Tag: Preferred suppliers

Retail advice: 5 ways to improve small business cash flow without a credit card

The ATO’s decision to stop accepting credit card payments after 30 November is a hit to plenty of small businesses.

There is no single fix. In our experience, cash flow improves when a shop buys better, uses its space better, brings in more shoppers and lifts its margin.

That is the work newsXpress does with newsagents. Stride Retail now does the same work with independent garden centres, gift shops and homewares stores.

1. Buy better

Most of the cash in a shop is sitting on the shelves. Stock bought too early, or in too great a quantity, ties up money that could pay rent or wages.

We help members plan their buying around their own sales history and the season ahead. They can buy from close to 150preferred suppliers. If a supplier already gives a shop a better deal, we expect that deal to be honoured. Central billing also cuts down the number of accounts to reconcile each month.

2. Make every metre earn

Our whole-of-business review looks closely at floor space. Which categories are growing? Which are in decline? How much does the shop rely on one product line?

For a newsagency, the answer often involves moving space from magazines into gifts and greeting cards. We analyse card performance down to the pocket level, so owners can see what each pocket earns before they change anything. The review ends with a plan for that shop, not a generic checklist.

3. Bring in new shoppers

Tight cost control matters. But a shop also needs new customers.

Our Seasonal Edge campaigns are funded entirely by newsXpress. In 2025 they delivered more than $1,500 per member in value. We also help members set up their Google Business Profile properly, which is often the first thing a local shopper sees. And we will tell members honestly how their social media looks from the outside, then help them improve it.

4. Lift your GP%

A busy shop can still run short of cash if the margin is wrong.

Peer benchmarking shows members how their GP% compares with similar shops. Most owners have never had that comparison before. Members can also access low-cost EFTPOS rates. We pass these on in full and take nothing from them.

5. Get practical cash-flow support

Some retailers need help with the numbers themselves. We work with members to build a budget, then check in regularly to see how they are tracking. We do not lecture. We look at what has changed and agree on the next step. I have seen this support make the difference between a business closing and a business recovering.

Joining

Membership is $295 inc GST a month, with the first three months free. No lock-in. Month to month, 30 days’ notice.

If cash flow is a worry, talk to us at help@strideretail.com.au.

Why Choose newsXpress As Your Newsagency Marketing Group

Choosing a marketing group is a decision you live with every day.

It shapes what you can stock, what you pay, what help you can call on and how your store looks to your community. It is worth taking time over.

Here is our case, put simply.

We have been doing this for 25 years. That is a long time in retail, and long enough for a track record to be tested by good years and hard ones. We are still here, and so are members who joined in the early days.

Our supplier access is genuinely different. More than half of our preferred suppliers do not supply newsagents at all. They do supply newsXpress stores. That single fact changes what a member can put on the shop floor. It means your range does not have to look like everyone else’s range, and it gives shoppers a reason to come to you specifically.

Then there is Seasonal Edge.

Seasonal Edge puts real prize value into each store, not a token gesture. It gives staff something to talk about and gives shoppers a genuine reason to say yes at the counter. The results speak for themselves, particularly on care sales, where the lift has been exceptional.

We are also accessible. That word gets used loosely, so we will be specific. Our entire head office team is made up of local retail specialists. People who understand stock, space, staff and seasons because they have worked with them. When a member calls, they reach someone who knows what they are talking about and can help that day.

Beyond all that, we do the unglamorous work. Category research. Business performance analysis. Cost negotiations. Practical advice that has been tested in real stores before it is shared.

We also try to be useful at the moments that matter most. Season planning. A range that has stopped working. A decision about whether to hold or exit. Those are the calls where an outside view, backed by data from comparable stores, saves both money and worry.

And we share openly between members. Good ideas rarely come only from head office. Some of the best moves we have passed on started in a member’s store, were tested elsewhere and then rolled out. A group works best when it moves information around, not just stock.

We are not going to claim we are right about everything. Retail does not work like that. What we will say is that we try things, measure them honestly and pass on what works.

If you run a newsagency and you are weighing up your options, have a look at what your current arrangement delivers. Then have a look at ours.

We would be glad to have the conversation.

Coca Cola joins newsXpress

newsXpress announced to members last week that Coca Cola had joined our community of preferred suppliers.  This new relationship will bring special deals, promotional opportunities and other commercial benefits to newsXpress members.

The C0ca Cola deal reflects the newsXpress commitment to brand name products which are backed by nation advertising campaigns.

As a group we have no interest in cheap China products which try and differentiate on price. This price based marketplace is packed, shoppers are not loyal and product quality is often poor. National brands reflect quality, value and shopper loyalty.

The newsXpress commitment to brand is proving to be a valuable move.

Welcome Coke to our family!