Give thanks for shopaholics

Posted on | November 10, 2009

Black Friday. It’s funny that such a dismal name has always been used to identify the action-packed kick-start to the holiday shopping season.

These days the name is more fitting. In 2008, after-Thanksgiving shopping was at its lowest in forty years. And it’s not looking up. But luckily for retailers, there are plenty of crazy people (myself included) who will not let some lousy economy ruin all the fun. We will get up at 4 a.m., we will whip up our fancy instant Starbucks, and we will stand in wraparound lines outside Best Buy. Because for us, it’s not really about the sales; it’s about the shared experience.

Shoppers can always count on 40 percent off coupons and doorbuster gifts, but honestly, who wants a free snow globe? The thing is, most people are shopping for their family and friends rather than themselves. Everyone is still in that I’m-thankful-for-my-family, home-for-the-holidays mood. There is sincere joy in the air.

Looking at this from a marketing standpoint, the obvious thing to do is keep these people in a good mood, because happy, giving people are going to buy more. The strategy? Create a feeling of togetherness.

Take Target, for example. The retail giant offered free wake-up calls, and added a clever twist - the calls were from celebrities. Darth Vader and Heidi Klum had shoppers up at 4 a.m. and heading to Target. And when you got that early morning ring, you knew thousands of other people were hearing the same call. Hence, a shared experience.

Once you get them to your store, keep shoppers interacting with each other.

Entertain the mobs of people standing in your long checkout lines. Hand the first person in line a basket of mini muffins to start passing back. Give out “I’ve been shopping since 5 a.m.” stickers. Make live (not recorded) announcements wishing happy shopping. Depending on the venue, start a medley of carols in the checkout line. Don’t go too far, but make it a memorable experience.

So, as we plunge into another recession-scarred holiday season, make the best of it. Form a relationship with your customers now, while they’re counting on you most. What you don’t make in profits, you’ll make up for in brand equity.

- Sammy Rutkowski, Riggs Partners

Category: Localism
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New Economy Consumer Trends Localism

A rediscovery of, and intentional support of, all that is available where we live, work and play; an embracing of the diversity and options we hadn't noticed; a return to family (redefined); a focus on "home"

reducism

A distinct and intentional move away from excess, although not counter-cultural; the casting off of that which is superfluous; a focus on purity, essence; making-do, but with high standards for aesthetic design and functionality

Considerism

Supreme homage to value, redefined; every action an investment, whether time or money; the death of impulse / birth of comparative study; choice as a primary concept

D.I.Y.ism

Self-empowerment(!) creating a markedly different sense of control; an attraction to that which is experiential (and valuing the experience); creativity, renewed; the anti-immediate gratification movement

Riggs Partners

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