More No-cost, Low-cost In-Store Event Ideas that WORK!
• Classroom Page Kits. These are geared specifically for classroom use. Include a money-saving coupon that can be redeemed in your store. When the kids take the coupons home it’s an added incentive for Mom and Dad to bring the kids to your store.
• Teen Crop Night. Get teens together for a night of scrapbooking that features layouts on things teens enjoy. Ask teens to lead demos or make-it/take-its, or go even further and ask a teenager to lead the entire class. Order plenty of pizza and soda. Let the participants bring their own music to play during class and turn up the volume to eleven!
• The Boss Is Gone Sale. We love this idea! Send out an e-mail blast to all your customers and make it look like it came from one of your staff. The e-mail should read, “_________ has gone to the __________________ Show and I’m putting everything on sale!” The contributing retailer said customers thought the employee did this on the sly and sales were brisk. Try this idea the next time you attend a trade show or go on vacation.
• Scrap & Stamp Session. This is the perfect way to shake things up when your store suffers from low class attendance. This twice-a-month program introduces attendees to new techniques such as drop-in cardmaking, heat embossing, direct-to-paper inking – whatever techniques you wish to highlight. The contributing retailer holds Scrap & Stamp Sessions on Sundays.
• Summer Solstice Sale. Begin at sunrise on the day of the summer Solstice, offering discounts that decrease hourly: 40 percent off from sunrise to 7 a.m., 35 percent off from 7:01-9 a.m.; 30 percent off from 9:01- 11 a.m., 25 percent off from 11:01 a.m. – 1 p.m.; 20 percent off from 1:01- 3 p.m.; 15 percent off from 3:01-6 p.m., and 10 percent off until close.
• New Arrivals Update. Send an e-mail blast, and place notes on your Web site and blog, whenever you return from a trade show or when new product arrives. Talk it up! Romance the copy so it encourages customers to come to the store and shop. Create and distribute Bag Stuffers, and place signs in your windows and throughout the store. Add “As Seen Online” signs next to the merchandise.
• Lunch Break Make & Take. Target working women and hold this twice a month. Run this free event from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and watch what happens. This event is so successful for the contributing retailer that she’s added a “Stop-in Saturday Make & Take” with longer hours.
• Annual Scavenger Hunt. Hide unusual items throughout your store and give customers a list of all the things they must find in the store. Be sure to include boxes they can check off when each item is found. This list will encourage them to walk through your entire store, where they’re sure to see all the cool things they just have to have. Give a prize to the customer who finds the most items.
• Trade Show Recap Night. Do this as a preview event to talk about all the new items you found at a trade show, or you can wait until the product arrives and hold a Mini-_________ Show. Use the vendor gifts and goodies you collected at the show as door prizes and give-a-ways, serve refreshments, and be sure to give everyone a Bounce Back Coupon to bring them back next week.
• Frequent Shopper Program. Customers earn a free class for every $100 they spend in the store. The contributing retailer calls her program the S.M.I.L.E. Card, which stands for Scrapping Makes Ideas Look Exciting.
• Scrappers’ Yard Sale. Participating customers can “sell” all the product they had to have, but never used, plus gently used supplies. Set up tables throughout your store or in the classroom. Sales are translated into store credit.
• In-store Craft Fair. Why should your customers go to the craft fair at the mall when they can just as easily come to your store? Feature local crafters and artisans; assign each participant a table to showcase his/her wares. Build a buzz about town with email blasts, in-store signage, and Bag Stuffers. Encourage each participant to advertise their participation in church bulletins, neighborhood newsletters, and community publications. And make sure your store is open for business during the entire event!
There are so many more ideas to share, we could go one forever! You know that we recommend you host one major in-store event and at least two minor in-store events each and every month – now, you have an entire list to choose from!
Drop us an e-mail if you’d like more ideas. Put “In-store events” in the subject line. Here’s to great sales and Shoppertainment in 2009!
• Teen Crop Night. Get teens together for a night of scrapbooking that features layouts on things teens enjoy. Ask teens to lead demos or make-it/take-its, or go even further and ask a teenager to lead the entire class. Order plenty of pizza and soda. Let the participants bring their own music to play during class and turn up the volume to eleven!
• The Boss Is Gone Sale. We love this idea! Send out an e-mail blast to all your customers and make it look like it came from one of your staff. The e-mail should read, “_________ has gone to the __________________ Show and I’m putting everything on sale!” The contributing retailer said customers thought the employee did this on the sly and sales were brisk. Try this idea the next time you attend a trade show or go on vacation.
• Scrap & Stamp Session. This is the perfect way to shake things up when your store suffers from low class attendance. This twice-a-month program introduces attendees to new techniques such as drop-in cardmaking, heat embossing, direct-to-paper inking – whatever techniques you wish to highlight. The contributing retailer holds Scrap & Stamp Sessions on Sundays.
• Summer Solstice Sale. Begin at sunrise on the day of the summer Solstice, offering discounts that decrease hourly: 40 percent off from sunrise to 7 a.m., 35 percent off from 7:01-9 a.m.; 30 percent off from 9:01- 11 a.m., 25 percent off from 11:01 a.m. – 1 p.m.; 20 percent off from 1:01- 3 p.m.; 15 percent off from 3:01-6 p.m., and 10 percent off until close.
• New Arrivals Update. Send an e-mail blast, and place notes on your Web site and blog, whenever you return from a trade show or when new product arrives. Talk it up! Romance the copy so it encourages customers to come to the store and shop. Create and distribute Bag Stuffers, and place signs in your windows and throughout the store. Add “As Seen Online” signs next to the merchandise.
• Lunch Break Make & Take. Target working women and hold this twice a month. Run this free event from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and watch what happens. This event is so successful for the contributing retailer that she’s added a “Stop-in Saturday Make & Take” with longer hours.
• Annual Scavenger Hunt. Hide unusual items throughout your store and give customers a list of all the things they must find in the store. Be sure to include boxes they can check off when each item is found. This list will encourage them to walk through your entire store, where they’re sure to see all the cool things they just have to have. Give a prize to the customer who finds the most items.
• Trade Show Recap Night. Do this as a preview event to talk about all the new items you found at a trade show, or you can wait until the product arrives and hold a Mini-_________ Show. Use the vendor gifts and goodies you collected at the show as door prizes and give-a-ways, serve refreshments, and be sure to give everyone a Bounce Back Coupon to bring them back next week.
• Frequent Shopper Program. Customers earn a free class for every $100 they spend in the store. The contributing retailer calls her program the S.M.I.L.E. Card, which stands for Scrapping Makes Ideas Look Exciting.
• Scrappers’ Yard Sale. Participating customers can “sell” all the product they had to have, but never used, plus gently used supplies. Set up tables throughout your store or in the classroom. Sales are translated into store credit.
• In-store Craft Fair. Why should your customers go to the craft fair at the mall when they can just as easily come to your store? Feature local crafters and artisans; assign each participant a table to showcase his/her wares. Build a buzz about town with email blasts, in-store signage, and Bag Stuffers. Encourage each participant to advertise their participation in church bulletins, neighborhood newsletters, and community publications. And make sure your store is open for business during the entire event!
There are so many more ideas to share, we could go one forever! You know that we recommend you host one major in-store event and at least two minor in-store events each and every month – now, you have an entire list to choose from!
Drop us an e-mail if you’d like more ideas. Put “In-store events” in the subject line. Here’s to great sales and Shoppertainment in 2009!
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Make plans now to join us at the CHA Summer Show in Orlando! We are doing three NEW programs, including a 90 minute seminar tentively titled "4th Quarter Calendar.” You'll leave armed with a fully-loaded fourth quarter event calendar that’s packed with no-cost, low-cost traffic-building, door-spinning in-store events for the months of September, October, November and December 2009, plus a few more for January 2010 to start you off on the right foot.
You'll also receive detailed how-to instructions, customizable ad slicks, Bag Stuffers, press release templates, and well, just about everything you need to plan Shoppertainment events that rock. If you're looking for real ideas to help you grow your business, this is one seminar you won’t want to miss!
Click here to visit Nancy Nally's CHA Summer 2009 Planning page:
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