Gifts

We are having terrific success with superhero themed products from plush to figurines to cards to pillows. The male-skewed superheroes such as Superman, Batman and Spiderman are particularly popular for us.

What works especially well is placement in locations to interrupt destination shopping. This drives impulse purchases.

Leveraging popular superheroes has been a terrific way to grow plush and toy sales for us.

Just Kiddin is a small Melbourne based business – offering Australian designed tents that are ideal for the newsagency customer.

Weighing close to only 1kg, these tents can be displayed in almost any situation from the floor to the ceiling. They sell easily. They also support a terrific margin.

We have had them for a year and I’m thrilled with the result.

Across multiple venues and under various names what we all call Melbourne Gift Fair starts today. I’m spending today at the convention centre at the Reed Fair. Tomorrow I’ll be at Home & Giving. Monday will be back at Reed getting back for more time at places of particular interest and Tuesday I’ll be back at Home & Giving spending more time on the stand my software company has.

Every year at least five years now the number of newsagents attending has increased. I expect the trend will continue this year. The best advice I can give a first time attendee is: You are not your customer.

The Melbourne gift fairs are a few days away – hundreds of newsagents will attend.

I know some who are flying in for the full five days. Most will dedicate at least two days.

These fairs in Melbourne and the same in Sydney are the go to events for anyone serious about gift retailing. Even stands of products that are not appropriate for your business can be inspiring from a visual merchandising perspective.I’ve been going for years and have been urging newsagents through this blog to go.

If you’re in Melbourne for the fairs and want to catch up let me know.

I love the new range of Happy Traveller products from TNW. We have them outside our travel section facing into the dance floor so that more shoppers can see them. They’re a good value easy impulse purchase item. They also bring colour and a good vibe to the shop.

While the organisation was poor leading up to the event and there was a glitch with getting visitors in in a timely manner, once inside retailers visiting the Gift HQ gift fair in Brisbane yesterday were treated to a good mix of products. I enjoyed getting to see some products that will be at bigger fairs in a few weeks in advance and ahead of the rush. Smaller fairs are easier to navigate and there is less stress for suppliers.

Gift HQ is running through to Monday afternoon. If you’re in Brisbane it’s a few hours well spent.

I’m at the Winter Gift & Homeware Fair in Christchurch and enjoying looking at gift opportunities from a different perspective. With some  common suppliers between Australia and New Zealand this fair is proving to be a good opportunity for catching up away from the business of Australian trade shows.

We are testing interest in the Monopoly brand with a selection of Monopoly themed gifts as one of several new brand stories for Winter. With Monopoly being a winter rainy day game for many we figured this is a good time of the year to promote this brand.

We have the range displayed adjacent to cards – promoting it as a gift with card opportunity.

In March I wrote about the Gorjus range from Artique and how this range appeals to the Frankie magazine customer. Now, two months on, we have good data of Gorjus shoppers returning for more purchases. carrying this range has helped drive shopper traffic. What’s even more important is that the particular shopper attracted is more valuable than an average newsagency shopper: higher average spend, longer in the shop and they often buy magazines.

Our experience is evidence of gifts driving magazine and other sales as well as gift sales.

Click here to see a digital edition of the latest Giftwrap magazine – it’s packed with plenty of inspiration for those serious about gift retailing. Giftwrap is published by the AGHA – the Australian Gift and Homewares Association.

These mugs have been an even bigger hit for us this week leading up to Mother’s Day. Customers say they are an easy gift.  In fact, yesterday it was like people were lined up to buy them. It helps that they are merchandised in a spinner and that they come with a box – making them an easy gift to wrap.