For several years now, retail has focused heavily on price, with large department chains such as Kmart and Big W making cheap prices their common mantra. However it is mindful to note that not all purchasers are after bargain basement prices.
You can break away from this budget mindset, if you are creative with your marketing programmes.
Price versus stature
I recently came across a shopping centre in Western Australia that not only recognised who their demographic was (wealthy professionals) but also catered their marketing strategy to encourage these shoppers to get past the “low price” mentality. Based on a number of popular TV make-over programmes, this shopping centre offered their patrons the opportunity to book in for a free one hour session with a stylist and beautician, in order to undergo an image transformation. Once completed these restyled ladies were then photographed and their image inserted onto the cover of a make-believe fashion magazine. Volia – instant super model! This magazine cover was then loaded onto the shopper’s Facebook page as part of the centre’s marketing promotions. As you can imagine this posting caused a significant stir among the shopper’s Facebook friends and resulted in numerous positive comments! And as you would expect, this triggered the shopper to then purchase the outfit, lock, stock and barrel! In addition, this then lead to friends of these shoppers also booking themselves into the shopping centre for a similar makeover. Over the period of the six weeks that this campaign operated, not only did the turnover in the shopping centres’ specialty stores improve, but furthermore this trend continued for the following 12 months! In other words it became an entrenched long-term behaviour. The added benefit, was that this promotions programme was managed solely through social media and hence reflected a very effective return on investment!
Take action!
Too often we perceive low price as representing good value – but what we must also remember is that there are certain types of shoppers who will pay a high price to be viewed as fashionable and sophisticated! If you are struggling to escape the budget mentality within your business, then you need to: Review the demographics for your locale (these can be downloaded for free from the ABS) and in particular look at how many local residents reflect high income levels, equity in their homes etc. In other words have a high level of disposable income. If these signs are positive i.e. there appear to be enough of these kinds of residents, then think about what these shoppers might value – are they fashion forward, do they like electronic gadgets, do they patronise high profile social events? Then think about what you could offer that would enhance the shopper’s experience to the point where price became irrelevant. If you are focused on emotive fulfilment, rather than price, then you will secure a satisfied customer who not only will pay a premium price, but happily refer you to others. Therefore take the time to brainstorm with your staff and maybe even some of your favourite customers and create a campaign that celebrates quality over price. Once you are on this path then there will be no going back!
