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Wrapping paper

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

New approach to displaying roll-wrap

roll_wrap.JPGCheck out this hang-sell approach to roll-wrap.  It is a visual improvement on the bins (vertical and horizontal) which have been traditionally used newsagencies.  This hang-sell approach is easier to shop.  I think customers will like it.  It will be interesting to see how it performs.

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Wrapping paper

Driving sales of bags and wrap

bags_sep21.JPGThe photo shows the bag wall at one of my newsagencies.  The range has recently been refreshed and there has been a good sales kick as a result.  We know from industry sales data that newsagents underperform in terms of bag and wrap sales.  This is usually because newsagents hide the product behind cards.

Newsagencies where bags are close to the front of the store and highly visible are achieving better results.  That was the goal of the recent refresh in our newsagency.

In addition to refreshing the range, we take opportunities to create feature displays to show how bags can be dressed to great effect.  We do this, not our merchandiser – the benefits are ours after all.

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giftwrap

Relaying wrap, chasing change

fhn_wrap.JPGOur team at Forest Hill relayed our wrap wall to refresh the offer.  This is on the wall bordering our card department.  While is is too early to say if it will result in a sales kick, there is anecdotal evidence suggesting it is attracting more shopper attention.

The work on the walls reflects a mission at Forest Hill to regularly refresh departments which are usually set-and-forget in newsagencies.

We know from US and UK retail study that refreshing the wrap offer in terms of location and range regularly – at least yearly -drives good growth.

Year on year, newsagents account for 35% to 40% of total card sales in Australia.  Our channell’s proportion of wrap and packaging is considerably smaller.  I think this is because we tend to treat wrap as the poor cousin.

By moving wrap and packaging around our goal is to find customers and help it achieve the potential we know is there.

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giftwrap

Would you like wrap with that?

wrap_upsell.JPGWe have a small selection of animal themed wrapping paper on the table with our animal themed jigsaw puzzles.  While this is common in major retailers, it is less common on newsagencies.  We have achieved good success with suggesting items which go together – like the wrap in the photo.  This approach works especially well in the gift area where gift offers are themed.

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Gifts

Wrapping paper behind the counter

wrap_counter.jpgIn our gift shops we have sheeted wrapping paper behind the counter.  It is attractive and commercially viable in this location.  Sheeted wrapping paper is possibly something that could work in newsagencies rather than the usual behind the counter product mix and clutter.

We change the paper to match fashion trends as well as for key seasons.  It is surprising the number of customers who present at the counter and purchase paper on impulse based on what they see on the wall behind.  Above the paper we have a selection of boxes which also sell well from this counter location.

Ideally, the wall behind is slatwall.  This provides good flexibility and allows for displaying sheeted paper as shown in the photo or other items from time to time.  Change is important given the frequency of visits by newsagency regulars.

If you have room behind your counter, consider this or something else different from what you have now.  I’d be surprised is it does not generate worthwhile business.

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Newsagency opportunities

Great Valentine’s Day gift packaging

smoochies.JPGI love this Valentine’s Day gift packaging from Hallmark.  It is different ot the traditional Valentine’s Day material and will appeal to a broader demographic.  While the traditional range is well covered in this year’s Hallmark range, it is this new packaging which draws attention.  The nutrition facts on the side show that a lot of thought has been put into developing the creative for this Valentine’s Day box.  We are using the box and other items using this design as the centrepiece Valentine’s Day cards and gift packaging.

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Gifts

Promoting Christmas bags and wrap

frank_bags.JPGMarket research shows that while newsagents have around 37% of greeting card sales in Australia, we account for only 21% of packaging (wrap, bags and boxes). The newsagents doing well in packaging are those who actively promote the wrap category. Current best practice is to locate the cards and wrap department at the front of the shop. Unfortunately older shopfits being what they are, relocating a department is a challenge. At our Frankston newsagency, where we our shopfit will not be done until next year, we have created a display of some of our Christmas themed bags on an aisle end near our counter usually reserved for magazines.

While magazine publishers may be disappointed that we are taking prime space for another category of product, the time of the year dictates we make every inch of expensive retail space work for us.

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giftwrap

Cool double sided wrap

doubwrap.JPGI love this double sided wrapping paper we have found. In the sample in the photo, one side has the larger hearts and the other side smaller. We have twelve designs to start.  They compliment our folded wrap, rolls, bags and boxes. The challenge with sheeted wrap is where to display while protecting the product.

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Wrapping paper

Bags over wrapping paper

bags_tissue.JPGBag sales are hot in newsagencies – talk to any of the car and wrap companies and they will tell you it is so. Year on year growth is excellent. But for bags to work, we need new designs regularly.

I was in a newsagency yesterday where they are tapping into the bag opportunity with discounted product. While the price point is low, the quality is too. This is false economy. I think people want to be proud of a gift they are giving and this means they want a nice bag. The cheap bags don;t cut it.

I really like the Hallmark range which came out with the bag of tissue paper on the outside – this gives the sense of a value add and makes the bag even more appealing.

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Wrapping paper

Wrapping paper sales down, gift bag sales up

Customers are buying less folded wrapping paper and more bags for packaging gifts. When I first heard of this trend from a supplier a year ago I was surprised because I was not seeing it in sales data. Then, I realised that all the sales data I see comes from newsagencies where until very recently, bags were rarely ranged.

wrapping-paper.JPG

Sales data from a small sample of stores for a year and a half to December 2006 shows, at best, no growth in folded wrapping paper sales and, most commonly, declining sales. With retail real estate expensive and increasing by between 5% and 7% a year, this decline is most unhelpful to newsagent. Suppliers, too, are not served well by the decline.

We have three metres of wrapping paper in my newsagency. Without reducing that and in response to feedback from our supplier and our sales data, late last year we added three metres of bags.

wrap-bags.JPG

While I would have preferred to locate the bags next to the wrap to demonstrate a wide packaging choice, locating them at the front of our card-shop-within-a-shop is working well. This is in part due to it being close to our seasonal displays.

The next step will be to consider a reduction in the folded wrapping paper space allocation.

Newsagents need to look very carefully at their sales data and discuss this with their wrap suppliers. There is no point in ranging product which is not delivering an economically viable return.

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Newsagency challenges
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