Calendars

Now that the traditional calendar discounters have closed for the year they rest of us in this space can hold to SRP and make good margin as those buying calendars now really want them.

I am seeing good calendar sales, especially now that Aussie homes and businesses are gearing up for the year.

Like with magazines, niche titles are working particularly well. This is a reminder as to the value of specialty focus. The supermarkets and others are the generalists. We can be the specialists and feel less price pressure as a result.

If this year is like others, calendar sales will continue to be good for another month or so.

Looking at data from a small number of shops that specialise in calendars, the 2023 season is off to a good start. Depth of range, as always, is key to success.

This is the front of store range in one of my shops as at yesterday.

Social media is also key to success with calendars. Posts featuring photos of special interest titles can be shared multiple times.

I mention calendars today this used to be a category newsagents owned. Now, too many have moved away from it. But, with a GP% of 60% and more, calendars are an excellent opportunity for Christmas gifts.

They will sell well into 2023 without discounting, which is also a win.

I know it’s not too late to get into 2023 calendars.

It is interesting seeing the early surge in sales of 2022 calendars. I see parallels between calendar sales and Christmas card sales. They are an easy gift to post, not expensive and can play into special interests.

Comparing this year to 2020 and 2019, I am seeing data indicating that at this point, 2021 is ahead, which is good news for retailers with calendars out already.

Our focus right now very much is on special interest calendars.

This train calendar fist with the specialty nature of long-tail magazines. We are using calendar images for social media posts, to connect with that shopper looking for these special interest titles.

Right now the opportunity is good because some of our traditional competitors are not open. So, yeah, I am leveraging that essential opportunity, for which I don’t apologise.

The train calendar is from the Bartel range. we have that display on the lease line, where it is working at attracting shoppers. It is next to our boxed Christmas cards. I see them as a natural fit.

Calendar Club has done its best to teach Australians that calendars need to be discount to sell. While their business has been successful, grabbing plenty of calendar revenue in shopping centres, they have not ‘educated’ everyone that the only way to sell calendars is to discount them.

We don’t discount calendars and can get full price through to early in the second half of the year.

The key is to purchase so that you sell out before then. Also, the more niche the title, the less price pressure.

So, we are not discounting calendars and so far this year we are up more than 50% on last year’s good base.

Calendars remain a strong category, nicely complimentary to diaries, which are strong, too.

While Calendar Club and some others have been discounting calendars for weeks, we are at full price and will remain so because we will sell out at full price.

We stopped playing the calendar discoing game years ago and have never looked back. Discounting primarily educated shoppers when to purchase. Once we stopped people soon learnt to buy what they love.

The decision to not discount also adjusted our buying for the better. We are focussed ion brands and categories that people want as well as titles that fit well with other successful product categories in-store.

While we still play at the lower price point end, it is the premium special interest calendars that make up the bulk of our revenue.

Desk calendar refills are one of a dwindling number of counter impulse lines in the stationery category that commercially work in the newsagency channel.

In my own shop, we have had them out in a small space situation at the counter since they became available and have been topping up regularly.

A common comment is I better get this while I can. Customers often tell us they see them in less shops now.

In addition to the counter pitch, we have pitched the refills one social media.

While this is a small win, it is a win and any win is worth taking while we can.

Overall, desk calendar refill sales have been declining for several years, like diary sales and, to a lesser extent, calendars. With digital calendar access on our watches, phones, tablets and computers, the need for the print versions is less. From what I see, sales are not at a point to exit the category yet. However, to warrants watching.

In the US this week I have seen plenty of shops with 2019 calendars on display. Staff tell me they are selling, that people are seeking them out. I have seen them in stationery as well as card and gift shops. The range is usually close to two metres wide and at least a metre high. They have fashion calendars as well as the functional including the family and business planner formats.

One store owner told me that July 1 is their kick-off date for calendars. They said being the start of the last half of the year it made sense that it is the kick-off. When you think of it like that it does.

The challenge in Australia is our retail business overheads are considerably higher. This means we need a faster turn of stock per square metre, thereby meaning we have less capacity for a slow burn for more than six months with calendars.

I have complaints from newsagents about Universal Magazines emailing them with a 1,474 word pitch for the Johnathan Thurston Immortal Queenslander Calendar 2018. The length of the email is the core concern – it is a single blob of text that most in small business retail do not have the time to read.

The calendar offer itself is not competitive, based on what we can get elsewhere.

While the title is unique, is it unique enough and the GP$ sufficient to read 1,474 words and risk your capital on? I suspect not.

The newsagency counter is the best location in the business for easy to read calendars. The calendars are purchased on impulse without hesitation – usually two and more at a time. Check where you have yours placed. If not at the counter, I suggest placement there. Another location where they work is with newspapers so consider that as a second location. And, yes, these calendars have been selling for weeks now.

Through the AFL finals we place a calendar from a winning team with newspapers chasing impulse purchases from followers or those buying gifts for followers. Small tactical moves like this cost a few seconds and can add value to a newspaper purchase.

I was surprised to see a discount retailer charing fifty cents with their $2.00 Bartel calendars. These are envelopes the retailer purchases for twenty cents each with the calendars or less. Fifty cents is a bit rich for a discount variety store that claims to sell for less. 60% GP is excellent for the retailer and unfair for the shopper.

Newsagents have an opportunity to compete in this situation as we are more likely to have a market for the calendar envelopes beyond calendar season.

I think a better approach would be to offer free envelopes in return for purchasing three or more calendars in a purchase. That said, I got out of this low end calendar space when the Reject Shop next door started promoting them.

In my view it is rare that a deep discount or discount variety store offers the level of value they claim.

We have placed the 5 Seconds of Summer 2016 calendar at the front of the display. This Aussie band is a top seller in Australia, the US and the US. This band is hot and we can leverage their success to attract shoppers – and that is what we are doing.

I love calendar season for opportunities like this. Across more than a hundred calendar titles we are able to tap into special interests, like a love for the band 5 Seconds of Summer and through this find new shoppers. It works a treat.

As blossoms tell us winter is coming to an end, in newsagencies the arrival of calendars on the shop floor tell us winter is coming to an end. So it is in the newsagency this week with the first 2016 calendars out and selling.

Right now is our opportunity in the spotlight with the major calendar competition weeks away from engaging.

I have been looking at retail businesses in the US this week and have noticed several with 2016 calendars out on the shop floor. While this feels too early to me, they say it is common with special interest higher-priced calendars like this art range.

We put our calendars out in August and now I am wondering if that is a bit late for some titles such as those imported (like this range) at least.

We have been giving the latest issue of Yours magazine time in the spotlight since it comes with a free 2015 calendar. We have displayed the calendar so that customers can see the value of the free gift.

More Calendar Club outlets are opening as calendar season gets into full swing. While their range commitment is a point of difference, their presence is not currently harming our situation. As I noted last week, calendar sales are up 150% on this time last year.

Browsing the Calendar Club locations is instructive to find products we don’t have already and to discover the product adjacencies they prefer. Time spent browsing can be instructive.

This 2015 Walking Dead desktop calendar is an excellent opportunity of thoughtful buying to drive calendar sales. The new series of the TV show has just launched to extraordinary ratings. Now is the perfect time to pitch this calendar.

Having licenced calendars is a key factor on our 2015 calendar sales being up 150% on last year. There are three simple steps to making excellent money from calendars:

• Buy thoughtfully to your demographic.
• Buy on good terms – margin and payment timing.
• Be opportunisting in your promotion – change placement almost daily.

Calendars are an example of where we can make our own success.