newsagency marketing | newsXpress Blog

newsXpress Glendale shines with gifts

Phil and Wendy Banks and the entire team at newsXpress Glendale have created an excellent business around gifts. At Christmas and all the year through they have grown from nothing in this department to a thriving business in two years. newsXpress is proud that they have achieved this as a newsXpress store. Their success is driving many of our newsXpress members to more completely embrace the gift offer. What Phil and Wendy have achieved in what used to be a traditional newsagency is nothing short of amazing.

newsXpress has a range of exclusive supplier relationships in the gift area. We back this with gift expertise in our National Merchandise team and through seasonal gift promotions. All of our gift offers are optional for newsXpress members.

Face to face with newsXpress members

Our team of Business Development Managers are travelling the country these next few weeks, completing our last round on in-store visits for 2008 with newsXpress members, working on group strategies and delivering training and other support to help our member businesses experience a great Christmas.

Over the next two weeks members of our team will visit with newsXpress newsagents in many cities including Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Mackay, Darwin, Devonport, Burnie, Bairnsdale, Yarram, Lismore, Armidale, Tamworth, Singleton – and these are just some of the regional centres we will cover.

These visits are a considerable point of difference for newsXpress and for our members. Newsagency suppliers like that we have a team which conducts these in-store visits. Suppliers tell us they are tired of negotiating deals for newsagents which are not backed by an association or marketing group to help the deal achieve the maximum potential for newsagents and for the supplier. Our BDM team and bring supplier offers and newsagent needs to a commercially rewarding union thanks to our store visitation program.

As one of our members said recently, it is like having your own personal business coach.

Not all newsagents are the same

2008 has seen the difference between newsagencies grow considerably. From traditional departments such as magazines and greeting cards to new departments such as gifts and art, newsagents are breaking with the past in pursuit of new opportunities.

newsXpress is leading treasure hunt for proactive entrepreneurial newsagents. We are able to do this thanks to a community of energetic and future focused newsagents, a back office team of experts who relentlessly search for new opportunities, landlords who like what we do and su0ppliers keen to be part of our growing group.

While we have support the broader newsagency channel in a variety of ways this year including national and state conference sponsorships, we reserve our prime focus for the growing newsXpress community. These are the newsagents who pay us to serve them. These are the newsagents actively investing in the growth of their businesses.

We expect to see considerable change in the newsagency channel in 2009. The gap between growing newsagents and others will widen. Here at newsXpress,new members are always welcome. It uis the individuals behind a business we treasure the most for we have seen the smallest of newsagencies grow dramatically outside their four walls once newsXpress opportunities are fully leveraged.

Better margins for newsXpress newsagents

newsXpress has secured another high-margin Christmas product offer for its members. This latest offer, in the fast moving social stationery / gift area, provides newsXpress newsagents with access to excellent quality branded product at extraordinary prices. Our members can expect to achieve margins of 70% and higher.

Representing more than 150 locations, newsXpress is able to deliver access to a network of proactive newsagents, making our group truly valuable to suppliers seeking to quit stock. Members taking up this latest offer can bank on thousands of dollars more than might have otherwise been available.

In today’s marketplace we anticipate seeing more opportunistic offers such as that just secured by newsXpress for its members. Our work in this area is another way we provide value of membership.

Greeting card workshop a winner in WA

Ron Thorpe, one of Australia’s foremost experts on greeting cards hosted a newsXpress greeting card workshop earlier this week in Perth. Ron’s workshop was the final leg in a national tour promoting smart management of and engagement with the greeting card category. It is training such as this which helps newsXpress stores drive above industry average same store year on year sales growth in the greeting card category.

Excellent buying now for Boxing Day sales

newsXpress is helping its members set themselves up for bumper Boxing Day sales with another high margin offer. This time it is in the lucrative calendar category. newsXpress members have access to margins of 90% thanks to the work newsXpress has done on their behalf.

With exclusive first access to these deals, newsXpress members are better prepared to compete in the sales and art other times thanks to the national buying the group is able to leverage.

The newsXpress merchandise team relentlessly seeks out product offers such as the latest calendar deal on behalf of members as part of the service we offer.

Meeting members in Western Australia

We had an excellent members meeting in Perth yesterday where we reviewed 2008 and discussed plans for 2009. We shared details of several exclusive and valuable offers and discussed the details of forthcoming marketing initiatives. Western Australia is a strong market for newsXpress. Newsagents are welcoming our newsagency marketing group offer given the point of difference it provides.

Representing newsXpress yesterday was our National Sales Manager, Karen Sutton, our National Merchandise Manager, Ben Kay, our Card specialist Ron Thorpe and our Directors Graham Randall and Mark Fletcher. The depth of this team demonstrates our commitment to the West Australian marketplace.

Brisbane members meeting

We are hosting our last members meeting for the year in Brisbane on Thursday November 27. At this meeting we will cover our marketing plans for the first quarter of 2009 and share information of exclusive products offers available to newsXpress members. The meeting will be short so that our members are not kept from their businesses for too long in the lead up to Christmas.

We run this program of members meetings because networking is a key benefit for newsXpress newsagents. Over a few hours you get to mix with a group of proactive forward thinking newsagents. Every member every time leaves with new ideas for their business.

Newsagents considering joining a marketing group are welcome to contact us for an invitation to one of our members meetings. We gladly welcome prospective members to show off this important newsXpress point of difference.

Online members meeting

newsXpress is hosting an online members meeting for members unable to get to our current series of member meetings. Scheduled for Tuesday November 25 at 2pm, this meeting will include discussions on Back To School, Calendars, Diaries and our marketing and product plans for the first quarter of 2009. It will also include an open forum where members can provide input into our future plans. Dialogue such as this is a key newsXpress point of difference.

Our online member meeting strategy brings together members across state borders for a proactive business discussion. Our members tell us that the networking is genuinely valuable in building healthier businesses. When you put proactive newsagents together good things happen.

Member meetings, face to face and online, are a key part of the newsXpress offer. They supplement our in-store visits where we work one-on-one with members. This comprehensive business support is another newsXpress difference and a reason our stores perform so well across so many key newsagency categories.

Free calendar marketing collateral

Our marketing team has created new marketing collateral to help newsXpress stores promote the excellent range of calendars available this year. The A2 colour posters are provided to members free of charge, as part of our marketing commitment.

We see newsXpress stores which generate a gross profit contribution of upwards of $50,000 a year from calendars. In the high street and rural situations we see members generating well in excess of $10,000 gross profit contribution. This is growing year by year, ahead of many other departments in newsagencies. This excellent GP contribution and growth is achieved through the exclusive newsXpress calendar offer.

newsXpress leads the newsagency channel in calendars. Our members have access to:

Better range – providing an excellent point of difference.
Better pricing – you make more off each calendar.
Better in-store marketing collateral – posters, a catalogue and other materials..
Better product support from our in-house calendar expert – help with ordering, merchandising, pricing and consumer questions.
Smart branding – through promoting calendars under a collective sub brand, calendarXpress, and reaching more consumers than a traditional newsagency promotion would attract.

Excellent Christmas offer for newsXpress members

newsXpress has put an excellent offer offer of discounted premium Christmas stock to its members. This range of well-known branded items will sell for a margin of 80% and still be excellent value for customers. The products are a perfect fit for newsagencies. newsXpress is the only newsagency marketing group offering this stock to its members.

The products are ideal impulse lines and make for excellent Christmas gifts for neighbours, friends and family members. They represent a new category of item for many newsagents yet will sell very easily.

This is one of several offers being put to newsXpress members leading up to Christmas. It is part of our merchandise team’s commitment to source excellent value deals to help our members increase sales and achieve more valuable margins.

We are not about to publish the details of the offer here as it is exclusive to newsXpress members. It is another benefit of membership with our newsagency marketing group.

NSW members meeting

Our members meeting in NSW yesterday was very well attended. It is terrific so many newsagents could take time out of their busy Christmas season to network with fellow newsagents and soak up some newsXpress exclusive training. Meetings like offer an excellent networking opportunity for newsXpress members and prospective members. They are also a great sounding board for new initiatives being considered by the group.

Yesterday’s meeting included a good discussion about strategies for building financially healthier businesses – proactive newsagents talking and working with each other on a common goal. This is where the real value of being part of newsXpress lies.

Christmas gift support

newsXpress has created innovative marketing collateral to support our range of Christmas gift offers. The collateral makes each hero product, well, a hero and helps our members pitch their newsagencies as great places to shop this Christmas.

Our merchandise team has negotiated good deals around a range of carefully selected gift and related products to help our stores make the most of the Christmas gift opportunity. These products help us position our group differently to the more traditional newsagency.

Our exclusive Christmas collateral is being provided without cost to all newsXpress member stores.

At our National Support Centre newsXpress has a team of people working on opportunities such as our Christmas offer. Each opportunity is carefully considered and weighed against the needs of our diverse member group. Member meetings such as those being run this week and next provide us with opportunities to gain member feedback on our offers and refine them as necessary.

Here at newsXpress we take our role of helping our members grow their businesses seriously – even for a fun season like Christmas.

Giving away 20 Nintendo Wii

newsXpress is giving away twenty Nintendo Wii as part of its in-store Back To School promotion. To enter, consumers will register following their purchase in a newsXpress newsagency at our new website.

We selected the Wii because it connects well with the target demographic for Back To School.

newsXpress has been able to deliver this valuable prize pool thanks to the generous support of the key brands featured in our Back To School catalogue and in our supporting advertising.

Members meeting in Sydney

We are hosting a meeting with our NSW members on Thursday this week at the Ryde Paramatta Golf Club in West Ryde. This morning meeting will be followed by a lunch and then a workshop on making more from greeting cards conducted by Ron Thorpe.

Even though it is a busy time of year for newsagents we have excellent bookings from members keen to attend. We have a packed agenda with some excellent initiatives to share. We will also be seeking member feedback on several opportunities presented to our group.

newsXpress members know the value of networking as well as developing skills. These member meetings are a blend of both as well as an opportunity to discuss exclusive supplier offers.

newsXpress is glad to welcome prospective members to these meetings. For an invitation please make contact with us.

Record Back To School uptake

Our merchandise team is thrilled with the numbers for our newsXpress exclusive Back To School offer. More members have ordered more product than any other Back To School offer from the group. This support is very encouraging.

Our approach with Back To School this year has been to provide a campaign which can work in with the widely supported GNS offer. Our catalogue can run alongside or before or after the GNS Back To School offer. The product cross over is minimal. Members have told us that they like this synergy. We like it too. It seemed smart to us.

The customer focused newsagency marketing group

newsXpress continually looks for opportunities through which our members can enhance the customer experience and relationship. We do this knowing that to many consumers it is the relationship they have which determines their shopping loyalty. Through the year newsXpress offers a range of strategies and products through which our members can build stronger relationships with their customers.

This Christmas, we are offering our members exclusive access to personalised Things To Do pads as a customer gift. These pads will be put to good use by newsXpress newsagency customers and each time they are used there is a reminder of the business.

Newsagency marketing is more than the key and important seasons such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas and the like. No, it is about relentless attention to detail in pursuit of a truly valuable relationship with customers.

The newsXpress exclusive Things To Do pad strategy, while small in focus, demonstrates how we obsess about the relationships our members have with their customers.

Jilted at the alter

We heard from a person recently wanting to purchase a Newsagency the business he had been hoping to purchase failed when they found the business had to stick with their franchise agreement.

The newsagency is part of a franchise which forces the business to stay with the brand. The prospective purchaser wanted to trade under another brand. Due to this the sale fell through.

This story illustrates the danger in signing five-year franchise agreements. When it comes time to sell your newsagency you want to be able to do this to the bidder you prefer. That you then have to convince them to stick with your current brand could be the barrier which kills the sale. In today’s marketplace such barriers are dangerous, they are a reason to think very carefully about locking your business, regardless of who owns it, into a franchise from which you cannot easily exit.

newsXpress has been asked to help several newsagents who have sought to leave a franchise and have been the target of legal action. When we first heard about legal action by a newsagent franchise to force people to stay in a group we did not believe it. Once we read the paperwork we knew it was real.

A newsagent / franchisor relationship is best built on results and on trust – not on legal threats. While there is a need to document the relationship, we see no reason to force someone to remain in a group if the marriage is not working.

Navigating structural change

newsXpress is engaged, on behalf of its members, with several key newsagent suppliers in discussing change within the newsagent channel. We represent 150 proactive entrepreneurial newsagents. We are well positioned to more personally represent the needs of those members in discussing change than an industry association. We have several communication channels and face to face contact points through which any changes can be discussed and navigated with newsagents.

Some suppliers have indicated that they are moving to major marketing group relationships because they find these more useful, in both directions, than going through an Association.

newsXpress takes care in all such supplier discussions. Our mission is to improve the business performance and resale value of newsXpress member businesses. This is what we pursue relentlessly in any discussion with suppliers.

A real difference is emerging among newsagents. Now, more than ever before, it is important to belong to a proactive marketing group which helps you drive your business and which actively represents you on key issues and challenges.

newsXpress national conference follow up

We are proud that the newsXpress National Conference, run six weeks ago on the Gold Coast, continues to be talked about in a very positive light by newsagents and suppliers. To share highlights from the event and to promote our newsagency marketing group we have created a flyer – for a copy of this, please click here.

Our goal for the conference was to provide our members and a small group of invited newsagents, tools with which they can grow their newsagencies. This is happening. We have reports from members of changes implemented as a result of the conference which have delivered bankable results.

newsXpress is reinforcing key messages from the conference at member meetings being held nationally at the moment. These are providing an opportunity for a more practical discussion of opportunities highlighted at the national conference.

More newsagents attended this conference than any other newsagent conference this year.

If you are wanting to improve the performance of your newsagency then consider newsXpress. We are pleased to work with proactive entrepreneurial newsagents who want to be the best newsagents in town.