newsXpress helps local newsagents with advice on pop-up retail

newsXpress helps local newsagents to run more engaged, interesting and fun retail businesses. We do this in many ways, helping local newsagents to discover the new and exciting.

When it comes to pop-up retail, we have plenty advice for newsagents including:

LOCATION.

With a pop-up shop you don’t have time to find your customers. The location needs to already have good traffic passing daily, traffic you can easily leverage. Even more so than in fixed-location retail, location is critical.

The best locations are shops that have good passing traffic that is of interest to you and that have been vacant for a while where a landlord might be happy with something rather than nothing.

OCCUPANCY COST.

Negotiate the lowest rent cost possible. Some landlords see pop-up offers as a reason to charge a premium. Only sign up for a price you are 100% happy with. If it is expensive and does not work financially, don’t sign hoping it works out, because in retail it rarely does work out better. In a pop-up business you have less time to see if it works out. Also, preferably, no contingency deposit.

LABOUR COST.

Staff the business with a lean roster. This shop is about selling. that means, products placed for a price proposition rather than beautiful displays that take time to maintain. Every staff member is there to sell and maximise revenue from every shopper visit. There is no room in the roster for fat.

FIXTURES AND FITTINGS.

Don’t spend a cent on fixtures and fittings. That needs to be your starting position. It’s a pop-up shop. People expect it to be  efficient, cost-effective. Using tables and boxes adds to the feel of the shop feeling low-cost and that can help drive sales. Suppliers can be a good source for loaned fixtures.

INVENTORY.

Ask suppliers to offer consignment stock or special clearance deals they’d like to move fast. Go for items that can be sold out of a box, to make display and ranging easier. In-box displays of particularly cheap items can work very well.

PRICING MODEL.

Price to sell. This means being below usual retail. Price to understandable price points. For example, you might have a $10 table, a $20 table and so on. Consider bundling items into packs, which make price comparison difficult.

PROMOTION.

Don’t spend money on sign writing or marketing. Use social media and bargain websites and anywhere similar where you can list the store and its products.

Host an opening party. List this as a local event on Facebook.

MANAGEMENT MINDSET.

Your mindset in managing the pop-up shop needs to be different to a fixed-location retail situation. Pop-up shops are about low cost, low overheads, low prices. Be ready to do deals. Those working in the pop-up shop needs to be different to how they would be in the fixed-location retail business.

SPEED.

You need to move fast. From the moment you sign a lease or agreement, the clock is ticking. Ideally, you’d open within 24 hours and when you are done, closing and clearing out the shop is done in 24 hours or less. This is all about maximising the time for income-production.

Newsagents are ideal retailers to create and run local pop-up shops.

newsXpress is grateful to support local newsagents to be smart, engaged and fun local retailers.

How newsXpress helped local newsagent businesses through Covid

newsXpress has helped many local newsagent businesses through Covid in many different ways. This help has ranged from the practical to the financial to the emotional.

Our mission is to help local newsagent businesses be more relevant to their community, more enjoyable to those working there and more valuable to those who own the business.

Most newsXpress newsagent shops are in regional Australia or suburban high street situations. Many are in small towns.

Here is some of what we have done with and for newsXpress newsagent members:

Early access to state and territory grants. Even where they did not quality for JobKeeper we helped plenty make the case for grant funding.

Rent relief. We have helped many newsXpress members with rent relief, which has ranged from 25% off rent for 6 months to 75% off rent for 6 months.

Bonus GP%. On top of newsXpress preferential pricing, 51 suppliers provided an additional 5% of GP April through June on all purchases in an exclusive

First with jigsaws. In February we pitched jigsaws as a growth category in a Covid world. Our members grabbed inventory, and achieved excellent sales.

Online with jigsaws. In March we turned on a national jigsaw website connected to newsXpress stores to win delivery and click and collect sales. It’s been a hit.

First with nesting. In March we identified nesting as a popular growth category. Members following our advice have added thousands of dollars in revenue.

New suppliers. We have brought on 15 new suppliers in recent months, almost all of whom have not previously dealt with newsagents.

Half price website development. With Tower Systems we’ve delivered beautiful POS software linked Shopify sites for individual stores for half price.

Daily email. Sent each morning, by 7am with updated supplier deals, to-do tips for staff and more. Designed for a fast, time-efficient, read.

Mask access. Months ago, we provided access to masks for sale. Today, we have 12 suppliers with handmade through to funky and fun masks.

Subsidised online sales. We launched subsidised shipping for online Beanie Boo sales for our website connected to 100+ local newsXpress stores. This site delivers hundreds of thousands of dollars across participating newsXpress stores annually.

Click and collect. From March we offered practical advice and guidance on how to do click and collect, to win new business. It’s been a hit.

Daily Zoom meetings. These started March 15 and have run Monday – Friday ever since. The sessions are filmed and 75+ members watch the videos daily. In the sessions we meet suppliers, stay on top of news, motivate each other and more.

Sunday drinks. Every Sunday @ 4pm. This is a more relaxed chat.

Engaging social media campaigns. Four months ago, we launched Storytime, daily social media targeted stories that provide an emotional narrative members can use on social media. They are a daily hit driving excellent feedback and engagement.

This list is not complete, we help and support local newsXpress newsagent businesses in many other ways.

newsXpress launches creative writing competition for Aussies

Newsagency marketing group newsXpress has launched a national creative writing competition seeking entries of short stories, poems and songs that relate, somehow, in some way, to the Aussie newsagency.

Two cash prizes of $1,000 each will be awarded, one for anyone aged up to and including 17 and the second for anyone aged more than 17.

Writers are invited to submit a short story, first person narrative, song or poem. Each entry is required to in some way reference a newsagency, either a specific business or the type of business generally.

The local newsagency is the quintessential Australian small business, and through Covid the newsagency channel proved it’s value as an essential service to local communities. We wanted to explore a way of celebrating that.

The idea of this competition is to encourage creative writing by Australians, to shine a light on local stories and through these reference in some way the local Aussie newsagency.

newsXpress is a collective of over 200 local family owned and run newsagency businesses across Australia, mainly rural and regional. Most shops in the group have transitioned from the traditional to be modern. newsXpress businesses showcase Australian made products that help Australians express themselves.

To me, this is a perfect newsagency marketing group activity. It is fresh, creative and not tied to shoppers spending money in the business. It fits with my view that sometimes the best way to get from A to B is to head for C. I like it too because there is no supplier connection, no outstretched arm asking for help.

newsXpress is funding this itself, including providing retailers with A1 colour posters.

Here is more information about the competition:

This competition is run by newsXpress Pty Ltd.

There are 2 prizes: one of $1,000 for entrant up to and including 17 years of age and one of $1,000 for an entrant more than 17 years of age. Each winner will receive a certificate.

TERMS.

  1. All entries are to be submitted by email to writing@newsxpress.com.au.
  2. Each entry is to include a first page with entrant name, age in years and months, email address, name of local newsXpress business if known (not mandatory) and the name of the piece.
  3. Each page of the entry is to have only the name of the piece.
  4. Entries to be an original, previously unpublished short story, a song, a poem or first person narrative. Maximum word length: 1,000.
  5. Page format is to be A4, font is to be arial, 12pt. No images. For short stories and first person narrative, double spaced please.
  6. Entries to be in PDF or Microsoft Word format or a format easily read by either.
  7. There is no limit on entries per person.
  8. There is no entry cost.
  9. Entries close at midnight December 11, 2020.
  10. Each entry must, in some way, reference a newsagency. We are not being prescriptive as to how central a newsagency is to the story, song or poem. We leave that up to the writer. But, we do want there to be a reference at some point to a newsagency, any newsagency.
  11. The decision of the judges will be final.
  12. The winner will be announced on the newsXpress Facebook page and elsewhere no later than January 30, 2021.
  13. newsXpress will publish the winning stories on its blog, crediting the writer.
  14. Once the competition is over, all entries will be destroyed.
  15. newsXpress will not share entrant details or use them in marketing.

A newsXpress local store may choose to offer a local prize or prizes for entries from their area. This will be entirely managed at that local store level by the local store.

newsXpress launches national creative writing competition

Newsagency marketing group newsXpress has launched a national creative writing competition seeking entries of short stories, poems and songs that relate, somehow, in some way, to the Aussie newsagency.

Two cash prizes of $1,000 each will be awarded, one for anyone aged up to and including 17 and the second for anyone aged more than 17.

Writers are invited to submit a short story, first person narrative, song or poem. Each entry is required to in some way reference a newsagency, either a specific business or the type of business generally.

The local newsagency is the quintessential Australian small business, and through Covid the newsagency channel proved it’s value as an essential service to local communities. We wanted to explore a way of celebrating that.

The idea of this competition is to encourage creative writing by Australians, to shine a light on local stories and through these reference in some way the local Aussie newsagency.

newsXpress is a collective of over 200 local family owned and run newsagency businesses across Australia, mainly rural and regional. Most shops in the group have transitioned from the traditional to be modern. newsXpress businesses showcase Australian made products that help Australians express themselves.

To me, this is a perfect newsagency marketing group activity. It is fresh, creative and not tied to shoppers spending money in the business. It fits with my view that sometimes the best way to get from A to B is to head for C. I like it too because there is no supplier connection, no outstretched arm asking for help.

newsXpress is funding this itself, including providing retailers with A1 colour posters.

Here is more information about the competition:

This competition is run by newsXpress Pty Ltd.

There are 2 prizes: one of $1,000 for entrant up to and including 17 years of age and one of $1,000 for an entrant more than 17 years of age. Each winner will receive a certificate.

TERMS.

  1. All entries are to be submitted by email to writing@newsxpress.com.au.
  2. Each entry is to include a first page with entrant name, age in years and months, email address, name of local newsXpress business if known (not mandatory) and the name of the piece.
  3. Each page of the entry is to have only the name of the piece.
  4. Entries to be an original, previously unpublished short story, a song, a poem or first person narrative. Maximum word length: 1,000.
  5. Page format is to be A4, font is to be arial, 12pt. No images. For short stories and first person narrative, double spaced please.
  6. Entries to be in PDF or Microsoft Word format or a format easily read by either.
  7. There is no limit on entries per person.
  8. There is no entry cost.
  9. Entries close at midnight December 11, 2020.
  10. Each entry must, in some way, reference a newsagency. We are not being prescriptive as to how central a newsagency is to the story, song or poem. We leave that up to the writer. But, we do want there to be a reference at some point to a newsagency, any newsagency.
  11. The decision of the judges will be final.
  12. The winner will be announced on the newsXpress Facebook page and elsewhere no later than January 30, 2021.
  13. newsXpress will publish the winning stories on its blog, crediting the writer.
  14. Once the competition is over, all entries will be destroyed.
  15. newsXpress will not share entrant details or use them in marketing.

A newsXpress local store may choose to offer a local prize or prizes for entries from their area. This will be entirely managed at that local store level by the local store.

newsXpress offers AC/DC boxed mint coin set

More than 100 newsXpress stores sell coins from the Royal Australian Mint. Today, at 8:30am AEST our stores started selling the AC/DC box set. This beautiful set features AC/DC albums in wonderful replicas that each feature a beautiful coin from the Mint.

See the AC/DC coin box set here in this video where we show off everything in the box set:

newsXpress is thrilled to offer this AC/DC box set for AC/DC fans and coin collectors. It is a perfect gift as well as perfect buy for yourself treat.

Included in the AC/DC mint coin opportunity is also a beautiful $1 silver frosted circulated coin. Here it is, in its very special packaging:

Newsagents hear the most heartwarming stories

Storytime: “I need a big jigsaw, like 5,000 pieces and it’s got to be hard, the harder to do the better.” My 50-something customer the other day was clear in what they wanted. We looked through several jigsaws and eventually found a suitably difficult 5,000 piece jigsaw. “This is perfect,” she said with a big smile, not worried about the $170.00 price list.

“I can barely do a 500 piece jigsaw let along a 5,000 piece one,” I said, as I bagged the jigsaw. “He’ll never finish it,” she said. She could see I was confused. “It’s for my dad. He died after a long illness. Jigsaws were his thing. He loved them. I had promised to bury him with a difficult 5,000 piece jigsaw. This one is perfect. It will sit in the open coffin at the funeral.”

At the counter of the shop every day our customers surprise us with their stories and with how far they take us into their lives and how they express themselves to their loved-ones. I’ve only ever seen a jigsaw as something to finish and here it is as a perfect memorial for a dad who will be missed. #jigsaws #sympathy #memorial #family #love

Helping small business newsagents have a terrific 2020

newsXpress is a newsagency marketing group that helps small business newsagents in Australia to run more enjoyable, successful and valued local retail businesses.

Most of our newsXpress newsagent member businesses are in regional Australia, on main streets, serving local shoppers and local community groups.

newsXpress newsagents are local families with kids in local schools, hiring local people, serving the local community.

Our local newsXpress newsagent businesses can be found in all states and territories of Australia. We are national but all of our newsXpress newsagent businesses are locally owned and locally run.

This is why no two newsXpress businesses will look the same. They sell products in service of their local community. They are responsive and engaged.

newsXpress helps its members to find products appropriate to their businesses preferencing Australian made because of what this means for local jobs because here in 2020, local jobs do matter.

Helping small business newsagents in this way, to run moire locally focussed and successful and safe businesses is a core part of the newsXpress newsagency marketing group mission – in service of all in the local newsagent business who rely on the business for income.

Here is a small part of what we have done with and for newsXpress newsagent business members already in 2020:

  • Early access to state and territory grants. Even where they did not quality for JobKeeper we helped plenty make the case for grant funding.
  • Rent relief. We have helped many newsXpress members with rent relief, which has ranged from 25% off rent for 6 months to 75% off rent for 6 months.
  • Bonus GP%. On top of newsXpress preferential pricing, 51 suppliers provided an additional 5% of GP April through June on all purchases in an exclusive
  • First with jigsaws. In February we pitched jigsaws as a growth category in a Covid world. Our members grabbed inventory, and achieved excellent sales.
  • Online with jigsaws. In March we turned on a national jigsaw website connected to newsXpress stores to win delivery and click and collect sales. It’s been a hit.
  • First with nesting. In March we identified nesting as a popular growth category. Members following our advice have added thousands of dollars in revenue.
  • New suppliers. We have brought on 15 new suppliers in recent months, almost all of whom have not previously dealt with newsagents.

There are many more items on this list, many more benefits delivered to local newsagency businesses as 2020 has rolled out and there is plenty more to come, in service of local communities around Australia.