The Just In bookmarks from newsXpress are another point of difference we deliver to our members to help promote newsXpress newsagencies as the magazine experts.  The bookmarks are placed on monthly magazines which are just in - to draw attention to new titles.  It is attention to detail like this which separates newsXpress from other newsagencies.  newsXpress provides the bookmarks to members for no cost.

The just in magazine bookmarks are part a broader and considered strategy developed by newsXpress to use consumer touchpoints in-store to build the shopping basket.

With excellent traffic in newsagencies, the opportunities for using the store itself to achieve this are excellent.  The keys we have discovered are: consistency, a professional approach and adding value.  The magazine just in bookmark ticks each of these boxes.

The magazine club card from newsXpress is more popular than ever since the decision by the newsXpress Board to make all collateral, including the cards, available to members without cost.  newsXpress happily sends new card stock to members for no cost, including no delivery cost.  This takes a cost out of the businesses and makes running the magazine club card loyalty program even more compelling for newsXpress members.

We launched the latest changes to this magazine loyalty program last month and we are well ahead of projections of cards in circulation and rewards being earned by happy newsXpress customers.

Publishers and smart newsagents see the value of this exclusive to newsXpress offer.  We are drawing traffic from supermarkets and convenience outlets.  We are also guiding our customers to spend more on magazines.  While many newsagents moan doom about magazine sales, newsXpress members are embracing this marketing initiative and pursuing every growth opportunity.

The team at our newsXpress Watergardens, Victoria, corporate store are enjoying considerable success from their stunning visual merchandising displays. This Burkes Backyard display in the photo makes good use of a column which otherwise looks like it is in the way. Renee and our team are talking with our customers and suppliers are creating displays which speak to our demographic.  The real test is sales.  Our magazine sales are going against the industry trend.

The display shows what good visual merchandising skills can achieve.  newsXpress members, through their Business Development managers, share VM ideas and feedback.

Congratulations to the team at newsXpress Robina for being the location at which the That’s Life fairy competition was won this week.

A lucky customer at newsXpress Robina won $1,000 courtesy of That’s Life as part of their random acts of kindness promotion.

This is a terrific way for That’s Life magazine to engage with newsagents and with their readers.  We are thrilled to have been part of such a happy giveaway this week.

That’s Life is a popular weekly magazine and is given pride of place in newsXpress stores across Australia when it goes on-sale each Wednesday.

Buying That’s Life at a newsXpress newsagency is rewarding thanks to our newsXpress Magazine Club Card - the card which rewards you for buying magazines from newsXpress outlets.

newsXpress has enhanced its magazine loyalty program to leverage the strength of our 160 stores nationally engaging with this exceptional value magazine offer.  The enhanced newsXpress magazine Club Card loylaty program focuses attention solely on the newsXpress brand.

New Magazine Club Card stocks are provided without cost to all newsXpress members.

Members will be further briefed on the changes to the Magazine Club Card at member meetings which start tomorrow in Brisbane.

Our first newsXpress GROUP ‘SUPER SYNDICATE’ has been a resounding success with the last of the 152 shares selling out this morning. With still 10 days left until the Super Draw this is an outstanding result.

Individually several stores recorded exceptional sales with newsXpress Lowood selling 35 shares between themselves and their second store newsXpress Fernvale, this was after committing to just four shares! They also rewarded the staff member who sold the most shares with a Myer voucher.

newsXpress Gympie also excelled with an amazing 16 shares sold after committing to just five.

newsXpress newsagencies are proactively promoting the exclusive Lovatts bonus package this month.  We also have a free pencil for every customer - crossword customers love using pencils.  To support the promotion, stores are being given marketing collateral as well as plenty of pencils to give away.  The newsXpress exclusive bonus pack includes: Holiday Collections Issue 68, a  Cryptic Collections A4 puzzle book and a handy How to do Cryptic Crosswords booklet, total value of over $16 for just $9.50.  This offer helps us demonstrate again to our customers that we offer excellent value.

newsXpress is proud to partner with Lovatts, Australia’s premier crossword and puzzle publisher, to support Brain Awareness Week.

Brain Awareness Week is an international enterprise organised by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives to advance public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. This year Brain Awareness Week will be held between 16-22 March.

There is a strong correlation between remaining brain active and restricting the onset of brain health issues so it is appropriate that newsXpress partners with Lovatts to support this cause.

Thanks to Lovatts, newsXpress stores have a great value offer for customers.  Holiday Collections Issue 68 will come bagged with a Cryptic Collections A4 puzzle book and a handy How to do Cryptic Crosswords booklet, total value of over $16 for just $9.50.

Congratulations to newsXpress Chippdendall Sugarland for winning $1,000 from Pacific Magazines from their Youth Sales Club promotion. 

Pacific Magazines’ Youth Sales Club was established exclusively for our Top 500 selling newsagents of Girlfriend, Total Girl and K-Zone magazines.  Each holiday period members receive additional gifts, exclusive posters and cash incentives for top sales performance!

Pacific Magazines’ investment in Youth Sales Club newsagents is proving successful with members outperforming other newsagents on average by 9.6% for Girlfriend, 12.8% for Total Girl and 6.1% for K-Zone during school holiday periods.

newsXpress is proud to facilitate the Pacific Magazines Youth Sales Club initiative through its member newsagents.

newsXpress members are participating in an exclusive offer of Alpha and Australian Football Weekly for a combined price of $5.  Specially printed collateral, including header cards and posters, has been provided to newsXpress stores for use in supporting the promotion.

newsXpress negotiates exclusive magazine title based offers as well as exclusive strategic relationships for members.  Our marketing and merchandise teams welcome opportunities to work with other publishers to develop mutually beneficial outcomes.

Exclusive to newsXpress.  The sticker in the top left corner of the crossword pack from Puzzler is an important message in newsXpress members and to consumers shopping in newsXpress stores.  This is one of several exclusive to newsXpress offers from Puzzler planned for this year.

The crossword category is important in newsagencies because of its efficiency.  Crossword customers are more likely to buy multiple titles from the category.  Crossword customers are also loyal - once they have found a store wwith the range and service they like, they are more likely to return.  This ties in with our newsXpress exclusive traffic generating loyalty program.

Campaigns like this one we are running with Puzzler reinforces the value of crosswords in-store and the key supplier relationships we deliver exclusively for newsXpress members.  The sticker is a proud badgs for us.

newsXpress is participating in an exclusive promotion with Puzzler Collections magazine.  Participating newsXpress members will be provided with newsXpress branded bonus packs containing Puzzler Collections as well as two other Puzzler titles - priced to sell.  This exclusive pack is providing us with an excellent offer around which to promote the crossword category and the Puzzler brand in p[articular in newsXpress outlets in the lead up to the Back To School rush.

With 160 entrepreneurial newsagents across the country, newsXpress is pleased to be able to offer publishers opportunities to promote their brand while delivering exclusive commercially valuable opportunities for our members.

newsXpress has been recently briefed by a major magazine publisher on our same store year-on-year growth.  newsXpress members who embrace our strategies, and that is most, are achieving considerably above industry average growth.  When compared to every other group, we lead in the magazine department in terms of growth.  We are proud of this because it is magazines which account for a significant portion of traffic visiting newsagencies. 

With seven magazine management and promotion strategies exclusive to newsXpress, our member newsagents are well prepared to continue our success in this category.

Magazines are included in, on average, half of all purchases made in newsagencies. While the category faces some challenges, we know from our private newsXpress same store year-on-year data analysis that growth can be achieved. newsXpress pursues magazine sales growth through a considered business management strategy. We work closely with our members on a multi-faceted strategy which helps newsXpress newsagents resolve supply issues efficiently, improves the shopper experience and rewards loyalty.

A small but important part of our approach to magazines is our use of newsXpress branded headers in-store. These are placed at the top of each column of magazines. Our magazine headers clearly identify categories, identify the MPA (Magazine Publishers of Australia) code and thereby make title placement by newsagent staff easier and more consistent and make the department look professional.

Shoppers react well to our newsXpress magazine headers - they can more easily find the category they want. We have received complimentary comments about how professional they make the magazine department look.

Magazine headers are part of the starter pack new newsXpress members receive when they join our group. They, along with other magazine elements in our starter pack, allow us to introduce newsXpress strategies to new members as they prepare to re-launch under the newsXpress brand.

The headers are part of the reason newsXpress newsagencies outperform other newsagencies in year-on-year same store magazine sales.

newsXpress members have benefited from an exclusive promotion in support of Home Beautiful.  In addition to exclusive collateral material, one lucky newsXpress customer will win a generous cash prize. This event introduced a new element from traditional magazine promotions, with details of the competiton being directly marketed to consumers using the Home Beautiful database.

newsXpress is grateful to Pacific Magazines for supporting this promotion and helping newsXpress members offer a point of difference.

newsXpress Robina

newsXpress Beechworth

newsXpress Cairns

Recent supplier briefings have shown how valuable the seven-point newsXpress magazine management plan is for our members. With newsXpress newsagencies delivering industry-leading growth we are better positioned to weather tough times.

Suppliers respond to our magazine initiatives with exclusive offers and insights which help us work smarter in the highly competitive magazine space.

newsXpress will be devoting time at the next round of member meetings (commencing in Melbourne of October 16) to discuss magazines and provide members with information on strategies which are certain to drive even greater success with magazines.

A highlight of the last day of the newsXpress National Conference was the presentation by Zoe Petrou (pictured left) and Jane Peterson-McIllhatton  from Pacific Magazines to newsXpress with the completed Better Homes and Gardens painting. This painting was completed over the course of the conference by attendees and the Pacific magazine team. This painting will be proudly displayed on the wall at our Head Office and remind us of our first conference.

To celebrate Inaugural newsXpress Conference on the Gold Coast this week and the 30th anniversary of Better Homes and Gardens, the folks at Pacific Magazines invited conference attendees to share in painting something for the wall of the newsXpress Head Office. The photo captures Shelley Petersen of newsXpress Sarina with brush in hand  adding her touch to the painting.   Some of us less skilled at painting than Shelley were thankful that there were lines to guide our painting.

This was a fun activity from Pacific Magazines for the trade show part of the two day conference.

Annette Sym set the newsXpress conference alight yesterday with her presentation on why she sells her Symply Too Good To Be True cookbooks exclusively through newsagents. Her weight loss, personal development, business success story is inspirational and commitment to newsagents and the newsXpress group in particular deeply appreciated.

Annette Sym is one of many speakers at the conference helping us connect with the theme of embracing change and propelling our businesses to a higher level.

Magazines are important to newsagencies, even more so in newsXpress. From our exclusive MPA category coded magazine header cards through to our unique loyalty program, we actively work this category to our advantage by delivering to our members a cohesive group of strategies and tactics which generate store traffic, increase basket size and make the magazine customer more valuable.

Our intellectual property around magazines is valuable as the results achieved by our members shows. newsXpress newsagents can bank of the success of magazines, for many it is a key financial justification for joining the group.

While others see magazines as a chore, the newsXpress magazine ’system’ is delivering excellent results and providing our network with an excellent point of difference.