This may not sound much, but for 320 million U.S. citizens, retailers receive a whopping 30 billion dollars typically. Mind you, this is additional spending for Valentine’s, which is widely celebrated worldwide.
There is also a widespread not so amusing fun fact that 53 percent of women in the usa would ditch their boyfriend if they didn’t get anything for Valentine’s Day. While this could be a hoax, your retail clients sure are pressed or just plain happy to invest more around 14 February annually.
Just how should retailers and retail shop owners cash in on it? Having researched the net quite a lot, the most important conclusion isn’t to attempt to cash in. At least not in an immediate sense. Valentine’s is there to show admiration and close bonds. Below are a few ideas that enable you to show your clients that you truly love them.
1. Send branded Valentine’s on social networking.
This is the simplest thing you can do. Practical experiences demonstrate that simple flower topics do the very best. Do not forget to include your organization’s logo and website address. If people share your love through social networking, more prospective customers will become aware of your own brand. It works, but there are better ways to impress your clients.
2. Do something real.
If you send your retail clients a true gift that would be extremely great. And not only fine, in the electronic age, it is outstanding. Can your retail company afford it? And, incidentally, do you have their addresses? A fantastic CRM program can help you keep track of your clients.
Although sending cards, or even flowers or chocolates is super fine, you’ve got an alternative. Why not just ask your clients to come over on 14 February? You don’t need to arrange a party. Just give them a present they could pick up in-store. They will probably buy something else, too.
However, what if the customer can’t make it on 14 February? Should the present opportunity be gone forever? Not at all. You’re a merchant, and really, prefer to find a steady customer flow. So keep the present opportunity open for at least on the end of the month.
There is a lack of strong retail client data to inform if Valentine’s reduction is just as a good as a present. On the other hand, most people today make a present for their family members, rather than a gift card or a discount.
So how to have the ability to offer you a gift that looks fancy enough to impress? The key is in how long have you have to prepare for Valentine’s Day. In case you have time for buying, you could choose a few things for each customer group, and bulk order these well beforehand from your suppliers.
3. Create a special gift.
If you are a flower shop, a general reduction is a fantastic idea to boost the sales. People today spend nearly $2 billion on flowers this Valentine’s Day. Incidentally, 75% are purchased by men. An overall discount might work well for chocolates or jewelry.
If you are owning a shop or operating a retail chain in any other area, use CRM and sales history to ascertain what exactly does a client need the most. What are their particular interests? Provide a discount on a particular product or product group. Or provide something for free — it is Valentine’s after all, and these are your clients you need to keep.
You don’t need to pre-plan your distribution much ahead of time, as it is possible to use your retail and inventory software to select gifts or present offers from your inventory. You as a shop owner have to keep your inventory flow moving and goods no more piling on shelves, so it’s possible to eliminate merchandise that’s not so popular after all. If it is a gift or a reduction to some real dumping price, your customers are far more forgiving for what they get.
Just do not make it too obvious that you’re also dealing with your stock buildup. Targeting is the key here — if the item is still useful, but not exceptionally needed, it’s valuable as a present.
You do have a CRM solution with client group and earnings history integration, do not you? If not yet, it is time to think about getting one, because this sort of retail software solutions help to get your holiday preparations accomplished in a few days. And you can get incredibly creative and touch your faithful client’s heart with well targeted presents and offers.
Bear in mind that using Valentine’s gifts, you’re bribing your retail customers to purchase more in the future. So better be as generous as possible. Base your decisions on revenue history reports and fiscal circumstance.
If you’re handling a large retail or franchise series, you can test a generous present strategy in certain stores and areas only. Or you could select a customer group to get a test run, and compare the revenue statistics to other clients who had just the normal Valentine’s discount. Can they purchase more in the months to come? Valentine’s isn’t the only”consumer vacation”, so persistence may be required till you see results.
4. Decorate your store.
There are those who accuse Valentine’s Day of becoming a consumerist holiday. They have feel but not the complete truth. Traditions, such as decorations, are significant. Just keep it inside the rationale, and do not overdo with pink vinyl and flashing lights, unless you’re totally convinced that this is exactly what your customers want.
Begin with your storefront. Put a chalkboard with an inviting message,”We’ve Valentine’s Day Treats Inside”. If you use Valentine’s notes, have you shop assistants write these by hand. Avoid published handwriting imitation. It is just not cool anymore.
Use natural materials to decorate the shop. Your retail clients have an aura of pink and red during Valentine’s, so that they might want to see different colors. It is not too early to get a dash of spring green, softened with natural tones.
Set the mood with lights. Use candles, lanterns, strings of lights and other light sources to place the screen’s mood and attract attention to your products. Wood and other warm, natural materials are excellent for this Valentine’s mood.
When there’s only a week left before Valentine’s and your shops aren’t much decorated yet, it is not as bad as it seems. While most retail stores have a tendency to be overly decorated for Valentine’s, Christmas and other consumerized vacations, a store or retail chain have a choice too heresy.
Reduce the decorations, or keep it minimal, and concentrate on helping your client to survive Valentine’s. After all, vacations are for a happy time but they also pressure your customers to have gifts.
5. Help your customers.
As mentioned before, ladies are vulnerable to dump their spouses, if left without the attention they deserve during Valentine’s. We hope that reality isn’t that harsh. But nonetheless, it’s you, the merchant, who will come to rescue. Girlfriends and boyfriends, moms and dads, friends and colleagues deserve a little attention, so remind your clients to find something for them. Bear in mind that girlfriends and boyfriends will be the priority in spending.
In your retail shop, set up signs such as “Great Present for Mother”,”He Will Love This One”,”For Someone Special”,”Buy One, Get One for Valentine’s Day”. Signage can be as straightforward as handwritten messages on paper bags, or even more elaborate ones complete with photos of happy people using your products. In any event, signs are similar to an extension to your staff and assist customers with ideas and reasons to purchase.
In case you’ve adopted a feature-rich retail software package like ConnectPOS, you have Product Information Management (PIM) applications at your disposal. Using PIM and Inventory Management software, is extremely simple to make product tags and categories, compare the inventory to stock flow in real time.
Holidays are the perfect time to enhance the stock flow by directing your clients to specific products. People on your retail chain head office and marketing unit may add specific holiday-related copy and photographs to a choice of holiday specials, further boosting earnings.
Holidays are a wonderful time to increase your sales. Take care not to overlook you to inspire your employees at the end of the afternoon .
They have to be certain that excellent customer service and amazing holiday sales results will be rewarded. As retail shop employees are like to overlook some holiday fun, it’s a great idea to organize a little social gathering for them following the super active time of Valentine’s sales.
A thank-you speech, followed by a snack table or free theater tickets, goes a long way.