I have been asked twice in the last month for basket analysis data for different types of newsagencies, to look at how they compare specifically in the percentage mix of products sold – using the basket and other data I have from the newsagency benchmark studies I do.
In each case, the request came from a party undertaking research into the current performance of the newsagency channel, to feed into projections they were developing to plot an expected future of the different types of newsagency businesses.
In my own analysis I group retail newsagencies in to three types. Here is one table of the top level analysis I shared on these three types of businesses:
The purpose of this table is to show the difference in revenue contribution across key product categories for each of the three groupings of newsagency businesses as I see them.
While these groupings of mine are arbitrary, I have developed them after years of work in this area, looking at data from many newsagencies.
The results are what is happening, not what might happen but what is happening.
The traditional newsagency is the old-school business, the one reliant on papers, magazines, stationery, cards and tobacco. Oh, and probably lotteries in there too. However I did not include lotteries in this table as it is not relevant to the physical product based retail assessment I was looking at.
The transitioning newsagency is the one playing outside of what has been traditional. You will see a reasonable gift department and a retail focus more on seeking out new customers.
The advanced transitioning ‘newsagency’ is a business relying on non traditional newsagency lines for key traffic and selling traditional newsagency lines as the add on. There are not significant numbers of retail businesses in this group, yet. However, this group is rapidly growing.
This table surprises some suppliers, especially old-school newsagency suppliers as their model relies on the traditional and they wonder how to connect with those businesses that have eft the traditional model.
There is now doubt the newsagency channel is undergoing extraordinary change at a rapid pace. The purpose of this post is to share publicly there difference in terms of revenue breakdown percentages between the three broad groups as I define them in the hope it encourages newsagents to see where they sit and to consider further changes they can make.
Change is our friend. We need to embrace it in every part of our businesses, urgently.
Christmas counter card sales in this newsagency are up 34% year on year. They have accounted for 27.16% of all card sales in the last 14 days. Besides a good range at the entrance to the store, it is signs like this used in the business that encourage purchase. The message is a reminder about the low cost to send someone a message this Christmas.
