newsXpress Blog

newsXpress Gympie – ACP Newsagency of the Year

Warrick and Jo Hoskings and the team at newsXpress Gympie received long overdue praise from ACP and their peers at the annual ACP Gala Awards dinner last night in Sydney.

Beyond the bright green suit – to match the ACP magazines Emerald Club colours – Warrick and the team actively embrace every marketing opportunity possible in their business. They have to since Gympie in regional Queensland has seven newsagencies.

The team at Gympie drive newsXpress into new areas and this adds value to the 135 other newsagencies which are part of the newsXpress community.

Gift bags done right

Thanks to our work with Hallmark, newsXpress is rolling out a new approach to the merchandising of bags across its network of 120+ retail locations. Here is one example of a store to receive the new treatment:

We know from our work in a variety of test stores that the results are excellent. In addition to increased sales, there is always positive feedback from customers who enjoy the shopping experience more.

With bags replacing traditional wrapping paper sales it is important for newsagents to get their range and display right to demonstrate relevance to consumers. This is where newsXpress helps its members grow their businesses.

Greeting card marketing

newsXpress members have started receiving marketing kits as part of the new Hallmark Alliance Program. newsXpress is funding the $1,250 annual cost of Hallmark Alliance for its members. The first program many members are running with is a free card offer – based on rewarding loyal customers. This program is tied in with the newsXpress Care and Friendship Month.

The newsXpress Hallmark relationship is unique in the newsagency channel in that it goes beyond rebates and promotions. Hallmark and newsXpress share research and other data to the mutual benefit of their stakeholders. This is one reason newsXpress stores are seeing excellent sales growth in the greeting card category.

Kudos for Double A paper

newsXpress has been running an offer through some of its stores which includes an offer on Double A paper. Customer feedback is that the quality is been exceptional. What is interesting to us is that customers are making a point of complimenting us for carrying such a good quality paper and saying they are switching to this brand. So, kudos to Double A.

A Diddl success story

With the Diddl range now in half of our stores and on the way to another 25, we are seeing some excellent results. Diddl is another example of newsXpress experts discovering a new range which works well in a newsagency environment and delivering this on terms and with support to ensure the best possible commercial outcome for newsagents.

The folks behind Diddl in Australia continue to be wonderfully supporting to newsXpress and its members and for this we are grateful.

Each store is giving over either a high traffic aisle end (as shown in the photo from newsXpress Buderim) or an area of free standing space where the range can be promoted. newsXpress is supporting this exclusively for its members by sharing learnings among group members and providing marketing materials for local support.

On the road with newsXpress

newsXpress Van - Robina_6.JPG

The team at newsXpress Robina were the frist from the newsXpress group to promote their business everywhere with this corporate image van. newsXpress has an arrangement with the team behind the design of the van and offers access to the design service to all newsXpress newsagents who want to promote their brand on the road.

Exclusive diary deals for newsagents

newsXpress has launched a series of exclusive diary supply arrangements for its member newsagents. These deals make product available on substantially better terms than available to individual newsagents. The commercailk value of the arrangement is significant for newsagents of all sizes as the newsXpress deals trade off the collecting volume of our 120+ stores.

newsXpress Jamison

newsXpress Jamison is a new location opened to our brand recently. They have undertaken a creative shop fit which respects newsagency traditions yet pursues new sales opportunities in stationery and allied areas.

newsXpress Armidale

Take a look at the smiles on Ewan and Rod Carr from newsXpress Carr’s Armidale.

Ewan, Rod and their families are go getters in Armidale and have joined newsXpress to further grow their business and to help the newsagency group grow as well. We are thrilled to have them as part of the newsXpress team as they show how a regional / rural newsagency can be very competitive yet retain the enjoyment of a happy family business.

Tax time stationery deal for newsagents

newsXpress is proud to lead the market again with this two page flyer promoting tax time deals of BRAND NAME stationery.

The strategy behind this campaign is the realignment of consumer attitude to stationery pricing and range in newsagencies and in particular newsXpress newsagencies. This is a long term campaign which has been developed with the support of key brand name stationery companies.

newsXpress members across Australia are delivering this flyer to homes around their stores and enjoying the resulting stationery sales kick.

National Nanna’s Night

newsXpress is proud to support National Nanna’s Night and the work of the McAuley foundation.

Watergardens, coming soon

We are deep in the middle of building a new corporate store at the Watergardens Shopping Centre in Victoria. We are using this as a test bed for innovations we plan to share with our membership including plasma poster units, Irish magazine fixturing and a new warm and soft overall feel.

The store will open at the end of this quarter.

Member meetings rock

Central to the newsXpress offer is regular member meetings. These are held every six to eight weeks in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with between 80% and 100% member attendance. Members leave the meetings invigorated with practical ideas ready to implement in their businesses and the newsXpress team leaves with good feedback which will help create a more successful over for member newsagents.

newsXpress is a unique marketing group for newsagents. We focus on the positive and use the member meetings to motivate and guide our members to greater success.

Store visits are important

newsXpress has a vigorous store visit program, spending time with members to guide, encourage and motivate. These visits are two-way leading to newsXpress learning how to better serve members.

The photo shows newsXpress Goulburn owner John Stein and newsXpress CEO Mark Nagy in John’s shop last week. John has been with newsXpress for a year and has actively embraced the marketing, ranging and management strategies. newsXpress, for its part, benefits from John’s decades in the newsagency channel – wisdom like his is invaluable.

Congratulations to newsXpress Gympie

Congratulations to Warrick and his team at newsXpress Gympie for reaching the number 1 spot in the ACP Emerald Club. newsXpress Gympie is one of 7 newsagents in the town of Gympie and competes with all the major retailers in the area. This result has been achieved by participating in every promotion with ACP and continually driving sales of his magazines through Beacon Branding, the use of the Magazine Club Card and local store marketing. It is Warrick’s relentless focus on in store promotions and marketing that make newsXpress Gympie a credit to the newsXpress brand and we look forward to seeing more of the wonderful ideas and promotions that come from Warrick and his team.

Detail drives ink and toner success

Beyond ranging advice, negotiating prices and providing marketing materials, the newsXpress ink and toner strategy even supports stores with simple things such as product labels. It is this attention to detail in the package of support materials from newsXpress which is driving success for our members in areas such as ink and toner.

With the focus on respected brands such as Epson, Canon, HP and Lexmark, it is only appropriate that we are professional in our price and description presentation. It is also an ideal opportunity to connect this with the newsXpress brand.

The price labels and other support material is provided as part of the complete package from the group without any additional cost to our members. …another example of the newsXpress difference.

Giveaways push stationery sales

The free filing box we have provided to newsXpress stores to give away with each box of Double A paper sold is working well. Being exclusive to newsXpress, our members can actively promote this knowing that no other business can match them.

Giveaways such as this filing box better connect newsXpress newsagencies with the home office market. That it is built around a brand not promoted in key newsagent competitors means we offer a brand point of difference as well.

newsXpress is committed to bringing more of these practical traffic building deals to its members.

Productivity Commission inquiry

newsXpress last week registered as a party interested in making a submission to the Federal Government’s Productivity Commission Inquiry into Retail tenancies. This submission will be made on behalf of all newsXpress members.

Care and Friendship Month

Here is part o the campaign support for Care and Friendship Month – a greeting card and gift promotion developed and run exclusively for newsXpress newsagencies. All to often in our busy lives we do not take time to say thank you to those who help us: teachers, doctors, priests, friends. We created Care and Friendship Month o focus on saying Thank You. It is designed to help people find the right cards and the right words to show appreciation.

Having started some years ago, this campaign has built a strong following among newsXpress members. They like that they are able to focus attention on cards at a time of the year when card sales are flat. Bu this is not purely a commercial pitch. care and Friendship is also a reminded to our members to appreciate co-workers, family and friends. It reminds us to take a moment out of our busy schedules to show that we care too. For that reminder alone, this newsXpress exclusive program is worthwhile.

Care and Friendship month starts July 1, 2007.