Author: mark

I am a Director of newsXpress, a marketing group for newsagents keen for a bright future. You can reach me on +61 418 321 338 or mark[at]towersystems.com.au

Australian newsagents have a bright future thanks to newsXpress

newsXpress helps newsagents transition their businesses to be relevant, appealing and sought out.

Our in-store and online strategies help newsagents run businesses that appeal across age groups and different special interests.

We help newsagents move from the old newsagent model to something enjoyable for the retailer and appealing for local shoppers and findable by shoppers elsewhere.

What we do for each newsXpress member depends on their situation and what they want from us. Every business is different. Every business owner has different needs.

While all newsXpress members have access to our preferred suppliers, network wide connected websites, seasonal collateral, digital assets and networking opportunities, it is in our personal, business-specific, help where value can be found for plenty of newsXpress members.

We assess your business data as we prefer to offer advice based on evidence. Often when we do this we discover opportunities missed, low hanging fruit to be picked.

The approach is whole of business, considering location, product mix, financial resources, people resources and what you want and need from the business.

While we have members who prefer to do this work for themselves, we have others who appreciate a more engaged approach.

How much or little newsXpress members and our head office team members work together is entirely under control of each newsXpress member.

Nothing is required or mandatory.

When it comes to in-store retail though, we help you with the everyday:

  • Buy price. We help you buy better.
  • Stock turn. We help you sell products sooner.
  • We help you reduce the cost of theft.
  • We help you cast your business differently, to help improve shopper stickiness.
  • New traffic. We help you attract people not shopping with you today.
  • We help you tame them.

We help you make things happen by being actively engaged.

newsXpress is not a franchise. We have a simple low monthly fee. We make it easy for members to engage with what they want and when they want. From the personal through to the group-wide, newsXpress is here to help its member businesses thrive in a changing economy, to be relevant locally and outside the local area.

We are grateful to the many newsagents who have trusted us to work with them and their businesses.

At newsXpress, we believe small business retailers can make their own success

We started selling mint coins six years ago in our shops. Sales have been excellent. The coins have attracted many new and loyal shoppers.

A challenge has been getting enough stock.

A few months ago we committed to having an exclusive coin made for us. Fact or Fiction: Patchwork Platypus 2024 Niue $5 2oz Silver Proof Coin has been a hit.

The $259.00 price point has not been an issue.

A key driver of success for this coin has been the low mintage of 300. We have sole plenty in Australia as well as overseas.

It’s not easy getting a coin designed, approved by an issuing country and made.

Minted from two ounce of 99.9% pure silver, this cool collectable features the Platypus reimagined just as the original British scientists thought it – a sewn together patchwork of a creature, as if created by some Aussie Bush Frankenstein in a castle atop a cliff.

By making this made for us, we have the product exclusively, we control the price and therefore control our margin.

We have a few shops in the group, enough for this limited quantity coin to be a success.

What’s especially interesting about this coin is that while it appeals to coin collectors, it also appeals as a gift in plenty of situations.

We’re now onto our next coin and thinking ahead to more.

We’re selling our platypus coin. in-store as well as online: https://mintcoinshop.com.au/products/2024-niue-5-fact-or-fiction-patchwork-platypus-2oz-silver-proof-coin

I think we will see more of this I engages small business retail – having products made, bypassing traditional wholesale. Heck, product manufacturers have gone direct to consumer so why not us.

Choose the Valentine’s Day card that feels right

Giving a card to the one you love is sharing feelings. You want to pick up different cards, feel them, read them, and then you can choose the card that feels right to you.

Doing this, visiting your local newsagency, to find the card that feels right to you says more than a couple of clicks online that all too often send money offshore. Supporting local retailers shows you love local and appreciate local.

Feeling the card you choose matters because there is a big difference between the way cards feel. From the card stock itself (how thick it is, whether it is a smooth finish or rougher, whether it is made from recycled material) to the type of printing to any treatments that enhance the card, feeling different cards can certainly help with your card purchase selection. This is why shopping your local newsagency for a Valentine’s Day card really does matter.

Another choice you may make when buying a Valentine’s Day card is where it is made. Turn the card over and see where it is printed. Some websites make it very hard to do this, to see the back of the card.

If you want to choose a Valentine’s Day card that feels right to you, shopping local, especially at your local newsagency, gives you the best opportunity to compare feelings, to find the Valentine’s Day card that feels right to you.

Newsagency suppliers take note: Powerball has jackpotted to $200M

Newsagents selling lottery products have a big week ahead of them. Time will be tight. Supplier reps should consider this when visiting, especially unannounced.

Smart newsagents will work hard to capture Powerball sales earlier, from today on. It’s a race to get the purchases from those who are engaging with Powerball because of the record size of the jackpot.