I encourage everyone, whether or not you sell traditional Valentine’s Day gifts, to do something fun and unique over the next two days. The easiest thing is to give out candy, chocolates, or cookies. Highlight them by arranging them on a nice tray and offering the tray to customers. The gesture of offering your customer a gift is as important as the item itself. Don’t short the love!
For those of you who will be crazy busy the next two days, I have some reminders to help you maximize your opportunities. For those of you who aren’t a traditional Valentine’s Day store, skip down to the tips on how you can also leverage Valentine’s Day.
For Traditional Valentine’s Day stores.
First, here’s a quick recap about Valentine’s Day from the National Retail Federation.
* The average person will spend about $131 on candy, cards, gifts and more. Make that your ADS goal for the next two days!
* Men spend twice as much as women. I hope my wife doesn’t read this blog posting.
* Total Valentine’s Day spending will reach $18.6 billion. That might be a little high for your store goal.
* Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. 61% percent of shoppers plan to show their appreciation for other family members, 25% will buy gifts for friends, 20% will buy a gift for their pet, and 13% will buy Valentine’s Day gifts for their co-workers. That means… EVERYONE IS A VALENTINE’S DAY BUYER!
Now on to the tips and reminders.
1. Start BIG. Most of you will be selling to men today. Help him be a BIG hero tonight. Don’t shortchange your customer just because you’re busy. That’s really important. Your biggest impediment over the next two days could be you.
2. Sell more than one item. What’s three time more fun than opening a gift? Opening three gifts! Yes, feel free to use that line to keep the sale going today. Don’t let him short the recipient.
3. Add a small item(s) as part of the giftwrapping. Suggesting a few beads or other items on the ribbon makes for a very nice presentation. Believe me, he’ll say yes if you ask. Same for a key fob, small earrings, etc.
4. Someone needs to manage the giftwrapping. I’ve seen many a Valentine’s Day shopping experience ruined because the giftwrapping gets backed up, or everyone is confused about who is waiting, which purchase is next, etc. Someone needs to take charge of this area.
5. Don’t be too short on time to deliver a great experience. The story he tells when giving the gift is almost as important as the gift itself. No matter how busy, no matter how crazy, show the love and deliver an experience he/she will want to share.
For you non-Valentine’s Day stores, here are a few things you can do now to show the love and leverage the holiday:
1. Show the love to the staff. Do something special for your staff. Maybe you can bring in breakfast or lunch, or perhaps give each person a small token of your appreciation with a gift card or $25 store credit?
2. Show your customers some love in an email blast. Use Valentine’s Day as time to tell your customers you love and appreciate them the entire year, and not just Valentine’s Day. You could also entice them by running some “We Love Our Customers” specials, and run those in the store for everyone.
3. Highlight non-traditional Valentine’s Day gifts on Facebook and other social media sites. If anything, it could give people a good laugh. Why not recommend that she give him a hammer for Valentine’s Day? Maybe he’ll finally complete the project that’s been half-done for the last six months! The more absurd the product, the better.
4. Serve Valentine’s Day cookies, candy, and/or drinks. There’s no easier way to engage customers than with something to drink or eat. Not only does it create a better experience, but it also leads to higher sales.
Have a Happy Valentine’s Day. All of us here at Dynamic Experiences Group, LLC appreciate working with and for you. Thank you for your business and for reading our newsletters.
