newsXpress has loaded more content in the members only section of the new corporate website. This includes product specific marketing collateral in support of Valentine’s Day.
Our new website is generating excellent consumer traffic – driven in part through Google searches – to the public areas and excellent member traffic to the member-only areas.
Pentel is proud to bring ‘Pop n Pop’ correction tape to newsXpress as the first retailers to sell this product outside of Officeworks. Pentel’s ‘Pop n Pop’ correction tape has sold over 100,000 units since release late last year. Having this product reinforces our relevance and appeals to a demographic important to our businesses. ‘Pop n Pop’ correction tape is a good point of difference for newsXpress.
Bargara’s NewsXpress owner Debbie Chapman said her store experienced expected sales despite the economic squeeze.
“People are price conscious for their back to school shopping, but I haven’t noticed a difference from this time last year,” she said.
“It’s one of our peak periods in the year … last week was really strong.”
Debbie was quoted in a report published by the News Mail about businesses and the reported economic climate. It is good to see the one report cover Officeworks and newsXpress.
Many newsXpress businesses are reporting good trading thanks to the balancing the group has brought to traditional newsagency businesses. With categories like calendars, gifts and books delivering better-than-before margins, the newsXpress offer is proving to be financially rewarding.
newsXpress today announces its first member meeting for 2009 – an online meeting on January 27 at 3pm. The 3pm start will enable this to be a national meeting, covering all time zones. The meeting will review Back To School 2009, preview Q1 marketing and facilitate a general business discussion.
Access to the meeting is open to newsXpress members only. To participate, you will need a computer with broadband and access to a phone for a toll free call for the audio part of the meeting.
Our online member meetings are in addition to our face to face capital city and regional member meetings and in-store visits made with members on a regular basis. newsXpress places high importance in getting like-minded newsagents together to talk about business and collectively develop streategies for member businesses and the group as a whole.
When a newsXpress newsagency is for sale, membership of our newsagency marketing group helps in a variety of valuable ways.
The existing newsXpress member has access to our advice in relation to preparing the business for sale – making sure the records are up to date and that the business itself is presented well. This can help a newcomer to the newsagency channel to better understand the value of offer.
The prospective purchaser has access to the newsXpress team to get a feel for how we help newcomers to the newsagency channel settle into the business should they proceed with a purchase. We outline our training and support services which provide access to knowledge which would otherwise take years to develop.
These services and others we provide to newsagency sellers and buyers are unique to newsXpress. They are provided without additional cost. They make a newsXpress newsagency more valuable through the sales process and a more appealing business to people who have never owned a newsagency before.
The newsagency channel can be a great channel to join. Good partnerships are vital to finding that enjoyment.
newsXpress is a full service marketing group for newsagency businesses. It is the only group delivering regular in-store business management support – a key reason newsXpress members outperform other newsagencies, regardless of brand, in key departments of magazines, cards, calendars and other areas.
To drive traffic to their newsagencies, newsXpress members have access to national TV advertising, regular catalogues and a comprehensive online marketing campaign.
To leverage the best value from each customer visit, newsXpress members have access to excellent product deals, the best in-store marketing colateral in the channel, tactics to help achieve strong impulse sales and a loyalty program which is applauded internationally as ground breaking.
To drive business efficiency, newsXpress provides regular training to members around newsXpress exclusive intellectual property. This is delivered face to face and online.
newsXpress members are offered these benefits – marketing, products and in-store support. We respect their independece and their right to decide whether to engage. The group does not force members to take every deal or engage in every promotion. This is why some members do better than others. Those who truly engage do very well.
What makes newsXpress unique among newsagency marketing (franchise) groups is that members are NOT locked into long term agreements. This is a consideranble risk for a newsagent who may want to sell their business in the future as it could cause a sale to fall through. Our view is that if we do our job members will support the group. This is better than tying people into an onerous contract.
If you want to achieve the best from your newsagency in 2009, talk to newsXpress and see whether your business and ours are a good fit.
Customers buying items promoted in our Back To School catalogue can go online to our website to enter to win one of twenty Nintendo Wii we are giving away. Entries are building as the Back To School season really kicks in.
We selected the Wii as the prize because it’s something for the whole family. From games to educational software, the Wii serves many uses in a busy household. What a perfect gift for the back To School season!
newsXpress is the first newsagency marketing group to run in-store competitions in the newsagency channel where entry is through the website. It’s our way of introducing our new website to consumers and making entry faster and easier.
newsXpress is embracing technology and choosing cool prizes to show that you can have fun at this time of the year and that there are great rewards for shopping at newsXpress.
The feedback facilities at our new newsXpress website are being enjoyed by customers and visitors. Plenty are clicking on Contact Us and completing a simple to form to provide feedback on our offers and store-level experiences. We respond to enery contact and involve specific newsXpress store members if appropriate.
The contact us facilities on our new website are another way newsXpress is leading the newsagency channel on customer service and pursuing its for customers to experience the difference.
Our website will continue to evolve with new facilities currently under development.
newsXpress members are taking up our Valentine’s Day offers in good numbers. We have selected a range of gift lines to compliment an excellent range of greeting cards and related items already provided by core suppliers. In selecting our product offers we have carefully balanced margin with potential volume as both are crucial factors in product selection.
While newsXpress sources offers around seasons and throughout the year, members are free to make their own decision as to whether to participate. It is gratifying sharing the results after a season and hearing how well offers pitched through the group have gone.
newsXpress is putting the finishing touches to a Back to School TV campaign due to hit the airwaves in ten days time. This newsXpress exclusive campaign will promote several hero products and a commitment to service to drive traffic to our network of newsagencies. This will be our third TV campaign in a year, not bad for a small group of 160 stores.
Our TV support for Back To School is in addition to brochures which are being delivered to homes around participating newsXpress locations.
newsXpress has announced three new gift supplier relationships to members. With gift department sales growing well in 2008, our merchandise team has been working hard to extent the ranges available on favourable terms to our members for 2009.
Exclusive product offers and pricing key elements of these exclusive supplier arrangements negotiated by newsXpress. The differences between newsagents will increase this year as the value of deals such as these is felt by more newsagents.
newsXpress is pleased to have national network of 160 locations on behalf of which to negotiate these arrangements.
newsXpress Parap in the Northern Territory, newsXpress Kellicar Lane in New South Wales and newsXpress Collie in Western Australia are the latest in a string of newsXpress outlets to sell a first division lottery prize. Both sold First division Saturday. While we don’t control who wins, we do make sure that through excellent customer service every lottery customer at newsXpress is a winner.
newsXpress stores in Queensland in 2008 sold close to twenty major lottery prizes of close to $100,000.
Post updated January 11, 2009.
Booking to attend member meetings will be easier this year for newsXpress members. Next week, we release an update to our new website and which delivers the ability for members to book online to attend a member’s meeting. This saves newsXpress members having to fax or call.
Booking though our website will be faster, cheaper and easier – benefits which demonstrate what newsXpress is about in its dealings with its members. we are helping our members experience the difference.
Watch for more innovation from our new website over the coming months.
One of the benefits of newsXpress is being part of a community of proactive newsagents sharing ideas and experiences. Marc, Darren and Cody of newsXpress The Pines, Elanora got into the swing of the $30 million medadraw by donning the posters and their newsXpress uniforms and walking the centre. The guys had a bit of fun, the $30 million megadraw was promoted and the newsXpress brand was well represented outside the four walls of the shop. While promotions like this can be done by anyone, being part of a group like newsXpress provides a forum through which the ideas can be discussed and developed.
newsXpress is proud to be supporting the Australian Masters Games to be held in Geelong in February this year with the launch of an official decorations pack for use by our members. The Masters Games provides another opportunity for newsXpress members to get behind a major community event. More than 10,000 participants are expected at this year’s Games covering seventy sports. As with all such community promotions, paarticipation is not mandatory – newsXpress provides the materials and background information and leaves it to newsXpress members to decide if this is something for their business.