Settling in at newsXpress Knox City

knox_jan23.JPGIt has been five weeks since we opened our new corporate store, newsXpress Knox City. We are settling into the centre and our new home and now that Christmas is over we are enjoying the opportunity to work further on the business. The stand out performers for us are our card and wrap department, stationery, calendars and promotional products. newsXpress suppliers have been an excellent help in building what is a fully planogrammed business. The early indications are that these help drive excellent sales results.

We will have more details on what we are trying at newsXpress Knox City and how this could work for newsXpress members at our next round of member meetings.

newsXpress Rockhampton in the news

newsxpress_rockhampton.jpgCaitlyn Stock and Nicole Laffoley from newsXpress Rockhampton featured inThe Morning Bulletin yesterday promoting the free tattoos available with the newspaper for promoting Australia Day.

newsXpress has got right behind Australia Day this year, as in every year, with excellent collateral, support packs and other promotions to connect with and support the day.

Spencil range a hit for Back to School

spencil.jpgThe Spencil range is selling very well in stores participating in the newsXpress Back to School campaign.  The photo shows the range of the popular school items on display at newsXpress Wetherill Park.

What makes Spencil work so well is the easy to shop planogrammed display.  Placed in a busy outpost, it works well in two ways – attracting browsers to the display (and therefore the outpost) and driving sales because of the easy to navigate layout.

newsXpress works closely with suppliers on planogram layout, testing a range of options to find what works best.

There is no point having access to great deals is bankable intellectual property does not support them in driving the best outcome.

The Spencil range is also being promoted widely on newsXpress radio our own in-store radio network.

Henderson Greetings planogram drives party sales

henderson_greetings_planogram.jpgThe birthday and party related planograms developed by Henderson Greetings and embraced by newsXpress are driving good results for our members.  They enhance the party related offer and present a strong visual message and this is what is helping to drive good business.

newsXpress is pleased to have the Henderson Greetings planograms in our planogram suite.  Planograms represent best practice retail.  They make it easier for comparison between businesses, easier to manage the space and more useful for driving supplier engagement.

newsXpress is leading the newsagency channel in planogram development and implementation.  Our members are reaping the financial rewards of this effort.

Sometimes we see people get caught up in chasing a deal and ignoring a good margin opportunity in front of them.  The key to success is sales.  Planograms, like the new offers from Henderson Greetings, drive sales.  The newsXpress commercial terms deliver a margin to make retailers happy.

The newsXpress difference in action: member meetings

newsXpress member meetings are a terrific business building networking opportunity.  We discuss business, share ideas and talk about product deals.  Members who participate get tremendous value.

Here are the dates for the first round of member meetings for 2010.  We have apacked agenda with some exciting opportunities to be presented.

  • NSW Members Meeting : Tuesday February 16th 10am
  • VIC Members Meeting : Thursday February 18th 10am
  • QLD Members Meeting : Tuesday February 23rd 10am
  • WA Members Meeting : Thursday February 25th 10am

Bookings can be made electronically via our website: go to Contact Us and select Member Meetings. In addition to booking electronically, you can also add a reminder to your Microsoft Outlook calendar.

Non newsXpress members are welcome to seek an invitation.  Please make contact with Ben Kay, our General Manager.

Preparing for St Patrick’s Day

nxpstpatrickday2010.jpgnewsXpress has provided its members with marketing collateral and details of products and additional promotaional material with which to embrace St Patrick’s  Day.  Even though the day is two months away, March 17, 2010, our marketing team is working well in advance of seasons so that our stores haave a plan and are ready to make the most of these opportunities.  The products for sale for St Patrick’s Day include hats, green hair, stickers and temporary tatoos.

Bonus Australia Day collateral

All newsXpress members who ordered Australia Day collateral from our preferred supplier received some great bonus stock. Each received at least 5 packets of the ‘Patriot Pack’ for supporting TNW, a newsXpress  preferred suppliers. This is another example of the newsXpress difference in play – a wonderful benefit from TNW as a thank you for supporting their business.

Back to school at newsXpress Kin Kora

bts10-021.jpgThe team at newsXpress Kin Kora has gone all out for Back to School this year.  Their outpost is bigger and better than ever – 13.5 metre’s long and 2 metre’s wide. They stock the specific requirements of all schools within a 62km radius. They have packed in excess of 800 orders already this year and served many more who select and pick up items themselves.  Moving over close to 2 pallets of stock every day, the newsXpress Kin Kora team is showing what a success Back to School can be.  The photo shows their use of the newsXpress collateral in a quiet time for the outpost.

Valentines at Eli Waters

nx_val_eliwaters.JPGThe team at newsXpress Eli Waters is promoting Valentine’s Day early with products sourced through newsXpress preferred suppliers and collateral provided by newsXpress.  In addition to a great card display, they have a display of Valentine’s Day gifts in a high traffic part of the business.  Getting out early as they have done at Eli Waters  helps drive better gift sales since good displays remind shoppers that you’re in the gift space.  While the gifts have been sourced for Valentine’s Day, they work year round – another reason going early can work.

Digital photo keyring a hit for newsXpress

nx_photo_frame.JPGWe have had an opportunity to review sales numbers for Christmas and the Digital Photo Keyring has been a stand out success for participating newsXpress members.  Selling out multiple times in many locations, this product has generated excellent incremental business, and therefore bottom line profit, for newsXpress members.  It is terrific having such a success not only for our members but also for our merchandise team who put in the har yards to source unique products such as these.

Promoting fun treats at Easter

nxpeaster2010_a4_funtreat.jpgnewsXpress has prepared Easter collateral around traditional egg themes as well as promoting non chocolate treats – see the poster to the left.  The variety of collateral serves the variety of approaches which can be taken with the Easter season.  newsXpress members have already seen the variety of collateral as well as an excellent range of products to support non chocolate sales.  This is in addition to an excellent range of eggs and other tasty treats for a successful Easter trading season.

The marketing collateral is provided free to newsXpress members participating in the promotion.

new moon merchandise a hit for newsXpress members

twilight_poster.jpgnewsXpress members have reported excellent sales from the new moon merchandise we sourced last year.

Between October and December, newsXpress was responsible for excellent sales across our network of the new moon board game, posters, calendars, jewellery and other items.

In many newsXpress locations, the presence of new moon product in-store drove new traffic.  This additional traffic purchased other items and thereby drove better basket efficiency.

The newsXpress new moon strategy has been a terrific success in that it has shown participating stores that we can expand into new product categories in a safe and profitable way and bring in new customers at the same time.

The success is a credit to the newsXpress merchandise team and especially those who identified this opportunity exclusively for newsXpress.

Visiting the chocolate factory

The next newsXpress Victorian members meeting (February 18 at 10am) will be held at the factory of Ernest Hillier in Coburg.  The meeting will be followed by a factory tour and a chocolate tasting or two.

newsXpress is hosting mnor member meetings at preferred supplier locations to provide opportunities for product training (and chocolate tastings).

newsXpress member survey

newsXpress announced a member survey earlier this week and already responses are flowing in.  The survey is designed to provide our back office team with helpful feedback with which to assess the various components of the newsXpress offering including product mix and marketing collateral.

The results of the survey will feature at the first round of member meetings this year.

Responses for the survey are required by the close of business next Tuesday.  We are keen for every newsXpress member to participate.

First round of 2010 member meetings announced

newsXpress yesterday announced dates for the first round of member meetings for 2010.

  • NSW Members Meeting : Tuesday February 16th 10am
  • VIC Members Meeting : Thursday February 18th 10am
  • QLD Members Meeting : Tuesday February 23rd 10am
  • WA Members Meeting : Thursday February 25th 10am

Bookings can be made electronically via our website: go to Contact Us and select Member Meetings. In addition to booking electronically, you can also add a reminder to your Microsoft Outlook calendar.

Non newsXpress members are welcome to seek an invitation.  Please make contact with Ben Kay, our General Manager.

Success with newsXpress calendar strategy

The success achieved by newsXpress members participating in our exclusive caledar strategy this season is excellent.  We are seeing good growth in locations well established with calendars and excellent sales in locations trading in our calendar space for the first time.

The newsXpress strategy delivers calendars with considerably better margin and backed by a marketing campaign which drives traffic and sales.

Core to our calendar strategy is the use of sales data from other departments in store to guide range selection.  Our in-house calendar specialist has used this data to help new locations create a whole new, and highly profitable, department for their business.  We know from experience that each year improves – you can bank on the results.