More profit in non-essential products.

 

Newsagency industry commentator and owner Mark Fletcher has appealed to stationery suppliers to provide more “emotional” products to meet consumer 'wants'.

 

There are the stationery customers who buy because they need it and then there are stationery people buy because they want it - the obligation purchase versus the emotional purchase,” Fletcher wrote on his Newsagency Blog.

 

“Traditional stationery suppliers to our channel serve us well with stationery that fills a need. Most do not serve us at all with stationery that serves a want,” he said.

 

“It is in this want or emotional stationery purchase space that we can make the most money and the failure of existing stationery suppliers to our channel to offer stationery for the want / emotional purchase has plenty of newsagents looking elsewhere,” he said.

 

“Our channel was built in the 1800s to serve a need. Today, serving what people a want is proving to be an appreciated value-add for retailers,” he added.