Month: November 2025

Security is important in any retail business. Here are some security tips, starting from the basic and simple and progressing to the more tech oriented:

1. Keep a record of all keys used in your business and who has them.
2. Keep a spare key in a safe place away from the business.
3. Change the most powerful/valuable password for your computer software monthly, and share it sparingly. Check the strength of your passwords with a reputable website like https://howsecureismypassword.net
4. Keep a current data backup off site, in the cloud, preferably. Regularly check that you can restore the backup and that the restored information is current.
5. Use your business software to check for the deletion or alteration of data, as this could indicate employee fraud.
6. Have current reputable virus protection on all computers.
7. Have a current reputable firewall installed on your network.
8. Never open a zip file sent by email.
9. Never open an email that is not clearly official. Read the sender email addresses carefully.
10. Be discreet when talking about the business and its performance.
11. Don’t do banking at the same time. Don’t follow the same route. Don’t carry the same bag.
12. Have a camera system installed to get a good shot of the faces of everyone entering and leaving the business.
13. Consider registering your CCTV with the local police.
14. Let customers see that they are being filmed.
15. Train employees to make eye contact with customers.
16. Train employees on emergency procedures for handling theft, aggressive people and shoplifters.
17. Use the full stock control facilities of your software to understand the financial costs of shoplifting.
18. Ensure that your windows are not cluttered. Cluttered windows can hinder someone outside noticing a crime.
19. Ensure that there is good lighting outside the store.
20. Ensure that you have good sightlines from the counter.
21. Have a ‘no personal items at the counter’ policy.
22. If you catch someone shoplifting, ask them to wait in the store, and call the police.
    1. Tell the person in your store who you’re.
    2. Tell them why they have been asked to stay in the store. Advise them that police have been called.
    3. Ask them to surrender anything from the shop that doesn’t belong to them. You have no legal right to search them.
    4. Don’t put yourself at risk.
23. Have a clear refund processing policy and ensure that all employees are trained on this.
24. Track all sales by employee code.
25. When hiring, ask applicants to agree to a police check. Check their references.
26. Don’t hire friends of employees, and make sure to explain your commitment to zero tolerance regarding theft.
27. Have an employee theft policy in full view.

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newsXpress is a marketing group that supports small local independent retailers to thrive. Find out more at help@newsxpress.com.au.

At the end of the day, you want to feel like you have achieved something, that your grind has been worth it, regardless of whether the day in this phrase is an actual day, a week, a month or a year. You want to feel your efforts have been worthwhile.

Being tired is not a worthwhile measure, as tiredness will not pay for a holiday or your retirement.

The best measure of achievement is value and the easiest measure of value is money.

Did you make money today?

If the answer is yes, terrific. Now, let’s work on making more tomorrow.

If the answer is no, what can we stop doing so we have more freedom to do better tomorrow?

Don’t get us wrong here, we are not suggesting that you obsessively chase getting rich. That’s up to you to figure out. Rather, we are suggesting that at the end of the day, check in with yourself. Has it been a worthwhile day in terms of how you measure success?

This simple check-in can be useful for setting you up for a better tomorrow.

Without this honest audit, it is too easy to drift into the trap of productive procrastination, doing things that feel like work but deliver no return.

You can spend years being busy, ticking off to-do lists, and yet remain standing in the exact same spot financially.

By asking the hard question about value every single day, you strip away the noise and force yourself to focus on the signal. It ensures that the time you invest today actually buys you the freedom you want tomorrow.

Treat our check-in suggestion as a judgment, but as a course correction.

If today didn’t deliver, you have the power to adjust the coordinates for tomorrow before the sun even comes up. It allows you to discard the tasks that are merely filling time and double down on the actions that fill the till. Success isn’t usually a lightning strike; it is the accumulation of these small, daily pivots toward value.

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newsXpress is a marketing group that supports small local independent retailers to thrive. Find out more at help@newsxpress.com.au.

Despite truckloads of lobbying and advertising cash being spent by property developers and landlord groups keen to see their property assets achieving good returns for them, working from home is here to stay for a chunk of people. Indeed, we expect it will expand as the nature of work evolves.

The COVID pandemic that kicked off in early 2020 showed the world what mass working from home looked like for those in office-based roles that could be fulfilled from home.

In our own businesses, a software company and a retail marketing group, as soon as COVID hit, everyone usually in the office was given the option to work from home even though we were classed essential by the government.

We have not asked or required people to return to the office. Eighty per cent of the workforce across both businesses continue to work from home. The average employee saves eight hours in commute time each week. That right there is a compelling reason they prefer it, I think.

Our view for a business with work that can be done anywhere is that if you have the right people in the business and provide them with good tools, an office is not as important as it once was.

While some big businesses have forced employees to the office either full time or on some regular cycle, my sense is that working from home is here to stay for many previously office-based employees.

This is an opportunity for local retailers to serve those living and working locally with food, home office support products and office-related services.

Here are some other ways local retailers can cater to those working from home:

• Offer a weekly or some other regularly scheduled catch-up for those in the area working from home to talk business. One of the benefits of being in an office is the chat between colleagues. Your business could fill this need by facilitating a local group.
• Out of home office. There may be a need for a quiet space away from home but close to home for an important call or to complete a project. If you have space in your shop, you could create a pod or two for people to rent by the hour.
• Communal table. People working from home are often able to work mobile, with just their laptop. If you have the space, consider offering a large table to seat several people. They can use this as they wish by paying a low hourly cost or even subscribing for unlimited access.
• Friday drinks. Host Friday after-work drinks for people working from home in the area. This goodwill gesture could help better connect them with your business.
• Secure document destruction. Some folks working from home will print documents that need to be securely destroyed. You could offer a secure collection point for these for a modest fee, offering their employer peace of mind.
• Help them spend saved time. Think about the commute time saved each week and how this could be used in ways related to your business. Are there services or products you could sell from which they would benefit? Consider packaging these as WFH timesavers or similar gifts.
• Host a food truck. Every couple of weeks or so, arrange for a food truck offering a cuisine not offered in town to park outside your shop. Pitch this on social media, demonstrating that you’re providing those working from home a fresh option for lunch.
• Ask what they need. Talk to people working from home and ask if there is anything they need that they cannot easily access locally. The old advice of find a need and fill it’s so true.

Local retailers are well positioned to leverage the work-from-home opportunity. Don’t be restricted by what is expected of your type of business.

Just as working from home has disrupted how, when and where people work, serving this community unshackles local retailers from what is expected of their type of business.

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newsXpress is a marketing group that supports small local independent retailers to thrive. Find out more at help@newsxpress.com.au.

How do you answer the question what do you do? when someone asks? Do you have a good answer ready to go, something that takes 30 seconds or so to get out, something that shows your pride and excitement and has them wanting to know more?

In business books, they call it the elevator pitch—something you can get across in the short time you’re on an elevator.

So, what do you do? Your answer needs to speak to how you see yourself, the value you apply to it, and how it makes you feel.

In this short pitch, you’re going to speak about what matters about your business and why it matters.

When someone asks you the question, don’t be shy or self-effacing. Rather, smile, face them, and launch into your pitch because that is what the answer is: a pitch; your pitch.

Be ready.

Take your time and work on it until every word feels right, until it has the right emotional connection and demonstrates a value of which you’re proud.

Do it in a way and with words that encourage an emotional connection.

Be memorable.

Be proud as you answer.

What do you do?

Now, for some tips:

To get started, try moving past the function of what you do and focus on the outcome you create. Instead of just stating your job title or industry, describe the problem you solve or the joy you bring to your customers. Think about the best compliment a customer has ever given you, what did they say? That specific feedback often holds the key to your most powerful pitch. It turns a mechanical description into a story about connection and service.

Once you have your draft, don’t just keep it on paper, speak it out loud. Say it to yourself in the mirror, say it while you’re driving, and test it on friends who will give you honest feedback. You want to reach a point where the words roll off your tongue naturally, without sounding rehearsed or robotic. When you believe in what you are saying, your body language changes, your eyes light up, and that energy becomes infectious.

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newsXpress is a marketing group that supports small local independent retailers to thrive. Find out more at help@newsxpress.com.au.

Are you—a shopkeeper, an agent or a retailer? One of these is the best option to choose

If you own a retail business, it’s important to know what type of retailer you’re.

A shopkeeper keeps shop. They keep it clean and tidy and keep the doors open. They tend to follow expectations and don’t innovate.

An agent sells products on behalf of others, usually for a low-profit margin, essentially a commission. They don’t control product prices or marketing.

A retailer controls their business, what they sell, prices and marketing. They determine their own future.

How you see yourself can determine how you run your retail business.

A shopkeeper tends to do what is expected for their type of shop.

An agent will follow the requirements of the supplier.

A retailer is more likely to be an entrepreneur, looking to maximise returns for the business.

We know plenty of happy business owners in each of these three categories.

In our experience, shopkeepers and agents tend to be risk-averse, thinking hard work can grow their businesses within the parameters of expectations. Retailers tend to be more open to risk in order to grow the business and maximise their returns.

Knowing the type of retail business owner you’re can help define your business focus and set the boundaries of expectation.

Now, some tips:

To figure out where you currently sit, look at your to-do list for the week. Is it dominated by maintenance tasks, cleaning, restocking, and administration? That is shopkeeper work. Is it filled with processing orders for big suppliers where you have no say in the price? That is agent work. Or, are you spending time scouting new unique products, planning your own marketing campaigns, and calculating how to increase your margin? That is retailer work. To change your business results, you first have to change where you spend your energy.

The good news is that the label you have today is not permanent. You can choose to stop just opening the doors and hoping for the best. You can decide today to take back control from suppliers who treat you like a passive distribution channel. By shifting your thinking from ‘keeping shop’ to ‘running a retail business,’ you unlock the freedom to experiment, to make mistakes, and ultimately, to build an asset that works for you, rather than you just working for it.

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newsXpress is a marketing group that supports small local independent retailers to thrive. Find out more at help@newsxpress.com.au.

>Here are four must-do things on hiring and retaining good staff for for your retail business:

1. Make your business look and feel appealing.
2. Provide opportunities for development.
3. Pay above the standard, as the standard wage as set by regulators is average.
4. Be open.

Talk to anyone in business and they will tell you that hiring and retaining employees is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, challenges they face.

Retail is finding it tougher because working in retail is tough. Besides the obvious of being on your feet all day and how working in retail is seen by many, dealing with difficult customers is challenging. Abuse of staff in retail is common, and no matter how much support we provide in a shop, there are customers who are itching to take their anger out on someone.

There are ways we can make working in retail more appealing so as to attract and retain good people. Here are some of my thoughts on this:

• Hire people who want to work with you and help the business thrive. People working to make money will focus only on that. You need to try to find people looking beyond this week’s pay cheque. You need people who want to build something for themselves long term.
• Give your people power. Let them make decisions about the business and encourage them to be personally invested in the business, which helps develop their skills. The more their future is enhanced working in the business, the more they will love working there and contribute positively. Support them.
• Everyone working in your business is on your team. Nurture them. Train them. Support them. Have their backs. The more they experience this, the more they will do it for you. This support is especially key in retail, where customers may be abusive at the counter.
• Cut the mundane as much as possible. If there are mundane tasks in the business that could be eliminated with better processes, do it. The less mundane the work, the more people enjoy their jobs, and that helps them stay with you.
• Open the books. Sometimes, people look for work elsewhere because they think the business can afford to pay them more. By opening the books, you might be able to show enough for them to respect and appreciate what they are paid. Opening the books also offers the opportunity for them to think and act more like owners and to be more invested in the financial success of the business.
• Offer a pathway. As much as you’re able in your local retail business, offer people working in the business a forward pathway; that is, opportunities for them to personally advance.

This is not a complete list, of course. It’s offered to get you thinking about your situation.

The only topic I have not canvassed is pay. Of course, paying the standard is inadequate, as it’s the bar of minimum wage as regulated for the role, and plenty would say it’s a low bar. What you pay depends on your circumstances and, considering them, how you view your staff. If your staff is adequate, pay the award. If you value them more, pay them more, within your capacity, and consider what else you can offer, such as flexibility to their schedule.

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It’s easy to complain that finding and retaining employees is difficult. It’s hard to take steps to fix the problem/challenge for your business. Complaining achieves nothing. It’s the forward steps, no matter how small, that matter.

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newsXpress is a marketing group that supports small local independent retailers to thrive. Find out more at help@newsxpress.com.au.

For any small business retailer, the shop fit-out is one of the most significant capital expenditures you’ll face. It’s expensive, and the hard truth is that a reasonable return on that investment is rarely achieved in the world of local small business.

We often fall into the “monument” trap. We’ve seen many small business owners commission a shop fit they are immensely proud of: a beautiful, polished monument to themselves, one that simply doesn’t deliver the necessary financial return to the business.

We are reminded of a franchise business in our channel where they pushed a new franchisee into a $250K+ shopfit that did nothing for sales and was not paid off before the business closed. What a waste.

We must remember a fundamental misalignment of incentives: A shopfitter wants to profit from their work on the project. The retailer needs to profit from the space over many years. Their needs are not aligned.

We often think a shopfitter’s recommendations would be quite different if they were paid a commission on sales generated by the new fit-out over the next several years.

A Case for Frugality and Longevity

Years ago, I opened a shop in a major shopping centre. The lease required a substantial, expensive fit-out update five years in, at the renewal period.

We had that shop for 13 years and only closed it because the centre was being redeveloped. In all that time, the shop fit was never updated.

Not once.

Despite protests from the landlord, my sales continued to grow as the product mix evolved. This strong performance made it difficult for them to demand I incur what was clearly an unnecessary expense. The $250,000 we’d spent on that initial shop fit delivered 13 years of returns, far exceeding the five years I had originally expected.

The lesson is clear: A dynamic product mix and good sales will always trump a static, “perfect” fit-out.

How to Be Frugal and Build Character

Our advice is to be aggressively frugal with your shop fit.

Use readily accessible, free, or low-cost everyday items wherever possible. Only invest in purpose-built, custom fittings when there is absolutely no other option.

The benefits go far beyond cost savings. Regular furnishing items, “found objects,” and repurposed pieces bring a unique character to a shop. They reinforce your local connection and subtly show customers that you care about sustainability and the environment.

Instead of custom-milled shelving, consider these ideas:

• An old dining table in a fashion business, with chairs holding jackets and shirts “served” on plates, with a dress as the centrepiece.
• Old, rusted farming equipment used as a rustic display for locally made gifts.
• An old cast-iron bath filled to the brim with bath bombs, soaps, and lotions.
• A classic old school desk (complete with lift-up lid) for displaying stationery.
• Wooden chairs dotted around the shop, each hosting a small stack of books or a family of plush bears.
• A decades-old wooden workbench used to display modern, high-tech tools, creating a powerful contrast.
• A rack of old school lockers used as a quirky bookshelf.
• An old tool shed workbench repurposed to display gifts for men.

Warmth Wins Over Polish

While shoppers may occasionally comment positively on a beautiful, expensive shop fit, they are highly unlikely to purchase more because of it. The main exception is in high-end, luxury fashion, where customers are buying into an image built on overpriced brands.

For the rest of us, our product is the hero.

Be frugal. Create your retail space with items that, in and of themselves, add warmth, history, and character to your shop. That’s a return on investment you can’t get from a catalogue.

There was a time when you could walk down the main street and know exactly what was inside each shop. A chemist sold medicine, a jeweller sold rings, and a bookshop sold books.

Back in the day, they all did what you’d expect of the business name, and not much else.

Those days are gone. Today, the borders between retail channels are not just blurred—they’ve been completely erased.

The New Reality: Blurred Lines Mean New Opportunities

Think about your own shopping habits. The most successful modern retailers have already adapted:

• Chemists can also be high-end gift shops, lottery outlets, or jewellers.
• Garden centres might have the best coffee in town and an awesome range of homewares.
• Pet shops can be your go-to for calendars and greeting cards.
• Newsagents are thriving by selling homewares, books, coffee, and more.

Sell What You Can, Not Just What You “Should”

Retailers today need to see their businesses through a flexible lens, not one bound by the history of their “business type.”

I’ve seen this work time and again:

• A fishing bait and tackle business that successfully sells fiction books.
• A toy shop that brings in new shoppers with a curated line of adult fashion.
• A music instrument store that built a local following by selling locally-made soaps.

The lesson is simple: Sell what you can sell.

How to Test New Products in Your Retail Store: A 3-Step Guide to Smart Experimentation

This doesn’t mean you should abandon your core business. It means you should dedicate a small, managed part of your budget to finding new opportunities.

My advice is to become a smart experimenter.

1. Experiment: Always have a small pot of cash you can afford to invest in one new product category. This is your “test fund.”
2. Measure: Bring in the product. Track the results. Did it sell? Who bought it? Did it bring new shoppers into the store?
3. Adjust: Let the data—not your assumptions—guide your next decision. If it works, expand. If it fails, learn the lesson, clear the stock, and try a different experiment.

Your Final Takeaway: Find Your Own Boundaries

Your customers know more about what they might buy from you than you do. Give them the opportunity by offering products outside of what they (and you) might expect.

How far can you stray from your “type” of business? As far as what works.

Keep stepping further away while not ignoring the all-vital core of your business. My advice is to not be restricted by what you think your business is.

The key is to expand your product range in retail in a way that works for you.. You’ll likely find they are much wider than you ever imagined.