I am still reeling from the exciting outcome one of my customers experienced a couple of weeks ago. Encore Clothing moved to another location a few blocks down the same street. In order for the move to go smoothly, the store closed for six days starting at the close of business on the Tuesday before Labor Day weekend. The store reopened the following Tuesday immediately after Labor Day.
Having been in retail, I know that the Tuesday after Labor Day is typically a very slow day, especially for clothing sales. Everyone is recovering from the holiday weekend, getting back to work, and adjusting to a major change with the end of summer and beginning of the school year. This is not the day many marketing people would choose to make a big splash for a new location. Take all that into consideration and mull over the results of Encore’s Tuesday-after-Labor-Day opening.
Customers were waiting at the door for the store to open. The store was busy from open to close. The sales were triple a normal day’s business.
All of this was accomplished at no cost.
All of this occurred without offering discounts, coupons, or a percentage off the price.
All of this happened without using traditional advertising.
During the days that Encore was closed, store personnel were not besieged by inquiring phone calls from customers wondering what was happening with the store.
How did Encore achieve these results? Management employed an e-mail campaign to those customers who had signed up to receive e-mails from Encore. This was not a list that was created overnight. Encore has been amassing this list for years by offering customers the opportunity to sign up for it. These e-mails belonged to Encore’s profitable customers.
Management used this list to keep customers informed of what was happening at Encore, including the move. A new e-mail campaign was launched a couple months prior to the move. The purpose of the campaign was to stimulate sales by piquing customers’ interest in new arrivals at Encore. This worked amazingly well, both for sales and customer involvement.
That excites me. I am enthused about marketing that is profitable and part of a well-thought-out system to which customers respond. Although no cost might be the first point which gets most business people’s attention, the results get mine. When you can triple sales and involve customers, your marketing is profitable. Customer involvement drives down costs. Couple that with a well-thought-out marketing system, and you achieve profitable marketing.
Having been in retail, I know that the Tuesday after Labor Day is typically a very slow day, especially for clothing sales. Everyone is recovering from the holiday weekend, getting back to work, and adjusting to a major change with the end of summer and beginning of the school year. This is not the day many marketing people would choose to make a big splash for a new location. Take all that into consideration and mull over the results of Encore’s Tuesday-after-Labor-Day opening.
Customers were waiting at the door for the store to open. The store was busy from open to close. The sales were triple a normal day’s business.
All of this was accomplished at no cost.
All of this occurred without offering discounts, coupons, or a percentage off the price.
All of this happened without using traditional advertising.
During the days that Encore was closed, store personnel were not besieged by inquiring phone calls from customers wondering what was happening with the store.
How did Encore achieve these results? Management employed an e-mail campaign to those customers who had signed up to receive e-mails from Encore. This was not a list that was created overnight. Encore has been amassing this list for years by offering customers the opportunity to sign up for it. These e-mails belonged to Encore’s profitable customers.
Management used this list to keep customers informed of what was happening at Encore, including the move. A new e-mail campaign was launched a couple months prior to the move. The purpose of the campaign was to stimulate sales by piquing customers’ interest in new arrivals at Encore. This worked amazingly well, both for sales and customer involvement.
That excites me. I am enthused about marketing that is profitable and part of a well-thought-out system to which customers respond. Although no cost might be the first point which gets most business people’s attention, the results get mine. When you can triple sales and involve customers, your marketing is profitable. Customer involvement drives down costs. Couple that with a well-thought-out marketing system, and you achieve profitable marketing.
No comments:
Post a Comment