Making money from the Slow Cooker cookbook

slow-cooker-acp.JPGnewsXpress has created a training video for newsXpress members and their employees on how to leverage maximum sales from ACP Magazines’ Women’s Weekly Slow Cooker cookbook.  This training video is accessible now at the newsXpress website, in the members area.  members can watch this online or download the video for sharing among all employees.  Access is free to all members.

Our initiatives on the Slow Cooker title have seen our members achieve record sales.  This has been done by driving shopping basket efficiency, doubling and sometimes tripling the value of a sale.

The newsXpress difference is that we use a range of business driving levers to help our members make more from the traffic in their stores.  We do this using newsXpress exclusive initiatives and materials.  Our newsXpress exclusive training video published this week is further evidence of this.

Some of what we have been able to do with this title is further evidence of our valuable magazine publisher relationships.

New product range an instant hit at newsXpress Wetherill Park

wetherill-park_1.jpgnewsXpress has brought on a large number of new preferred suppliers in the past three months to provide a wider range of products and opportunities for their members to add to their retail mix. One such supplier, Jacman Designs who produce named gifts & novelty products were initially treated with apprehension by newsXpress Wetherill Park.

However, Ginella and her team decided to trial them based on some previous success with newsXpress supported suppliers and installed a spinner late last week. In just over 7 days they had sold no less than 107 units at $7.99 each, an outstanding success in any measure of this result.

They now believe these are a huge hit and the sales figures certainly back this up, and encourage other newsXpress members to give them a try as they could work in almost all locations!

newsXpress Wetherill Park shows their support for the Socceroos!

wetherill-park_1-wc.jpgnewsXpress Wetherill Park have embraced the retail opportunity presented by the World Cup this winter and have ordered some fantastic Australian supporter merchandise including plush Kangaroos, Soccer Balls, towels and Flags!

Coupled with their merchandising and promotion of soccer themed magazines, and the newsXpress A1 landscape Posters they have created an exciting destination for all things World Cup for their customers.

This is the kind of retail theatre newsXpress applauds and promotes as it brings together items from multiple categories.   In this case it is magazines, support items and gifts.  Shoppers are more likely to notice and buy from this display than the regular display of the items on offer.

Well done to the team at newsXpress Wetherill Park responsible for this display!

World Cup Fever comes to newsXpress Ascot Vale

ascot-vale_1.jpgnewsXpress Ascot Vale have taken advantage of the great newsXpress POS as well as utilising The Sunday Age ‘car flag’ giveaway and the vast range of Soccer World Cup publications themselves to promote the world’s largest sporting event commencing tonight in South Africa.

With the eyes of the world glued to the telecast, newsXpress newsagents have profitted by strongly merchandising soccer themed magazines and related product, some have even reported sales exceeding $1,500.00 for magazines, a monumental result!

Diane and Kylie have done a great job promoting this historic event, and have transformed their front window with a magnificent World Cup theme. They also expect a strong boost tomorrow on the eve of Australia’s opening game against Germany and the release of a $2.00 Socceroo supporter scarf with the Herald Sun.

Sourcing additional World Cup magazine stock

newsXpress has been successful in sourcing additional FIFA World Cup magazine stock for its members running promotions using newsXpress marketing collateral.  This additional stock is helping our members extend the value of the World Cup promotion well into the Cup itself.

Thanks to strategic publisher relationships, newsXpress is often able to help members source stock when magazine distributors advise they are out of stock.

newsXpress members competing for Master Chef sales

master-chef-june2010.JPGnewsXpress stores across Australia are actively promoting the latest issue of Master Chef magazine.  We were able to arrange through News magazines for extra stock in advance of the allocation for the latest issue which went on sale two days ago.  The result of additional stock is showing in many newsXpress locations with stellar sales in just two days.  Some stores have reached a 60% sell through for Master Chef already.  This is extraordinary given that they received considerably more stock than the total quantity they sold for issue one of the magazine.

One of the reasons for the success of the title in newsXpress stores is our suite of tactical magazine tools.

The photo is from a counter display at newsXpress Knox in Victoria, one of our corporate stores.

Welcome new members

newsXpress is thrilled to welcome three new members this month:

  • newsXpress Kawana (QLD).  This is a former nextra store.
  • newsXpress Meve (WA).  A greenfield location.
  • newsXpress Miranda (NSW). An independent store.

We will have more new members to announce next month.

We are building a newsagency marketing group based on proactive business owners and employee teams.  This is why newsXpress focuses on member quality.  This is far more important than size.

The ideal newsXpress member is someone who wants to grow their newsagency, embraces change and respects the traffic of traditional products while driving sales of new products.

Supporting sport leads to sales at newsXpress Sarina

state-of-origin.jpgAfter the impressive story on this blog about newsXpress Sarina‘s NRL State of Origin in-store merchandising they have reported back sales in excess of $4,000 in the lead up to game 1!

This is a magnificent result and they expect a similar outcome for game 2, Wednesday June 16 as the game is being played in Queensland. This story once again confirms the great opportunity small businesses have in engaging and promoting events that are likely to gain immense support in their local markets. Sport is a particularly strong driver  of this retail success as a large percentage of Australians are passionate about their team.

Pictured to the left is the newsXpress POS provided to all stores for local printing to promote the 30th year of State of Origin battles.

Local Mandurah Man Wins Toyota in newsXpress National Competition

silver-sands-2.JPGnewsXpress Silver Sands owner Phil Foo was overjoyed a local customer (Chris Smith and his wife, Helen are regulars and shop in his store every week)  had won the grand prize in the newsXpress ‘Back to Work’ promotion, exclaiming “It’s amazing that his name was pulled out of the draw after purchasing a chocolate bar and scratchie from my shop”.

Foo further explained “I couldn’t be happier with the result, Chris & Helen are great local people and obviously my team did a great job of suggesting they fill out an entry form“.

Trent Shields, newsXpress Marketing Manager added “this was our first ‘Back to Work’ promotion and to have received over 50,000 entries nationwide far exceeded our expectations and clearly justifies our decision to support members in this promotional event“. “To be able to give away a car to a lucky newsXpress customer is the cream on the cake!”

A beaming Smith (pictured left) remarked “the win could not have come at a better time as our current vehicle was on its last legs“. In complete contrast “the Toyota Yaris drives like a dream, with all the capabilities and and conforts of a big car – Helen enjoys it so much she has pinched it off me!“.

newsXpress Toronto supports World Cup

toronto-world-cup.JPGnewsXpress Toronto (NSW) is supporting the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a terrific display of newspapers and magazines in-store.  It is displays like this which add to the theatre of retail and make shopping more enjoyable.  newsXpress is working with many members on World Cup initiatives from displays to competitions.  We identified early on that the World Cup presented an excellent opportunity for newsXpress members, like newsXpress Toronto, to reap good commercial rewards while serving the community.

newsXpress gives away a Toyota Yaris!

silver-sands-1.JPGThe culmination of the great newsXpress ‘Back to Work‘ promotion occurred over the past few days in Mandurah, about an hour south of Perth, WA, when Chris Smith (also of Mandurah) was handed the keys to his brand new red Toyota Yaris 3 door hatchback by newsXpress Silver Sands owner, Philip Foo.

With 8 fantastic Southern Cross Bicycles and 5 Apple iPhones already presented to other big newsXpress winners, the shiny red Toyota stood out like a beacon in the morning sunshine as Phil excitedly greeted Chris with the keys like a long lost friend. (Pictured left)

Chris himself was absolutely rapt and his excitement was palpable as he recalled this was his only entry into the nationwide competition for the newsagency channels biggest ever prize, “I only entered the competition out of chance after seeing the entry form in-store and being prompted to enter by a staff member“.

Chris and his wife Helen are forever indebted to newsXpress Silver Sands, Phil and his team of customer service experts for his huge windfall, and he also made a point to pass on his sincere thanks to Graham at Big Rock Toyota, as well as newsXpress General Manager and National Marketing Manager, Ben Kay & Trent Shields.

Twilight eclipse board game at newsXpress

riverlink-eclipse.jpgeclipse the movie board game is now on sale in many newsXpress stores. Based on the latest instalment in the Twilight saga, this board game is already in hot demand among avid Twilight fans.

newsXpress is proud to be driving another excellent basket building opportunity for newsXpress members.  Last year, our stores enjoyed excellent success with the new moon board game from the twilight saga.

Given the coverage of all things Twilight in magazines, the opportunity for sales of the board game to existing customers is very good.

The photo shows the floor display of the eclipse display at newsXpress Riverlink.

BRW Rich 200 at Milson’s Point

milsonspoint-brw.jpgnewsXpress Milson’s Point has a terrific display in-store for the BRW Rich 200 special issue of the magazine.

Big and bold, the display cannot be missed in-store.  It is a credit to all involved and is certain to drive excellent sales for the popular issue of the magazine.

Visual merchandising like this for the Rich 200 issue is an important element in the newsXpress offer creating exciting retail theatre to lift the feeling in-store and to drive sales.  It is good to see newsXpress members embrace their creative side and make the extra effort to build an innovative in-store display.

Chook Book display at newsXpress Emerald

better-homes-and-gardens-may-2010-003.jpgSally Murphy at newsXpress Emerald was so inspired after viewing the great dispalys made by newsXpress members, especially the Master Chef one featured in this blog here, that she went out and created a spectacular exhibit of her own!

To promote this month’s issue of Better Homes & Gardens wiht the bonus Chook Book, Sally and team have set a dining table and decorated it wiht chicken statues, and comically some rubber chickens on the plates. In-Store theatre is an important part of the retail business, and being able to creatively and imaginatively express yourself within your merchandise displays is a great step towards success. The gauntlet has now been thrown down to other newsXpress members to outdo each other’s displays.

Gold Lotto win at newsXpress Chippindalls Sugarland

A BUNDABERG grandmother will allow herself some small pleasures such as turning on the heater after winning more than $571,000 in Gold Lotto at the weekend.“I had the heater on this morning,” she said.

“I normally wouldn’t turn it on because it costs so much to run.”

The grandmother, who asked to remain anonymous, said it was a real joke she needed to win lotto to do simple things.

The woman said she planned to share her $571,428.58 windfall with her family members, but would allow herself to have a few small treats.

The team at newsXpress Chippindalls Sugarland re thrilled to have shared in anothere Gold Lotto win with a happy customer.  read more about this story here at the News Mail.

World Cup products at newsXpress Gympie

gympie-world-cup.JPGnewsXpress Gympie has a terrific range of FIFA World Cup merchandise including magazines, programs, mascots and the Australian flag on display in-store.

The display features the newsXpress exclusive World Cup poster.  Not shown in the photo but promoted prominently at newsXpress Gympie is their World Cup tipping competition – another newsXpress initiative.

newsXpress Gympie like other newsXpress members is reporting excellent sales for World Cup products.

newsXpress is proud and thrilled to have been able to help its members leverage such success and demonstrate the newsXpress difference.

Book Sale at newsXpress Chancellor Park

270310-086.jpgBooks are quickly becoming an essential and profitable part of all newsXpress businesses. Customer demand for reading is seemingly on the up and by strategically pushing promotions during traditional gift or holiday seasons newsXpress newsagencies are reaping the benefits.

newsXpress Chancellor Park are one such store generating great add on sales or impulse purchases to their regular daily business through simple, clear signage utilising the newsXpress POS (available to all members) and a well stocked and neatly stacked book promotion on a trestle table in a prominent merchandising area of the store.

FIFA World Cup promotion at newsXpress Melton

melton-world-cup.jpgnewsXpress Melton is enjoying good success in promoting World Cup magazines out the front of their business.

Using the newsXpress World Cup marketing collateral as a visual draw, the display offers an excellent range of World Cup titles.  It makes newsXpress Melton the go-to store for World Cup magazines in the area.

newsXpress is leading the newsagency channel with World Cup acitivity.  We have our marketing collateral, tipping competitions and an exclusive offer where a lucky shopper in each newsXpress store will be able to win a World Cup soccer ball.  newsXpress members are receiving more details on this next week.