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Opportunistic retail

Pitching local through what we sell

There are many ways to pitch local in retail: buying from local suppliers, supporting local community groups, speaking to your localness. These are all good ways. certainly, show, don’t tell is a good approach to pitch local. I think people are tired of the lazy social media post from a local retailer asking people to shop local. We need to show reasons.

One way we are doing this in my shops is with locally personalised signs designed to inspire dreams of travel destinations. Here’s the sign i9n the window of our Malvern shop.

No other retailer in Malvern has this. I can say this with certainty since we commissioned the product, choosing the list of cities carefully.

The sign is a talking point, as well as a fun gift for someone who does enjoy travel, or dreaming of travel. It also speaks to our localness without telling people to shop local.

It’s a small move, one already we are seeing working well for the business.

There are so many ways we can be smart about pitching local without overtly pitching local in our shops. The more we do this in smart ways and the less we see retailers calling people to shop local the better in my view. Those social media posts almost begging people to shop local are tiresome. I’m not aware of one ever working in a way that is measurable.

Show, don’t tell really is the best way to pitch local. Locals need to feel it without being told, without it being shoved in their face.

On the sign we had made, it sells for $19.99 and has a GP of 75%, which we are happy with.

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Newsagency opportunities

Suppliers benefiting from being open when usually closed

I know of several family small, niche, gift related wholesalers / makers who opened last week and benefited as a result.

In each case they run a small warehouse out of their own office and are able to pack and ship without a large staff infrastructure.

Them being open and communicating this meant that plenty of retailers ordered top-up stock from them. The retailers may not have done this, or not noticed the opportunity, had more suppliers been open.

One of the lessons from Covid is to be opportunistic, to act deliberately to leverage opportunities you feel may be there. This goes back to what I wrote on December 21 about January plans.

One of my own shops would usually close between Christmas and New Year. This year we opened. The result was well worthwhile. We compete in our high street situation with several other stores selling gifts and cards. They were open. We all had the same idea. I suspect they did as well as us.

January will be different this year. Holiday patterns and arrangements have changed.

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Opportunistic retail

How the Space X / NASA mission boosted online sales for newsagents

Here is a video from inside the Space X rocket when the NASA astronauts explain their choice of travel companion, Tremor, a Ty Flippable.

We have Tremor in store and online and from early Sunday morning sales have been excellent. Hundreds and hundreds of Tremor sold in 48 hours. Companies ordering, 10, 15 and more in a purchase at $24.99 each. Plus, people buying other things in the transaction too, as well as people going online, not buying Tremor, and buying other items instead.

Plenty have gone online and bought Tremor for click and collect – so as to not miss out.

One store alone did more than $1,500.00 in revenue.

What has happened over the last 48 hours with Tremor is an example of the value of being online with more than 85% of purchases being from shoppers not local to the stores fulfilling – it also demonstrates the value of multiple small business retailers working together, pooling inventory for a scale few retailers can match.

Now, watch the video of how this all started Sunday morning.

Here’s one of several promotional videos released:

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Newsagency management

Pandemic selling out

Yeah, I know it’s April 1, but seriously, Pandemic, the game, is selling out. It’s been a hit. We jumped on a couple of months ago and are grateful for the insider supplier tip.

Pandemic is another early adopter move that has provided some welcome sunshine in an otherwise challenging time for retail.

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Opportunistic retail

The latest Toy sales results show the value of this category

Australian toy sales data collated confidentially for the Australian Toy Association, retailers and suppliers, provide valuable insights into performant and trends. The regular reports are a wonderful insight for people fortunate to have access to the data.

The toy category is strong and valuable to retailers engaged with it. 2018 is proving to be a terrific year in this category for retailers that manage the category to success. By this, I mean retailers who buy what sells and replenish with what sells.

This is on my mind today because of a conversation with a retailer over the weekend who did well with a toy range, replaced it with another toy range that did not work and therefore feels that toys are not tight for their business. Their mistake was that they did not replenish with what was successful.

Let’s look at the performance data in some detail. $1,200 worth of inventory at wholesale moved in six weeks. It was their first play in toys. They did not replace the licenced range from within that range. Instead, they went with a new range, but still in the toy space.

Ignoring the excellent good news from their first crack at toys, they decided to quit toys altogether based on the second experience.

Had the buyer in the business purchased inventory based on what was selling, by now they would be on their further or fifth order as the licence remains very popular.

Toys are strong. However, you need to buy well, buy to trends and replenish based on your success data.

But back to the latest ATA sales data, here are some takeaways at a headline level:

  1. Toys are strong.
  2. Challenges for some majors are helping independents.
  3. Average pricing is holding up.
  4. Building Sets/CONSTRUCTION trending upwards.
  5. Plush continues strong with terrific results.
  6. Harry Potter licence is strong and delivering growth.
  7. LOL Surprise continues growth.
  8. PAW PATROL licence continues build.

I’d also note that for newsagents, toys are a net new traffic driver. They work front of store, in their own department and at the counter for easy impulse purchase.

If I look at my own situation, in one of my stores toys account for over 30% of revenue with GP sitting at above 50%. Our buying is data driven and our out of store marketing is not newsagency related.

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newsagency of the future

Ignore Harry Potter products at your loss

A newsagent last week said to me people in my area don’t like Harry Potter. They said this when I asked why they had no Harry Potter product in their store. I tried it once and it failed, they said.

By trying it, they put in a small display of five different products in what I’d say is a less than ideal location in-store. They managed their own failure, I suspect to serve their opinion that Harry Potter products would not work.

The facts are that there are more than 350,000 separate Google searches in Australia each month for Harry Potter products, information, data. I have looked at he search data by location. The area where the newsagent to whom I refer is located is as interested in Harry Potter as the rest of the country. indeed, a major retailer nearby has a good Harry Potter offering in-store.

Too often I see independent retailers manage for failure by allowing personal preferences to dictate what can and can’t work for them.

The truth is, we never know for sure what will work in our shops and what will not work. The only way to find out is to have a crack, a big, bold, well-located, strongly supported crack and to promote this outside the shop as well as inside and to do all this as if we believe in the range 100%. In other words, we have to be all-in.

If we are not all-in, if we are half-assed, we manage to our expectation (hope?), we manage to failure and while this may suit our internal narrative, it fails our  business and those it feeds.

There is no point t in dabbling, trying small bets of this and that.l we are better off having less numbers of  ranges and going deeper into each range, committed and demonstrating the we serve those interested.

This is how it is with Harry Potter. Speaking from my own experience, a solid display with a broad rage of products in a good location achieves an average basket depth of four and a half items from the range. This is an excellent result. Four is above average basket depth for most gift shops, toy shops and newsagencies.

Once a Harry Potter fan or someone shopping for a Harry Potter fan sees the range and if the range is broader than they have seen elsewhere, they stock up and you benefit.

This post is NOT about Harry Potter. It is about…

  • Being open to what can work commercially regardless of personal interest or taste.
  • Wholeheartedly supporting product so they can find their success level.
  • Understanding that less can be more.
  • Data matters.
  • Headline licences being key to new traffic.

For sure, there will be stores where Harry Potter does not work, for a variety of reasons. However, the licence will work in far more than currently think it will work.

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Newsagency opportunities

Wiggles products selling well in the newsagency

This display of Wiggles products has worked very well for us. We leveraged the brand-focussed in-store as well as online. The experience reinforced the value of the Wiggles brand, still. It also reinforced the value of thoughtful sourcing from a range of suppliers to tell a deep story for a licence. This display has products from five suppliers.

For me, this display demonstrates a difference between a retailer and an agent. An agent would stock what is presented to them whereas a retailer works to bring in products to tell a deeper story. This extra work pays off though more items purchased in single transactions and through visits from new shoppers.

The display also reflects a point of difference over majors in that the majors with Wiggles product would not have this diverse range. While they have more inventory, it is more of the same, usually from one supplier.

With licences we have to research suppliers to achieve the diversity shown in the photo and to achieve for the business the type of outcome I am writing about here.

This display is one example of how a newsagency of the future needs to operate – playing against expectation, with a comprehensive display supporting a single brand, done in a way that is interesting, entertaining and competitive. It reflects optimism for a transitioned newsagency business that is trading away from that shingle.

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Newsagency management

Five things you can do to leverage low-margin value high-volume shop traffic

Many retail newsagencies are traffic and margin poor businesses. Such businesses are high-risk businesses as most low margin products and services are delivering less traffic year on year … high-risk of financial failure.

In addition to low margin products and services experiencing traffic decline year on year, minimal or no retail price movement see a decline in margin in real terms. Further, too often we see the percentage cut by suppliers for selfish reasons, further diluting the value to the retailer.

But it is not all bad news with low margin products and services. If they are generating good traffic, the opportunity is to be proactive in leveraging that traffic. Here is a list of five must-do things to leverage this low value traffic in your business.

  1. Place at least one offer / stand at the door facing people as they leave. If you have room, have one stand / offer either side. Make sure the offer is easily understood and relevant.
  2. Use a portable table for pricing stock and other stock work and place this with a staff member doing the work during busy periods between the door and the destination for most traffic.
  3. For the highest volume items, like newspapers, weekly magazines and lotteries in a retail newsagency, always pitch other products such that these destination shoppers see the other products.
  4. Always have an offer at the counter unrelated to the low margin destination purchase. Get creative as to how you pitch this at the lottery counter if you have Tatts.
  5. Establish a floor unit to guide counter traffic. the right type of unit is best used for holing products people are likely to purchase on impulse while standing in line to make their destination purchase. All sorts of retailers do this, even if they do not have the shopper to warrant such a floor unit. The impulse purchases should make the space valuable for you. if Tatts complains, explaining it is about best practice traffic management.

My advice is do all five of these things. If you don’t do some or all you are most likely only benefiting from destination business from low-margin high-traffic products and services and there is no upside in that.

For the record, margin poor products and services are those with a GP percentage of less than 50% in my view.

This post shows how to turn a negative into a positive. I hope it helps.

FTYI this advice is an example of one of many types advice newsXpress provides its members.

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Management tip

Marie Claire a popular Christmas gift thanks to gift with purchase

IMG_2347We have all but sold out of Marie Claire magazine thanks to the terrific J Bronze tanning cream gift with purchase and that this gift was not widely available. We leveraged the opportunity with out of store marketing and it worked a treat. Our main magazine competition is the two Coles’ in the centre and they did not have this gift with purchase.

This was our opportunity to leverage and leverage it we did in-store and online.

In-store, the key was to fan out the title so the bronzer could be seen and understood. we did this in both locations we had the title.

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magazines

Making better use of the old newspaper stand space in the newsagency

IMG_0864This photo shows what used to be the newspaper stand in this newsagency I visited in in Queensland. The old newspaper stand went from floor to ceiling and reached out toward the front of the store by at least 1.2 metres. The location is just inside the entrance to the small 70 square metre shop in a shopping centre – prime and expensive space. This old newspaper stand location is easily seen from outside the front of the shop, it is perfect for attracting shoppers.

The newspaper stand was completely removed from the business and papers put in a more space efficient stand, still at the front of the shop. The new stand takes up a quarter of the space and is situated in less-expensive real estate at the front.

In the place of the old newspaper stand is the stand of gift items you can see in the photo. This stand has been setup to facilitate easy change.

Take a look at how this change is working:

Newspaper sales in the business have not been harmed by the move.

Yesterday morning, an office worker who works nearby noticed the gifts, and spent $175.00 in a single purchase from the new stand. They came back and spent another $65.00 in a second transaction. This is a new customer for the business purchasing new items for the business. Te total gross profit from the two transactions was $108.00.

This newsagent would need to sell 453 copies of their local daily newspaper to achieve $108.00 in gross profit.

The value of the move goes beyond the two transactions yesterday.

Newspapers are available in more than thirty outlets within a five minute walk of this newsagency. They are also regularly given away metres away from the business by the publisher. The gifts in the stand are not so easily available. Indeed, you wold need to drive to find the closest competitor.

This new customer discovered yesterday as a result of the strategic move to move the newspaper stand is set to be far more valuable to the business over the long term than a newspaper customer won by the stand being in this same location.

The story here presents an argument to use to the newspaper publisher rep who may pressure you to not remove their stand or the magazine publisher who may challenge you considering moving the front of store prime retail space currently allocated to magazines.

This post is about strategy, strategy for finding new traffic, strategy for growing the overall GP of your business, strategy for attracting shoppers who will return to make more valuable purchases.

Every newsagent can do what this newsagent I visited yesterday has done. Every newsagent can transition their business. The steps do not need to be big or bold. They can be often and small.

Yes, this is a newsXpress business, yes, the strategies they are engaging with are newsXpress strategies. yes, I am a director of newsXpress. There is enough information in this post to inspire anyone on moves like I have outlined – regardless of the group you are in.

While some in the channel say rip out your newspaper stand and leave it at that, the better advice is to present viable long-term alternatives to re-locating newspapers to elsewhere and replacing them with a stand that enables moves like I have outlined here.

Any change requires you to think beyond a single move. You need to plan. This is where newsagency marketing groups should shine.

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Newsagency management

Justice League attracting male shoppers to the newsagency

IMG_6214The terrific floor display unit in the newsagency supporting Justice league licenced product is attracting new traffic. While predominantly male, younger kids do drag in parents including mums and sisters. This new traffic is valuable to be business – the shoppers attracted are purchasing other items from us and this is helping drive sales of magazines, gifts and cards.

Newsagents attract new traffic with the right products in the right location.

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Gifts

Calendars with magazines

crosscalHere’s another simple placement that drives calendar sales – this time puzzle themed calendars with crossword and puzzle magazines. I’ve seen shoppers come in to spend Under $10 and walk out spending $30. Tactical placement drives a deeper basket.

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crosswords

Since drones are in the news

magshowitworksdroneWe are promoting How It Works to leverage recent news reports about drone use overseas and possible use in Australia. Growing magazine sales of these special interest / fringe titles is achieved by being obsessively opportunistic. It works – drives incremental purchases – more often than it doesn’t

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magazines

Why not beat Officeworks at their own game?

officeworks-pricecheckAt an Officeworks in Sydney’s CBD Monday I noticed this Check our prices noticeboard near the entrance. This is another strategy they use for pitching their prices and their price guarantee.  If I was a newsagent nearby with lower prices in, say, ink, and if my lease permitted I promote in my window a comparison of my prices and theirs. I’d take it to them. But I’d use a twist: my promotion would be for last week’s prices and I’d note that we’re doing this comparison to show that our customers were the winners.

Officeworks spends a considerable sum of money promoting that their prices are lower and their LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE. I would not be surprised to discover that the amount they spend on this price pitch compared to other businesses is inverse to where they actually sit in a price comparison.

Newsagents are often cheaper than Officeworks yet we do not tell the world about this. In some cases our leases do not permit in-store comparative promotion. But for the rest, why not? Some newsagents do but not enough. I suspect it is too hard.  This is something a switched on industry association could do.

Several suppliers have conducted research over the years that indicates shoppers consider newsagencies to be expensive when price research indicates we are not. I was at a newsagency conference ten years ago where this was presented. Given the perception, why not a national campaign that helps newsagents promote their price position, a campaign showing the small business fighting back and competing with Officeworks and others. This would be good work for an industry association like the ANF to undertake – there’s no money in it for them but members would like it.

The Officeworks noticeboard reeks of ignorance but the average person entering their store would not know that. Newsagents nearby who do offer better prices need to engage. Yes, a fight with Officeworks could be challenging but, hey, what’s the alternative?

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Newsagency challenges

Excellent AFL Grand Final promotion

I was in a newsagency yesterday and saw terrific AFL Grand Final engagement. They had several displays in-store, covering two entrances, with different balloon displays available for purchase.

I like that they had these packages ready to go and that they had them placed near their AFL licenced greeting cards, plush and calendars. Excellent opportunistic retail activity.

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Opportunistic retail

This is a bank?!

I was drawn to this window by the Lego helicopter on the shop floor – I like a good Lego construction. I did not immediately notice it’s a bank.

Yes, it’s a Westpac Bank branch. Amazing. Innovative.

There is a kids play area, a cafe down the back, bright colours and a totally inviting and calming look and feel to the place.

I stood at the window in awe of the redefining of the look and feel of a bank. Whoever came up with this ought to be congratulated. It is stunning  … redefining what I would expect from a bank and leaving me with a story about Westpac.

What I saw Wednesday night has left me wondering what a newsagency could look like if you want to break free from the tradition and restrictions of the past and how consumers perceive us. This is what Westpac has done, they have created a bank that completely plays against what we expect – and thereby made their business more accessible.

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Newsagency management

Selling for the heat

It was hot in Melbourne yesterday – we placed a water canon product we acquired at the front of the store facing into the mall. We sold six.  The canons drew passers-by to the shop. These are six transactions we would not have achieved had we not seized the opportunity of the heat. Some bought the canon and others bought something else as well.

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Opportunistic retail

Promoting National Geographic

Thanks to a comment here by h, I moved copies of the latest National Geographic magazine from its usual location to our newspaper stand. I appreciate the tip and agree that the cover story about the King James Bible is sure to drive some impulse purchases. I am excited to see what happens … it’s always good to see a sales lift from a cover on a title like National Geographic.

Thanks h for sharing the idea.

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magazines

Flashing badges a great counter line

flashingbadges.JPGThese simple flashing badges have been selling like hot cakes at one of my newsagencies. We’ve had them for a month now and I am surprised at how well they have gone in such a short time. It is terrific seeing a shopper add a badge to a greeting card purchase.

The $6.99 addition to the basket not only drives margin dollars from the sale, it also drives the overall average GP achieved by the business.

With so much of what we sell having a margin of 25% or less, it is important to drive sales of items which are above (well above) this.

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Opportunistic retail

The obligatory street directory promotion for Father’s Day

fathers-melways.JPGWhile satellite navigation devices are ubiquitous, there is still a marketplace for street directories, especially at this time of the year as Father’s Day gifts. The team at one of my stores has put together this excellent display promoting the Melways Street Directory.

While sales of printed street directories are not what they were a few years ago, they do warrant promotion – there is a noticeable sales lift as a result of the attention we give the product. Also, there appears to be fewer retailers stocking street directories now so the competition on price is less.

We are not promoting any special deals, just promoting the product to leverage seasonal interest around Father’s Day.

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Gifts

Tapping into the Kung Fu Panda interest

kungfu-water.JPGWe have been enjoying good success with these Kung Fu panda books as part of our school holidays book sale.

Licenced product is especially successful at school holiday time.  It’s a safe purchase for parents.  Kids  shopping with their parents drag them to the display.

We configure our stores for school holidays to make the most of the opportunity of the extra and quite different traffic to what we see outside school holidays.  The results can be seen in the sales numbers.

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Book retailing

frankie selling very well

mag-frankie-july11.JPGWe have a simple display of the latest issue of frankie magazine at the counter as well as three pockets of the title in its usual location.  Sales have been excellent.  We are on the way to selling out with around a quarter of the initial allocation left.

We have ordered more stock so that we don’t sell out.

frankie is attracting new shoppers to our newsagency.  There is no doubt about that, we are seeing this with each issue.  We are facilitating this by promoting the magazine outside it’s usual space – letting shoppers see that we have the title.   We are building sales of other titles off of the new traffic being generated – through careful placement near frankie.

I am confident that our sales of this issue will be close to double what they were a couple of issues ago. While this is being helped, in part, by the demise of Borders (we have a store nearby), it is also being helped by the increase in attention we are giving the title.

frankie is a title for newsagents to watch and manage as it promotes the newsagent point of difference.

Morrison Media, the publisher of frankie, has promotional collateral available at their Morrison News blog.

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magazines

Great deals at Borders

As the manager of one of my newsagencies discovered yesterday, there are some excellent deals available at soon to close Borders stores.  He picked up several as-new retail fixtures for a fraction of what they would usually cost.  If you are near a Borders store, check it out.

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Opportunistic retail
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