Category: retail

Card payment fees, EFTPOS fees, capture too much attention from retailers, in my opinion. Too much time is spent chasing lower costs from banks or imposing a surcharge on transactions where a card is used for payment.

It fascinates me that retailers tend to spend less time on other options for managing the payment costs to businesses.

It’s an easy complaint for a retailer to make, my EFTPOS merchant fees are too high, it’s not fair, time for me to consider another supplier or to consider charging customers a surcharge.

Customers hate surcharges, especially if there is another retailer selling what you sell that doesn’t charge a surcharge.

Every method of payment has a cost, including cash. In my experience working with retailers, the cost of cash is higher because of theft. However, it’s not easily seen, especially in retail businesses that don’t research or teach about theft.

To address the cost of EFTPOS merchant fees for a retail business, you need to be an engaged retailer. Here are some ideas:

• Promote cash payment, if you want the costs associated with cash, of course.
• Be clear as to the cost of using a card. You could apply a surcharge, which I think is a ridiculous idea, though.
• Price, knowing that cards will be used by customers. Build the cost into your pricing model for products where you can do this. Keep the price bump under 1.5%, and it’s less likely to be noticed.
• Lower a cost elsewhere to cover the payment cost. Look at your labour costs, for example. Shaving an hour of employee rostered time can save you what’s equal to purchases of $3,750 on a card—depending on the type of card used.
• Increase sales. While you should be single-mindedly focused on this anyway, increasing sales helps you address the EFTPOS cost and more in the business.

It’s easy to complain over EFTPOS fees. Before you do that, look at your own behaviour. Here are some common points in retail businesses that retailers overlook when they complain about supplier- or service-related costs. These are things we regularly see ignored in favour of complaining about someone else:

• Dead stock. A problem not seen is not a problem to many. In the average indie retail business, dead stock is equal to around 3% of turnover.
• Bloated roster. Some prefer to spend money on people so they have time to themselves to relax, golf or sit in the back office where no customer purchases from. We often see a bloat cost equal to around 10% of the roster.
• Wrong trading hours. Some stay open too long, while others are not open long enough. Either way is at a cost to the business.
• Being blind to theft. Theft in local indie retail costs, on average, between 3% and 5% of turnover. Not watching for it, tracking it and mitigating it has a cost to the business.
• The wrong product mix. Gross profit’s a key measure of retail business performance. Increasing yours beyond what is traditional for your channel provides you with a buffer. For example, transaction count/sales can decline, and you can be okay. Measure gross profit. Set a goal. Chase it. The air is cleaner in the above-average zone.
• No, it’s not bliss. There are insights into your software that can guide better, faster and more financially rewarding decisions. Yet too many in retail don’t want to know. That failure costs them plenty.
• Stop running out of stock.Manual processes for stock reordering by retailers and suppliers regularly result in sell-outs, and therefore missed sales. Every time that happens, it’s a cost to the business. In a retail business we looked at, the cost of sell-outs was more than $3,000 in a year, or $1,500 in gross profit, all because of poor reordering management.

The items on the above list are all on the retailer to address. The benefit’s that addressing these results in a stronger, leaner and more valuable retail business.

Adding a surcharge is an easy step. It may be the wrong step as doing so could shield you from more important and valuable business moves you can make.

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newsXpress is a marketing group that supports small local independent retailers to thrive. Find out more at help@newsxpress.com.au.

Selling a retail business is like selling a house; you need to prepare it so that it looks appealing to prospective purchasers. Work undertaken before putting the business on the market can deliver a better price outcome.

The following is designed to help any local indie retailer prepare their shop for sale:

1. Make it look and feel appealing. There are people who will look for a challenge (opportunity). However, most buyers want to see a business they understand and feel they can run.
2. Ensure that your processes are documented so that anyone of any skill level can feel confident that they can run the business.
3. Eliminate dead stock.It looks bad on the shelves and bad on the books. Purchasers should not pay full wholesale for inventory more than six months old, as your poor buying or management is not their obligation. Fix this before putting the business on the market.
4. Streamline operations.Make the business look easy to run by ensuring that it’s easy to run for you. The easier it looks to run, the more interesting it’s to people who don’t understand the business.
5. Maximise profit.What anyone will pay will depend on the actual profitability of the business.
6. Be happy.Owners who talk down their business will find it harder to sell it.
7. Keep your social media presence up to date.Today, many people check out a business online before looking at it in-store.
8. Get your paperwork in order.Early on, get business documents together.
   1. Premises lease
   2. Equipment leases
   3. Employee records
   4. Product forward orders
   5. Franchise documents
   6. Supplier agreements
   7. Details of any forward orders
   8. Any other documents relating to the operation of the business, including manuals for any equipment items
9. Choose a broker appropriate to your type of business and circumstances.

Success in selling your shop depends on the work you do to prepare it for sale. Time spent well in advance preparing the business for sale could make the sales process easier and more successful.

Don’t Wait for a ‘Sold’ Sign to Start Planning

Timing is the final ingredient in a successful exit. Ideally, you should begin this grooming process 12 to 24 months before you actually intend to list. This lead time allows you to show a consistent upward trend in your financial statements and proves to a buyer that the improvements you’ve made are sustainable, rather than just a temporary “paint job.” A business that shows steady growth and organized leadership is far more likely to spark a bidding war than one that looks like it’s being offloaded in a hurry.

The Value of a Clean Break

Ultimately, a well-prepared business is one that can function perfectly without you. While it’s tempting to remain the “face” of your shop until the very end, true value lies in transferability. By stepping back from daily tasks and letting your documented systems and trained staff take the lead, you demonstrate to the purchaser that they are buying a functional engine, not just a job. When a buyer can envision themselves in your shoes without fearing a steep learning curve, you have successfully moved from selling a “project” to selling a “turnkey asset.”

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newsXpress is a marketing group that supports small local independent retailers to thrive. Find out more at help@newsxpress.com.au.

If you own a newsagency business and want greater success in 2026, we can help.

The advice we have just shared with our members will help them stand out, and thrive.

newsXpress Knox has been enjoying excellent sales of the newsXpress Christmas lines and other key products being pitched at the front of the business, on the lease line.

Paying careful attention to the front of store message has paid off for this corporate store and helped it achieve above average results for the performance of similar businesses in the centre.

History shows that a compelling offer at the front of the business can attract people who would not usually visit or who may not have planned to visit that day. Key to a successful display is to appeal to a key demographics. This is where the Knox presentation works particularly well.

The team at newsXpress Eli Waters got in the bood for the kick of the State of origin series this week with a dress up. Great to see them having fun before the big game. We are guessing that only one of the four was happy afterwards.

It’s terrific to see retail being such fun even if it does mean wearing a wig Al!

Check out these excellent Valentine’s Day season results for newsXpress Eli Waters:

• Cards up 82 %
• Gifts up 72 %
• Scratchies up 52 % (promotion of $15 Scratchie)
• Mags up 23 %

Well done Eli Waters team … a terrific result countering the reports in the media about retail doom and gloom.

The team at newsXpress Orange (NSW) is stringing entries in their Easter colouring competition from the ceiling and as the photo shows they already have many young artists vying for a prize.  Each newsXpress location is running their own Easter competition with terrific local prizes on offer.  As we can see at newsXpress Orange, the competition adds to the in-store theatre and shopping experience.