For retailers and manufacturers alike, working closely with your community on events shouldn’t be an afterthought.
The people in a retailer’s community often make up their largest customer base, and working with them can gain attention and connect them with people who may not have heard of their store.
Manufacturers provide jobs to people in their local community, and when they get involved with the people who live around them, they make a name for themselves that makes them authentic and could bring in future employees.
One way to get ahead of events is to create an events calendar at the end of the year for the following year. Now is a great time to do that, so here are a few ideas that can help get you started:
- Host a customer appreciation day. There’s a nickname for nearly every day of the week, so why not come up with your own? Something like Bingo Thursday can be a time when customers come in to play bingo and have a few drinks — one on the house — and it can be held as often as every week. Don’t forget to offer in-store deals or promotions that are not available online.
Take it to the next level by partnering with local vendors to create a must-attend event for the entire community. Host it yearly and make it bigger every year.
- Compete with Amazon by offering next-day shipping. In today’s retail furniture environment, the average customer has researched their purchase online before ever coming into the store and likely knows what they want. And if you have it in-store, they want it immediately. Offer next-day or same-day delivery seven days a week and compete with online retailers.
- Fabulous photo opp. Create a photo opportunity that makes your location a photo opportunity to your community. Maybe it’s a mural on the side of your building or a giant poly lumber chair outside your store — make it visible from the road. You could also put a giant chair in a park in your community to remind people to visit your store.
- Offer a gift card to a local business with a specific purchase. Nothing screams outdoor living like lounging around while grilling a good steak, so what if you offered customers a gift card to a local butcher with any purchase of a higher-priced product? This benefits both you and the other business because they can offer similar gift cards for your store and you can support each other.
- Direct mail. Everything is cyclical. While paper mail may seem like a thing of the past, it’s come back because people like personalized messages. Pull a list of old customers and send them personal letters advertising specials in the store. You can even add a discount for bringing the letter into the store, which let’s you track your ROI. You could also use a QR code in the letter that sends them directly to your website or to a special promotional video.
- Hold a photo contest featuring room scenes created by your customers. Fashion trends precede furniture trends, and because you’re in the business of helping people create beautiful spaces, you can reward those who send you pictures of the beautiful rooms they curate.
Ask customers to submit their favorite photos from the year of people using your furniture to decorate their space. Then, host an awards show for all entrants to attend and select winners. This not only drives people into your store but rewards those who have shopped with you for advertising your product in their home for many to see online. - Host a private letter sale. People love exclusivity, so reward your customers (and future customers) by creating invitation-only sales.
- Host private social media sales.
- Sell membership levels with the higher-priced levels getting first and exclusive dibs on new merchandise or exclusive discounts. Advertise that all proceeds go to support local charities.
- Host an estate sale to help clear out inventory. Market it as an estate sale and allow people to haggle on prices.
- Wine, dine and recline! Spring is a perfect time to bring people into your store, and when the weather is nice, you can host a wine and recline event with hors d’oeuvres and let people sit on your furniture. If you have a local winery nearby, partner with them to provide the alcohol at a discounted rate or in exchange for advertising. You can host a giveaway at the event to incentivize people to come and give them something fun to look forward to.
- Feed the homeless by offering discounts. Homelessness continues to be a problem across the country, and you can help by offering customers a discount of 1%, or a specific dollar amount off, for nonperishable items brought into the store. For example, give 1% off per item, up to 20%. You could also consider becoming a community drop-off location.
- Try your hand at Facebook marketing. Facebook has lost some of its luster over the years, but 2 billion people still log in every single day, so there is an audience to reach. The best way is to put some money — not a lot, just $20-$50 a month — toward Facebook ads and reach more people. Be sure to experiment with different consumer categories and try different dollar amounts on different ads to see what’s working best.
Winter can be a slow time of year for the casual industry, but savvy retailers and manufacturers know that this is the best time to start planning for the new year.
