We have been selling these boxed glasses for a few years and wondered if it was time to rest them but not knowing when to rest a good thing here we are with them for Mother’s Day 2014. Sales have not slowed – showing that you can’t always predict when the run of a good range has come to an end.
In the US recently I saw gift shops with large displays of these glasses so maybe that’s what’s next – expanding the range to an all year offer.
Years ago Sea Monkeys were huge then they went off the boil but they came back and then faded. We are finding them back in favour thanks to this new take we found through a supplier. While there is always interest in the next big thing in toys especially, I often see older products, like these Sea Monkey related Aqua Dragons selling very well. There is the nostalgia based sale as well as the sale to the kid discovering them for the first time.
In a mass merchant the only way these products would be noticed would be with a massive sale or through a catalogue offer. Since newsagents sell close to 35% of all greeting cards in Australia including plenty for kids parties, products like these ought to be a staple for us to sell with the cards and a bag or a roll of wrap.
I got back to Australia yesterday after a busy few days this week at the Hong Kong Gift Fair. With more than 4,000 exhibitors and 100,000+ attendees, this was a busy fair. There were plenty of newsagent suppliers there as well as some newsagents.
The fair is an excellent opportunity to spot trends. For example, whereas three years ago when many of us were stocking our first interactive products, the Fair that year had little interactive product. This year, many companies had interactive products – showing to me that what was unique then is now everyday.
I saw plenty of innovative products and got to talk with suppliers of some products that a few years ago newsagents would not have stocked.
What is clear is that gifts as a category is broader now than ever before. This is both exciting and challenging. Exciting because we have plenty of places in which to play and challenging because we are really only just starting out in this product category.
While I appreciate that getting to the Hong Kong Gift Fair is difficult for many newsagents, it is worth it in terms of the inspiration, advice and opportunities you encounter.
I love these quality handbags that look as if they are made from recycled magazines. Very clever. Very eye catching. Priced at around A$10.00. The photo shows just two of a large range I have seen this week.
While I am sure there are intellectual property issues, I could see a range of the right titles selling well in newsagencies in Australia. But I suspect we won’t see it because of the IP challenges.
Check out the impressive front window Loom Bands display in a Cosmetics Plus store in Brisbane this week.
Newsagents offering Loom Bands should compare their display with the display as shown in the photo. How do you compere? If this was a shop next to yours, how would you pitch Loom Bands differently? This display puts my approach until now to shame.
To successfully compete we need to have the best pitch.
Even without what should be terrific sales today Easter 2014 has been an excellent season for us. Cards, gifts and chocolate are all performing well for us in terms of sales and in terms of detracting new shoppers to the business. We are thrilled with the results we are seeing.
For years Easter in many Australian newsagencies was a minor season. Now, for plenty of us, it equals and even passes Valentine’s Day. The key is a fresh offer promoted in a compelling way.
Seasons are vitally important as seasonal shoppers spend more in a visit than a regular shopper. We make our businesses appealing to seasonal shoppers through our displays and out of store marketing. What we get from these seasons is up to us.
We will not discount until tomorrow. No need.
The workshops I have been lucky to be part of here in the US this week underscore the importance of keeping the retail offer fresh. This does not mean keeping displays tidy, no, it means creating fresh displays through a season pitching new opportunities.
In all major seasons here retailers in channels similar to newsagency businesses are encouraged to change their offer every couple of weeks in a reasonably major way.
In my experience this is rare in Australia. So imagine how thrilled I was to receive a photo showing a significantly refreshed easter offer in one of my stores. Regulars or semi regulars will see this as fresh and that will help drive sales.
The sand we ordered a while back has been on the shop floor this week and selling very well. I never thought I’d have customers buying a 5kg pack of sand. It’s terrific.
We have the sand in a floor display unit on the lease line – in our kids area. Notice the sand they can play with!
I am thrilled that sand is attracting new shoppers to the newsagency. Some of these shoppers then browse the store and purchase other items.
I’d suggest newsagents get into it but suppliers are out of stock as early adopters spend above expectation.
The Herald Sun earlier this week had a story on a school banning kids wearing the Loom Bands. This story has kicked along interest as it reinforces interest in the popular jewellery items. The million dollar question remains – when will this round of the craze end? While I don’t know, I am being careful to not carry too much stock exposure.
Check out one of the different Easter Eggs I saw yesterday at a Marks & Spencer store. This ‘egg’ is targeted at a younger person, broadening the appeal of the season opportunity in UK retailer Marks & Spencer. Very clever.
Easter is under-done by some newsagents. It can be a growth season. Cards, gifts, chocolate, plush – it’s a season to push as anyone of any age can be your customer or someone being purchased for by our customer.
The idea of playing outside stereotypical product, as is being done with these headphone eggs, really appeals to me.
This Gorjuss range from Artique appeals to the younger frankie magazine reader. We’re using it to attract possible frankie customers and to be purchased by a destination frankie shopper.
Gorjuss is out of the UK. It has achieved extraordinary commercial success. The keys for the brand to work in a newsagency are to have a broad range of products and that they are displayed to leverage the brand. The floor display unit from Artique helps us do this.
I am mentioning Gorjuss today as an example of how gifts and magazines can speak to the same shopper and support each other. That’s our goal for this new brand to our newsagency.
A single pocket of Angel Flames candles at the counter can add valuable margin dollars to a purchase. We have done this many times over many years and each time we bring out the Angel Flames we get a terrific result. The pack is small, you could find room in any counter situation. The purchase opportunities are many. While the most obvious is a purchase with a greeting card or a gift, we have newspaper and magazine customers buying a pack or two on impulse.
Where we place product matters as much as keeping the offer fresh. This is why we don’t keep the candles at the counter all the time.
Check with your usual party goods supplier for these or similar products. Placed in the right spot, they can be tremendously valuable for your business. Customers will be thrilled – that’s a reaction I often see.
We have been lucky to have stock of Loom Bands while all other retailers in the centre sold out. We leveraged the opportunity by promoting at the entrance to the newsagency. This brought in plenty of shoppers yesterday and today and now we’re sold out – but only until early next week. Next week we plan to go bigger and bolder on Loom Bands. This is a short-term opportunity to leverage while it’s hot.
If you sell to (or want to sell to) kids and those who buy for kids, you need to have Loom bands and understand what they, how they are used and the add-on sale opportunities. Click here for a news report that captures the interest.
Daiso is a Japanese gift store. Some would label it a discount store but it’s not – yes, the items are cheap but the price reflects the quality and the impulse-purchase type shopper they attract. What’s interesting about the model is the opening hours. One store I saw a couple of days ago is open to 9pm Monday to Thursday and to 10pm Friday and Saturday. Their Melbourne CBD store is open to 9pm Monday through Saturday.
Seeing these extended hours for Daiso is a reminder that trading hours is an important point of difference. There was a time when newsagencies were open almost the longest hours of any retailer. That’s not true with more newsagency businesses trading as retail only.
In a world where people are always shopping and where the traditional work day is a thing of the past, considering trading hours is something we will have to face.
We are leveraging the launch of the Disney Cakes & Sweets partworks with placement with Disney products from four or five other suppliers ofDisney Liucenced products including plush, homewares, cards, wrap and gifts lines.
The advertised partwork launch brings the traffic and the other items are the icing and cherry on the cake.
In addition to offering excellent buying opportunities and connecting with new suppliers, the Sydney Gift fair also gave newsagents and other retailers a chance to see visual merchandising opportunities from a brand / supplier perspective.
Take the Top Model range from The Aird Group, I appreciated seeing the brand on show as you can see in the photo – how they grouped products, the branding and products we don;t carry today. This display helped Top Model stockists to better connect with the brand.
Top Model is an important brand for us as it it an opportunity for us connecting with one group of customers who might otherwise shop at a Smiggle or similar store.
I was at the Home & Giving Fair in Sydney yesterday, one of three excellent trade shows for retailers in the gift and homewares space. There was plenty of excellent product for the traditional newsagency shopper as well as excellent product to use to attract new traffic. The mix of retailers at the fair indicates how blurred the lines between retail niches has become: jewellers, card shops, gift shops, homewares shops, jewellers, garden centres, department stores, convenience stores and newsagents. Everyone is looking for products for their business as it is defined today. Some were looking for products through which they can diversify. That’s what I was looking for. The Home and Giving Fair is usually seen as the poor cousin to the Reed Gift Fair. I was certainly impressed with opportunities I saw yesterday.
We have placed a line of Valentine’s Day themed plush in with our car magazines to pitch the season to guys who are blind to the season to the last minute. By the time guys get to our car magazines they will have passed three displays of these cute things. We’re chasing a sales record of a single plush item and we’re hoping our car magazine shoppers will help us achieve that. Retail can be fun.
Coles is running with some interactive plush for Valentine’s Day. The bear in the photo is pretty cool. A few seconds after clicking the on button, the words, BE MINE, appear and spin around. It’s $15 – good value at this price. I was pleased to see their Valentine’s Day cards more than 100 metres away from their Valentine’s Day plush.
I met plenty of newsagents at the Reed Melbourne Gift Fair which started on the weekend. I bet by the time the fair is over several hundred newsagents will have been through. While not the biggest gift fair of the year, this event is well worth visiting.
The representation of homewares, jewellery, toys, baby items and even outdoor items was excellent. Well worth seeing.
My POS software company has a stand at this fair and the first two days have been very busy talking with gift shop owners, newsagents, jewellers and fashion business owners. Indeed, the mix of retailers is broad. It’s mixing with such a diverse crowd that I found valuable when I was looking at the fair as a newsagent.
The timing of the fair is excellent with retailers cashed up from Christmas. That was obvious from the spending I could see.
We setup this wall on Saturday to promote more of the inspirational / positive / happy / good feeling products we have in-store.
This range of signs, part of a broader range of inspirational products we have deliberately sourced, had been placed with gifts on the shop floor and they were getting missed, lost in the colour of other products.
Putting the inspirational signs on the wall with black A2 card as backing helps them stand out and be noticed – and that is key for a products like this where the words and design do the selling as they touch the heart of the shopper.
Our placement with the black backing also helps draw people deeper into the shop as the black backing makes this wall stand out if people glance around the business.
We have a deep discount store a few doors away from us with products similar to these – not exactly the same and certainly not of the same quality – but they are chasing the same customer. It is a thoughtful display like this that separates us from the deep discount competitor. While we will not attract someone only buying on price, we will drive impulse purchases from people shopping from their heart.
Products like this, products purchased to express a feeling or emotion for personal use or for giving as a gift are vitally important in newsagencies. Greeting card customers especially will purchase them.
Click on the image for a larger version.
