have canvasses and other products for the art marketplace.
The entire range if from Canson and is part of a newsXpress exclusive relationship. Art customers are efficient for the business, buying plenty of other items when they visit.
For two years we have offered a good selection of art supplies which we have sourced from Queensland based Mega Shed. Sales have been good and we’re nicely in the art space.
While the range has been good we have been disappointed that Mega Shed directly competes with us in their retail and online businesses. This disappointment is compounded by frustration over delivery costs. They require us to order in pallet lots and this can be a challenge. When we cannot meet a pallet requirement, freight costs are extraordinary.
When they are out of stock it is frustrating to find the same product in stock in their retail business.
We are not continuing our relationship with Mega Shed and will instead seek a relationship with a more commercially astute art supplier – a partner who specialises in wholesaling rather than retailing.
Art supplies are an excellent add-on product for newsagencies. The key is getting a good range of product at a fair price and with good backup stock availability.
