The Great Ocean Road is one of the best-known drives in the country. Most people know it for the Twelve Apostles, the cliffs and the surf beaches, but for a shop owner along the way it’s something more practical: a steady stream of visitors who want something to take home.
I supply stores along the road and at its western end, and they’re a good example of how varied tourism retail can be. Here’s what I see in the region and what it means if you’re stocking a shop there.
Who visits
The Great Ocean Road gets a real mix of visitors, and each group shops a little differently.
- Day-trippers from Melbourne. Plenty of people drive down for the day or the weekend. They often stop in the bigger towns for lunch, a coffee and a wander down the main street.
- International day tours. Coach and minibus tours run out to the Twelve Apostles and back, usually with a couple of stops along the way. These visitors have limited time, so small, easy-to-pack souvenirs with a clear place name suit them well.
- Holiday stays. Families and couples who stay a few nights in Lorne, Apollo Bay, Port Fairy or Warrnambool have more time to browse, and they’re more likely to come back to a shop they liked.
- People on a longer trip. Caravanners and touring drivers often carry on west past Port Fairy towards the South Australian border and the Limestone Coast, where I also have stockists in Robe and Mount Gambier.
Seasons and quiet months
Like most of southern Australia, the big season here is summer, especially the school holidays from just before Christmas to the end of January. Easter, long weekends and the spring holidays add smaller peaks.
Winter is quieter for beach holidays, but the Great Ocean Road doesn’t stop completely. International visitors and day tours keep coming through the year, and the scenery still draws people on a cold, windy day. Around Warrnambool, whale watching adds some interest in the cooler months.
So stores here tend to want a strong summer range, and a tighter one that still turns over in winter. I’ve written more about planning for this in my guide to tourist seasons.
Where my stockists are
I currently have 6 stockists in the Great Ocean Road region, part of the 24 I supply across Victoria:
| Town | Stockists |
|---|---|
| Warrnambool and Allansford | 3 |
| Lorne | 1 |
| Apollo Bay | 1 |
| Port Fairy | 1 |
What I like about this list is the variety. It isn’t just gift shops. Between them there’s a newsagency, a licensed post office, a museum, a fashion boutique, a food attraction and a gift and souvenir shop.
That lines up with what I see across my whole client base: pharmacies and newsagencies outnumber gift shops. If visitors walk through your door, you can sell souvenirs, whether you’re a post office on the main street or a museum shop at the end of a tour.
You can see every town I cover on the stockist map.
What tends to work
I’ll keep this general, because every store is different and what suits a museum shop won’t always suit a newsagency. A few things hold true along most of the road:
- Place names sell. Visitors want proof of where they’ve been. Products with “Great Ocean Road”, “Twelve Apostles” or the town name on them are the core of most souvenir ranges. Destination magnets are the classic example: small, light and easy to pack.
- Small, packable items for tour visitors. Keyrings, teaspoons, badges, magnets and coasters suit someone with ten minutes and a suitcase limit.
- Gifts for people back home. Tea towels, calendars and soft toys are easy gifts to buy in a hurry.
- Weather gear. The coast can be sunny one hour and wild the next. Hats and sunglasses sell in summer, and the right hat can sell all year.
- Clothing. Souvenir T-shirts and other clothing work in stores with a bit more space and a browsing crowd.
The brands I carry cover most of this. Local Bloke does destination-branded resin souvenirs, magnets, figurines and coasters. Sundowner Souvenirs makes keyrings, teaspoons and badges, and can do custom ranges for attractions. Souvenirs Australia has destination magnets, calendars, soft toys and clothing, and Kato Designs covers hats, sunglasses, bags and towels.
Getting the range right for your store
The mistake I’d most like stores to avoid is buying too deep on too many lines. A smaller range of things that suit your customers, with the place-name lines never running out in summer, does better than a crowded shelf.
If you’re not sure where to start, tell me what kind of store you run, who comes through the door and how much space you’ve got. I’ll suggest a starting range and we can build from what sells.
If you run a store
Whether you’re in Lorne, Apollo Bay, Warrnambool, Port Fairy or anywhere in between, I can help you put together a souvenir and gift range that suits your visitors and your space. No store is too small.
Book a visit, ask for range advice or see the products I can bring you.
If you make or import a product
The Great Ocean Road draws visitors from Melbourne, interstate and overseas, and the stores along it range from post offices to museums. If your product carries a sense of place, or suits a traveller with limited time and luggage, it could work here, and in the other coastal regions I cover. I work across all of Australia, in most cases on commission and non-exclusive.
See how representation works, or get in touch about your range.