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

Moving Sydney Market Fair

We have relocated our Sydney Market Fair on Thursday of this week to accomodate additional suppliers and members attending.  The new location is the Royal Randwick Racecourse.  This will help our expanded preferred supplier group and our growing member community to have the space necessary for a very successful Market Fair.  If Melbourne is anything to go by, Sydney will be an excellent event!

Newsagencies for sale

If you are looking to buy a newsagency then newsXpress may be able to connect you with an opportunity.  We are regularly approached by landlords and other parties from time to time with opportunities for new newsagency locations.  We are also aware of newsagency businesses for sale which may suit a newsXpress operation.  If you are looking to buy a newsagency, contact newsXpress and we can share details of opportunities with you.

Getting the shopfit right

nx_shopfit.JPGnewsXpress representatives and shopfitters met in Melboure today to workshop a national strategy on flexible corporate image shopfits for newsXpress outlets.  newsXpress invited all known newsagency shopfitters from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland to participate in this newsXpress exclusive initiative.

Over the course of three hours, standards were discussed, new shopfit and layout ideas were explored and what the newsagency of the future may look like was considered.

All pariticpants agreed that the meeting was ground breaking and unlocked opportunities for innovation by newsXpress and the participating shopfitters.

In the photo is Trent Shields, newsXpress National Marketing Manager, Adrian Rowe, Rowe Shopfitters, Jared Leahy, Zone Design, Graham Randall, newsXpress Director and Ben Kay, newsXpress General Manager and Tony Merchant, Interfit.

The newsXpress difference on show

nx_vic_mfair_june09.JPGThe next round of newsXpress member meetings kicked off today in Melbourne.  The meeting featured presentations from six suppliers outlining newsXpress offers and member opportunities.  The meeting was followed by a Market Fair at which 45 suppliers were represented – all offering excellent deals, many exclusive to newsXpress.  Our members got to do some excellent buying, engage in great networking and do all of this at the fabulous Flemington racecourse.

The Market Fair today was an excellent example of the newsXpress difference in action.

Comparing this year’s Fair with our 2008 event shows how far newsXpress has come in the last year.  Yes, we are very proud for our members, our team and our suppliers.

Promoting State of Origin at Eli Waters

eli_waters_nx.jpgThe team at newsXpress Eli Waters embraced the Rugby State of Origin with this brilliant in-store display.  They used the newsXpress provided marketing collateral as a background and built a stunning display based on team colours.  The result is excellent in-store theatre which connects the business with local allegiances.

Everyone involved at Eli Waters ought to be very proud of the display.

newsXpress provides its members with access to a range of marketing collateral for all sorts of events and seasons.  Material like our Rugby World Cup posters is provided to members without cost.  There is no obligation for members to promote non-core seasons – these are decisions best made at the local level.

Local marketing support from newsXpress

newsXpress provides excellent local marketing support for members keen to use local opportunities to grow their businesses.

Our skilled back office marketing and support teams help many members leverage these opportunities.  From local events to sponsorship opportunities to working with local newspapers on advertising, the newsXpress team can help newsagents get the most from each and ensure that their brand is professionally represented.

newsXpress does not charge a fee for this service – we welcome working with members to make the most from each opportunity available.

Our Business Development Managers, who visit our members regularly as part of the newsXpress service (for not extra cost), are able to help members access our local marketing support services.

Excellent supplier support for newsagent market fairs

newsXpress has announced the long list of suppliers participating in the newsXpress newsagent Market Fairs which start this week.  We have had to move location in one state because we could not accommodate the suppliers keen to be part of this important annual event.

A newsXpress exclusive, the Market Fairs provide an excellent opportunity for newsXpress members and suppliers to discuss exclusive and valuable deals, many of which are only available at the Market Fairs.

The breadth of range of products and the excellent value deals demonstrate another benefit of newsXpress membership. We are helping members expand their ranges and to do so in a smart and financially rewarding way.

Our mission is to make newsXpress newsagencies the most successful and sought after newsagencies in Australia.

The Market Fairs which start this week are proof of our commitment to pursuing this mission and helping our members across all categories of their businesses.

Our first Market Fair is Thursday June 11 in Melbourne.  42 newsagency suppliers are participating.

Helping newsagencies move old stock

nx_stocktake_sale_c.jpgGo into any newsagency and you will find stock which has not worked as expected.  The Stocktake Sale created by newsXpress provides our members with excellent collateral and in-store strategies for moving this unwanted stock out of the business.  By not being specific about the product included in the Stocktake Sale, we are making it easy for our members to make choices appropriate to the needs of their businesses.  The marketing collateral is bold and enticing, designed to bring customers in looking for deals and to reinforce that at newsXpress you can expect to see some great deals.

The newsXpress back office team has invested considerable time developing the Stocktake Sale strategy.  Being the first of this type in the newsagency channel we had nothing with which to compare.  We looked at the stocktake strategies of the majors and those used by retail channels overseas.  Finally, we came back to the needs of our members and their desire to have a means through which they can move slow moving stock in preparation for new ranges.

The newsXpress Stocktake Sale is an exciting opportunity for newsXpress and newsXpress members to embrace and show off the newsXpress difference.

Great deals at newsXpress Market Fairs

Staring next week, newsXpress is hosting Market Fairs at which suppliers will offer great specials, receive briefings on a selection of products and discuss new opportunities exclusive to newsXpress. Here are the details:

Melbourne 11 Jun 2009, 09:30AM, Flemington The Event Centre – Panorama Room 448 Epsom Road, Flemington

Perth 16 Jun 2009, 09:30AM, Citigate Perth Hotel, 707 Wellington Street, Perth

Sydney 18 Jun 2009, 09:30AM, The Lakes Golf Club, Cnr King Street and Vernon Avenue, Eastlakes

Brisbane 23 Jun 2009, 09:30AM, Brisbane Technology Park, 1 Clunies Ross Court, Eight Mile Plains

Bookings are available online at our website.  Access is free but bookings are essential.

Driving better goodwill in newsagencies

nx_flag.jpgGoodwill is important when a newsagents decides to sell their business as it represents the value of the business after the current owner leaves. Belonging to a marketing group like newsXpress can add to the goodwill of a newsagency.

Business goodwill is that portion of a business’ value associated with the business itself. It includes things like footprint, brand recognition, supplier relationships, training, support, marketing, market share etc. Business goodwill is transferable from one owner to another, it is sellable.

The other part of Goodwill is personal goodwill this is the portion of a business’ value associated directly with its owner. Things like the owner’s name, reputation, contacts, skills, and abilities. For many Newsagencies the majority of their value is tied up in personal goodwill. Unfortunately, personal goodwill only has value to the current owner, and is therefore difficult to sell.

A prospective newsagency buyer will usually look for a newsagency with a higher business goodwill. From the buyer’s perspective, a newsagency with more business goodwill is worth more of a premium price as the business is more likely to remain profitable once it has changed hands.

newsXpress provides its members with strategies, product offers and regular in-business support to help build business goodwill and thereby make the business more value. This is a key aspect of our mission and a key point of difference of newsXpress.

What does newsXpress stand for?

The most common question newsagents of a marketing group they are considering joining is what does the group stand for, what is its mission?  here at newsXpress, the answer is clear:

Our mission is to make newsXpress newsagencies the most successful and sought after newsagencies in Australia.

Simple.  To the point.  This mission defines every decision we make, every supplier relationship we negotiate, every marketing startegy we develop and every contact we have.  It goes to the heart of the newsXpress difference.

We back our mission by not locking members into long contracts.

Adding value to the STOCKTAKE SALE

nx_coupon_cleaning.jpgThe 2009 STOCKTAKE SALE which newsXpress has developed exclusively for newsagent members features many elements designed to help shift stock and reward customers for their support. This campaign is another from newsXpress which positions our retail network competitively against national retailers.

One such small element in the STOCKTAKE SALE brochure is a coupon offering a discount on computer cleaning products. It is rewards like this which are used by smart retailers to derive the maximum value from marketing collateral. The STOCKTAKE SALE brochure is multi-layered and aimed to have broad appeal. The cleaning coupon helps us reach into the home office space, other aspects of the brochure help us elsewhere. We will publish the brochure here once it is in the marketplace.

newsXpress members prefer certain suppliers

newsXpress has noticed increased attention from some non-referred suppliers on newsXpress stores in the lead up to our Market Fairs in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth in June.  These suppliers appear to be trying to get orders in before the exclusive deals from our preferred suppliers which will be on show at the Market Fairs.  newsXpress has asked its members to hold the line, wait for the Market Fairs and have the resources available to partner with preferred suppliers.

We have also caught out some suppliers claiming newsXpress preferred supplier status when they do not have this.  Such a false claim will only hurt their business.

newsXpress is a proud energetic retail channel.  It is natural suppliers what to be part of what we are doing.  We work hard to build balance and equity for our members, suppliers and ourselves.  Our preferred supplier program drives this.

Just In bookmarks – another newsXpress difference

nx_just_in_fb.JPGThe Just In bookmarks from newsXpress are another point of difference we deliver to our members to help promote newsXpress newsagencies as the magazine experts.  The bookmarks are placed on monthly magazines which are just in – to draw attention to new titles.  It is attention to detail like this which separates newsXpress from other newsagencies.  newsXpress provides the bookmarks to members for no cost.

The just in magazine bookmarks are part a broader and considered strategy developed by newsXpress to use consumer touchpoints in-store to build the shopping basket.

With excellent traffic in newsagencies, the opportunities for using the store itself to achieve this are excellent.  The keys we have discovered are: consistency, a professional approach and adding value.  The magazine just in bookmark ticks each of these boxes.

2009 STOCKTAKE SALE

nx_stocktake_cover.jpgnewsXpress has pushed the button on producing the brochures, posters and other collateral to support the 2009 STOCKTAKE SALE.  This sale, exclusive to newsXpress, is an excellent opportunity for our stores to quit items and save the cost of counting stock.  Talking with our members, there will be some excellent bargains on offer.  Most important will be the in-store excitement the SALE and the supporting collateral generate.  We will announce details here over the next few days of the various offers and supporting strategies which will feature in our STOCKTAKE SALE.