newsXpress has supplied all members with Back To School marketing collateral for in-store use including a full pack of professionally printed and pre-perforated shelf talkers for each of the Back To School hero products. These professional materials help our stores present a compelling offer professionally in the Back To School season. This attention to detail is noticed by suppliers, landlords and consumer – key reasons newsXpress is happy to invest in our member’s businesses in this way.
Category: newsagency marketing
Final member meeting for 2008
We held our final members meeting for the year yesterday in
Having a group which can commit nationally to suppliers and to deliver consistent marketing, in-store presence and ranging is a poi t of difference newsXpress cultivates.
Great Christmas gifts
newsXpress members are reporting good sales from offers the group has sourced. The Hannah Montana, Star Wars, High School Musical, Dora The Explorer and Disney puzzles are one of the early successes. Members tell us these are popular as stocking fillers. In most cases they appear to be purchased in addition to a newspaper, magazine or some other traditional newsagency sale. This is exactly what we hoped it offering this range to members – it is easily located in a space which will attract impulse purchase.
Building margin in a newsagency involves many small steps. This way, you are able to build something which is harder to break down. The more reliant a business is on single stream revenue the easier it is to break down. hence the newsXpress approach of sourcing many offers across a range of key categories from whcih our members can choose what is right for their circumstances.
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
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
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
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.