W&E; Today provides retailers and manufacturers with education and ideas that provoke innovation in the Western and English markets.
Issue link: http://wetoday.epubxp.com/i/235944
What's Your Venn Diagram? W hile getting more business from your core customer is your No. 1 goal, don't forget about the lucrative secondary and tertiary markets for your store. For example, located in the heart of the Ozarks and just down the road from Branson, Mo., PFI Western Store can count on a fair number of tourists to come through their doors. Well aware of this, owner Randy Little has modeled his store after a turn-of-the-century train station with some thoroughly modern touches, such as a massive video wall, an old farm truck flled with merchandise, and a giant mural depicting a stampede of wild horses. Customers seeking souvenirs are enamored with Little's own Boot Daddy cologne. The catchy brand has gained such a following with tourists that Little and his team have spun of an entire line line of Boot Daddy products, including Boot Daddy Moonshine, clothing, boots and hats — all aimed at capturing tourism dollars. While those tourists aren't PFI's primary customers, they still represent a very healthy secondary business for the store. Perhaps your store could take advantage of the English riding fashion trend; consumers who will never set foot near a horse are clamoring for the "Hunt Club" look. Maybe your store is in a popular fy-fshing or hunting destination? Or, you may have customers that like riding horses and motorcycles. The place where your primary customers intersect with secondary markets can be an especially sweet spot. Make sure you stay on top of area events and venues where you can connect and get your name in front of these markets, and build relationships with prominent groups and individuals in these secondary markets. Determine the merchandise in your store that appeals to these segments, and brainstorm with your staf about ways you can appeal to these customers. This way, you'll keep secondary markets on your radar screen without losing sight of your best customers. EQUESTRIAN LIFESTYLE FLY FISHING MOTORCYCLING This Venn diagram illustrates how diferent special interests may overlap. For example, most equestrians may neither be motorcyclists nor anglers, but some enjoy one of the two, and a smaller group enjoys all three. 40 Western & English Today your customers is bundling merchandise. Consider bundling individual products that naturally ft together at one attractive (and discounted) price point. Riders taking up a new discipline will be pleased they could purchase all their items in one stop, and you'll beneft from a higher average ticket sale. Tere are really only two ways to sell more to your best customers. First, you can increase how much they buy and second, you can increase how ofen they buy. One of the most valuable tools to help you achieve these goals is right at your fngertips. It's your store database — a goldmine of information. If you have a small store, you may be tracking your customer list and purchasing behaviors manually, but even small businesses can take advantage of cost efective, web-based analytics sofware. By crunching the numbers, you can segment your customer list based on any number of variables. Tis will enable you to recognize customers' purchasing patterns and create customized advertising messages for social media based on segments within your database. When you know what your customers are buying and why, you can more accurately suggest new merchandise that suits their needs. mine gold in your database. Consider your customers' "repurchase cycle." Some timing patterns are obvious. Customers usually repurchase every Christmas or around birthdays or anniversaries. But have you ever considered pinpointing when your customers might need their next pair of breeches or a new saddle pad? Te folks at Charlotte's Saddlery track and compile every customer's purchase, and manager Gwyn has even been known to call and recommend new arrivals that are especially suited and welltimed for a particular customer's needs. By tracking purchases, you can also send appropriately timed emails and direct mail and make phone calls to suggest repurchase. Automate your database or email system with fags to alert you to remind your customers. By doing this, you're bound to increase the frequency of customers' purchases. encourage more frequent purchase. If executed efectively, your social media has the potential to play an enormous role in selling more to the same customers. Te key is in fnding the right balance of timely, relevant, informative, entertaining and sales-generating content. Studies show that people are more likely to engage in social media before 9 a.m., during their lunch breaks and in the early evening. Savvy marketers will time their posts to coincide with those timeframes in order to gain increased visibility. Charlotte's Saddlery's Facebook page does an excellent job of combining alerts on new merchandise with comical horse cartoons and local news-of-note. "You have to reach out and grab customers and pull them toward you," says Gwyn. Social media also gives your customers a voice and a forum to connect with other likeminded customers. A simple post such as, "Tell us what new riding discipline you're trying," can stimulate a lively (for customers) and educational (for you) discussion. Ensure that all your social media platforms are linked. Tis will help you engage your fans across as many channels as possible and drive trafc to your website, which should be one of your primary goals. become a social animal.