Retail companies rely on foot traffic to their store to survive. It helps to be constantly developing marketing ideas to increase foot traffic, which, in return, maintains or grows revenue. A proactive retail business owner needs to be on the look out for creative marketing ideas to help them stay competitive and stay in business.
Partnerships
The retail world is competitive; sometimes it helps to have business partners when you are trying to survive. Find local retail stores that are complementary to your business and establish a partnership with them. When customers in their store are looking for items that you sell, then have your partner direct the customer to you. You would reciprocate for customers in your store looking for what your partner sells. A good example of this would be a music store partnering with a book store. People may come to the book store looking for music and they can be redirected. If you can find enough complementary stores, you can start a small network. You may want to ask your partner, or partners, if they would be interested in sharing advertising costs as well.
Create Events
Retail business owners have done promotional events in their stores, ranging from authors coming to sign books to musical artists performing to promote their new album. Events are an ideal way to generate interest, gather more foot traffic and help give focus to your weekly advertising. Use every avenue at your disposal to promote in-store events, including press releases to the media, free Internet message boards and flyers to be handed out around the community. Your event can be something specific to your store or it can be something unrelated to draw attention. For example, you could own a book store and have an author come to do a book signing, or you could put a popular local band out in front of your store for a free concert. Either way, you are getting attention and increasing your exposure.
Become a Resource Center
There are many places that people can buy a portable CD player, but few retail stores that offer comparisons between the different models and retail associates that can answer any question on the product. Encourage customers to use your store as a resource center to compare products and compare pricing. Make customers feel comfortable asking questions---soon your store will become known as a place to buy product and get good advice. People value low prices, but they also value buying from a vendor who they can rely on for the information. Develop an area of your store that has the product brochures for all of the products you sell to help customers compare. This area should be staffed by associates who know the products and can help customers do the research. It is helpful to put out information for customers to use, but it is also good marketing to have someone available to help customers find what they need.
Tags: your store, book store, foot traffic, help customers, store looking, your partner, come book