Retailtainment
Enhancing the Shopping Experience
Gone are the days when retailers could simply hang out
their shingle, and provide good product at reasonable prices supported
by solid customer service. These things are no longer points of
differentiation – they’re now considered ‘table stakes.’
In other words, product, price and good service are simply the cost of entry and it’s expected that you will provide them. For most consumers, shopping is no longer a chore, it’s become a leisure activity and in the process some retailers have started to raise the bar, offering everything from live music to in store seminars. These points of differentiation add sizzle and excitement while defining the retail brand. If you want to take your business to the next level – is it time to break out the top hat and cane?
Retailtainment is about making the act of shopping as interesting as the merchandise and it’s a big trend. The logic behind this strategy is that the more enjoyable the experience, the longer people will stay in the establishment and the more money they will spend. Surveys confirm that engaging retailtainment events hold shoppers’ attention an average of two minutes, versus the average 10-second window seen in tests of passive sampling. In a 2001 survey of 124 marketing and sales executives conducted by Intellitrends, 47 per cent said that events provide the best return on investment (ROI) of any promotional tactic, topping advertising (32 per cent), sales promotions (29 per cent), and public relations (15 per cent). Chapters and Starbucks are great examples of this trend by offering live music, tastings of new products and signings by authors. The floral industry could tap into the retailtainment trend in a variety of ways. Here are some you may want to consider giving a try:
Hold Lectures in the Store
The list of possible topics is endless: where various flowers come from and how they’re grown, the psychological benefits of flowers, how arrangements are designed, trends in arrangements and how to blend store bought flowers with flowers from the garden. Customers love to put their creative stamp on arrangements. Show them how to do that using raw materials from your store.
Play Music
Create your own music mix of tunes built around a theme. During peak season for brides to be planning their wedding flowers, play some romantic ‘bridal music.’ Try mellow jazz for a Friday or weekend and serve some dark chocolate. People will linger and browse if they’re enjoying a sensual experience.
Play Video
Why not play a DVD on your computer screen or invest in a TV and speakers? You can play videos of beautiful homes adorned with lovely floral arrangements or educational videos about the science and psychology of flowers.
Bring Kids into the Store
One savvy jewelry store owner invited his son’s second-grade class in to see his goldsmith at work, look at gems under a microscope and hear about how they’re cut. Although, the kids didn’t buy anything, every one of them took home a shopping bag with the store’s name on it containing a piece of rock crystal, along with stories about their trip to that cool jewelry store. Why not send each small visitor home with a flower for his or her parent?
Host a Ladies Night
Consider partnering with complementary businesses for a gala evening. A make up artist and Feng Shui expert might fit nicely with your business if you were to have an event at your store. The theme could be “reinventing yourself” – beautiful, healthy flowers are a great way to re-energize a living space.
Have a Contest
You could place a small advertisement in the local paper offering a dozen roses delivered on the first of each month to the first person who can come into your store and correctly identify the flowers in your featured arrangement on display. Alternatively, ask people to submit stories of the ‘most romantic’ bouquet they’ve ever received and publish the top 5 (giving each a prize). This type of initiative will not only create some buzz around your store, it will remind people why flowers are important.
Retailtainment is just a marketing buzzword for ‘event marketing.’ It is however becoming a more popular tool than traditional advertising. Even the most obscure product or service can benefit from a dash of showmanship and if you think about who your customers are and what gets them excited, you can create wonderful events to get them to spend more time in your store. This inevitably translates into spending more money with you. Even though marketers like to think they’ve invented ‘retailtainment’ the only thing they’ve really invented is the word.
Interestingly enough, the first Wild West Show was staged to sell ‘Doctor Winthrop’s Miracle Elixir.’ The show lasted for years, and became a historical gem. The elixir – who knows?
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