Gifts | newsXpress Blog

Elvis sighting at newsXpress Sarina

The team at newsXpress Sarina started an ‘ELVIS DAY’ tradition a few years ago by creating an in-store celebration on the 16th of August – the date of Elvis’ “disappearance” in 1977. They have a variety of Elvis related products on sale and went to the next big step this year by actually having the King in-store on the day.

They have promoted this event almost exclusively through their Facebook page which now has over 800 friends, and passing on hints to customers in store. The local paper, the Daily Mercury, will also be running a story about this fun event in their social pages, along with newsXpress preferred supplier, Gibson Unity featuring the event and products for sale in their upcoming newsletter.

Without doubt the highlight was owner, Mark Petersen in full Elvis garb and performing along to the ‘Around the clock’ Elvis hits through the store’s sound system all day. The response from customers has been outstanding and many were spied tapping their feet or singing along to the classics such as ‘Jailhouse Rock’, or ‘A little less conversation’. The team enthused by this outcome plan to make an even bigger event of the day next year, inviting particiaption from other lcoal businesses.

Hallmark recordable storybooks at Ocean Grove

newsXpress Ocean Grove (VIC) has the new Hallmark recordable storybooks at their main sales counter, showing off this popular new range. Bringing innovative products like these to Ocean Grove is getting newsXpress Ocean Grove known as a terrific place to shop for gifts. By placing the recordable storybooks at the counter, they are able to leverage card sales to also include a book as a gift.

The recordable storybooks are a line which newsXpress encouraged Hallmark to bring into Australia following our last Hallmark study tour overseas.

Goin fishin at newsXpress Knox

Part of the Father’s Day range at newsXpress Knox, Knox City Shopping Centre in Victoria, is this fishing themed range of caps, mugs and stubby holders from newsXpress preferred supplier TSK Giftware. Featured on one of the gift tables faciling into the mall, the display which has been up for one day only is already drawing good attention – you can see people walking past and then be drawn to the display.

It’s Father’s Day already at newsXpress Knox

newsXpress Knox went out early with Father’s Day gifts from newsXpress preferred suppliers and has had to order more stock thanks to excellent sales in the last week.

The early sales success has provided an excellent indication of which items from the newsXpress Father’s Day range will work well at our Knox corporate store.

Displaying on a specialist gift table at the front of the store and facinng into the Knox City mall, the Father’s Day gifts are attracting plenty of traffic to the business.

newsXpress Orange dominates in Gifts

Paul Blunden has developed an excellent gift department at his newsXpress Orange store. From the quality display in glass cabinets to special offers on the dance floor and elsewhere in the business, newsXpress Orange has a strong presence in the gift space.

The products in the photo are from a newsXpress preferred supplier – preferred suppliers offer newsXpress members preferential terms and, often, products.

Paul and the wonderful team at newsXpress Orange are among a small group of newsagents leading the newsagency channel in running a profitable and growing gift department in their store, leveraging traditional traffic.

New product range an instant hit at newsXpress Wetherill Park

newsXpress has brought on a large number of new preferred suppliers in the past three months to provide a wider range of products and opportunities for their members to add to their retail mix. One such supplier, Jacman Designs who produce named gifts & novelty products were initially treated with apprehension by newsXpress Wetherill Park.

However, Ginella and her team decided to trial them based on some previous success with newsXpress supported suppliers and installed a spinner late last week. In just over 7 days they had sold no less than 107 units at $7.99 each, an outstanding success in any measure of this result.

They now believe these are a huge hit and the sales figures certainly back this up, and encourage other newsXpress members to give them a try as they could work in almost all locations!

Mother’s Day at newsXpress Sun Valley

newsXpress Sun Valley have created a Mother’s Day destination in store using a four sided slatwall gondola. The main side features Hallmark’s range of Mother’s Day cards, including the new and wildly popular recordable greeting cards, while the front end contains perfcet gift ideas from suppliers such as Hallmark, Ernest Hillier, The Book Seat & hiPP.com.au.

The photo to the left illustrates the reverse side from the card display and features great product from newsXpress preferred suppliers including: Keyrings from Alexander Brands, KTwo range of DIY Binders also frm Alexander brands, Forever Friends, Gift Bags, Ribbons & Decorative Bows from Hallmark, Inspirational Plaques and Mugs from Artique, Photo Frames from Gibson Unity and Lako Digitla Photo Key rings available through LDC.

The last side of the display features seasonally relevant magazines, such as Women’s Weekly, Lovatt’s Big Crossword, Better Homes & Gardens and an assortment of AWW cookbooks.

newsXpress Members can order products featured and many more at great terms by visiting the newsXpress website and logging into the preferred supplier section.

Mother’s Day at newsXpress Leongatha

Mother’s Day cards, books and gifts are being promoted on the dance floor at newsXpress Loengatha (VIC). These are all part of the newsXpress Mother’s Day offer – a broad range of good margin gifts catering to the interests of mums of all ages and situations. The team at newsXpress Leongatha has created a wonderful Mother’s Day environment by framing the gifts with cards as they have done.

Easter at newsXpress Orange

Paul Blunden and the team at newsXpress Orange have called on their vast experience in the gift category to present a stylish Easter promotion “choc”full of fantastic gift items to complement the traditioanl range of sweets and other goodies.

The use of the newsXpress A1 posters as an event signpost and encompassing a range of Easter themed mobiles completes the story in this extremely pro-active store.

Expanding Top Gear opportunities

newsXpress has launched a package of Top Gear branded products at its members meetings over the last two weeks. From pens to clocks to USB sticks, the range is certain to appeal to the Top Gear enthusiast. We like the Top Gear range because it is a strong international brand – the Top Gear calendar was #3 this season in the UK. Brands are important to the newsXpress strategy and offer our stores an excellent point of difference from other newsagencies.

Access to the Top Gear package is available for newsXpress members.

newsXpress merchandise team at Melbourne Gift Fair

Several members of the newsXpress merchandise team have spent the last three days at the Melbourne Gift Fair looking at new product, meeting with suppliers and hosting members looking at gift opportunities at the Fair. A large range of products have been assessed by newsXpress on behalf of members.

The results of this considerable effort will be evident in offers coming out exclusively for newsXpress members over the next few months.

newsXpress is having considerable success in guiding its members into the gift space. Sales are showing that we are making good buying choices which are helping our members increase sales and deliver better margin balance to the business.

Melbourne Gift Fair support

newsXpress is hosting a tour of key suppliers at the Melbourne Gift Fair for newsXpress members. The tour will include newsXpress preferred suppliers as well as several other key suppliers of interest to newsXpress members looking to expand their gift offer. The tour taps into the considerable gift expertise among the newsXpress team.

newsXpress is also hosting evening drinks for newsXpress members attending the fair. This will be on Sunday evening at Crown Casino. Please contact newsXpress for details of this event.

Gift fairs present excellent opportunities

newsXpress is guiding its members in Brisbane and Sydney to visit with our preferred suppliers at gift trade shows this weekend. The REED Gift Fair at the Brisbane Exhibition Convention & Centre features several preferred suppliers as does the GHA Home & Giving Fair this weekend at the Sydney Showgrounds, Olympic Park.

With gifts a high growth area in newsXpress newsagencies, both fairs represent excellent opportunities for our members to grow this high margin feel-good department. We are grateful to our suppliers for the offers they will have available for our members.

newsXpress has a range of categories like gifts which are important to the evolution of the newsagency model. Like Rome, the newsagency of the future will not be built in a day. The key is to have a plan. Gifts, relevant and good margin gifts, are part of that.

Father’s Day offers launched

newsXpress has communicated a range of Father’s Day offers to its members including some excellent gift opportunities designed to work well with Father’s Day card sales. included in the range is, back by popular demand, the newsXpress Dad’s Nuts Bags! The bags will retail for $20. newsXpress will make a donation based on sales to a charity to be announced closer to the season.

Excellent Mother’s Day at newsXpress Watergardens

Our corporate store, newsXpress Watergardens, had an excellent Mother’s Day season. The hero was our Hallmark Cards range. The feature was the free Sony camera one of our lucky customers will win. Sales have been exceptional. They are driving excellent results with gifts.

We created our corporate store as a place we can play as a business. This continues to work well for us as we try new products. It also works in providing the Directors with personal feedback on newsXpress strategies and supplier relationships.

newsXpress Watergardens is 100% Hallmark. Our range of cards is something our customers often comment about, especially around Mother’s Day when our display is so strong.

Renee and the newsXpress Watergardens team have done the newsXpress team proud this Mother’s Day.

Alexander Brands joins with newsXpress

Respected gift, premium pen and social stationery supplier Alexander Brands has signed on as a preferred supplier with newsXpress. The Alexander Brands relationship brings and excellent range of gift and related stationery lines to the newsXpress offer under terms which are good for newsXpress members and good for the group. newsXpress will support the Alexander Brands range with merchandise guidance and training in pursuit of a mutually beneficial relationship for all involved. Brands covered inclide: Artex, Eagle Creek, Inoxcrom, Filofax, Jack + Miss Honey, Lantern Studios, Letts, LFX Designs and Montegrappa.

Evolving the gift offer in the newsagency

newsXpress has been evolving its gift offer for some time. We are using store data to guide ranging advice and we are using our national footprint of 168 locations to negotiate competitive supplier terms. This month, we take another step in our evolution by hosting a group visit to a key gift wholesaler. Thirty members in one state will visit, preview product and organise a group buy. For half of the members involved this will be their first step into gifts outside of seasons such as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.

newsXpress is committed to helping its members evolve their gift offer. We do this by helping to analyse the business and understand local factors which need to be considered in assessing the gift range.

Michelle Caia is our gift specialist on our merchandise team. Her experience is proving invaluable to members stepping into this category for the first time. It provides newsXpress with an excellent point of difference and has delivered members with good success stories.

The lucky charms which enhance newsagency sales

newsXpress members are enjoying success with the lucky charms in the photo and others of similar style. These are an ideal add on for a card purchase, a good way to extend the shopping basket. They are especiaally popular with women. newsXpress regularly works with suppliers on a range of basket extension opportunities. Products like the lucky charms are easy to try and locate within a busy shop. What can make them work well is the retail expertise newsXpress offers from being able to draw on the success of 160 stores.

Mother’s Day offers for newsXpress members

newsXpress last week advised member newsagents of Mother’s Day offers from seven suppliers. Our merchandise team has negotiated a range of offers which will help our members have well-priced gifts and associated lines with which to celebrate Mother’s Day this year. This is another season through which we can expand the gift offer.

In developing our seasonal plans, our merchandise experts meet with many suppliers, attend Gift Fairs and talk with newsXpress members strong in the gift space. This information is considered and the final selection developed through the year.

By releasing Mother’s Day in mid-March, our members are able to plan and have stock available immediately after Easter.

Working the Sydney Gift Fair

newsXpress members and staff got together last night at the Watershed Hotel for drinks and a debrief about the first two days of the Reed Sydney Gift Fair. This was one of several events in Sydney this week scheduled to coincide with the fair. We recognise that time away from the shop is challenging to achieve so we have sought to make the most of this and help our members leverage more beneficial outcomes.

At the drinks last night members from four states got to trade stories. It is this type of networking which is a key value of newsXpress. Beyond talking about products seen at the Fair, there was good discussion about business.

newsXpress members are like family with each other – last night was like a good family catch up.