Sale CRM

A belated happy new year, 2014 is already better than the start of 2013, a little hot but the southern highway doesn’t look like getting cut by flood waters or Rockhampton airport likely to close. I suspect the hot weather has benefitted retailers (as well as Ergon and Fitzroy River Water). If you’ve hit the shops there be one 4 letter word you can’t miss, SALE. It appears an essential January strategy for nearly every retailer, the size of the discount the only difference in the strategy. With an abundance of choice, both off-line and on-line, what sales get’s your money and why? Keeping it local is encouraged as local businesses employs locals and supports local groups, events, etc. This may get forgotten with the lure of an amazing deal appearing in your in-box or if a pang of guilt is felt the subconscious justification of one non-local transaction isn’t going to impact the local economy that it negatively effects ‘me’ quickly eases any remorse; the ‘me generation’ effect. People are willing to support causes other than themselves. The cause however has to be more than just the future existence of the retailer. Some businesses actively promote their support of social causes. Believing if the potential customer likes the cause they’ll support that business over a competitor. Could local businesses unite behind a cause related marketing strategy to gain more sales instead of losing business to non-local electronic shopping carts? What cause? Maybe Facebook could provide an answer. Local businesses promote their sale and that a percentage of their turnover is going to a ‘cause’ identified by locals as important to them. For Emu Park, Mt. Morgan and Tannum Sands retailers the ‘cause’ might be funding shade cover of the play ground equipment. Yes it would require a bit of work to get organised, it requires the retailer to part with some hard earned cash collected on items sold at lower margins and there’s no guarantee that the strategy would provide extra turnover. Is just increasing the size of the discount a better long term strategy against multi-national on-line retailers though? What ‘cause’ would you like, indicate on the Keep it Local Project Rockhampton Facebook page.