newsXpress members are reporting excellent sales already of the EXCLUSIVE Valentine’s Beanie Boo product and we are still two months away from Valentine’s Day. Such good sales so far in advance of the season has some newsXpress members ordering additional stock.
EXCLUSIVE lines like this help newsXpress members better connect with collectors and reinforce their businesses as the go to locations for plush. It also helps drive margin dollars.
newsXpress has published another training video in the series on how to create new high-margin products for sale in-store. The video offers training on Christmas products but is useful for all major seasons. The video was published in advance of another live training session on creating the products and answering questions.
A newsXpress promotion on Facebook (and Twitter) of Family Circle magazine and our retail network as the go-to retailers for the title has been seen by more than 62,000 facebook users.
newsXpress is running facebook campaigns as part of its out-of-store marketing of key products and our retail network. This activity is all about brand awareness for us and the products we are promoting such as Family Circle.
The Facebook posts also drive engagement with the newsXpress website as consumers ask us more questions as a result. Watch for more of these campaigns in 2014 as we reach out further.
A newsXpress promotion of the Men’s Health Summer Training Guide 2014 has been a hit on facebook with the post being viewed more than 35,000 times. This is terrific engagement for the magazine title and for newsXpress – the only retail channel promoted in the facebook post.
This post is part of a series by newsXpress promoting Pacific Magazines titles outside newsXpress businesses to drive traffic to our stores and raise awareness of the titles and our businesses together.
The post has also boosted likes for the newsXpress Facebook page and likes for the pages of members reposting our post.
On Friday in Melbourne we hosted more than 50 newsXpress preferred suppliers to a two-hour briefing on newsXpress, what we stand for and what our members look for in preferred supplier relationships.
We outlined our plans for 2014 and opportunities for their support of newsXpress members businesses.
Following the session several suppliers approached us with new opportunities for exclusive engagement. We’ll share more on that soon … very exciting.
We will share an overview of the newsXpress supplier forum content with members at our first round of member meetings in 2014. Watch for those dates soon.
We were thrilled that suppliers flew interstate to be at the session yesterday. We will be hosting one in Sydney early in 2014.
This session yesterday is an important point of difference for newsXpress. That’s what suppliers attending told us. We’re thrilled to have had the opportunity – especially at such a busy time of the year.
The wooden Christmas decorations from newsXpress preferred supplier Jasnor are selling well in our businesses. They are working especially well at the front of the store, on the leas line. Customers are commenting that they love that they are made from wood and look handmade. Beautifully and carefully packaged these items are being bought by people for themselves and as gifts for friends and neighbours.
newsXpress members are loving the EXCLUSIVE to newsXpress Ty Beanie Boos reindeer. It’s selling out across the country. Collectors are thrilled to have access to this exclusive line. newsXpress members are even more thrilled to be the only retailers with this line.
This exclusive reindeer is one of several exclusive Ty branded products newsXpress has offered and is offering its members through our preferred supplier relationship. This is an enduring and valuable relationship for members and for us.
A year ago newsXpress launched the concept of a plush wall to its members (and the newsagency channel), showing how to dramatically grow plush sales.
Some newsXpress stores have gone from $1,000 a year in plush to $25,000 in their first year. Others have topped $80,000 this year in plush sales.
The success of the plush wall is a result of careful planning, deep research, wonderful supplier support and relentless in-store energy. This is not something that can be copied. It takes training and support from newsXpress to make it a success.
The photo shows the plush wall at our Westfield Southland store in Melbourne. Here we are competing with Kennys Cardiology, Wild, gift shops and plenty of majors in the plush space. We are the destination store for plush in this vast shopping centre.
newsXpress last week shared details of special offers from several of our newsXpress preferred suppliers who are offering access to heavily discounted excess Christmas stock. These special deals make available some excellent savings for newsXpress members. In some cases we had access to deals exclusively so newsXpress members could get in early and save more than others buying from the supplier.
This is what being part of a proactive buying coup is all about – accessing deals others don’t hear about as well as being given information and context that helps you make more many than others who don’t have access to the same insights.
newsXpress members have had access to an excellent range of unique Christmas chocolate and candy items that includes these three delicious Christmas-themed chocolate treats. This broad and appealing range of christmas themed chocolate treats is a unique offer for newsXpress members as it is outside the usual that shoppers will find in a newsagency. The products are not priced and not widely available – this enables them to carry a healthy gross profit and to pitch a point of difference.
newsXpress offers access to an excellent mix of preferred suppliers from whom our members can source an excellent product range and grow profit point of difference.
This poster was released to newsXpress members through the week for in-store and front window promotion of the business as a BACK TO SCHOOL SPECIALIST as part of a range of support of newsXpress members in the back to school season. In some locations back to school orders are well under way while in others the real work will start in the new year.
newsXpress is supporting members with artwork like this created in a collaborative way and distributed through a private newsXpress social media platform for members to download and use.
In addition to supporting member engagement with national back to school campaigns aligned with key suppliers, newsXpress also supports local store / local community engagement with the back to school opportunity.
newsXpress retail locations right across Australia are reporting excellent growth in sales of plush products. We are particularly seeing excellent sales of plush from Big Balloon, Korimco, Jasnor with our Big Balloon sales leading the pack. Indeed Peppa Pig plush from Big Balloon is the range of the year based only newsXpress members.
The results we are seeing achieved in newsXpress locations are excellent, leading the newsagency channel. This success owes plenty to the work of our preferred suppliers and of our merchandise and RDM teams within newsXpress.
newsXpress members with free Hallmark Alliance Program membership are giving away the Hallmark branded Date Book 2014. This wonderful gift is something newsXpress members can give to their especially loyal shoppers to help encourage their loyalty for 2014. It is part of a package of benefits that come with free Hallmark Alliance Program membership for newsXpress members – designed to drive sales in-store and traffic. This free date book is a nice gift for shoppers at Christmas time.
newsXpress members are encouraged to display Hallmark single Christmas cards and packaging on the shop floor without removing any other product from regular card fixturing.
The photo shows the single Christmas cards from newsXpress watergardens in Victoria. the cards are on seasonal fixturing used for major seasons. This means no every day card ranges are removed to enable these Christmas cards to be put on show. This helps the store maintain card sales of every day cards all through Christmas.
the pavement of Christmas packaging directly above the cards makes for an impactful display and this is reflected in excellent sales.
All newsXpress members had access to the excellent floor display unit from Pacific Magazines for promoting all their Christmas-themed titles. Many of our retail locations are making the most of the unit – moving it as the season evolves.
The photo shows placement at newsXpress Watergardens in Victoria. The unit is three metres inside the business, at the main counter. This is the latest location – the stand is moved regularly. And it is working a treat, driving excellent sales for the business.
newsXpress members are encouraged to use this stand only for Pacific magazines titles – the titles listed on the outside of the stand itself.
Pacific Magazines through their nexus newsagency marketing and support program and newsXpress recently partnered to promote the latest HOT ink! newsXpress ink campaign and our excellent range of Hallmark boxed christmas cards.
developing a newsXpress specific email sent to an extensive email database, this campaign is another in a string of excellent nexus driven campaigns designed to reinforce brand awareness and to drive in-store traffic.
The success of the nexus sent emails to consumers is excellent with plenty of newsXpress members having success stories of local store campaigns that have worked for them.
The team at Pacific Magazines worked hard to incorporate HOT ink! collateral inso that it connected with the hundreds of thousands of catalogues delivered to homes near newsXpress stores. The email also contained ak! catalogue.
newsXpress and its member appreciate this practical support from Pacific Magazines – nationally and at the store level.
newsXpress members promoting the latest issue of Women’s Health magazine are achieving extra sales. The cover story: Resize your thighs has hit in time for people preparing for summer.
We know from sales data that Women’s Health responds well to in-store promotion – hence our recommendation to newsXpress members that the promote this issue of the magazine on the highest-profile magazine display end in-store.
This is an excellent title for promoting as our shops get busier through Christmas trading.
newsXpress appreciated the opportunity to network with many in the newsagency channel at the Lovatts Christmas drinks function in Sydney this week. newsXpress was the only newsagency marketing or franchise group represented at the event.
In the photo we have Warrick Hosking from newsXpress Gympie with newsXpress directors Mark Fletcher and Graham Randall.
newsXpress supports the magazine category for the valuable traffic it generates. beyond the sales of magazines, sales data is leveraged by our group to drive sales of other product categories.
Pacific Magazines is a strategic partner, working with newsXpress to maximise sales of their titles in our retail network.
newsXpress has announced details of the first HOT ink! promotion for 2014. Included with this promotion is a shopper prize opportunity per store plus a shopper gift voucher for spends over a set basket value. These promotions plush some very compelling HOT ink! pricing will kick off 2014 excitingly for newsXpress.
newsXpress members are jumping at the opportunity to be part of something great here.
Participation is not mandatory. newsXpress encourages its members to GROW YOUR OWN WAY. Members love that they have control.
newsXpress will be hosting the first of two national conferences in 2014 to coincide with the national Toy fair in Melbourne. In addition to the one day business conference we will host a supplier buying day where we visit three selected suppliers in Melbourne for group buying as well as a Toy Fair buying tour.
As with all recent national conferences newsXpress will be putting funding on the table to financially support members travelling from interstate to attend the conference. This funding helps members to attend who might otherwise not be able to do so.