Black Friday, Cyber Monday, pre-Christmas product launches, Boxing Day sales, if you’re in retail the festive season presents itself with great sales opportunities. After all, for most independent retailers the festive season is probably the most important time of the year. But with tighter margins, higher costs and other challenges you may be facing this coming season, how can reach your sales targets without heavy discounting?
Here, we share three alternative sales campaigns which hopefully give you some inspiration for your own business:
1. The goodwill campaign
While your competitors will be focusing on discount strategies across the whole season, you could integrate the goodwill campaign into your marketing and sales plans. There is no denying that customers love the idea of making big savings especially on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the January sales, but as people’s values and shopping habits change, they also feel great when they can give back or help others in the process.
TIP: Brainstorm on ideas of partnering with charities (or other businesses) and suggest a percentage of sales generated over this period that can be donated by your business. Be transparent with your audience and get them involved in your journey and mission.
Alternatively, you can create a gift pack featuring some of your products (like a hamper but with your product offering) which can be donated to those in need during this period. From knitted accessories, pampering kits, homeware essentials, to art for cheering up, story books for children, toy sets for pets, use your creative thinking and brainstorm on some out of the box ideas.
2. The reward campaign
Like VIP schemes, reward schemes are also great for festive campaign narratives. From offering double reward points to increasing the reward itself, customers love to be rewarded as fast as possible, collecting points and moving towards the reward at the end.
TIP: Frame your reward campaign into a theme or use gamification (as described in our Retail & Design report) and your customers will not only love your brand but help spread the word about it for you too.
3. Collaborative campaigns
Another way which can help you avoid heavy discounting is to collaborate with other businesses. Collaborative campaigns are great marketing opportunities for offering customers truly unique experiences. Consider partnering with your suppliers and offer exclusive discounts only for this festive period. If you start practising this each year, customers will realise that this is a good time to make a purchase of that specific product category or service.
Aside from independent retailers, this type of campaign can work really well for designers and artists. For example, interior designers can help clients source items for festive décor or entertainment. Artists can partner with galleries or suppliers on special events with early bird tickets, both for online and offline.
Collaborating with other businesses or brands in different markets can also enhance user experiences by providing them with unexpected gifts. From small items such as candles, room scents, print artworks or recipe cards to wine bottles customers receive with orders, you will be delighting them in unique and unexpected ways.
In conclusion, many customers associate the festive season with heavy discounting. But if your business finds it challenging to compete on discounting this year, remember there are other ways to satisfy your customers. Get creative and use these three alternative ideas and campaigns as your starting point. Not only that you’ll be doing something different to your competitors but you also will be exciting your customers with fresh, new campaigns they haven’t seen you doing before.
Need help? Get in touch if you need to brainstorm on some ideas for your creative brand or business. Our STUDIO/ESTILA team of experts is on hand and ready to help.
Written by Karolina Barnes, STUDIO/ESTILA
STUDIO/ESTILA is a brand design studio and marketing consultancy helping designers and design-led brands deliver exceptional, customer-centric storytelling experiences. From branding, brand story strategy, website design to photography, visuals and strategic collaborations, we open new opportunities and possibilities for our clients.
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