McCurry Associates Marketing Idea Exchange Archives

Volume 14 - August 1, 2002

Bill McCurry McCurry Associates wmccurry@mccurryassoc.com 609 688-1169

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Idea #1 - Stickers instead of Lollipops

Ruby Weidner, Woodward Camera, Birmingham, Michigan

   We sell our processing at a very high profit margin. When a parent with a well behaved child picks up a large processing order, we say the child has been good and because of that you may pick out a sticker for free. The parent is elated that their child has gotten the deserved recognition. With a large camera outfit sale we do the same thing. Mrs. Grossman's stickers retail for $1.89 / cost is 85 cents. Usually the customer ends up buying more of the stickers and leaves the store a happy customer with good memories of Woodward Camera.

Idea #2 and Idea #3 -

Following is an email from Jim Schwarzbach, Jim's Photo Lab, El Paso, Texas who was a guest speaker at the recent Photographic Research Organization (PRO) convention. This is Jim's post convention report.

   A lady who was in the audience called asking me for advice and giving me a great idea - Give a certificate for X number of digital prints with every memory card sold. This is different than a certificate with camera purchase as the buyer of additional memory cards is usually more knowledgeable than a first time camera buyer. They will be more open to buying prints from you rather than doing it at home. As you know, I don't discount work from Jim's Photo Lab. We say any promotions are from manufacturers. This is a positioning statement that helps the customer realize we are top quality with good value but won't discount every little thing. We chatted and the idea turned into "For only $2.00 more, you can get a certificate from Delkin/Promaster/Sandisk/Lexar (whoever your memory supplier is) good for 25 free prints."
   That idea begot another idea - every time they order prints from digital, we now enclose a thank you certificate. (We never call them coupons, that's what grocery stores use. We always use certificates as that implies more value and importance) from Kodak/Fuji/Agfa/Mitsubishi/Konica (whoever your Kiosk or paper supplier is) for 5 free prints with their next order of 20 or more prints.
   Then I brainstormed on the best way to redeem the certificate - let them place their order, and when they have completed the order at the kiosk (if they will be using the certificate), tell them "OK, you get five more prints for free, which ones should we order more of?" That beats the heck out of taking the charge for five prints off an order of 30 prints - print 35 and charge for 30 or print 30 and charge for 25?
   Editor's Note: This last piece is like selling something for half off or something on a "two for price of one basis." An economist will tell you they are the same thing; a retailer will say two for the price of one is better. True, the percentage margin is the same in both transactions. If it is a $10 item that costs you $4 by selling it at half off you sell it for $5 with $1 gross margin (20% margin). By selling two for the price of one you collect $10 with a cost of $8 so you have doubled your margin to $2 (still 20% margin). Whenever possible create your promotions and presentations to encourage the larger sale. It's important to keep your margin percentage healthy, but it's dollars that go into the bank, not percentage points.