newsXpress is surveying its members about calendars in the lead up to the final planning for the 2010 calendar season.  The online survey is another example of how newsXpress invites members to share feedback to add to overall learnings.  The survey is unique in that up to date results are provided live to each participant.

Our approach to celndars has been proven to be highly profitable for newsXpress members with good in-store and outpost sales growth over several years.

The online 2010 calendar workshop held today for newsXpress members was a success with members reviewing the 2010 range and discussing plans for ordering stock.  Most newsXpress members will finalise calendar orders within the next week.  The beauty of our online workshop program is that it brings members together who would otherwise not connect with each other and this challenges traditional ideas.  New opportunities are always uncovered.

newsXpress is hosting an online training session for members tomorrow, April 7 at 10am, on Making The Most from 2010 Calendars.  This free online session training is in addition to face to face and over the phone assistance provided to newsXpress members who want to maximise their calendar opportunity in the 2010 calendar season.

By hosting an online session we are able to bring members together from various states and thereby facilitate a broader cross-section of views on calendar opportunities.

We have members who have increased the bottom line contribution from calendars from $1,000 to more than $10,000 in one year by following our advice from ordering toprice management to retail display.  The advice from our calendar expert, Michelle Caia, is a keyfactor of the success of our members in the calendar category.

newsXpress is hosting its 2010 season calendar workshop tomorrow.  This member-only event will provide a through preview of the range and trading terms available for newsXpress members.  This session will be run live online - saving members from having to leave their businesses or homes.

newsXpress is hosting an online workshop on 2010 calendar opportunities for for newsXpress newsagents.  This workshop will be held on March 10 and will cover the 2010 range, guidelines on what to order and other opportunities to pursue now in order to make the most of the lucrative season.

This is a terrific learning opportunity from newsXpress - we are committed to helping our newsagent members have access to the best resources and advice.

This workshop is another cross-border networking opportunity for newsXpress members.

newsXpress is helping its members set themselves up for bumper Boxing Day sales with another high margin offer.  This time it is in the lucrative calendar category.  newsXpress members have access to margins of 90% thanks to the work newsXpress has done on their behalf.

With exclusive first access to these deals, newsXpress members are better prepared to compete in the sales and art other times thanks to the national buying the group is able to leverage.

The newsXpress merchandise team relentlessly seeks out product offers such as the latest calendar deal on behalf of members as part of the service we offer.

Our marketing team has created new marketing collateral to help newsXpress stores promote the excellent range of calendars available this year. The A2 colour posters are provided to members free of charge, as part of our marketing commitment.

We see newsXpress stores which generate a gross profit contribution of upwards of $50,000 a year from calendars. In the high street and rural situations we see members generating well in excess of $10,000 gross profit contribution. This is growing year by year, ahead of many other departments in newsagencies. This excellent GP contribution and growth is achieved through the exclusive newsXpress calendar offer.

newsXpress leads the newsagency channel in calendars. Our members have access to:

• Better range - providing an excellent point of difference.
• Better pricing - you make more off each calendar.
• Better in-store marketing collateral - posters, a catalogue and other materials..
• Better product support from our in-house calendar expert - help with ordering, merchandising, pricing and consumer questions.
• Smart branding - through promoting calendars under a collective sub brand, calendarXpress, and reaching more consumers than a traditional newsagency promotion would attract.

The team at newsXpress Indooroopilly has created a stunning calendar outpost at their centre in Brisbane. A visit to the outpost will show what a smart newsagent can do to compete with bigger retailers. This aerial photo shows how they have embraced newsXpress corporate style. The outpost is a world class consumer friendly brand focused calendar story.

The calendarXpress branding of the outpost is another sub brand of newsXpress, focused solely on the lucrative calendar offer.

newsXpress works with its members on strategies such as this outpost from design up. We have a range of outpost and hero product merchandising options available for group members to consider.

Get organised for 2009 is the call to action in our marketing collateral around diaries and calendars this year.  newsXpress is helping its members leverage excellent diary and calendar sales this year through marketing collateral like the A5 brochure in the photo.  Many of our members are using this to draw shoppers in.  The key brands focus as well as a strong environmental message are helping to drive success.

Thanks to excellent negotiation by newsXpress we have been able to deliver very competitive pricing to our members and thereby strengthened the economic value of the diary and calendar categories.  Some new members find that their entire year’s membership fee is funded from the additional margin they make from one season of calendars.

newsXpress has produced a brochure promoting calendars and diaries for our members. This handy brochure promotes range - critical in the specialist calendar marketplace. The brochure is another of the resources our merchandise and marketing teams creates for members to use in-store and externally to drive traffic and achieve more profitable baskets.

Calendars have been a focus of newsXpress since the group started seven years ago. Our calendar strategy is more developed than any other newsagency marketing group from what we can see. Our members make better margins and have access to category specialists who help drive better margin and guide ranging decisions. The bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Calendars can be very lucrative for newsagents who embrace the newsXpress / calendarXpress strategies wholeheartedly.

The brochure features respected brands such as Hallmark, Collins Debden, Bartel and Browntrout to name a few.

newsXpress has enhanced its already successful calendar strategy this year with the development of several new items of marketing collateral for members.

To the left is the artwork for an A2 poster being offered for stores which want to boldly promote that calendars are now available in-store. On the poster, we are promoting products from several suppliers and covering several demographics.  As calendar specialists, range is key.

We are also providing members with a combined calendar / diary catalogue to promote these products to homes and businesses in their area. Marketing outside the newsagency is crucial to driving traffic.

Thanks to the guidance from Michelle Caia our Calendar product manager, newsXpress does calendars well. Members embracing our strategies profit far better than if they were to follow the traditional newsagent calendar offering. Michelle has excellent supplier side experience with calendars and uses this when working with members on range and other strategies connected with the category.

Further to the post on September 15 ‘Calendar Season in Full Swing‘, newsXpress Beechworth have forged full steam ahead with their Calendar and Diary displays.

Using the advice, experience and supplier relationships negotiated through newsXpress and in particualr our resident calendar expert Michelle Caia coupled with innovative local area marketing that has seen newsXpress Beechworth take out several prestigious industry awards in recent times. Tracy and her team have developed an early strategy to capture new sales as well as satisfying regular customers, such as the local council who like to organise their calendar & diary requirements very early.

Calendar season for 2009 has well and truly started based on sales data we are seeing from newsXpress stores.

Thanks to strategic supplier relationships, many newsXpress stores have an excellent range of special interest calendars.  These are key to early season calendar sales.

Michelle Caia is our in-house calendar specialist with years of experience in this lucrative category.  newsXpress is the only newsagent marketing group with such a resource.  Michelle is a key reason our newsXpress newsagecnies perform so well in calendar sales and margin.

We see excellent synergy between calendars, greeting cards and magazines - each category attracts consumers based on habit and habit is driven by range, especially in the special interest areas.