By Molly Grane - Marketing Support at Xapsis Integrated Marketing
During economic hardships, companies are brought to think
harder of ways to get those hesitant spenders into their stores. There are many retail stores out there which are still following the thought process “if I sell, they will buy.” This is not the scenario anymore when the
average spender starts to cut back. So
the question is, “how do we get those hesitant shoppers in our store to spend
money?” Here’s a scenario that I
experienced last weekend, which in the end doesn't fit for all companies but
the conclusion is the main idea.
My Story:
Every store needs to invest in MORE TRUCKS. You know those store riding trucks for those
difficult; I don’t want to shop children.
If you’re a mother or father, you can share this same experience. The day that your child discovers they don’t
need to be in a shopping cart, which equals to flying boxes off the shelf and
typically a shopping trip gets cut short.
I happened to be in Bloomington this past weekend and we wanted to go
shopping at the mall. Within 20 minutes,
we wanted to leave because of the “on the floor temper-tantrums.” I thought to myself “I’m DONE and we’re
leaving now.” As we turned the
corner, there were a row of shopping cart trucks just made for someone my son’s
size. As soon as he spotted them, he was
gone…hopping right into the bright, shiny red shopping cart / a.k.a.
truck. Yes, we paid the $6.00 just so we
could shop longer. Sometimes a parent is
desperate just for that little peace of mind.
In the end, we went to 5 more stores and ended up contributing to their
yearly revenue.
Sometimes, for a store, it goes beyond just providing the
basic products. It goes into “thinking
outside the box” and providing these one of a kind experiences for your
customers, which in return could leave that company reaping the rewards.
As you see, these cause and effect scenario’s is what will
take your company to the next level.
Whatever it may be that will set you apart, from spending the extra
money on some really cool shopping carts (and making sure there is more than 1)
to providing free popcorn days (just a scenario, but an awesome idea, everyone
loves something for free). Yes, this little
extra something might cost more money in the first initial months, but think
about how these ideas can set you apart from competition. Because, in the end, isn't the customer the
most important aspect to a company.
