It's the holiday season, and everywhere I look, there are "impulse" sale items stacked to the roof. My local Walgreens
drugstore and Jewel supermarket seem to think that all I need for Christmas / Hannukkah / Kwanzaa is
a 19" color TV or a designer perfume or a CD or DVD to complete my holiday
shopping list.
I just don't understand. Sure, I might be one of those
people who waits for Christmas eve before I start shopping, But even if I was
that frantic, why would I go to a supermarket over any place else to buy
electronics or perfume or music or videos?
These displays don't make me feel that there's something
different or unique about a store. They don't make me feel that the store
recognizes and values me as a repeat customer. Instead, the message I take away
is that all this stuff is a commodity, unrelated to their core product offerings (food, drugs, newsstand items, etc.), Also that I as a consumer am not valued as a long-time customer –
instead, I'm a commodity. And
if I want to buy this stuff, I should go wherever is easiest or cheapest –
which is not the way to create loyal customers.
Thinking about holiday or any seasonal sales efforts the
thing that seems key is to create a niche that adds value for core consumers -
consumers that are at least receptive to your brand. Hallmark did this with
their summertime sale of Hallmark Christmas ornaments.*
Starting in 1973, they launched the Christmas ornament line,
and asked permission of customers that bought the first ones to notify them
next year about the new ornament releases. In 1999 Hallmark made $100 million
in summertime sales on the Christmas ornaments line without doing any advertising.
Not every retailer can do this for every holiday, but most
should think about some variety of branded merchandise / permission marketing
offer associated with the core offerings for which most people shop their
stores. And as Hallmark demonstrated, you can have Christmas in July
(time-shift a seasonal market to a different season).
This is so much more effective than opportunistic
electronics end-caps in grocery stores. Sure you'll get some sales, but you're
in a race to the bottom with every other similar store - and there's always the
chance that the commodity merchandise that worked last year (like portable DVD
players) will bomb this year because of factors outside your control.
The value of engaging customers and respecting their focus
can't be overemphasized.
*Note: I originally heard the Hallmark story from a recording
of Seth Godin's presentation at one of Google's annual meetings. He's got a lot
of great stuff out on the web (video, audio, print). I highly recommend
browsing his blog and website.
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