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newsagency marketing

Homewares are a good fit in the ‘newsagency’

Homewares are proving to be a good fit in the transforming newsagency, from small single items to large sets to furniture. Given that we are known for homewares related magazines, taking the extra step with products is a natural move.

The challenge is in sourcing products with K-Mart and others dominating the ‘value’ proposition, differentiation is essential – to make comparison harder.

I know of several newsagencies where more than 50% of their floorspace is now homewares. With GP at 50% and above for most sales, it is a valuable category, one worth investing in.

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Newsagency management

Updated Facebook tutorial

Here is a new video I created last week for newsXpress marketing group members on using Facebook to reach new shoppers. It reflects changes to some practicalities in how Facebook works. I hope some find it useful.

Video training is helpful in that it can be reviewed when you want, easily shared and played at a time to suit.

Facebook is another small step marketing opportunity for indie retailers.

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newsagency marketing

Black Friday

What started as a US retail event associated with Thanksgiving is now a worldwide phenomenon in retail, in-store and online. Shoppers expect it.

One of my stores has received plenty of queries from shoppers about what they can expect in Black Friday deals. This at a store that has never engaged with it before.

If you are in a major shopping centre, I think engaging with Black Friday is essential. If you are online, likewise. Heck, this is now a retail event for all retailers.

We are using it as we do for Boxing Day sales, an opportunity to quit stock and free space. Bargain hunters will love it. we love the opportunity of clearance.

I get that it is not an Aussie season. However, the anticipation around Black Friday is so great in Australia that we need to engage, or be ignored.

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marketing

Christmas version 4 in the newsagency

We are now at the fourth version of Christmas on the lease line of the Westfield mall based newsagency and from now, the changes will be weekly as the season moves up several gears.

The tree I posted about a 10 days ago lead to the sell our of all the homewares ornaments we stocked.

Christmas 2019 is going well for us with cards, gifts and ornaments performing ahead of goal.

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Newsagency management

Fun sells for Christmas 2019

We have been featuring fun Christmas items at the front of the store in recent weeks and it has worked a treat, connecting with younger shoppers who look for less traditional Christmas related cards and gifts. They also work well with work colleague gifts where Christmas tradition is less formal.

There are many forms of Christmas celebration and having options that serve a variety is key to making the most of then traffic boost the season brings.

While we pitch traditional in our Christmas offers in-store, it is the fun and the non traditional that are working well early in Christmas 2019, and we are grateful for that.

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marketing

Video key to social media engagement for small business retailers

Videos rule on social media right now thanks to better facilities on Instagram and Facebook and exponential growth in platforms such as TicToc – even though this is not yet really being leveraged for business.

The best videos are those that are funny. Successful, too, are videos that do not overtly sell. In fact, selling should be the last goal you have – even though it is the business measure of success.

Create what people enjoy and love and selling will happen as a result.

I shoot videos on my iPhone and use different platforms and Apps for editing, depending on what I want to achieve. I don’t overthink them as all social media content is disposable – consumed quickly and moved on from, shared if you are lucky, to reach more people.

Here is a video I shot recently at one of my stores. I then used iView on my Mac to wash the video for a particular visual tint I felt was effective. I also used iMovie to remove the original sound recorded with the video. I then used a premium service, Promo, to add text and then lay an appropriate licence-free music track underneath to create what you can see and hear.

newsXpress Knox City – Christmas.

This video shows a decorated tree we have in-store. It is part of our entry into Christmas 2019, located on the lease line.

I made the video to demonstrate a different look for Christmas compared to what shoppers might expect from a newsagency. For my stores I am keen to embrace opportunities to pitch in ways that are not traditional for newsagency shingle businesses.

On Saturday while at the shop I shot videos for five topics / product categories. For three of these I shot two videos – to give be options for how I could use them. I mention this as some videos work well as a square frame while others work better in a landscape frame.

I appreciate all this feels like hard work. The thing is, it can be successful work. A video I shot a week ago and used during the week reached thousands of people and directly generated more than $1,000 in online revenue. All from a time investment of less than 15 minutes.

Okay, not all videos deliver this payback. indeed, not even a quarter. However, when it does happen it propels you to do more and do better.

If you are not using videos on social media I encourage you to experiment with the medium.

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marketing

Tips on handling Christmas early in retail

When should you put out Christmas? As soon as you get it is our view. You can’t sell stock that is not out. So, get it out and in front of people.

Build toward Christmas.Change your displays as you go, as more stock arrives.

To manage shop floor room, offer and early sale. Consider an earlybird sale. However, if you do this, run it for a limited time. Call it an earlybird sale. Promote it on Facebook.

What sells early? Boxed cards, absolutely. These are followed by a mixture of items, depending on what shoppers in your area look for.

When should you dress the shop for Christmas?  We suggest December or late November. Dressing the shop is different to when you start selling items for Christmas.

When should you start to play Christmas music? We suggest two weeks before. The music is what seems to annoy people the most.

EARLY CHRISTMAS LAUNCH IDEAS.

Christmas cheer preview night. Put on some drinks and finger food and let people come in for a closed-door event where you show off Christmas items and make money.  This should be done early – before other retailers.

Christmas card writing party. Boxed card deals. Setup tables. People buy cards, write them, drink and have a laugh.

Maker Christmas fun. This is harder work. Have an event showing people how to make Christmas decorations. Have deals in-store at the time. For this to work you must know what you plan to make and have the resources ready.

Christmas storytelling. This is more of a community event. You sponsor it. People come in and tell their most enjoyable Christmas story, in a group setting. Heart-warming. Fun. Local. Not too commercial but it could gently help drive sales.

DEALING WITH PUSH BACK.

Anyone complaining about putting Christmas out early can be a challenge. Be sure what you want to respond with. Train all who work in the business. You could say: people asked for it.  Or, we can’t ban Christmas. Or, Bah humbug. Or, people have been asking.

Attached to this advice is a flyer created by our Southland team showing the context they used for going out early with boxed cards.

Getting out early with Christmas matters as it establishes in the mind of regulars that you have product, which hopefully they remember when they are ready to purchase.

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Newsagency management

The Stat stationery range from GNS is a terrific opportunity for newsagents

The recently launched Stat house brand of stationery from GNS is a terrific opportunity for newsagents to grow stationery sales.

I say that having looked at a range of the Stat products, listened to how the brand came about and the quality guidelines set for the products in the range and after looking at similar house brands offered by key competitors of newsagents in the stationery space.

From the bold and well-defined packaging through to the each product in the range Stat is an excellent opportunity for newsagents who want to compete in a competitive stationery marketplace.

What I particularly like is the education offered to newsagents, to understand that Stat is not about replacing current known brand stationery. rather, it is a brand through which to broaden the appeal of the newsagency as an outlet for a value stationery offer.

I am grateful to the CEO and GM of GNS for the time they have provided recently to facilitate understanding of the work done to bring Stat to the market and the opportunity this affords newsagents.

If you are encountering tough competition at the value end of stationery, I suggest you look carefully at Stat and consider ranging it with all Stat products placed together in-store for a visually impactful display and supporting this with an out of store campaign to position you to the target shopper.

Our channel used to dominate stationery sales in Australia. Stat offers an opportunity to reclaim some lost ground.

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newsagency marketing

Father’s Day front of store

We have been rotating product categories through with our Father’s Day card pitch. Our most recent category focus with two of our four bays of Father’s Day cards is jigsaws. What you can see in the photo is on the lease line – with two cards of cards behind.

This particular shop is located in the busiest entrance / exit arm of the shopping centre, making lease line placement critical.

If we don’t see measurable take up in two or three days of a pitch, we replace it.

The jigsaw category is strong net traffic driver for us, hence this placement with Father’s Day cards.

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newsagency marketing

Retail turnaround tips for newsagents experiencing flat sales – small business retail advice

In May 2010, I posted Retail turnaround tips for newsagents experiencing flat sales. This was a post in response to reported flat retail sales.

We are at that place today. retail sales are flat. There is plenty of bad news being reported.

Here is an updated version of that 2010 post…

If your retail sales are flat and you are doing the same things today that you have been doing for the last year it is not good enough.

Business will not come to you. You have to go out and find it – often through a series of small steps as opposed to a big bold move. You have to obsess about presenting a compelling offer to everyone walking through your door.

Price is not a point of difference.  Shoppers expect us to be expensive. That has been shown in plenty of consumer surveys. Railing against this is a challenge. We can do this for some categories and at seasons but not across the board.

Being unique differentiates. The mix requirements of our shingle make that a challenge.

Here are some tips for retailer newsagents on responding to flat sales:

  • Refresh your head. Work out what you want for your business and those who rely on it. Make a plan. Live the plan. Success is in your hands.
  • Lock the office door. Only rarely do you make retail sales from the office. The shop floor is where the action is. Play there.
  • Refresh what you sell.
  • Refresh the counter. Many newsagency counters look the same, boring, what you see in other stores. Create something different and fresh. Take everything off and rebuild the counter with the purpose of selling product on impulse. Make strategic choices. Your counter should NOT look like a newsagency counter.
  • Refresh the window. Tell a story. have fun. Cause people to stop and look.
  • Refresh the shop. Change change and change. Move departments and categories. Make the shop feel fresh to regular customers and to your team. Make strategic choices about what products go where. Use dump bins for specials. Place impulse products next to high traffic products. Once you have undertaken the big moves, create a plan for continual change each week. Change shows that the business is a, living and breathing thing. It can make the shop appealing to new visitors. Newsagents who don’ change their business reinforce that the model is a retail dinosaur.
  • Refresh the team. Let your team know than business is tough. Ask for their ideas. Take some time out of the business to relax over a meal or drink or some other social activity (mini golf, go kart racing, fishing, bushwalking) and share an adventure outside the business. Sometimes getting away like this can get creative juices flowing about changes which can be made back at the business.
  • Ask suppliers for help. If your business is slow it is likely that your suppliers are finding it slow too. Ask them for some good value deals – not the stock they can’t sell but the stock they have plenty of and which sells well.
  • Lure customers back. Look at the top selling items in your businesses. Create a strategy for getting these customers back. Create a small flyer offering a discount on something if they come back in, say, a couple of days. Do this leveraging your top traffic products.
  • Create events. Give people more reasons to visit your shop other than to specifically buy something.
  • Use social media properly. be your platform for marketing.
  • Connect with the community. Go to community clubs and offer a discount to members and a rebate back to the club for business their marketing efforts on your behalf deliver. This is easy to setup and manage. The more people you have in the community saying to their friends that they should shop with you the better.
  • Ode to you. Run a competiton to find the best poem which reflects why your business is important to the local community. Get the finalists in to read them live and get your customers to vote. Maybe the local newspaper will run the winner?
  • Crazy ideas. Think outside the norm. Nude day has been done so has the underpants idea where customers get a discount for shopping only wearing underwear.

Stop talking about it. Yes, retail is tough. Talking about will not improve your situation. Doing something is better than talk.

Change is oxygen to any retail business regardless of its current sales health. Doing nothing in tough times will make the tough times tougher for you.

Personally, I am optimistic about the future for newsagents … that is from 2010. It is true today.

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Newsagency management

Stranger Things licence as strong as Harry Potter

There as many online searches in Australia this year for Stranger Things as there are for Harry Potter. Both are sitting at around 120,000 searches according to the SEMRush keyword search analysis tool. Stranger Things is leading licence related searches, beating often considered stellar brands such as Lego, Barbie and Toy Story.

This is interesting me today because most newsagents would not have Stranger Things products in-store, missing the opportunity of the licence traffic and the new traffic for a business from which the business can benefit into other product categories.

In my own shops we have been in the Stranger Things space since the Netflix TV series launched. It has been good for us and continues to perform well.

This space of licences, especially TV series licences in this world of streaming, can be challenging. It is critical to connect with people who are aware and can guide ranging decisions.

If you are concerned about attracting millennials and Gen Z, being on top of licences wold be a good start.

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marketing

Free shop local video

I make videos for Tower Systems and newsXpress for social media and other marketing. For some I use original video and still image content while for others I use premium stock videos. Through Tower we also offer unbranded visited for any retailer to use to provide brief entertainment fun content for use on social media. Here is a new one from last week. It’s designed to be simple, fun something people will watch to the end. I find short fun videos work well, and by well I mean customers comment in-store and, yes, new customers can be attracted.

Click here to download.

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marketing

Retail management advice: reduce visual noise

Visual noise can block sales in retail, especially in a shop with products that themselves are colourful, like a business with cards and magazines.

Suppliers add to the visual noise challenge with suggestions (demands from some) for displays focussed on their products.

Your visual noise strategy for your business needs to serve your business.

Less is more, usually. Less noise means that the messages you do have are more likely to be noticed.

Stand outside your retail business and count how many different messages you pitch from the front of the shop through to the counter. Look at how organised they are, what they demand of the customer, what they pitch, the ease of understanding them.

Make a list.

Start cutting.

You have a few seconds to get attention. the more focussed you messages the more likely they will be understood and acted on.

What does all this actually mean? Less posters. Less signs. Less feature displays. Less visual noise. So what you want noticed is more likely to be noticed.

Finally, an oldie but a goodie: show, don’t tell.

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Management tip

Newsagency marketing tip: discount vouchers drive revenue and return visits

More than six years in and the discount voucher loyalty program continues to be the best loyalty offering for newsagents. Sales reports show the value of the vouchers at marketing local newsagency businesses to locals as well as to one time only shoppers.

I mention discount vouchers today a reminder to newsagents that in thier newsagency software they have an awesome and proven tool for showing local shopper appreciation and driving local business engagement all at once.

Here are some data points based on an assessment of discount voucher engagement across a cross-section of newsagency businesses:

  • 19.5% of all vouchers handed out are redeemed.
  • 33% are redeemed the day of handing out.
  • 33% are redeemed within a week.
  • 33% are redeemed within 28 days.
  • 18% of voucher redemption is for items priced at $25+ with a GP of 50%+.
  • Magazines benefit the most from voucher use with magazines in 15% of baskets for which a voucher is handed out and magazines in 43% of baskets in which a voucher is redeemed.
  • In every business instance assessed, the discount voucher loyalty program delivered a net revenue benefit to the business equal to around sx times the cost of the voucher value redeemed.

This is a business growth opportunity that is easy to setup and run, that genuinely differentiates your business and that provides you with a net financial benefit.

Here is an example of how it works…

I had a shopper who purchased a bag and a bow and received a voucher for $1.00. They used that to purchase two cards and with that they received another $1 voucher. They used that to purchase a  $20.00 item for a future birthday.

The business gave away $2.00 for an additional $33.00 in revenue to a customer who is not local and will not be back in the centre any time soon. The additional GP earned was $18.45. I am happy for this to cost $2.00 as banking $16.45 is better than banking nothing.

It is common for one time only or infrequent shoppers to end up with three transactions in a visit because of the vouchers.

Things are moving faster. Shoppers want more and sooner. Social media has educated people to seek instant gratification. Discount vouchers provide this.

Bottom line: this is something you can do for your business and your customers.

It can differentiate your business.

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Management tip

Advice on how you could grow crossword sales in your newsagency

Crossword sales are strong in Australia. The segment is performing well, delivering year on year growth for many newsagency businesses. It is the magazine segment that offers the best opportunity for growth based on my experience in-store and broader channel data analysis.

The crossword category is the easiest category in which to grow sales. Here are some ideas with which you can engage to achieve this.

  1. Move the entire crossword segment next to weeklies. Every time I have seen this done there is a measurable sales jump.
  2. Place crossword titles with their parent brand: Better Homes and Gardens and Australian Women’s Weekly, for example. This could be done as co-location – in addition to regular placement.
  3. Call out a crossword title as a staff member fave and note why with a small sign in front. This type of personal recommendation works well in book retailing.
  4. In front of Take 5 and That’s Life, place a plastic or acrylic pocket with A5 titles from the same brand as both titles are bought by the same shopper.
  5. Pitch a crossword or two at the counter.
  6. Pitch crosswords with jigsaws – they are often the same shopper.
  7. Consider a crossword themed front window.
  8. Consider a crossword lovers event. It could be a simple afternoon team with the idea of them meeting each other and sharing stories. Your focus could be to thank them for their love of crosswords.
  9. Trial placing your most popular two crosswords next to daily newspapers. Count how many you place so that you can measure the success.
  10. Run a loyalty program for magazines. Crossword shoppers will appreciate this and drive more whole of business shopping as a result.
  11. If you have a table where shoppers can sit for a while, consider opening a crossword and placing some pens nearby so people can engage.
  12. Shine a light on your range on social media – let locals know that your business is the local destination from crosswords.

Why do this given that you only make 25% from crossword titles? Because crossword shoppers are loyal. The better you serve them and the more you appreciate them the more return business you will achieve.

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crosswords

Mother’s Day day is here

As is often the case with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, the real success of the day for many retailers is the Saturday before. Today is that day.

Good luck everyone. I hope the day is a terrific success for the business.

Today, as through the season, we have gifts and cards in several locations, to connect with the different destination shoppers we serve.

We have very little in the way of Mother’s Day specific gifts. In fact, that’s been our approach for years. We think mums are tired of cupboards of Best Mum Ever mugs.

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newsagency marketing

Warm socks a hit for Mother’s Day

We are having terrific success with these unique warm fleecy socks for Mother’s Day. They’re sourced out of Canada.

They sell easily once you get shoppers to put their hand deep into a sock, to feel the soft comfort and enjoy the warmth.

This tactile approach to the product pitch, even at the counter where they are easily purchased on impulse by people looking for a different quality Mother’s Day product.

The beauty of the pitch is having cards available and a bag to make the whole Mother’s day purchase occasion handles in a minute or so. Plenty gf guys love that we make it easy for them.

Mother’s Day can be competitive in families. Mums can only use so many World’s best Mum mugs. We have found staying away from that cliche product to be beneficial.

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newsagency marketing
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