Tag: newsagency management

The $9.77 shop and the $28.72 shop: what our gift data reveals

In our latest benchmark study of 32 newsXpress member shops, 14 reported meaningful gift department data for January to May 2026. The spread in performance was wide, and instructive.

The lowest average gift unit price in the network was $9.77. The highest was $28.72. Nine of the 14 shops grew gift revenue year on year, and the strongest grew it by 149%.

The shops at the bottom of that range are mostly selling novelty and impulse items. Cheap, cheerful, easily found at a discount department store. The shops at the top have built something different: a curated, considered gifting destination with brands like Koh Living, Splosh and Affirmations, plus quality local suppliers. Product a customer cannot price-check on their phone in three seconds.

Our consistent finding across the network is that shops with gift average unit prices above $20 outperform shops below $12. A gift department that feels different from Big W or the supermarket wins. One that feels like a smaller version of them loses.

The good news for any retailer reading this: building a real gift destination does not require a big floor. It requires discipline. The advice we gave members from this study:

  • Choose quality over quantity. A tight range of 30 good lines beats 100 average ones.
  • Refresh regularly. Gift customers return looking for what is new. Give them a reason.
  • Price with confidence. Considered gifts carry margin because the customer is buying meaning, not commodity.

This analysis, and the shop-specific advice that follows it, is part of what newsXpress provides members for free. We also connect members with preferred gift suppliers, share what is selling across the network before trends peak, and run seasonal marketing that drives gift purchases in-store and online.

Independent retailers often tell us they know gifts matter but do not know where to start. That is exactly the gap a good marketing group fills. The data from your peers shows what works. We bring that data, the supplier access and the playbook. You bring the shop.

Our goal is to help local retailers thrive and we do this by figuring out, based on their location, data and financial situation, steps they can take that are more likely to work. Our approach is evidence based, Coll;aborative and proven year on year.

Advice for indie retailers: compounding small moves deliver the best value

The businesses growing steadily aren’t doing one dramatic thing. They’re doing three ordinary things at once, consistently, over time. Bringing in more shoppers. Getting each one to spend a little more. Earning better margins on what they sell. None of those looks impressive on its own. Together, they add up faster than most owners expect.

Big turnarounds make good stories. They’re rarely how retail actually works.

This advice is from newsXpress, we help local indie retailers grow businesses they love.

The numbers are straightforward. A 2% lift in customer count. A 2% increase in items per basket. A 2 percentage point improvement in gross profit on lines where you control the price. Each one feels modest. Run all three at once, week after week, and the combined result outpaces what any single change could deliver. That’s not a theory — it’s arithmetic.

The hard part isn’t the maths. It’s making the changes fit your business rather than someone else’s template. Your floor layout, your local demographic, your product mix — they’re specific to you. A ranging decision that works in a busy suburban newsagency won’t automatically translate to a regional shop with a different customer base and different traffic patterns. Generic advice has a short shelf life. What lasts is an approach built around how your store actually operates.

That specificity also protects your existing customers. The people already coming through your door are your most valuable asset. Poorly handled changes — rushed ranging decisions, price moves that feel wrong, a shop that suddenly doesn’t feel familiar — push those customers away quietly. Done carefully, the same changes go unnoticed by shoppers while showing up clearly on your bottom line. That’s the goal: improvement your customers benefit from without disruption they react to.

Most owners under pressure start looking for the one big fix. A new system, a new supplier, a new concept. It’s understandable. When things feel hard, a bold move feels like the right response. But the one big fix is rarely available, and chasing it burns time and energy that could go toward smaller moves that compound quietly in the background.

Three levers. Consistent attention. Your specific store. The results follow.

Retailers: if your social media isn;t working, this is for you

Coins and Pokémon: the categories quietly outgrowing everything else in our network

Collectibles was the fastest growing category in our latest benchmark study of 32 newsXpress member shops, covering January to May 2026. If you run an independent retail business and you are not paying attention to this space, the numbers below should change that.

Coins first. 21 of the 32 shops reported coin product sales. Revenue for the five months ranged from under $1,000 to more than $46,000 per shop. Coin collecting is high margin, and in most regional and suburban locations it has almost no serious competition. Few shops in our channel have developed it properly. The ones that have are being rewarded.

Trading cards are the other standout. Eight shops reported Pokémon or trading card revenue. The largest operation generated $58,852 in five months from 1,819 units. Several shops more than doubled their trading card revenue year on year. Average unit prices ran from $11 to $39, reflecting a healthy mix of single packs through to premium box releases.

Why do these categories work so well for shops like ours?

  • Collectors return. A coin or card customer visits regularly, often weekly, and buys every time.
  • Price comparison is hard. Limited releases and allocation-based supply mean you are not competing with a supermarket catalogue.
  • The demographic is gold. Young adults and families, exactly the customers most newsagencies and gift shops struggle to attract.

newsXpress members get more than this analysis. We have direct relationships in the coin space, including with the Royal Australian Mint, and we guide members on release calendars, allocation, display and pricing. For trading cards, we share what the network data says about pack mix and sell-through, so a member entering the category does not learn by expensive trial and error.

All of that is included in membership. No consulting fees, no add-on charges.

One shop in our network is on track for over $100,000 a year in trading cards alone. That business did not exist in that shop three years ago. The opportunity is real, it is documented in our data, and we will help any member chase it.

The beauty of both these categories is that they work well in regional and rural settings as these shoppers love to travel to purchase these beloved products.

Newspapers and magazines are declining. The shops growing anyway are doing this.

Every one of the 32 newsXpress member shops in our latest benchmark study saw newspaper and magazine volumes fall between January and May 2026. Newspaper units dropped 15% to 25% at most shops. Magazine units fell almost everywhere, with revenue holding slightly better only because cover prices rose.

We want to be straight about this, because plenty of people in our channel are not. This is not a store level problem you can merchandise your way out of. It is structural. Digital substitution is permanent. Print will keep declining, and pretending otherwise wastes time and capital.

The useful question is not how do we fix magazines. It is what do we do with the space, the supplier relationships and the customer traffic that print used to drive.

Here is what the data shows. The shops in our study that grew overall revenue did not do it through print. They offset print decline with growth in gifting, collectibles and premium stationery. Our stationery data tells the same story in miniature: unit sales across 12 reporting shops fell 8.2%, but average unit price rose 6.7% as shops shifted from commodity pens and pads toward quality journals, planners and gift stationery.

The advice we give members facing print decline is specific:

  • Measure print’s true contribution. Floor space, labour and capital against gross profit. Most shops are shocked by the answer.
  • Shrink print deliberately, not by neglect. Keep the titles that earn their space, return the rest, and reclaim the fixtures.
  • Reinvest the space in categories with proven network results: considered gifts, coins, trading cards, premium stationery.
  • Use the foot traffic print still brings. Every newspaper customer walks past whatever you put between the door and the counter. Choose well.

Helping members through this transition is core to what newsXpress does, and it is included in membership. We benchmark your data against peer shops, identify which categories should take the space, connect you with the suppliers, and support the change with marketing.

Print decline is the reality of our channel. Whether it sinks your business or funds its reinvention is a choice. Our members are choosing the second option, with evidence behind every step.

A Sunday thought on hope, and why this channel has more of it than people think

Sunday is a good day to step back from the counter and think about why we do this.

It is easy to feel weighed down in independent retail right now, especially in our channel.

Newspapers keep declining. Magazines too. Costs are up. The big retailers keep getting bigger. If you only listened to the noise, you could believe the local newsagency and gift shop had no future.

The data tells a different story, and we find real hope in it.

Last week, we finished analysing five months of trading across 32 newsXpress member shops. Transactions were down 4%. Revenue was up 4%. Customers are visiting less often and spending more when they do, an average of $21.97 a visit, up from $20.29 a year earlier.

Think about what that means. Fewer people walked through those doors, and the businesses grew anyway. Not because of luck, and not because print recovered. It did not. They grew because shop owners made brave decisions about what their shops stand for. They backed gifts. They backed collectibles. They put quality cards where customers could find them. They let go of what was not working.

That is where our hope comes from. Not from wishing the past back, but from watching ordinary local retailers reinvent their businesses in real time, with their own hands and their own money, and win.

There is hope in the community side too. Behind every shop in that study is a family, often staff who have been there for years, and a town or suburb that relies on the shop for more than what it sells. A good local shop is a meeting place. The conversation at the counter matters as much as the transaction.

newsXpress exists for these people. The benchmarking, the supplier access, the marketing, the phone call when things are hard. All of it is in service of one belief: local retail is worth fighting for, and it can thrive.

If you are reading this on a Sunday, tired from a long week in your shop, the evidence says your best years can still be ahead of you. The retailers proving it are not different from you. They just decided to change, and they did not do it alone.

Enjoy your Sunday. Monday is full of possibility.

What to look for in a newsagency marketing group

Plenty of marketing groups pitch to Aussie newsagents. Social media management, seasonal campaigns, buying power, business support. On the surface the offers can look similar.

They are not.

The group you sign with affects your product mix, margin, how you talk to customers — even how much you enjoy turning up to work. It pays to look past the brochure.

Clarity, not comfort

Some groups sell the idea that growth is easy. “Nothing for you to do but display and sell.” That sounds good. It also is not how retail change works.

newsXpress does not say growth is easy. It says growth is achievable — through better decisions about what you range and where you put it, a willingness to test new categories, and real work on the floor. The job of a marketing group is to make that work better informed. Not to pretend the work does not exist.

Ask for examples, not adjectives

Any group can say they are large, trusted or proven. What matters is what has actually happened in member stores.

Ask about card pocket analysis. At newsXpress, this work has helped members lift card revenue by cutting the range back to what sells. Ask about Seasonal Edge — newsXpress funds prizes and point-of-sale collateral, and members have used it to move high-margin seasonal product. Ask about Mint coins, which some stores have turned into a real incremental revenue stream.

Not testimonials. Specific category results, with numbers behind them.

Buying power needs context

“Up to X% savings” is easy to say. The harder questions are: compared to what, on which lines, and how reliably?

newsXpress looks at buying power as part of a bigger picture — commercial terms that support both margin and stock turn, access to suppliers who bring in new shoppers rather than just cheaper versions of what every retailer already carries, and honest guidance on where a deal actually makes sense at store level. Price is one input. Terms, cashflow and exit risk are others.

Digital that fits the store

Facebook posts, Google Business Profile, basic websites — these are easy to offer. Making digital work commercially, and feel local rather than corporate, is harder.

newsXpress uses a blended model: ready-to-use assets members can deploy quickly, group-level campaigns where shared messaging makes sense, and real encouragement for stores to post their own content. The aim is visibility without making every store page look like it came from the same template.

Honest advice about categories

Some categories are simple. Others — ink and toner, for instance, or any range that requires serious capital outlay and carries high obsolescence risk — need more careful handling.

newsXpress will tell a store to sit out a category even when there is a group promotion running on it. Not every range suits every location. A regional store and a metro store are different businesses. Briefings are designed to show the upside and the risk clearly, before a member commits.

A marketing group’s job is not just to open doors. Sometimes it is to point out the ones worth leaving shut.

Support means people, not just portals

Many groups describe support in terms of tools: portals, webinars, video libraries. These are useful. What retailers actually need is someone who knows the channel, picks up the phone, and is willing to engage with the specific situation of their shop.

At newsXpress, that means one-to-one conversations about data, layout, stock and labour. Store visits when they are needed — including in difficult periods. Member sessions where real experiences, the good ones and the expensive mistakes, get shared openly.

What independence actually means

Most groups say they respect your independence. The test is what they require of you.

newsXpress is a marketing group, not a franchise. Members decide whether to change their shop name, which card suppliers to work with, and which programs to participate in. The advice is direct where the data is clear. Participation is never mandatory.

Questions worth putting to any group

Before you sign:

  • Can you show me results from stores similar to mine, with actual numbers?
  • How do you use my POS data when giving advice?
  • Which suppliers and programs are genuinely exclusive to your members?
  • How do you decide when a category is not the right fit for a particular store?
  • How often will I hear from you, and what does that contact actually look like?

The answers will tell you more than any pitch.

What newsXpress offers

newsXpress helps independent newsagents grow profit, attract new customers and run businesses they want to be in. The work is grounded in real store data, suppliers who have been chosen for the margin they deliver, and support that takes retail seriously.

If you are weighing up your options, ask specific questions and look for specific answers.

Growth Does Not Happen by Default in Retail

One of the clearest insights from recent newsXpress material is this. Growth in independent retail is a decision. It does not happen by default.

The Mother’s Day 2026 performance report across 13 newsXpress stores told a clear story. The strongest performers were those that made deliberate decisions about what categories to back, what floor space to reallocate and whether to invest in an online channel. Stores with a stronger gifting focus performed better, while those with heavier exposure to declining print categories were more likely to struggle.

This is not simply about following trends. It is about making intentional commercial choices. When a retailer reviews the shop and asks which categories are genuinely growing, which are dragging, and what new customers are looking for, better decisions become possible.

The evidence is already there. Gifting is the strongest growth engine in the network. Cards remain resilient. Online is becoming increasingly important, with stores operating their own websites among the better performers in the Mother’s Day comparison. One store added about 8,000 dollars in online revenue during the measured period alone.

The wider newsXpress offer is built around helping retailers act on this kind of evidence. The group provides data analysis, mentoring, supplier access, tactical merchandising advice, digital collateral and business-specific guidance. It also brings members together so they can learn from each other, share ideas and build confidence to try something new.

This active approach is central to the culture of newsXpress. The business makes clear that it is not the right fit for someone looking only for supplier discounts, or for someone who believes their future depends solely on legacy agency categories. It is designed for retailers who are open to change and who want to build a more profitable, more enjoyable and more future-ready business.

That is why the group is focusing its 2026 national conference on two themes that matter right now. Decoupling from the traditional newsagency model and using AI in practical ways for local retail. Both themes point to the same bigger truth. The old model is not enough. Retailers need fresh thinking, better data and the confidence to act.

For prospective members, this is the real invitation from newsXpress. Not a promise of easy success. A partnership built around action, evidence and progress. In today’s retail climate, that may be exactly what makes growth possible.

How newsXpress Is Helping Retailers Use AI in Practical Ways

AI is attracting plenty of attention in business. For independent retailers, the challenge is sorting useful tools from empty hype. That is why newsXpress has taken a practical approach, focusing on how AI can support better decisions, save time and reveal opportunities in everyday retail.

For more than two years, newsXpress has been helping members use AI in their businesses. In 2026, the group produced an exclusive 30-page AI Starter Guide for members, featuring 19 ready-to-use prompts tailored to local retail situations. The aim is not to overwhelm people with technical detail. It is to get retailers started with tools that are useful from day one.

This matters because many retail decisions are repetitive, time-sensitive and dependent on good information. AI can help a retailer summarise performance trends, shape social media ideas, explore pricing options or frame better questions around underperforming categories. Used properly, it can make decision-making faster and more informed.

newsXpress is also using AI to support members more directly. The group has developed super prompts that can be applied to specific member situations using business data provided by the retailer. This can help uncover missed opportunities, clarify risks or bring structure to decisions that may otherwise feel messy or delayed.

Importantly, the approach is grounded in real retail. AI is one of the major themes for the August 2026 national conference in Perth, where members will hear about practical uses of AI at shop-floor level, not abstract theory. The conference will also include one-on-one sessions with head office experts, giving members direct access to support and advice.

The group is also paying attention to how AI is shaping customer discovery online. newsXpress has pointed members to the importance of posting regularly on Google Business Profiles, noting that AI-influenced search results are informed in part by what businesses publish there. This is a practical example of how small, consistent actions can improve visibility in a changing digital environment.

For many retailers, the real value of AI is not that it replaces judgement. It is that it gives clearer starting points, faster summaries and better ways to think through decisions. That is especially useful for small business owners who wear many hats and do not always have time to pause, analyse and plan.

newsXpress sees AI as a commercial opportunity for local retail, but only if it is made approachable and useful. That is what the group is working to deliver. For prospective members, it is another example of how newsXpress is helping independent retailers stay relevant, capable and ready for what comes next.

What Makes newsXpress Different for Independent Retailers

There is no shortage of offers made to independent retailers. Supplier deals, discounts and promises are common. What is less common is a group built around helping each member create a more valuable, more relevant and more enjoyable business. That is the difference at newsXpress.

newsXpress is a marketing group, not a franchise. It has been operating since 2001 and is privately owned. Nothing in the model is mandatory. Members do not pay fees based on turnover, and they are not forced into a standard format that ignores the reality of their local business. The relationship is built on partnership and active collaboration.

That matters because no two retail businesses are exactly alike. A small regional newsagency has different needs from a suburban shopping centre store. A business leaning into gifts has different priorities from one still heavily exposed to legacy print categories. newsXpress works with that reality, offering support shaped around the situation of each member rather than a one-size-fits-all formula.

The practical support is broad. Members gain access to preferred suppliers, delayed billing terms through central billing, seasonal marketing collateral, digital assets, loyalty cards, business advice, merchandising guidance and benchmarking support. There is also help with lease negotiations, supplier issues, product buying, margin improvement and identifying new shopper opportunities.

The group brings real-world credibility because the people behind it are active retailers and operators. The head office team has decades of retail, online and data experience. newsXpress also runs its own physical stores and online businesses, using them as live environments to test ideas, products and tactics before sharing what works with members.

Another difference is the focus on profit and business value. The goal is not simply to secure a better buy price. The goal is to help members improve stock turn, use floor space better, make stronger ranging decisions and attract shoppers who are not shopping with them today. In a changing retail market, these things matter more than a basic supplier discount.

The group also invests in members. In 2025, newsXpress spent more than 1,500 dollars per member on prizes and marketing through Seasonal Edge. It funds collateral, digital assets, travel for member meetings, conferences, technology systems and one-on-one support. The business has a track record of reinvesting in member benefit rather than distributing profits.

For retailers looking at their future, the question is not whether change is coming. It already has. The better question is who is beside you as you adapt. For many local business owners, that is where newsXpress stands apart. It offers support that is practical, evidence-based and grounded in the realities of modern retail.

Why Winter Is a Smart Time to Reset a Retail Business

For many independent retailers, the weeks between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can feel flat. Foot traffic softens. Urgency drops. The pace changes. But quiet periods are not always a problem. Used well, they can become some of the most valuable weeks of the retail year.

At newsXpress, winter is seen as a time to reset, test and prepare. A quiet shop floor creates room to think clearly, tidy up weak areas and try ideas that are easy to overlook during busier months. That is why a recent newsXpress guide shared 30 winter ideas built around micro events, marketing activity and practical business improvement.

Some of the strongest ideas are simple. A noticeboard inviting customers to share the best card they ever received costs very little, but it can turn a card department into a conversation starter. A winter soup recipe board does something similar, drawing people into the shop and giving them a reason to come back. A hot chocolate day on a cold Wednesday can create goodwill out of all proportion to the cost.

These ideas are not about gimmicks. They are about making a local shop feel alive. They give customers something to notice, something to talk about and something worth sharing. In a market where big retailers often feel impersonal, this kind of local warmth matters.

Winter is also a smart time to improve the business behind the scenes. A proper stocktake can expose inaccuracies that affect ordering and margin. A dead stock review can free up space and cash. Reviewing rosters, trading hours and front counter product placement can lift profitability without requiring more customers.

There is also value in using winter to sharpen marketing. A simple gift guide, a local café partnership, early Father’s Day layby promotion or a handwritten thank-you note to regular customers can all strengthen loyalty and create new reasons to shop local. These are practical moves. They do not depend on a big budget. They depend on attention and effort.

This is one of the advantages of being part of newsXpress. Members are not left to work these things out alone. The group shares practical ideas, seasonal resources, digital content and business advice designed to help retailers make the most of their time and space.

Retail is full of moments when it feels easier to wait. Winter can be one of them. But for retailers prepared to use the quieter weeks with purpose, it can become the season that puts the business in a stronger position for the rest of the year.

What Mother’s Day 2026 Taught Us About Local Gift Retail

Mother’s Day 2026 confirmed something important for independent retail. Gifting is where growth is happening. It is where shoppers are spending, and it is where local small business retailers can still win.

Across a sample of 13 newsXpress stores, nine grew retail sales through the Mother’s Day period compared to last year, excluding lottery revenue. The pattern was clear. Stores that made a deliberate commitment to gifting performed better, while stores carrying more floor space for declining print categories were under pressure.

First up: why 13 stores? This is a selection of newsXpress stores across different retail settings and demographics where we could access the data quickly, right after the season.

Now, why do it now, and so quickly? This matters because the wider market is changing fast. Newspaper unit sales are down about 13 percent year on year nationally, and the newspaper publishing industry continues to contract. Magazine sales are proving more resilient, but the long-term drift in traditional print categories is undeniable. At the same time, national consumer demand for gifting remains strong, especially in categories such as plush, homewares, candles, jewellery and personal care.

The strongest stores in the newsXpress network did not grow by accident. One recorded a 57 percent in-store result, with growth across plush, toys, gifts, homewares and apparel. Another achieved a 31 percent result, with toys and gifts more than doubling. In both cases, the growth came from clear ranging decisions, strong display execution and a willingness to back categories that shoppers are actively looking for.

Cards were another bright point. Most stores recorded positive or flat card sales through the Mother’s Day period. That is important because cards still sit at the centre of many local retail businesses. When cards are supported by a strong gift offer, they remain highly relevant.

There is another lesson in the data. Growth is not only coming from existing customers spending more. Some of the best-performing stores grew both transaction count and average sale value. That means a stronger gift offer is helping attract new shoppers as well as increasing the value of each visit.

For retailers thinking about the future, the message is straightforward. The opportunity is not in hoping old categories recover. The opportunity is in making better use of your space, curating products that feel fresh and relevant, and building a business around what shoppers want now.

That is where newsXpress comes in. The group exists to help independent retailers compete and grow through data, supplier access, marketing support and practical guidance tailored to each business. If you are looking at your shop and wondering what the next chapter could look like, Mother’s Day 2026 offered a useful answer. The retailers who chose gifting, and acted with intent, were the ones who grew.

The 12-month test: is your business ready to sell, or are you just hoping it is?

This one is about the preparation that most owners skip when planning to sell their newsagency business. They then often regret when they are sitting across from a broker wondering why the valuation is lower than expected.

The owner-dependency problem

If your shop cannot run without you for a week, it is worth less than you think. Buyers know it. Brokers know it. The multiple applied to your earnings is directly affected by how removable you are from daily operations.

This is not an insult. It is a structural issue that is fixable, but it takes time. The businesses that sell well in 2026 are the ones where the owner started working on this 12–18 months before they decided to sell.

What documented systems actually look like

Opening and closing procedures written down. A staff training document that exists somewhere other than your head. A reordering system that a manager can run without asking you. A rostering approach that is predictable. Supplier contact details that are accessible to someone else.

None of this is complicated. All of it takes time to build. None of it can be done in the weeks before a sale.

The revenue mix question

In 2026, a business that is 70–80% commission-based (lotteries, newspapers, magazines) is selling a diminishing income stream, and buyers price it that way. A business where 50% or more of revenue comes from categories you control the margin on — gifts, collectibles, stationery, café — is selling a retail business. The valuation multiple is different.

If your current mix is wrong for a sale in the next two years, you have time to fix it. If your current mix is wrong and you are planning to sell in six months, you have a problem.

The practical question

Ask yourself honestly: if you stepped away from the shop for a month, would it run? Would it run profitably? Would a new owner be able to step in without you and know what to do?

If the answer is no, that is the work. Not the broker conversation. Not the signage. The systems, the staff, the revenue mix, the documented processes. That is what you are actually selling.

Retail theft is at a 21-year high. Here is what to do about it in your shop.

The ABS recorded 595,660 theft victims nationally in 2024, the highest level in 21 years, up 6% on the prior year. Almost half of those incidents occurred in retail settings. The Griffith University ANZ Retail Crime Study put the total cost to Australian retailers at $7.79 billion in 2023–24, up 40% in two years.

Anecdotal evidence suggests it has grown since.

Newsagencies are not immune. High foot traffic, open floor plans, small items at accessible heights, and often a single staff member on the floor. The category mix — confectionery, stationery, small gifts, trading cards, collectibles — is exactly what opportunistic theft targets.

What is actually driving it

Cost-of-living pressure is part of it. Monash University research found a measurable increase in people who view certain theft as more justifiable under financial strain. Organised retail crime is also growing — coordinated groups, not just opportunistic shoplifters. Both are harder to deter than the individual customer pocketing a chocolate bar.

What works

Visibility is the cheapest deterrent. If your floor layout means there are areas your counter staff cannot see, those are your theft hotspots. Rearrange product so high-value small items are in sightline from the counter. This costs nothing.

Staff acknowledgement matters more than cameras. Research consistently shows that a staff member making eye contact and saying “I’ll be right with you” is more effective at deterring shoplifting than a CCTV sign. Train your team to greet every person who walks in.

For high-value items, trading cards, collectibles, premium stationery, locked display cases are a straightforward solution. The friction of having to ask deters casual theft and doesn’t meaningfully deter genuine buyers who want the product.

The data problem

Most newsagents don’t know their actual shrinkage figure. If your stock-on-hand data in your POS is not accurate, you cannot measure what you are losing. Regular stock counts in your high-theft categories are the baseline. If you have never done a specific count on trading cards or confectionery, do one. The number may surprise you.

The employee theft question

Industry data puts employee fraud at 39% of total retail shrinkage. We think it is higher in our channel. That is not a comfortable number to sit with. Random till reconciliations, dual-person authority on refunds, and reviewing transactions for patterns are the basics. If you have never looked, you do not know.

newsXpress helps newsagents with tough issues like theft. It’s part of the kit of services we provide.