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marketing

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: the easiest way to boost sales of anything edible

For an immediate boost in sales of any edible item you sell in your newsagency, offer a sample to taste. Chocolate shops do it. Fudge shops do it. Ice cream shops do it.

While I have seen newsagents offer tastings, it is usually for premium or new lines. My marketing tip today is to do this for everyday candy. Test it with a Mars Bar. Cut one up into small pieces and offer a tasting. Executed well, this should lead to impulse purchases.

Work your way through the chocolate bars and, hopefully, help your shoppers reconnect with your candy lines.

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marketing

Front-end loyalty the Father’s Day traffic boost in the newsagency

Last Saturday offered an excellent demonstration of the commercial value of a front-end loyalty program compared to the old-style loyalty program.

It was the Saturday before Father’s Day, the busiest day of the Father’s Day season. Plenty of new faces in the shop, plenty of people we might see once or twice a year.

IMG_2383Most shoppers spent enough to qualify to receive a Discount Voucher on their receipt, offering an amount off their next purchase. Plenty of them looked back in the shop for opportunities to spend the reward. This is a key goal of the vouchers, to get infrequent or one time only shoppers to look back into the business for what else they could purchase.

The vouchers are called a front-end loyalty for an important reason – whereas points-based programs have shoppers work toward a reward, discount vouchers dangle the reward that is achievable with one more purchase.

In any retail business seeing infrequent and one time only shoppers, a loyalty offer like discount vouchers is more valuable than a points based program. And today these infrequent and one time only shoppers are important as our businesses change and the customer mix evolves.

People understand money. With all the different points based programs out there understanding the value of points is far more difficult.

But back to last Saturday, the day before Father’s Day. I had one customer who bought a card use their discount voucher for a subsequent purchase valued at more than $50.00, another customer spent their voucher on a two small collectible plush items saying they would be back for more and yet another customer spent their voucher on several birthday cards because they don’t live locally and wanted the saving.

Talking to customers it was easy to see the importance of putting an amount in front of them, an amount they can spent right away. Chatting with one customer they made the point they were over the loyalty cards – they’re all the same. I agree with that sentiment. Points are no differentiator. Cash is. And the extra traffic from Father’s Day is a perfect opportunity to renew the focus on this still fresh approach to loyalty.

I know of several locals who will be back because of the voucher they received for their Father’s Day purchase. That right there is gold as the voucher is the lure, the very practical lure. If the in-store pitch is right and lure works, you can win valuable long term business.

We have other shoppers in the business who purchase magazines from us instead of Coles 20 metres in front of us because of the vouchers. I like that they help us compete against a giant competitor spending millions advertising their points based loyalty program.

Here is my advice on this approach to loyalty.

  1. Start. yes, stop thinking about it and just start. Get some learnings and adjust your setting as you go.
  2. Make sure your employees know how to pitch the voucher. keep it simple. Face the voucher to the customer. Point to the discount amount.
  3. Where you have price control over what you sell, mark-up with the knowledge of the voucher program. Lift prices slightly. The voucher program can cost you nothing.
  4. Don’t promote vouchers except across the counter. Tell all employees the success of vouchers is on them.

I have been involved in developing, watching and learning about shopper loyalty for 30+ years. While my own software offers loyalty points, FlyBys integration and other program integrations, it is the discount voucher option that more small business retailers love.

Now before anyone says this blog post is as ad for my newsagency software company Tower Systems, it is not. I want newsagents to take a modern and more competitive view of loyalty. I note that Tower is not the only newsagency software with discount vouchers.

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marketing

Promoting the Share in $10,000 competition

WINHELP_TowerreceiptWe are pitching the Pacific Magazines Share is $10,000 campaign on shopper receipts through auto-serving of this coupon on receipt. This  engagement connects the shopper with in-store promotion of the competition. The more we systemise engagement in promotions the better.

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magazines

Because geeks can be dads and dads can be geeks

IMG_2136We have resisted the temptation for a traditional Father’s Day gift range in the newsagency this year. Instead, we have shone a light on existing products and categories in-store that reflect the diversity of father’s we can serve.

Take dads who are gamers, geeks, nerds or similar in terms of cliched labelling. They could get more pleasure out of a Warcraft blind box – such as you can see in the photo – as a gift than a book, a voucher, socks, underwear or a coffee mug.

The kid buying dad a Warcraft blind box is making a thoughtful purchase, demonstrating they know their dad and his passion. Any dad into Warcraft, and there are plenty, would be happy with the blind box as the figurine in the box could sit in their car or on the desk at work as a reminder of the cool kid they have raised for them to know this is a perfect gift.

In this era of fascination with pop culture, it is items like these warcraft blind boxes that are ideal as a pitch for Father’s Day rather than the traditional you find many gift wholesalers pitching.

I think we need less in our newsagencies of the traditional for major seasons like Father’s Day and more of the quirky collectible that respects the passions of the recipient. That is why the kid giving their dad a Warcraft blind box is likely to have done better than a sibling giving the same dad a coffee mug – unless it is a Warcraft coffee mug … all this depends on the dad being a warcraft fan.

We don’t have to understand these things for us to engage as retailers. But we do need to be guided by people who understand them.

Gifts are changing, rapidly. Yu can see this through the rapid change in gift shops around the country. They are closing and opening at a fast rate, as are wholesalers as the supply side goes through consolidation. I think those changes are occurring because businesses have failed to keep up with the most sought after trends, licences that appeal to deep and long term collector interest.

I am following a similar approach with cards too, promoting quirky cards and licenced cards. While I still have cards with yachts and golf images, I’m not featuring these in out of store promotions as they give off a traditional image I don;t ant to be connected with when promoting the business to people who do not currently shop with us.

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Gifts

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: zoom in

IMG_2222Rather than the usual Facebook post about a magazine with a photo of the full cover of the magazine, zoom in and show something more interesting. The photo with this post is part of the cover of the current issue of Australian Gluten Free Life. While the whole cover looks terrific, this image could gain more traction on social media.

The best way to promote magazines online is to do so in a way that reflects well on your business. A photo of a full magazine cover will not differentiate your business. This zoom-in photo of what looks like an Iced VoVo is more interesting and tasty looking.

The more different your social media posts the more interesting for people connecting with you on that platform.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: pitch to what people love

IMG_1941People love their dogs. Pet shop owners will tell you of dog lovers who spend more of their dogs than they do on themselves. Some retailers miss the opportunity of pitching to dog lovers in their gift departments, they miss the opportunity of shopper engagement. Dog lovers engage when they see gifts representing breeds they love.

In buying products for your store, think about your customers, buy for them, buy what they love.

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marketing

What is wrong with the News Corp. Rewardle loyalty offer for newsagents?

News Corp. is asking newsagents to install an iPad on the counter as part of a newspaper loyalty offer connected with the Rewardle loyalty program. Rewardle has also been pitched to newsagents by the ANF (no ALNA).

I have seen the Rewardle terminal in several newsagencies. In each case, the newsagent said yes to the terminal to be installed because it is free.

Here is what I think is wrong with this News Corp. promotion and why it is not good for a newsagency business.

  1. It is not free. This Rewardle loyalty program requires prime space on your counter and your time for engagement.
  2. It is visually noisy. The Rewardle terminal on your counter promoted News Corp. offers, drawing attention from other products at the counter.
  3. It is selfish. The News Corp. Rewardle program is focussed on newspapers. Newspapers are not your business. The best approach to loyalty is a whole of business approach where customers have rewards they can spend elsewhere in your business, hopefully discovering product opportunities they had not considered before.
  4. It is not your future. There is no upside in print newspapers. Right now we are in the end-times for print as a delivery platform for news, news analysis and comment. There is no upside from here. Everything News Corp. is doing is about connecting with and leveraging customers to their digital platforms. Engaging with this Rewardle loyalty offer facilitates this goal of News, it is about their business needs far more than it is about your business needs.
  5. It is not smart. The limited data available to newsagents does not facilitate whole of business decision making.

Regardless of the newsagency software you use, my advice for newsagents is to leverage that for a whole of business loyalty offer. You need to be in control. You need a loyalty offer that serves your needs for your complete business. You need a loyalty offer that nurtures customer engagement for your future beyond a print news product.

The key focus of newsagents right now has to be on business transformation. By transformation I mean attracting new traffic by resetting the business from the shop floor out, pitching new products with a fresh approach to merchandising backed by a customer service experience that is unlike you would have experienced in a newsagency of the past. I don;t see the News Corp. Rewards loyalty program as serving this need.

The News Corp. Rewardle offer is not about transformation. Indeed, I see it as distracting from business transformation.

What I have written here can also apply to other brand or supplier specific loyalty offers as they focus on the brand or supplier ahead of the newsagency business.

Any loyalty pitch in your newsagency needs to be focused on your business, the whole of our business. You need to own the loyalty program so you are able to drive its focus, track the rules and ensure the reward for your customers is exactly what is right for your business.

Just because something looks bright and shiny and is free does not make it good. That may have been the case in a newsagency of the past. It is certainly not true for a newsagency of the future.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: what products not to market your business with

Your marketing message is more likely to gain traction if it is fresh rather than promoting something already well promoted. I see no value in promoting outside the business weekly magazines, lottery games or newspapers, unless there is a unique approach you can take that ill get your marketing noticed for your business.

Large front of store, front window or other marketing of these products is a waste in my view as all you are doing is adding your voice to the many voices already out there.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: pitch to customers as they leave

IMG_1545This sign seen by shoppers as they leave a Warhammer store is as much about promoting the business as it is appreciating the visit. It fits the business and promotes one of the characters available from the business.

Too often we see signs as signs and as not part of the narrative of the business. Warhammer shows how it is done.

Check your signs for their connection with your narrative.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: use a challenge to offer a reward

IMG_1257 (1)The sign I saw at the counter of the coffee shop I was in was simple and to the point.

The message was a challenge and opportunity. If you are not given a receipt, your order is free.

While this is not new marketing, the language they use is more fun than similar signs I have seen.

Dear coffee lover. Look over here. Can you see me? Awesome.

The sign has fun with an important goal for this business – to give a receipt for every transaction. This goal is important where the receipt is used for more than is traditional for a receipt. If the receipt has another marketing message you’d want to get it into the hands of as many as possible – as is the case with this business I visited last week.

I love their approach and that they have turned a business objective into a cool marketing engagement.

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marketing

Promote the Pacific Magazines $150,000 competition on your receipts

towerreciptWUT150Klong-1Newsagents using the Tower newsagency software were provided coupons for auto-serving on customer receipts to help drive shopper engagement with the Pacific Magazines shopper promotion.

Tower worked with Pacific Magazines on the production of coupons and provided advice to 1,750+ newsagent customers on how to include the coupons on receipts.

Receipts provide a free to use marketing platform that can work well away from the business, when a customer is at home and unpacking their purchase.

This is another example of the Tower AdvantageTM.

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marketing

Excitement at being part of a worldwide launch

This Friday a range of limited-edition collectible products will launch in association with San Diego Comic-Con. Connected retailers in Australia, including some newsagents, have purchased, sight unseen, close to $3,000.00 worth of limited-edition product. They have been promoting their participation and this has led to calls, emails and store drop-ins with people prepared to pay in full, in advance, to get something, anything from the ‘blind-box, that is available from Friday.

I expect most of the $6,000+ worth of stock, at retail value, will be gone in days. I also expect that by participating we will have attracted some new shoppers who might otherwise not have considered our business.

th whole thing doesn’t feel like traditional newsagency business activity – being part of a worldwide launch, connecting with a demographic not usual for a newsagency, people paying in advance for products they don’t even know about and being part of a community abuzz with excitement.

The whole experience has been enlightening. It gives me excitement for the next opportunity and the one after that. While it is hard work to learn the men processes and deal with such non-traditional activity, it is exciting as it shifts the business forward and that is vital in today’s world.

It is opportunities like this that make me excited for the future of the newsagency business.

And, yes, there isa connection between the shoppers this launch attracts and core product categories we have in the business. We make sure of that.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: leverage adorable images

Screen Shot 2016-07-15 at 10.34.15 AMSocial media is a perfect place for connecting your newsagency business with adorable images people are certain to love. Take the dog and cat images in this post I did on Facebook a couple of days ago – they are images from greeting cards. In taking the photos I focussed on the face of each animal rather than the whole card. I figured this would gain more traction.

Sharing images that evoke a positive emotion is important in social media engagement. It is good marketing activity for the business, far more valuable than promoting products available elsewhere such as weekly magazines, newspapers or lottery products.

The more you use social media in a way that pitches you and your business as unique the better.

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marketing

What is Pokemon GO and why does it matter to your newsagency?

IMG_1117Pokémon GO launched Wednesday last week in Australia. It is a game played on your phone or tablet that integrates with the real-world in a ground-breaking way. Pokémon GO uses your phone’s GPS and camera to turn the real world into a hunting ground for Pokemon characters. It also transforms local landmarks (yes, here in Australia) and businesses into locations players can physically visit to stock up on free accessories and items.

Click here for a bit of history. Click here for a story in the SMH on the Australian perspective.

There is a business connection with this phenomenon. Forbes published an interesting article from a business perspective.

newsXpress, the newsagency marketing group of which I am a director, has confidentially shared comprehensive information with newsXpress members on what Pokémon GO is how to embrace Pokémon GO and leverage the opportunity for their businesses. newsXpress also shared details with its members on five suppliers with products for the Pokémon GO fan plus specific revenue strategies. Note – these are suppliers who do not usually supply newsagents.

newsXpress has detailed other products ideal for Pokémon GO players. Plus, it has shared traffic driving strategies that can be used to attract Pokémon GO players and through this drive engagement with the business.

The early adoption and embrace of Pokémon GO is another example of the newsXpress difference. newsXpress is the first newsagency marketing group to embrace Pokémon GO.
 
This is what we have to do in our channel: be early adopters of trends. For some, this means stocking products while for others it means connecting on social media while for others it is about full immersion and playing the game.

This initiative on Pokémon GO is a good example of what newsagency marketing groups need to do for newsagents – to be out there researching new ideas, developing commercial strategies, training newsagents and encouraging their employees to entrance the opportunities of change.

Yes, I have Pokémon GO on my phone and I’m giving it a crack.

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marketing

Using video on Facebook to promote the newsagency

Video is an effective tool for promoting the newsagency in-store, in the window, on Facebook and other social media platforms as it allows you to bring to life the business in a way that challenges traditional views about that the business and what it stands form.

Here is one of four new marketing videos produced by newsagency marketing group newsXpress in the last month to launch new products. This video is one of two launching the Teeny Tys range where newsXpress stores represent 25% of all outlets nationally.

This and other videos are provided in two forms: a YouTube link and an MP4 file. The MP4 file can be loaded to Facebook for autoplay while the YouTube link is good for websites and other places where you prefer integration.

The videos are professionally produced, exclusively by the newsXpress marketing team for the group. This gives the group control over the intellectual property and enables it to speak with its own voice rather than relying on supplier created content.

Here is another video produced to launch new Britto Disney product.

The videos are deliberately short to fit with social media user expectations. They are also non newsagency like – this is vital.

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marketing

Sunday newsagency marketing tip: kittens love to play with wool

FullSizeRender 10Bringing a retail display alive, really alive, attracts shoppers and drives sales. This display created by one of the team at my newsagency is perfect, or should I say purrfect, as it shows the kittens getting up to mischief everyone who has had a kitten understands.

The display is fun, engaging and alive and this is key to successful retail theatre – a display looking alive, the products looking like more than a product with a barcode on the shelf.

I was talking with a shopper in the store on the weekend about the display and they had a story to tell about a kitten they had as a child. This 80 something gentleman is not your usual plush customer. The display and the memories it jogged led to him purchasing a kitten for a great grandchild. He came into the shop for a birthday card into which he was going to put $20 as the gift. Instead, he spent $29.99 with us.

This type of conversion, turning a browser into a purchaser, disrupting a shoppers plan to purchase something unexpected, is vital to all retail businesses today but more vital than ever in newsagencies.

Take a look at your shop and how you display products you could otherwise bring alive to have people see them differently. Next, get your best VM person in-house to create something engaging. Finally, engage with shoppers on the shop floor yourself to learn from what they see, their stories can be inspiring.

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marketing

Leverage Tour de France interest

Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 1.51.08 PMCycling Central, the SBS cycling Twitter account, promoted newsagents in this tweet Thursday this week about the Tour de France official program, reaching 42,500 followers. Their tweet was re-tweeted and favourited, helping it to reach more people. Social media mentions lick this about our channel are important in reminding special interest shoppers of the service we provide.

This Tour de France program guide is something we all ought to have in at least two high-traffic locations in-store to make the most of the opportunity. My suggested locations are: with newspapers and at the counter, in addition to placement with cycling magazines.

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magazines

Hosting another collectible event in Melbourne today

Screen Shot 2016-06-29 at 5.49.30 AMAt my newsXpress Knox store this afternoon we are hosting a collectible bear event featuring hand made collectible bears and dragons priced from $100 through to $1,000. We have been promoting the event in-store, by email and on social media.

Events like this, that pitch the business as not being a traditional newsagency, are important as they help us find new shoppers. This is mission critical for any newsagency.

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marketing

Marketing tips for election day

On my POS software company blog I posted these marketing tips for election day – suggesting easy ways small business retailers could make the most of the opportunity of the extra traffic out and about. I hope the ideas are useful to newsagents.

In writing the post I have sought to show ways we can be non-traditional so our businesses are enjoyed more and in order to provide a more memorable shopping experience.

We can’t rely on the usual for our businesses, we can;t rely on the usual shoppers. We have to find new shoppers and one of the best opportunities is when more people are out in the streets – like on election day.

Election day in Australia is a terrific opportunity for small business retailers with a spike in the number of people who are out and about. Smart retailers will embrace this opportunity as well as the opportunity of people standing in line waiting to vote and on their phone.

Here are some tips to get you thinking about marketing opportunities for any small retail business this weekend on election day:

  1. Set the front of the shop so it looks completely different – make the most of the extra people out and about. You want people seeing the shop for the first time ages to be surprised at the changes.
  2. Have a party. Plenty of music, activities, drinks and food. Make the day a celebration – to celebrate the end of the dreary campaign.
  3. Have an election sale – but make it fun. Do better than a straight sale. For example, in good Asssie tradition call it keeping the bastards honest sale.
  4. Setup sale tables in the name of local candidates.
  5. Give a discount to any customer who tells you and everyone in the shop a joke about politicians.
  6. Have a game of pin the tail on the politician in the shop.
  7. Declare the shop an election free zone. Maybe have a fine jar for anyone talking about the election on the day – raise money for a local charity.
  8. Promote your business online all Saturday with a series of social media posts so those out and about in lines waiting can see you are engaged.

All these ideas are about having fun on the day and offering a different shopping experience to usual. We hope they get yo8u thinking of what you could do, thinking of ideas of your own.

Here at Tower Systems we are not your usual POS software company. We are engaged with our customers deeply on a range of fronts to help them enjoy their businesses more and to get more from their businesses every day. In addition to excellent POS software for specialty retail businesses, we provide business management advice and support – way beyond the POS software itself.

Whatever you do this election day, have fun.

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marketing
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