SMALL STEP PROJECTS FOR RETAIL SALES GROWTH

Rather than making big, whole of business, changes, we think in today’s environment, small steps are more appropriate, easier to digest and offering better value. By small steps, we mean changes you can implement in a day or two at the most and for little or no cost.

Small steps don’t take too much thinking. And as they are small, they can be reversed if they do not work for you and the business.

In our work with newsXpress businesses of all shapes and sizes and in all sorts of situations, there is a common group of small steps, small projects, that can be undertaken. This advice sheet is about those, the common steps most newsXpress businesses engage with at one point or another.

Below we list these common small steps and provide brief advice to get you started. Our overall advice is don’t overthink these steps. They are small, each is easy to implement. Every day you think is another day without potential benefits.

Some of these small step projects have been part of the newsXpress pitch for years. Even if you have been a member for some time, this is a good list to review and re-consider.

1. Removing the traditional newspaper stand. Newspapers do not warrant prime location, nor do they justify the space the traditional newspaper stand takes. Move newspapers to a smaller allocation of space, away from the main traffic area. Consider a purpose build acrylic unit from Kleerex or old wall-fixed shelving. For small volume papers, fan then out taking less space in total for all product. Use the old newspaper stand space for dance floor space – moving through gifts and other feature items. See our separate dance floor advice.

2. Removing a magazine unit. With magazine sales flat or declining, rent increasing and labour costs increasing, the only way to manage magazines for viability is to allocate less space. Do fewer waterfall displays and less full face displays. In other words, carry the same number of titles in less space. Look at removing a magazine unit at the front of the shop, next to the newspaper stand of where the newspaper stand used to be. Turn this additional space into more dance-floor space. The alternative is to take half a magazine unit. Get a local carpenter to slice into the magazine unit to create shelving onto which you can place gifts, jigsaw puzzles and other items. Remember to take before and after photos from the same location each time – to share with your newsXpress colleagues.

3. De-clutter. Stand inside the entrance to your business and count how many signs and marketing messages are pitched to your customers. Reduce the number of messages and increase the opportunity of the remaining messages being noticed.
4. Making your dance floor more interesting. Remove all purpose-built fixtures on your dance floor and replace these with old (vintage) tables and other furniture from a market or with stackable cube tables from Ikea or a table and two benches from a discount furniture outlet. Consider placing the furniture on a rug and placing a tablecloth or some other appropriate fabric on top of the table. Consider placing a residential type light fitting above the table. The goal here is to create layered space you can use for gift and non-traditional newsagency product placement, a space that feels more like home, that challenges how people perceive your business, that is warm and that makes you proud this is your business. The look and feel of the dance floor needs to change with the products you promote there.

5. Trimming stationery space. Often, space for stationery is over allocated. Run a report to see what you have not sold in six months or a year. Trim your space, condense stationery leaving spare space near your dance floor f0or an extension of the dance floor. Note that pens and writing products should account for 33% of stationery sales yet should take up 10% or less of all stationery space. Pens ought to be located close to the counter.

6. Reconfiguring the wall behind the counter. This has to stand for something. It has to grab attention of shoppers you serve at the counter – so much so they ask to see products displayed there. Your behind the counter space should have products from a single category. The display ought to be bold. It needs to change weekly.

7. Recasting your image from the front window. Stand out the front of the shop and look in. If you are promoting a traditional newsagency you need to make urgent and radical change. If it is promoting high margin product newsXpress businesses are known for, you’re in good shape. If your window is covered with magazine and newspaper posters, rip them down immediately. Your window is often the most important marketing statement you can make promoting your business. It should promote your point of difference and make a statement to draw people into your shop.

8. Placing products into cards. Use a cheap hair straightener stand to place plush in your card department. See our separate advice on this. Place one, maybe two, small footprint spinners next to cards, so people can see what you have to go with card purchases.  In the US, in CVS stores, they usually have a small stand of bottles of wine in the card department.

9. Placing cards into gifts. Every gift display ought to have some cards placed with it that are appropriate for the gifts. This reminds people you have cards too. Some cards work best outside the card department: Thank You cards, blank cards, Congratulations cards to name a few. The more you promote cards away from the card department the better the opportunity for selling cards to people who are not destination card shoppers.

10. Establishing a loyalty program. Every newsXpress business needs one. Our advice is to run with discount vouchers. We happily share our corporate store settings with everyone. We like discount vouchers because: they are easily understood, you have excellent control, they are different to what any other retailer does, they work. Not having a loyalty program stops you leveraging the best value possible from every shopper visit. Remember, newsXpress has manual programs you can use too: magazine club cards, Pop! Vinyl collector cards and Beanie Boo collector cards.

11. Cutting tobacco products. If you are selling less than $2,000 worth a week it is likely you are not making any money. Cutting the category can save high-value space, free capital and possible even reduce insurance costs.
12. Starting Facebook marketing. If you are not marketing your business on Facebook, start. It is easy, takes little time and is a perfect, low-cost- way to attract new shoppers to your business. Look at our printed advice on this as well as our 25 minute training video.

More detail on some of these steps are in other advice sheets. We can help too – ask us via help@newsxpress.com.au.