Annual And Seasonal Sell-ebrations
Store events are an excellent activity to heighten awareness of your store’s existence and location. They are also an ideal way to help foster stronger relationships with existing customers while attracting new customers too. Below are some key aspects to consider for improving your relevancy to your customer base with an in-store celebration:
IDEAS FOR EVENTS IN YOUR OUTLET
1. Create a stir
Tie in fun activities during the celebration to rekindle the same excitement as during your store’s opening. This is a powerful time to thank your existing customers while attracting new ones. Choose the right event activities (e.g. a clown, face painting, a magician, or even contests) to create excitement.
2. Don’t wing it
Careful pre-planning to create enthusiasm and excitement is required leading up to the occasion. Effective store “events” create a carnival atmosphere at the store and a sense of urgency for customers.
3. Launching New Products
If launching a new product or service, the same type of excitement needs to be created at the store level in order to successfully boost sales. The key objective is to speed up overall awareness and acceptance of your new products and services. You can also consider creating a limited edition version of an existing item for the occasion.
4. Party pieces
Clothing is ideal for promotional purposes through the use of logo imprinting. Giving these items away in the weeks leading up to your anniversary and offering a deep discount to those who wear their “give-away” on the day will add another layer of attention and advertising for your anniversary.
5. Special deals
Have special offers available on the day to thank your customers for their support. Another option is to give customers a mystery coupon which they can scratch to reveal their unique offer.
6. Coupon for later use
Place a coupon that’s good for use later in your store in customer’s bags on the day. If you attract new customers during the party, the coupon may be enough to have them return to your store.
Customer Appreciation Days
Customer appreciation days are important to give thanks to your customer base for their loyalty. An option is to have customer appreciation days that act as a fundraiser to give back to the community; for every order sold during a customer appreciation day, a percentage of sales could be donated to your selected local organisation or charity, e.g. local sports club. The word-of-mouth advertising gained from this can sometimes replace any paid advertising you were planning to do. Timing is everything! Be sure to schedule these on slower days in order to help increase sales and not undermine your store’s normal busy times. Plan on advertising in-store, out-of-store and through local stores beginning four weeks prior to the customer recognition day.
Benefits of Fundraisers
An opportunity to support a respected organization
Creates goodwill
An opportunity to give back to the community
Builds store awareness
Running a fundraiser:
Your fundraiser strategy should be developed and committed to a local organization on a semi-annual basis.
Put together a plan:
Contact organizations preferably within your area. Set up meetings to better understand their goals and align your store with the most appropriate cause. Develop ways to raise funds that may include: 1) when a customer buys an item, a percentage of sales go to the charity over a set time period; 2) on-counter canisters to help raise awareness and generate funds from customer donations; and 3) donate sales of token items that can be purchased for €2.
Maximize your efforts:
Regardless of how your store supports your chosen organization, a news announcement regarding it should be prepared and distributed to the local media. Your goal is to create a recognizable connection between your store and the organisation in order to propel your status in the community in which you serve.
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