Never to do things by halves, Warrick Hosking at newsXpress Gympie has commissioned a massive HOT ink! sign to be hung below his main store branding outside his shop.
This type of pro-activity has resulted in Gympie’s sales increasing from virtually nothing to a potential $80,000 for the year. Embrace technology and it will work for you.
With two catchphrases in use this Valentine’s Day:
newsXpress members have been given greater freedom to create a promotion that is traditional or a little bit cheeky as per the marketing materials provided. Below are a cross section of store displays across the network:
newsXpress Noosaville are using the ‘Steal a Kiss’ floor decals to direct traffic to their Valentine’s Day display which contains cards, gifts & confectionery.
newsXpress Caboolture have introduced simple cane baskets into their merchandising to better display their wide range of Valentine’s Day themed plush.
newsXpress Toowong are strongly promoting the Valentine’s day range of the Hallmark classic Wellington Bear. The newsXpress posters in the background complete the scene.
newsXpress Castle Towers maximise their exposure by setting up camp in a prominent outpost position in their centre. The use of sell-able product as part of the merchandising is most effective.
A NSW man in his 30’s was the lucky winner of the $1,000,000 jackpot sold at newsXpress Coles Upper Coomera in the Saturday Gold Lotto draw on the weekend.
Owner Wayne Case noted this was the third $1,000,000 plus victory in his three years in charge of the newsagency.
newsXpress Salamander Bay capture that elusive winning formula with the add on promotion to the new issue of Surfing Life.
Magazine publishers face an unenviable task to keep coming up with fresh and relevant ideas and promotions to continue selling their title and to attract new readers with each edition. According to one of our members, Surfing Life has nailed it with their January edition.
Fiona Matthews from newsXpress Salamander Bay has given kudos to Surfing Life magazine who released their current issue on Wednesday with an Australian flag branded with their masthead as the add-on gift.
newsXpress Salamander Bay honour a great Australia Day tradition at their store with staff dressing up in the local lifesaving clubs gear (
Whilst there is a commercial reality to consider these days, when I look at the happy faces of my staff enjoying themselves and customers are asking us what we are doing next, it makes you smile & think to yourself, days like these are why I love being a newsagent!”
Since joining newsXpress Jim O’Toole from newsXpress Rutherglen has swapped from newsink to HOT ink! With the superior brochures, marketing and supply chain offered by newsXpress, Jim has seen his sales go through the roof.
newsXpress Scott’s Lismore have gone all out to stamp themselves as the premier retailer in town.
Their Valentine’s Day set up is a great example of how they have gone about this. Giving the promotion prime real estate at the front and centre of the store. They are hoping this produces a good sales result and to show their initiative even further have introduced an opportunity for customers to win their money back with the purchase of any Hallmark Bear.
Patriotism is alive and well if you consider the outstanding support for Australia Day in the small Queensland township of Sarina.
Mark Petersen and his team gave out over 600 Australian flags and sold 50 flag caps and 36 shirts. Mark believes they would have sold more than three times this quantity if they had have promoted during the week and not just on Friday and Saturday.
Since joining the newsXpress group and swapping card suppliers from John Sands to Hallmark, Jim O’Toole at newsXpress Rutherglen has seen his card sales go through the roof.
Marketing is what drives sales and that’s what newsXpress and the Hallmark Alliance partnership does for newsXpress stores, turning newsagents into savvy retailers.
Since leaving newsink, Paul Blunden’s ink and technology sales have sky rocketed. Not only is he selling more ink cartridges but his media, technology and allied stationery has gone up as a result. Not only is he cheaper than the majors the impact is lifting the traffic to the store.
newsXpress stores are embracing giftware in a big way. Not only for the margin opportunities but for the point of difference it gives our network.
Not being content with the fit out of the store newsXpress Watergardens has invested for the future by adding some new giftware tables. These learning’s have come from outside the traditional newsagency business and preliminary results are very positive.
newsXpress Castle Towers ‘Back to School’ – No stress at newsXpress. Whilst most newsagents leave this to the majors newsXpress provides the marketing collateral to give you the confidence, the ideas and the customer draw to return ‘Back to School’ to the farm.
No stress at newsXpress!
At the newsXpress laboratory at Watergardens in Victoria, we have taken our new Art partnership with canson to the next level. Out posting of Art product with a National brand draws customer attention and builds sales.
Here is a fantastic example of how the newsXpress network looks for new money positive revenue streams. The Canson brand born in Europe some 450 years ago allows the newsXpress stores to further accelerate new product innovation and bring new product to the market.
newsXpress Gladstone Park are proof that you can run two marketing campaigns at once. They are currently running the “no stress at newsXpress“ Back to School marketing in conjunction with the newsXpress-Hallmark Valentines Day seasonal marketing. Working multiple parts of the store at once is paying dividends for them with great sales across multiple categories.
newsXpress Watergardens is approaching Valentines Day as most other retailers would with passion and vigor utilising gift ware that suits this season and embracing the support of the Hallmark-newsXpress strategic partnership.
The following testimony is from Paul Martin at newsXpress Toowong in Brisbane.
Hot Ink catalogue #1 gave Paul from newsXpress Toowong the lever he needed to enter the Ink market with compelling strategies of best cost price and selling price, a professional flyer, great service and back up, and the knowledge of which product to stock. Having just ordered his 5th consecutive flyer he commented that You have to be patient the first time, but then results compound, he has seen a 30% growth each catalogue. Getting the message through to customers and watching sales expand has been great, – “My team hand deliver catalogues to our local businesses around the Village twice during each campaign and this has great results”. “Once customers know the prices are so good, they have confidence that my other stationery product is also well priced, and so sales become linked as customers buy other stationery product in the same purchase. Why give your customers an excuse to shop elsewhere, once they can buy ink from you, they buy their other product as well”.
Warrick Hosking at newsXpress Gympie is passionate about everything in his business. Last year when it was encouraged to charge retail customers 10c per plastic bag and to donate the money to a charity Warrick showed no hesitation in running this program and advertising his support for the Wildlife Warriors.
The Wildlife Warriors continue the great work of their founder Steve Irwin in pursuing conservation projects from their base at Australia Zoo.
Warrick and his team raised the princely sum of $611.95 last year and the photos below show the presentation of the cheque at Australia Zoo.
We strongly encourage newsXpress members to decrease their plastic bag usage and to support worthwhile local charitable organisations to better connect within their community.
Warrick has also arranged four separate collection boxes for his shop with co-branding of newsXpress to feature alongside the Wildlife Warriors logo.
With a strong newsXpress member base now pushing 30 in NSW and the ACT any large scale promotion is beginning to make an impression in Australia’s largest market.
Back to School is being promoted with great intensity by major retailers such as Big W, Officeworks, even Woolworths and The Good Guys. Small businesses such as newsagents have a magnificent opportunity to compete by utilising the expansive media campaigns and delivering exceptional service, convenience and competitive prices.
The NSW/ACT members have participated in two BTS themed catalogues during this period and called on their vast experience to deliver some outstanding results. See below for the unique successes and strategies used by individual stores.
Mark & Shelley Petersen at newsXpress Sarina are always looking for new ways to market their business and has stumbled across a winner this BTS season.
Mark sourced the pictured BTS box from overseas and in conjunction with a couple of fellow newsXpress members imported a large quantity into Australia.
The box itself is 430 x 305 x 250 (LxWxH) and is the perfect size to fill BTS book orders. The proactive members are constantly searching for new and improved methods to sell their business to a new customer base and this box which features the store name and logo on all four sides is one of the better ones.
Valentine’s Day is traditionally one of the biggest promotions in the year for newsagents whose wide range of cards and gifts attract customers from near and far who wish to express their love to those in their lives.
newsXpress Forest Hill have created a display utilising the newsXpress and Hallmark marketing materials to wonderful effect in their front window and through the store. The giant Hallmark Forever Friends Bear is the prize in the Hallmark Alliance promotion. All newsXpress members receive free access to this program as part of their newsXpress membership.
Below is a feature picture from newsXpress Eumundi displaying the Valentine’s Day range of gifts from Chocolate Gems.
