Stationery

GNS has issued a statement to newsagents about challenges around the supply of Collins financial year diaries. I share it here with the permission of the business and because on an ANF forum there has been comment on this issue that does not reflect the facts as they are known. Here is the GNS statement.

GNS have been promoting and supporting the Collins Debden range within the Newsagents channel for over 20 years.

Under new management, Collins Debden presented GNS with price increases for Financial Year Diaries for FY16/17 that were well above and beyond what we considered as justifiable, based on cost comparisons for the same products last year.

GNS held several discussions with Collins Debden in the interests of our shared customers, being Newsagents, to minimise the impact of the proposed increases. This did not eventuate and as a result GNS has decided not to range the Collins Debden Financial Year diaries for FY16/17. The price increase impact was both unsubstantiated and well over market influencers such as the devaluation of the A$.

GNS has sourced alternative product to offer our customers at competitive prices, high quality, healthy retail margins and sales offers to Newsagents that will minimise risk in this product category. GNS will be issuing these offers shortly.

GNS is an easy head to kick for newsagents. Plenty of head kicking is ill-informed in my view. The company is more transparent and accessible than ever. I have found that asking a question elicits a frank answer on any issue. This is better in my view than ignorant bashing as if it is a fun sport.

In Sydney yesterday it seemed to me that every second bus I passed was advertising large capacity printers from Epson. The signs promoted a two year life for the ink provided with the printer. Epson is not alone in pushing this model.

Newsagents with considerable ink sales need to be aware of the trend and to factor this into their business planning.

This photo shows part of the stationery department of a store I visited in Nuremberg last week. I am sharing it as it represents a different approach to stationery layout compared to what we see in newsagencies and other stationery retailers in Australia.

I like the consistent fixture colour and that it does not detract from the product itself. I also like the lower height units at the front and their use for uplifting products, to draw the shopper into the department.

I draw plenty of inspiration from this photo.

We have been clearing out colour themed products at the sales counter, items that appeal this time of the year and that customers notice because of the colour blocking. It is fascinating seeing people impulse purchase notebooks from this counter location. The actions are a reminder of the value of thoughtful counter placement in the newsagency.

Go down to the back of your stationery department, yes, down the aisle to the quietest part of the shop. Dig out items like these that will look good placed next to each other. Have a crack it driving impulse purchases of stationery from the counter.

Just as you notice a speed hump as it gets in the way of a smooth drive, shoppers notice items they do not expect as they go abut their day to day business.

This is all about to being average.

Take all products off your counter except for a terrific selection of everyday pens covering all sorts of needs. Do it for a week and see how it goes. You could find it a waste of time or you could find people purchasing pens who did not come in to purchase pens.

The idea of these challenges is to get you to try something at is a challenge.

Officeworks is pushing even harder for back to school business for the kick-off of the 2016 year with extensive marketing already for their BTS service. In addition to advertising, they have flyers, posters and other promotions – including this flyer at the counter and on noticeboards. While newsagents are focused on Christmas, Officeworks is aggressively chasing Back to School commitments. FYI newsXpress launches its in-store Back to School promotion later today.

I have seen these Typo gift cards in several retail locations this week. The gift cards are part of their plan to reach out beyond their shops and to drive engagement through the gift card purchase. Typo is taking stationery purchases we should be winning. The gift cards and the usual excellent design work from Typo – on point.

Newsagents ought to read the page one new story in AFR Weekend this weekend as it is about stationery, Smiggle actually. Smiggle has an excellent track record of success from its first store opening in 2003. It showed how to make stationery cool and grow sales beyond what was traditional for the category at the time – leaving newsagents in its wake.

Any newsagent who thinks they can make money from the Smiggle shopper ought to read the article.

State News is a rare business in the US, the closest type of store to an Australian newsagency. They sell newspapers, magazines, cards, stationery, candy, party goods, toys, plush and more. Check out the pen department. It is at the counter. It drives impulse purchases. A placement like this in a newsagency in Australia would be disruptive for sure.

GNS sent me samples from the Skweek range of kid-targeted stationery launched by the business to newsagents this month. The Skweek products are brightly coloured and cover a selection of uses.

Skweek addresses a need expressed by newsagents for some time – giving newsagents something with which to directly compete with Smiggle and similar lines in Big W and K-Mart.

I like that GNS has created a Facebook page for promoting the brand as well as posters and shelf wobblers for in0-store promotion.

I’d encourage newsagents to use Skweek on the lease line, in the front window and online through the school holidays to attract new shoppers.

Here is how one newsagency has implemented the range in-store. The photo is from the Skweek facebook page.

Every Ryman Stationery store I visit in the UK is inspiring. They offer a good range of stationery at competitive prices. Brands are blocked together. The layout is consistent across the network. I especially like how they manage floorspace in small format stores.

One store I visited yesterday was no more than 70 square metres yet they offered an excellent range laid out in a shopper friendly way with enticing impulse purchase opportunities along the way.

Any newsagent visiting to the UK should include visits to Ryman outlets on their agenda. There is much to learn. They make shopping for stationery desirable.

Price checking of stationery at a nearby Coles on the weekend I discovered they have unknown brand packaging tape at close to double our price. But your would not know. It is only when you check the length of the role you see how expensive Coles is. Our roles are 50 metres in length while the Coles tape is 25 metres. A simple price check will make Coles look cheaper. But they are not.

This is the type of information we have to share with all working in our newsagency businesses. We should also share the price comparison on social media.

Coles is expensive when it comes to stationery. Check for yourselves – not just tape but other stationery items too. Once you have the facts in your area start talking about it.

3M products are brilliantly represented in stationery outlets in the UK, especially the Ryman Stationers outlets. There, they have floor display units with terrific seasonal value propositions as well as good ranges on the regular shelving – satisfying broad demand.

We don’t see promotions like this from 3M in newsagencies. I am not sure if the problem is at 3M or at GNS. Regardless, we are not pitching 3M in a manner that is competitive with Officeworks. This costs us revenue. It also costs 3M revenue.

I’d like to see the company develop appropriate floor display offers with newsagents and pitch these as a package to our channel with a target of, say, 1,000 engaged retail newsagency businesses. The most efficient way for it to do this would be through each of the newsagency marketing groups.

Stationer banner groups in Australia already do this with a range of suppliers. If we don’t we will lose even more stationery sales.

I have been in fifteen or so WH Smith stores so far on this UK trip and in every one they have several stationery value propositions including this 3 for 2 deal promoting new colourful ranges.

Their pricing approach is like we see in Australia from Typo, Smiggle and Kikki.k. While 3 for 2 sounds like a deal, I expect they knew they were doing this from the outset, 3 for 2 is their goal price. It’s not a deal. But consumers will not see it that way.

What WH Smith is doing in the UK is more important than ever to Australian newsagents as this group now owns Supanews, Wild, it’s own WH Smith outlets, Zoodle plus hospital retail outlets. If reports are true there will be more WH Smith outlets in Australia in coming months.

If they get enough stores in the traditional newsagency space and operate all with discipline they could set a standard shoppers will expect in several product categories such as this everyday stationery space.

This photo shows one of the Scotch stands in a regional Staples store in the US. I like this tape stand a lot. I think it could work for us as long as it’s to placed everywhere.

I would certainly give this Scotch Expressions Tape stand a crack as I think the range appeals way beyond the traditional stationery shopper’s interests.

Click on the image for a bigger version and see for yourself the broader range.

I like this floor display unit of four different gift packaged pens I saw in a regional Staples store in the US last week.

While we usually get gift pen offers for key seasons, we are rarely offered a floor display unit with four pen types each packaged with a value-add gift. This is smart packaging which would drive pen and refill sales for us I am sure.