What to present to the owner and customers for the opening of a new store?
09.10.2023 17:07
Store opening gifts for customers are a great way to draw attention to a new business and leave visitors with a double pleasant experience. It's a great way to increase customer loyalty and keep them coming back.
There are a lot of gift ideas. The key is to choose the options that best suit your business and the needs of your audience.
What factors should you consider when choosing a gift?
- Type of store. Choose gifts that reflect your trade niche or complement the main product sold in the store. For example, for a flower shop, it's appropriate to give souvenirs or small items for decor or interior. For a perfume store, you can give samples of perfumes or cosmetics.
- Target audience. Divide bonuses according to the preferences of your customers and their gender. It is better that they are useful, not just there. For example, for women, you can choose jewellery or accessories in a clothing store or cosmetic samples in a cosmetics store, for men - men's products.
- Budget. Of course, the cost of gifts should be moderate so as not to overwhelm your expenses when you open a store. Choose useful but not too expensive gifts.
Gift ideas for customers
1. Discounts on your own products.
This is a classic example of a bonus for customers when opening a store. Most retailers use this method to attract new customers. It is better to provide discounts in the form of bonuses, discount cards for repeat purchases, so that customers have a desire to come back again.
You can print flyers with a discount promo code so that the customer has a "physical reminder" of your store. In the flyer, indicate the expiration date of the promo code - this way, your customers will be more motivated to use the discount.
2. Branded souvenirs.
This is one of the most popular gift options. You can order printed or souvenir products with your branding before the opening - this will both promote customer loyalty and spread your name recognition in the market. Gifts can be small: key chains, pens or magnets, desk calendars or advent calendars, cup holders. Or they can be more impressive - the cups themselves, T-shirts, thermobottles, backpacks, towels with your store's logo. The variations depend on your budget and business profile.
Promotional souvenirs work for a long time and unobtrusively. At the same time, they are strongly remembered by customers and work for your brand.
Usually, entrepreneurs order significant branded products for partners, contractors, or store employees, as it is a rather expensive pleasure.
3. Small household and interior products.
This gift idea is suitable not only for stores that sell home furnishings, comfort products, souvenirs or gifts. A bonus in the form of candles, aroma diffusers, decorative pillows and interior items can be given to customers by large industrial companies that sell or manufacture furniture, doors, windows, garden equipment, bed linen, sew custom curtains, etc.
4. Product samplers.
This is a simple but time-tested way to introduce customers to the store's products. Samplers can be provided as free gifts for the opening or added to promotions to further attract customers.
Offering the opportunity to test products, especially if they are new to the market, is an example of good customer service. This is how you show that you care, because you care about the customer's opinion of your product. Along with the tasted product, you can give customers a short questionnaire with an offer to leave feedback on the new product and suggestions for improvement.
Such a gift can be used not only by cosmetic and food stores, but also by household chemicals stores: samples of cleaning products, detergents, and household goods.
5. Gift cards and certificates.
This is an optimal and practical way to encourage customers to make repeat purchases. You give a choice, because certificates are equivalent to money that the customer can use at their own discretion to buy what they need.
6. Drawing a super prize among the receipts.
An interesting marketing ploy is to draw receipts for purchases made by customers during the opening day. Announce the super prize draw in advance on your social media to attract as many customers as possible. At the end of the day, collect all the receipts from customers or ask them to register their receipts for the draw at the checkout, and choose the winner's receipt at random.
To make the event more authentic, you can traditionally place all the receipts in a glass jar or vase and draw the lucky receipt while filming it all.
If you have an online store, register all sales for the day in your accounting software, add the receipt numbers to an excel spreadsheet, and draw them through any random service. Be sure to record the moment of the draw on video.
To implement this, you first need to configure the synchronisation function of the online store with the accounting program in which sales will be recorded.
Before opening a store, you should make sure that you have an automated program that will take care of most of the routine work and systematise sales right away. It can not only record sales, but also keep financial records of the store (enter expenses for the store's operation and marketing), make payments to suppliers, manage the assortment and warehouse, and generally manage the store with ease.
For a prize, raffle off one of your main products. It is also a good idea to draw certificates for certain amounts, experiences or services: for attending entertainment events, master classes, photo shoots, etc.
7. Sending nice little things in a parcel with the goods
If your business is also represented on the Internet, or only there, add some small gifts to each parcel. When opening the box with the ordered goods, the person will receive an additional bonus, which will enhance their positive impression of your service and store.
Tips for designing gifts for customers
- It is advisable that the gifts be of high quality and decent, so that the customer does not throw them into the nearest trash bin near the store. Let it be a small thing that will make a pleasant impression.
- Gifts should be better wrapped. This is especially important when sending goods by post. This will give them even more weight in the eyes of the buyer.
- If your employee gives out gifts during the store's grand opening, let them do so sincerely. This way, you will create a positive impression on the recipients and make them interested in the gift.
Gift ideas for the store owner
Opening a store or starting your own business is a significant event in the life of an entrepreneur. So naturally, at this time it is important not to forget to congratulate them. Congratulations can come from colleagues, friends and acquaintances.
How do you congratulate the owner on the opening of a new store? There are many ideas, but they depend on his preferences. Present certificates: for advertising services, branded and printed products, training courses or masterclasses in business management or personal development.
A good gift idea is modern gadgets for the store, for example, an annunciator at the customer's entrance to the store, things to organise the space for visitors and staff: potted flowers, printed posters with store values, lighting, air fresheners, aromatics, things for the recreation area.
If you value your partnership with a newly established business, give its owner more substantial gifts - a coffee machine for the staff, commercial equipment for the store (for example, a barcode scanner or receipt printer), a licence for an accounting software that the owner can test for free for 30 days.
An accounting program for store management is a great gift for an entrepreneur, because with it you give peace of mind, freedom of action and free time to develop ideas and do strategic business.
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