newsXpress stores across the country finalised arrangements last week for the next HOT Ink! promotion, ordering flyers and arranging stock. HOT Ink! is an excellent traffic driver, achieving double digit growth on a same store basis across the country.
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
Halloween art entries rolling in at newsXpress Whittlesea
In the front window and hangling above the counter at newsXpress Whittlesea is an excellent selection of entries in the Halloween colouring competition. Achieving this many entries so early shows the value of a strong local community connection for newsXpress Whittlesea. Well done to everyone involved! The store has an excellent display of Halloween products as well as some events planned to drive further interest in the season.
Halloween a hit at newsXpress Knox
On Saturday, with the AFL Grand Final in full swing, the team at newsXpress Knox took down the behind the counter Grand Final display and replaced with this terrific Halloween display. While Halloween is promoted on the dance floor, this display is designed to drive counter impulse purchases. The same approach hs worked a treat for partworks and the AFL Grand Final last week.
With the Grand Final a draw the Halloween display has been taken down and our impulse purchase display for the Grand Final put back up.
Grand Final celebrations at Head Office
Here are some of the newsXpress Head Office team in their AFL team colours at the pre Grand Final lunch on Friday. Feasting on party pies and frankfurts we all had a bit of fun, especially at the expense of Collingwood fans. Michelle Caia proved to be the star of the day by tipping that the Grand Final would end in a draw.
newsXpress and Hallmark innovation for Halloween
newsagency marketing group newsXpress is exclusively offering a Halloween voice changer sourced through Hallmark in the United States. The voice changer offers a range of voices which are certain to add to fun this Halloween. What makes this product more exciting is the innovative pricing. The voice changer is priced at $14.95. Customers buying three Hallmark cards can buy the voice changer for just $9.95.
Many newsXpress stores have the voice changer as a centrepiece of the Halloween display because it is an exclusive to newsXpress product.
Early indications are that Halloween 2010 will be bigger and better than Halloween 2009.
Halloween colouring competition from newsXpress
newsXpress last week provided all stores in the group with details and materials for local Halloween colouring competitions.
Designed to help build community and local group engagement in this fun season, newsXpress stores are already reporting strong interest with some entries already received.
The colouring competition is part of a range of engagement opportunities for newsXpress members to drive a great halloween season.
Product deals pay off for newsXpress members
newsXpress is demonstrating the financial value of well sourced innovative product with the range of reusable drink bottles which we started promoting earlier this year. newsXpress Ocean Grove, for example, has reordered this range six times since following the newsXpress advice just a few months ago. How great is that! Great impulse business, extending the shopping basket and demonstrating that newsXpress Ocean grove is not your average newsagency.
Product deals are one thing, sourcing products which sell well is another.
This is another newsXpress success story.
Great innovation at newsXpress Deception Bay
The placement of the innovative Hallmark recordable Storybook range in with magazines by the team at newsXpress Deception Bay is sheer genius.
What a great way to show off this innovative product from Hallmark to more customers!
Off location displays, placing a product outside of the usual space for its category, is a tactic newsXpress encourages for its members.
The placement by newsXpress Deception Bay in their magazine fixturing will get plenty of customers browsing the Hallmark storybooks and browsing leads to buying.
Wedding display at newsXpress Gatton
Renae from newsXpress Gatton put together this terrific display of wedding related products, combining gifts, wrap, magazines and wedding accessories. The display is an excellent example of good visual merchandising in a high traffic location and promoting products from a range of categories.
In addition to driving sales, the display brings a warmth to the store which is not obvious in many more traditional newsagencies.
Congratulations Renae on such a terrific display.
Graduation gifts at Wetherill Park
The display of graduation gifts at newsXpress Wetherill Park is an excellent example of attractive, engaged and shopper friendly visual merchandising. Situated in a high traffic location on the dance floor, the display will drive graduation gift and greeting card sales. The sign congratulating Year 12 students is a nice touch and will attract students buying gifts for each other.
The team at newsXpress Wetherill Park does the newsXpress brand proud.
Tom Hopkins coaches at newsXpress Noosa Heads
World renowned business guru Tom Hopkins has delivered a two hour business coaching session to the team at newsXpress Noosa Heads. Tom had worked previously with Ross and Graeme Marlow and it was through a friendship forged decades ago that the opportunity for the coaching session emerged. The team at newsXpress Noosa Heads embraced the opportunity and has some excellent fresh skills as a result.
The Sunshine Coast Daily has more on this story.
Halloween takes off at newsXpress Knox
Halloween has been out at newsXpress Knox since late last week and sales are going very well. from trick or treat baskets to witches hats to scary face masks, the shoppers at Knox City are enjoying having a store which embraces the Halloween season. The Halloween display faces into the mall as a key crowd puller for the store.
Promoting Halloween at Riverlink QLD
newsXpress Riverlink started promoting Halloween last week with this promotional window display in advance of stock going sale over the next week.
A centrepiece in the window is a large spider which was provided by one of the newsXpress preferred suppliers for just this type of high profile display.
NewsXpress Riverlink customers are excited, and scared (in a good way), for this year’s Halloween season.
Gift cards a hit at newsXpress Beechworth
newsXpress Beechworth is reporting tremendous success with the Blackhawk gift card range. At Father’s Day and other seasons the gift cards are a popular add-on to a greeting card purchase. Gift card customers are also adding greeting cards to their purchase. This is a nice win win for newsXpress Beechworth and other stores carrying the popular line.
Tracey from newsXpress Beechworth explained said they are very happy to have these gift cards as they know the post office next door have been selling helps of them.
newsXpress is focussed on a range of basket building strategies for newsXpress members to drive shopper efficiency. This is working at newsXpress Beechworth.
newsXpress Browns Plains features in online story
Jade Bunting has created and published a wonderful story about newsXpress Browns Plains and Terry Augustine as part of a series about Park Ridge State High School.
newsXpress Castle Towers on TV
It was good to see newsXpress Castle Towers on the 7PM Project on Network Ten tonight in a story about the OzLotto $20 million win.
AFL Grand Final Syndicate at newsXpress Eli Waters
Collingwood tragic Allan Wickham has kicked off AFL Grand Final Week with two house lottery syndicates at newsXpress Eli Waters promoting the AFL Grand Finalists – Collingwood and St Kilda.
This is an excellent initiative which is certain to drive lottery sales as well as customer engagement around the topic of the Grand Final.
newsXpress members understand the value of theatre in retail and sporting Grand Finals present an excellent opportunity to leverage this.
newsXpress officially prefers St Kilda because their team colours are the newsXpress colours. We are considering making supporting St Kilda a mandatory requirement of newsXpress members.
Newsagent conference attracts 118 newsagents
The travelling one-day national newsagent conference hosted by newsXpress earlier this month attracted in excess over 100 newsagents across several locations.
The feedback from attendees on content, supplier deals and networking with others has been excellent.
The overwhelming feedback from those attending was that they prefer this type of one-day event closer to their home location than a longer national event which requires considerably more time out of the business.
We hope to have an announcement later this week for those unable to attend the one-day conference.
Great calendar range at newsXpress Sunbury
newsXpress Sunbury Square is already enjoying terrific success with their 2011 calendar range. As one of the owners, Brendan Mason, commented last week: This is about 2/3 of our brown trout range. They were selling as we put them out and are attracting a lot of attention. A comprehensive range of dog and cat breeds works for us each year. Kudos to everyone at newsXpress Sunbury Square in creating such a strong statement around the 2011 calendar offer.
newsXpress identified calendars as a key category right when the newsagency marketing group started. Smart members actively engage with the category from around now until well into the New Year. We help members make the most of the category with buying guidance, exclusive terms and in-store marketing support.
Slow cooking at newsXpress Streaky Bay
The two dishes cooking in-store at newsXpress Streaky Bay (SA) gave the shop a warm and comforting smell and helped sell more copies of the Slow Cooker and other cookbooks from the ACP range. The display led to good impulse purchases as well as providing Sue and the famile with dinner that night!
One additional book on the display was The Aussie dumb a&$e cook book, a cookbook aimed at blokes. newsXpress Streaky Bay has sold 75 of these at $24.95.