Over 1,300 independent newsagents across Scotland have been given a face lift by News UK’s Scottish Sun branding.
In total, over 8,300 retailers across the UK and Ireland have been revitalised following the launch last November of Retail+, News UK’s major initiative to improve communications with and maximise sales for over 30,000 independent retailers in Britain who sell The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.
In February, independent retailers were offered and responded en-masse to the opportunity to brighten up their in-store news displays and shop fronts including striking new shop awnings adorned with the world-famous brand of The Sun.
It was an ambitious project with the News UK Retail+ team visiting over 15,000 retailers and making over 14,000 phone calls across the UK over a five month period. Over 50% of newsagents contacted took advantage of the offer.
The retailers we have partnered with in Scotland in this programme sell 80,000 copies of The Scottish Sun and 4,500 copies of The Times every day, over 37.6% and 17.7% of Scottish print sales respectively every day.
Increasing newspaper sales can make a real difference to the bottom line for many retailers as research shows that 69 per cent of shoppers buy other items in addition to a newspaper and those buyers tend to be more loyal, with 35% of them visiting the same store every day compared to 22% of non-newspaper buyers*.
Gordon Smart, Editor of The Scottish Sun, said: ‘At The Scottish Sun we are committed not only to the future of newspapers but also to the future of our high streets. This investment in independent retailers is our way of brightening up our towns and villages while committing to doing what we do best – selling newspapers.’
The successful project is more evidence of News UK’s intention to protect and promote its print business for years to come.
