This Episode: How To Become The Store Of Choice
How do independent brick-and-mortar retailers become the store of choice? It comes down to two things that I explain in this episode of Real Retail TV. You have to be a skilled retailer and you have to commit to creating a great customer experience. It’s all about doing the things that the big box stores can’t or won’t do.
If you are doing something extraordinary that sets your store apart from the rest, I would love to hear about it in the comments below. And if you’re coming to the Retail Success Summit, I look forward to seeing you soon!
We are a garden center, greenhouse and landscape company. We have local schools come here for visits, or go to them. These are fun and educational where we talk about plants, the environment, insects and they get to have a scavenger hunt or other activity. We host local youth to plant containers to sell at a fundraiser for their group. We usually do 200-400 kids through here every year. Yes, they know us and stop us when they see us around town to tell us about something we talked about. Bonus, we’re inspiring kids to get outdoors and explore the environment.
Love how you are supporting our youth and building knowledge in life-long, healthy pursuits!
When I get a new customer and their snail mail address I ALWAYS send them a thank you card. And now I always include a gift certificate for their next purchase. One customer I did that for came back about 2 weeks later telling me that that certificate was burning a hole in their pocket. That’s exactly what I wanted.
Hi Wendy. Thanks for sharing your success!
We are a Quilting & Needlework Shop. Our goal for the summer months is to support our community in a big way, and to drive more traffic during a slower time of the year. We were introduced to a new local non-profit organization, Upholding The Line (UTL), organized to support our local police and their families. We are wrapping up a donation drive to purchase 300 waterproof notebooks that will be distributed in Goodie Bags to local police this summer. We have far exceeded our goal of 300 notebooks ($2 each) and will be presenting the notebooks, along with a check, to the organization as part of our 13th Anniversary Celebration on July 25th.
Two additional opportunities to support them this summer include making small loveys for the children of police officers by hosting Sew-Ins to make the loveys. We are also doing a Bag-Tag-It Promotion. We have 350 special tote bags that can be ‘purchased’ for a $10 donation (which covers the cost of materials and $5 for UTL). Customers can use the bag as many times as they wish from Jul 6 thru Sep 2. They will receive 15% off each purchase and we will donate an additional 5% of their purchase to UTL. They may also ‘tag’ (share) their bag with family, friends, guild members, etc. to receive the 15%, but it is limited to one bag, one purchase, per day.
Thanks for always great tips! Have a great Summit Bob!! 🙂
You’re welcome, Laurie! And thanks!
Deb, thanks for sharing the details of your good works and promotions! Well done!