Retail Musings
"How can money be the root of all evil, when shopping is the cure for all sadness..." Elizabeth Taylor
Your clothing shop is probably filled with hangers and racks to display your wearable wears, but for Valentine’s Day, trying a little hanging out.
Design one-day only hang tags to clip onto the regular store tags, an effort that won’t take up too much of your or your workers’ time.
Give customers a little something extra with their V-Day wear by cutting out hearts from card stock or thick paper in colors that match the store’s theme or traditional red and pink. Add text such as “We Heart Our Customers” or “Our Clients are the Sweetest!” Clip the hearts onto the clothes’ existing tags with a paper clip or small twist tie.
...Take a Chance Featured
Any retail store promotion means taking a chance that it’ll be well-received by your shoppers but with a wheel of chance, you’re really spinning it.
Obtain or make a simple cardboard wheel of chance like on “Wheel of Fortune” or carnival games. On each pie piece sliver, place a colourful cardboard heart made to look like a candy conversation heart.
Design a different prize on each heart such as “10% off one item” or “Free bracelet with any purchase.”
...Appeal to last-minute shoppers with a promotion that’ll have them seeing red. Stalk the store and gather a couple of pieces of red clothing or homewares or books or gifts or tools (you get my drift...) you have.
Don’t take them all -- one or two in each size will be fine and will leave some back in their regular areas for shoppers who wander around. It’ll also be less for your team to clean up after the day.
Arrange a special promotional area at the front of the store on risers or stacks, T-shirts, socks, underwear and other clothing in the main shade of the day (ie Valentine’s Day). The same for whatever your product range...
For added color, sprinkle some pink and white around the display.
Buyers can create an entire outfit or set out of one-stop shopping for their entire wardrobe or might select that one item to get them into the Valentine’s Day rosy-red spirit
As Valentines Day approaches (and any event for that matter), take the opportunity to create a compelling and interactive theme display.
Use products your shop is already pushing as you create the display. This can increase your sales and help you move your most profitable products as the next event approaches.
Creating a themed merchandising display also helps your store avoid costly leftovers that must be sold at highly discounted prices.
Most of us have been there at one time or another - facing the prospect of getting through a Valentine's Day as a "single" rather than a couple.
Consider doing something special and fun for the un-couples among your customers and visitors.
You could make your shop a 'Valentine's-Day-free-zone' and promote it that way. Consider what music you'd play... oh how the mind boggles!
Why should couples have all the fun? Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day singly or as a couple, love yourself!
Create special “Love Yourself” promotions around your most pampering services and retail products, or gift free, store branded chocolates or relevant products with retail purchase to clients.
Make it easy for your customers to envision your products and gift certificates as "gifts" by pre-packaging gift baskets and displaying them along with gift certificates or gift cards for your business. You can have real baskets in-store and photos of baskets on your website and social media. Promote across all your platforms - not just one.
(nb: This is probably NOT the type of gift basket to give...)
This one can be used in-store(on sticky notes) , website, blog or facebook.
Ask clients to be creative and submit an acryonym based on the word "LOVE" (for example, an entry might be something like, "Lifelong Obsession with Valuing Everyone") or another word.
Or ask clients to get really get creative and submit a short poem as a contest entry (the poems can be cynical for your 'Singles' sake!)