MANAGING PROMOTIONS

In the retail industry, promotions can be as important as your products. Visual merchandising is an influential way to get your customer’s attention. Interesting and eye catching displays can influence a customer to make a purchase. The better you are at promotion and visual displays, the more money your customers will be willing to spend. There are a few reasons why. Keep these reasons in mind each time you have a promotion or set up a display, and you should experience more successes than failures.

Some promotions and displays should be rotated regularly into your schedule, rather it be seasonally or annually. Promotions that come around regularly are called cyclical promotions. When a season or holiday is approaching, you can prepare by figuring out the best way to promote your products. Get visual ideas or inspiration from other stores, art, or online displays. If you can make your store’s display unique, it is sure to attract attention and help people to remember you when the promotion is over.

You will need to adequately inform your customers of your promotions when they come around. Try to collect e-mail addresses or physical addresses throughout the year. Send out newsletters and special offers periodically so that your customers will be aware and look forward to your events. Use signs and your staff to communicate promotions to your in-store customers or people passing by.

There can be many opportunities year round to have a promotion. Local sporting events or other celebrations can be used to draw attention to supporting your local organization. You can donate money to different local causes and gain attention for yourself as a valuable local business. Offer discounts or early bird specials to local college students, or people that donate to your charity. Feature local artists’ work in your store and bring community awareness to your door. You can collaborate with other businesses in your district or area to offer block parties, sidewalk sales, and other promotions that get attention.

Lowering your prices isn’t always the best idea. Find ways to make people see the value in the items that you offer, rather than making them think that something must be wrong with the merchandise for it to be so cheap. You might make some money in the short term, but you’ll make people want to wait for your big sales to shop at your store. Or worse, you’ll make them think that you are normally overcharging, and lower their impression of your entire business.

Keep things changing by rearranging your clothing racks and displays on a regular basis. Choose an interesting garment rack that people don’t see in every store. Breaking up the monotony of shopping is the easiest way to start making your store unique. Most stores use garment racks with function in mind, but if you choose ones that are functional as well as unique, you will stand out from the competition.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.