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Idea # 1 - Bill's musings at 39,000 feet
Email and phone has been going strong with
reports of how the season's going so far and
with questions.
Photofinishing/Services: At 6Sight,
Rob Tolmie, Australia's largest photo gift
producer, told of one mass merchant that ran a
small half price ad for photobooks and "choked"
Australia's largest photobook producer with
orders. This proves two points, when customers
know about photobooks and are given a reason to
act now, they will.
This story prompted discussion with other major
book producers . . . Most will be shutting off
new Christmas orders somewhere between December
10 and 20th . . . because they just can't get
the work out - these are major labs working 24/7
with multiple Indigos (or iGen) printers. What's
this mean to you? Make sure your customers know
you can still deliver "instantly" . . .
If you're going to offer last-minute service,
may you should limit what you will guarantee
delivery on by Christmas - depending on your
production mix, you may decide that these style
of photobooks and this style of collage poster
will be your "guaranteed delivery" products
while the others will be "possible but not
guaranteed" - again, depending on your
production situation, it could offer a bit of
efficiency if you are focused on fewer SKUs
going into the home stretch.
Be sure every order (Christmas cards, books,
calendars, etc.) has an insert in there that
says, "you can reorder this product and get next
day delivery" put the file number on the insert
and tell the customer how to contact you, via
email, phone and/or web.- yes, that's a bit of
work but on December 22 you don't want to be
searching through all your files - do it now so
you can capture the reorders quickly and easily.
We understand that those who did this last year
averaged 10% reorders on the low end. The
highest we heard was 25% reorders. A great
return on minimal investment.
Yes, promotions may be needed to boost volumes -
customers are looking for a deal - but what's a
deal? Do customers know if a photobook at
$9.99 is a good deal or not? Most customers
still don't know photobooks exist . . . What we
think works in most markets is to say (through
in store posters, email blasts, on-line and
perhaps in traditional media advertising) is
something like "buy one, get second at half off"
This is Christmas and many of the same photo
gift products can be given to more than person -
if you cut the price on a photo book, you sell
one photobook - to offer the second one at half
off boosts your total dollars received - and
that's important to you -
It also may be beneficial to make an exception
for your cheapest book and your cheapest collage
poster - If customers don't even know these
products exist then they don't know how much
they cost - so putting a photobook in an ad at
$6.99 or $9.99 could educate the consumer that
they exist and they are very reasonably priced.
We haven't seen it done yet, but perhaps a "$5
gift certificate" for any book or poster
(limited time offer-set an expiration date)
would be more beneficial - So you give the
customer an incentive to come in but leave the
option open for them to buy your bigger/better
offerings.
Don't get cheap and put any limitations on it
other than one per customer - If a few folks
redeem $5 off your $6.99 book, you've made a few
friends perhaps - putting limits on these
promotions makes the customer wary and sets
limitations on their thinking - you want
customers to come in with open minds to explore
all you have to offer . . . Take the "risk" and
see what you average. Don't focus on the few who
will buy the $6.99 photobook, focus on the
average which likely will be $20-$40. Trust us
on this. Keep the records and if we're wrong
beer is on us at DIMA.
Hardware:
Appears well promoted events like "photo fairs"
and "vendor days" are drawing crowds and making
sales - day to day traffic is down - margin may
be inching up because more time is being able to
be spent with each customer - salespeople that
listen are able to intelligently educate the
customer which accessories they have to have -
kit pricing or some other type of consumer
incentive may be needed to coax the customer
from a "be back later" to "I'll take it now". -
Don't give away too much margin but remember
cash now is always better than a hot promise.
We're hearing of unbelievable "off sheet" deals
being done by manufacturers just to move
merchandise from their warehouse to retailers'
warehouses. It appears if you delayed ordering
you may be buying for less. Not hearing of any
significant product shortages - apparently many
of the big box boys backed off their pre-season
commitments and manufacturers are scrambling to
place product. If you find a deal that's too
good to pass up, try for extended dating and/or
return/rebilling privileges. If you're helping
the manufacturer, maybe they need to help you
also. (Yes, it is a privilege - to be
negotiated, just get it in writing - a verbal
deal today is worth the paper it's written on.
We've gotten calls from dealers asking what to
do when major vendors back out on written deals
after the goods were shipped!)
Cash is king now and it will be KING in January
through April . . . . it will be hard to pay
your employees if you have product and not cash
. . . Delicate balancing act here . . .
If you're a small/medium retailer, consider
partnering with another retailer - maybe you buy
a bunch of brand "C" and your buddy buys a bunch
of brand "N" and a third buddy buys some brand
"O" and another one buys brand "P" and so on
(being politically correct, this hypothetical
example is in alphabetical order). . . This
concept allows a better negotiating stance with
the manufacturer because they get a larger order
and thus the deal is more interesting to them -
and each store is only exposed to a potential
overage of their one lead brand, not a
smattering of various products. If you are over
inventory after the holidays, it's easier to get
rid of a bunch of one specific brand than it is
to dump a smattering of a dozen different
things.
Please keep the calls and emails coming as that
helps us stay in touch with the marketplace and
helps us help you.
Do take a moment Thursday (and everyday) to Give
Thanks for all we have - You don't have to be a
Yankee to be thankful . . . Yes, we live in
interesting times, but most of us reading this
newsletter still have food on the table and a
roof over our head. For half the world, our
worst day is far better than their very best day
. . . We truly are Blessed! |
Did
you know that every single issue of the
McCurry Marketing Idea Exchange is archived on
line - going all the way back to Issue 1?
