Tactical display

We are promoting issue #3 of the master chef magazine next to our main newspaper stand, in with our weeklies as well as in our usual food titles section.  If Issue #2 is anything to go off we expect to see another lift in sales. That’s right, issue #2 sold out and achieved a great increase on the launch issue.

The key to success is tactical placement in high traffic areas – hence our placement next to the main newspaper stand.  Next week, we will run the title at the counter for a few days.  Constant movement is essential in chasing impulse business for a title like master chef.

The over the counter feedback on the title is very strong.  People who have purchased the magazine comment positively about it.  This is where master chef is a stand out from title launches in recent years.  I cannot recall such unsolicited and positive comment for a new title.

We have thankfully accessed additional stock of Diabetic Living.  The last issue is selling very well.  Again, our success is being driven by tactical placement in-store.  The title performs well in high traffic locations: with the weekly magazines, with health titles and a stint at the counter.

If you have Diabetic Living in only one location you are probably missing out on sales.

We are promoting Famous magazine at the counter this week thanks to the offer is a $100 WISH card which could be won with a purchase of this or any of a range of titles from Pacific Magazines.

Given the decay curve for Famous we are likely to leave this display up for most of the week – it performs quite differently wo Woman’s Day and New Idea.

The other important reason for having Famous at the counter this week is the text message and email marketing campaigns running in support of the $100 WISH card promotion.

We are promoting the Woman’s Day / NW double pack in a dump bin on the shop floor.  Since this is a discounted deal I did not want to place it in the usual location for the titles.  I am chasing impulse business rather than educating our regulars to switch to the discount pack.

This dump bin approach worked for the last discount package from ACP – it sold out.

We have the dump bin in a high traffic location on the dance floor.

Further to my post yesterday, here is how I am choosing to use this premium space at the moment.

Bliss Victoria is a title which responds to placement away from its usual location.

Our Real Living sales are up thanks to placement here above the weeklies.

We start each week with a seven pocket waterfall for weeklies – leaving the top two pockets for other titles.  As the week progresses we shrink the waterfall and bring other titles in, titles we choose.

By yesterday morning we had sold out of Philosophy Now magazine.  Our usual sell through is between 25% and 50%.  Our tactical placement of the title with newspapers last Monday is what created the opportunity for the sell-out.  The brilliant cover is what drove the impulse purchases.

We have opportunities like this every day in our newsagencies. It is vitally important to our health that we work tactically on extending a shopping basket with just a newspaper to a newspaper and something else.

The Julia Gillard cover on Who magazine, out yesterday, encouraged us to create a display at the prime impulse location between our two busiest sales counters.

My assessment is that in the right impulse location, the cover is likely to achieve incremental business for us.  hence the use of prime space for the small display.

In terms of the display itself, we have followed our usual simple approach for these things: creating only a couple of layers, nothing too fancy and letting the product speak for itself.  The display is not bordered by other products – it has a clear spotlight.

This counter location is succesful for around 75% of our placements.  I am happy with that strike rate.

Our tactical placement of Philosophy Now with newspapers on Monday is working well.  In five days we have matched our usual sales for the total on-sale.  I’d expect us to sell out before the next issue comes out.  The Is God Really Dead? cover is the reason – you can see people notice it when they go to pick up a newspaper.

We are taking the opportunity to promote the latest issue of The Week magazine with Julia Gillard on the cover on our main newspaper stand for the next few days.  The cover is excellent and with the new PM in a honeymoon period it should achieve some extra business for us.  We have two perspex pockets on our newspaper stand, one above The Age and one above the Herald Sun, for tactical title placement.  Our goal is to turn newspaper sales into newspaper + magazine sales.  With the right title they work very well for us.

We are promoting the latest issue of Australian Women’s Weekly at the busiest point of our sales counter.

I chose the counter location because of the Julia Gillard profile which comes with the magazine – I expect it to sell well.

While we may lose some impulse business for the regular mix of ACP titles which would usually be in this display unit, the change will be noticed by regulars who have probably become store blind to the same old layout for the last couple of years.

The counter display is in addition to an in-location display.  It is already driving good impulse business.

School holidays bring plenty of new customers to any shopping centre.  We are no different and while we have some great holiday deals on our dance floor, I decided to promote the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens along with Better Basics out the front of the store for the next few days.  My reasoning is that we will see more mums shopping in the holidays who would usually be at work.  These are the people we want seeing the titles.

Now that’s what I call a provocative magazine cover!   I realised the opportunity as soon as I saw Philosophy Now and placed it in one of the magazine pockets on our main newspaper stand.  I think it is important that we react to magazine covers which will generate interest, discussion and, yes, sales.  We need to be opportunistic at every chance we get.

The Schapelle Corby cover story on New Idea has encouraged us to pitch this week’s issue next to our main newspaper stand.  We know from our sales history that Schapelle sells magazines in our area so it makes sense to chase impulse business with our tactical placement.  I expect to see people who would not usually purchase New Idea do so on the basis of our placement with newspapers.

We also have New Idea on offer near our main lottery counter as well as in its usual location with weekly magazines.

We will leave this display next to the newspaper stand in place until Friday.

Better Basics did very well for us last time it was out by placement with our weekly magazines as well as with food titles.  So that is what we have done with the latest issue.  We have it displayed on the flat between Woman’s Day and Famous as well as on the flat in our food section.

This weekend, we are planning a Better Basics and Better Homes and Gardens dual display, probably at the counter – to encourage people to buy both titles together.  This makes sense since they are related titles.

Better Basics is a title which will respond to tactical placement.  That is, placement next to a popular title outside of the food area.  Hence our placement with the weeklies.  It would work just as well next to newspapers or even Australian Women’s Weekly in the first week of the on-sale.

We have Justin Forever, the Justin Bieber magazine which went on sale yesterday displayed with our teen magazines.

If we can get more stock, yes we only received five copies, we will promote Justin Forever more prominently out the front of the store.  I am sure we can achieve good sales from girls in the mall who may not usually venture into our newsagency.  It helps that his song is on high rotation on our in-store radio.

This is also a title to display with the weeklies since mum may buy it for a daughter.

With space tight for displays we have taken a more tactical approach with Diabetic Living which went on sale yesterday, placing it at the counter, next to Women’s Health. We also have two pockets above women’s weeklies titles and a half waterfall in the health section. Based on past experience, I expect the counter unit to perform well.

Sometimes with magazines a small tactical approach is far more valuable than a big bold display.