We love Shoppertainment: The use of in-store
events and promotions – no cost, low cost in-store events and promotions – to
build foot traffic and increase store sales. Yes, there are times when you must
run a sale in your store, however, do not confuse an in-store event with a
sale. A sale provides you with the opportunity to clear out the dogs and the
discontinued stock – pile it high and watch it fly! And yes, and there are times when a sale can
be combined with a promotional event, but the true purpose of a promotional
event is to create customers. Customers, of course, are the life blood of your
business.
First Things First
Your
first step in planning your in-store events and promotions is to get your hands
on a blank calendar. You can buy a
blank calendar or find one online; we use Google Calendar. It’s free, offers
loads of options, and you can share it with your team. Keep an extra copy of
your blank calendar because it will come in handy when creating your monthly refrigerator
calendar – a complete listing if what’s in-store for the month – that you
distribute to customers as bag stuffers.
(Hint: Even though they are called bag stuffers, they should never be stuffed
in a customer’s bag. For best results, have your cashiers hand the bag stuffers
to the customer along with a short, sincere conversation inviting the customer
to return to attend the advertised event.)
– Schedule a brainstorming session
with your store associates to gather ideas for each month of the year. This
will be fun! In a brainstorming session there are no bad ideas. No one gets to
say, “We can’t do that.”, “That won’t work.”, or our personal favorite, “That’s
a really stupid idea.” When brainstorming there are no stupid ideas – that
so-called dumb idea just might be your next big claim to fame when a staffer
puts a new spin on the idea, or combines it with another idea. If you don’t stop the negativity at the very
beginning of your brainstorming session, some of your team will clam up, and
their potentially great ideas will be lost.
– Have a list of Official U.S. Holidays
handy during your brainstorming session. This list will help you build events
around certain holidays and prevent you from running a big event during a major
holiday. As one retailer said, “I couldn’t understand why no one came to my
store for my first big open house. It
was perfect!” Well, almost perfect. His
big day was also Easter Sunday. Oops. Google “goofy holidays” for a list of fun
themes, like Best Friends Day, and Jelly Bean Day, Frankenstein Day and more.
– If in-store events and promotions are new to you, then begin by scheduling
one major event and one minor event for each month. If you’re already holding successful in-store
promotions, then schedule one or two major events a month, and two minor events
per month.
A
word about “major” event versus “minor” event: A major event is one that builds traffic and packs your store with
buying customers. Do not confuse a
major event with something that takes a long time to plan. A trunk show that keeps customers in your
store for two-three hours is a major undertaking, but it’s not a major event
unless it packs the store with shoppers who come to watch – and buy something
while they are there.
A
minor event might be a Saturday full of
new product introductions, demonstrations, fashion shows or DIY classes. Minor events draw customers to your store,
but do not take a lot of time to plan.
Once you have brainstormed ideas and have compiled your monthly list of
in-store events, add each one to your promotional calendar in its appropriate
place. You will also need to write
a detailed description of the event exactly as you see it so that there will be
no confusion later.
Details, Detail,
Details!
Each time you begin planning a promotion answer these questions first:
1.
What’s in it for me? Why should I run this particular promotion? What’s the reason I chose it? What’s my sales
goal? In other words, what do you want
to accomplish overall?
2. Will this promotion bring new customers to my
store? Attracting new customers to your store should be a goal in every event
that you run.
3.
Will the new customers this promotion attracts be the kind of customers I want
to shop in my store? This is not a trick question. Say for example your
event includes a chance to win a $500
shopping spree, and you open your doors to find people who are not typically your
customers, and who are not likely to buy what you sell in the future. What good
will that store full of people do for you? Not much. Instead plan your events
to attract the poor misinformed shoppers who buy what you sell but tend to shop
at your competitors’ stores.
4. Will the new customers the event attracts be
likely to come back and shop again? What will I give them to entice them to
return? Bounce Back Coupons that bounce
‘em back again next week are always a good idea.
5. Will this promotion attract my loyal
customers? If new customers in your store are a good thing, then hordes of
loyal customers in your store are even better. The national average shows that
a repeat customer is likely to spend twice as much in your store on their
second visit. Why? Because that customer
trusted you enough to come back and shop with you again.
6. Can this promotion hurt me by making the
store so busy that I won’t be able to take care of my long-time customers? Ask
Wal-Mart or Target about this one. When 6,000 people show up to meet a
celebrity, how easy will it be for a shopper to run in and get what they need?
7. Will this promotion enhance my store’s brand
and/or reputation? We know a retailer who owned a 1,700 square foot store who
sent out a fabulous offer to 3,000 customers with this one, tiny stipulation: You must be present to win. 3,000 people
trying to get into a 1,700 square foot store? You do the math…
Count Down to Your Event
Every tiny detail for your in-store event needs to be thoroughly planned
and assigned to a team member to ensure it will be handled properly. Each event
needs its own Count Down Calendar. Begin
planning three to four months out (this time frame will be determined by the
type of event and how much lead time you will need to get everything
organized), meet with key
personnel and assign each one an area(s) of responsibility.
1. Make all necessary initial contacts. Book the
entertainment, the caterer, other retailers you wish to partner with,
instructors, demonstrators, and of course, your vendors. And do it sooner,
rather than later In addition to
purchasing any necessary supplies you will need during your event, you might
also want to place additional merchandise orders. If you run an event, you need
to be in stock when customers arrive to buy.
2. Schedule a meeting to review the event and to go over in detail what it involves with
your entire staff. Do this each week as
necessary as your event approaches.
3. Design
the advertisements, bag stuffers, contest forms, in-store signing, etcetera
that you will use to promote your event.
4. Hold
a store meeting the
morning of your event with
every store associate in attendance. Go
over everything and then go over it again.
5. Immediately after
your event, ask everyone involved to evaluate how they thought it went. Follow
up with a store meeting to discuss what worked, what you’d like to add, and
what you might do differently the next time around.
To
be a successful these days, you have to more than just sell “stuff.” Today it’s about touching customers’ hearts
and minds as well as their wallets. You
can exist by running an occasional sale, and maybe an event or two throughout
the year, or you can thrive when you use Shoppertainment – events and promotions
– to connect with your customers and build word of mouth. Putting together a
promotional calendar, and then bringing each event to life, is not an easy task,
it takes creativity and dedication and sometimes sheer will power but it’s
always worth it. If the task seems overwhelming or you’d just like to do some
pre-planning brainstorming before you brainstorm your events, give us a
call. We’ll be happy to help you
exercise a little crowd control!
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