Marketing Maximizes Retail Store Sales

Each month, Country Business magazine features a retailer profile which tells you all about how the store began, what it sells, and how it continues to thrive through economic changes.

The profile usually revolves around a rural store, the type that you rarely read about in metropolitan magazines and newspapers. These stores are the backbone of most communities. They know how to profit because the owner and staff members know how to connect with customers.

A Rochester, New Hampshire gift shop is the subject in the September/October issue. How do they market?

“The shop holds four open houses to celebrate spring, Mother’s Day, fall, and Christmas,…”

“…during the three-day fall open house and shop birthday celebration, every customer that comes in wearing a birthday hat on Friday receives a gift.”

“Their tactics include creating a special birdhouse for display at a local restaurant in exchange for displaying a poster and brochures at their shop.”

A customer loyalty reward program, merchandise discounts on every first Thursday, and newsletter mailings are other ways they connect with buyers.

The owners also have a Web site and incorporate many of the techniques I explain on the Web Sites for Retailers site. But for the most part, they enlist tried-and-true marketing tactics to reach their goals.

Marketing isn’t always about using technology. More often, it’s rooted in giving customers a reason to come back and bring their friends, too.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, solo entrepreneur, Country Business, retail stores