Retail Contrarian

Revisiting (and Fixing) the Generic Email Address Issue

Mike Buckley over at Tacony Corporation's Mine Your Own Business blog picked up on my recent entry about the glut of businesses using generic email addresses. In the short time since my original post ran, I've received quite a few communications from retailers asking how to go about getting a unique domain and/or email address for their business. Mike actually offers quite a few good points, and I encourage anybody who's interested to check out his blog entry on the subject. Getting a unique email address is really not as difficult (or expensive) as it may seem. One reader even reminded me that local schools and continuing education efforts can be a great resource, as they often provide gratis set-up of domain, website, and email services for individuals and businesses as a real-world experience for their students. All you need to pay for is the domain registration fee.

On a sadly ironic note, in the days since I posted that entry I saw perhaps the most graphic example of this communication faux pas. As prominently displayed in its advertisement in a local newspaper, a new business had gone through the trouble of getting a vanity phone number (you know the type - 555-LEAK for a plumber, 555-BABY for a maternity store, etc.), and they even had the city officially change the name of the street where they're located to that of the business. And their website was www.theirbusinessname.com. But their email address? You guessed it. businessname@aol.com!

What Does Your Email Address Say About You?

My typical Friday morning routine involves breakfast at a great little spot down the road.  The kind of place that only serves breakfast and lunch, where the waitresses call you Hon and know your regular order by heart.  I usually read the weekly newspaper while I eat, but the last time I went there was no weekly paper to be had.  They hadn't published that week due to staff vacation.  Okay, fair enough.

So I found myself reading the paper placemat.  In addition to a few word games to occupy little ones the placemat features a border of advertisements for local businesses.  Usually these ads are just reprints of business cards, and there's nothing wrong with that.

As I looked at the different ads I took note of how many businesses have websites and email addresses. No website?  Okay, that's forgivable for some businesses.  No email?  Again, somewhat allowable, but it's becoming less excusable.  Let your customer contact you in as many was as possible, and in the way they want.  Most businesses wouldn't dream of placing an ad without their phone number in it.

What I found most confounding is the number of businesses who have a website with their own domain name, but their email uses a generic service provider.  For example, a local pet groomer might display www.petgroomer.com in their ad, but their email address is jdoe@verizon.net.  Or jdoe@aol.com.  Or jdoe@hotmail.net.  Some folks would use petgroomer@whatevertheirprovideris.com, and that's a little better.

My questions is: why not use jdoe@petgroomer.com?  Or info@petgroomer.com?  Or anything@petgroomer.com?  I actually saw an ad for a local company that builds websites, and even they were using a generic email address!  This tells me these businesses are either using the free webspace their internet provider includes or they didn't want to spend a few bucks to have somebody set up an email account using their own domain name.  Either way it makes one question how serious these businesses are about making it easy for their customers to reach them.

Marketing Tips for the Financially Challenged

Fortune Small Business recently asked us what a retailer with a limited budget could do to attract more customers. It’s one thing to get customers into the store but after that you need to keep them coming back. It is vital that retailers get the contact information of as many customers as they can.

"If you don't get your customers' contact information, you'll have to talk to the entire community to talk to them again," Fleener says. "It's always more effective to market to the person you know."

Okay, quoting myself - that’s strange . Check out more of our tips, along with suggestions from other retail experts, at How to bring more customers to your store on CNNMoney.com.

Let it Snow (Money)

A few months ago Doug wrote about a promotion being run by Boston-area retailer Jordan's Furniture which involved a full refund of purchases customers made within a specific timeframe if the Boston Red Sox won the World Series.  Well, we all know what happened with the Sox, and evidently Jordan's has cashed in their insurance policy to make good on their promise.  Everyone wins!

Now, a local jewelry store has implemented a similar promotion.  Springer's Jewelers (with three locations in Maine and New Hampshire) has decreed that if more than six inches of snow falls on Christmas Day at their Portsmouth, NH location (smart move, considering that location probably gets less snowfall than the Maine stores), any and all purchases made and paid in full between November 23rd and December 8th will be refunded, assuming the purchaser has followed the myriad rules and regulations that dictate the promotion.

This type of "conditional rebate" promotion is becoming more common among specialty retailers.  Do a Google search for "conditional rebates" and look at the growing number of companies that will sell a retailer insurance to cover the off-chance they have to pay out. It's promotions like these that let specialty retailers differentiate themselves from their Big Box competitors, and, at the very least, encourage visits by new customers.

Just like with Jordan's, Springer's is a specialty retailer with limited locations, doing something to not only drum up business and make sales, but to create a buzz.  Jewelry stores, like furniture stores, are plentiful to the point of over-saturating some markets.  This promotion makes Springer's stand out, gets people talking about them, and drives traffic into the stores.  I'm sure a lot of shoppers who hadn't considered buying their loved ones a piece of fine jewelry or a watch for the holidays will now consider spending a few bucks there, in the off chance Jack Frost delivers on December 25th.

Which is Worse...

We here at the Red Friday Coalition recently received a report from a casualty of a Big Box retailer's November-long tactics to get customers into their stores. It seems that this potential customer found the Big Box's offer of a new High-Definition DVD player too good to pass up. Imagine, a $300 next-generation movie machine for only $199, plus two free movies in the box, three more free movies (customer's choice) at check-out, and five more free movies by mail-in rebate! Even his wife was willing to let him spend the money.

Unfortunately, there was a higher price to be paid in the form of indifferent, poorly prepared and trained store employees. The first challenge was to find the product. Despite there being at least a dozen associates in the electronics department, they all looked, moved, and acted as if they were well-occupied with activities more important than selling. When the customer finally had the chance to inquire about the DVD player, one associate pointed him to a display that turned up empty. Another confidently stated that the store didn't carry that model. The third took the time to find the product and confirm the sale price, but then disappeared after handing the box to the customer and instructing him to pay at the register.

The second challenge was to confirm the offer of three free DVDs. Evidently nobody in the store was aware of the offer despite the ad appearing in that Sunday's circular. The cashier had no knowledge of it, so she called a supervisor. The supervisor was equally flummoxed, and called an associate from the electronics department. The associate called the department supervisor, who finally looked at the circular sitting next to cash register and confirmed the deal.

Nearly ninety minutes after entering the store, the intrepid customer walked out with his new high definition DVD player and free movies. He also left with a new understanding of the old line (often attributed to Jimmy Buffett): "Which is worse, ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care."

A Simple Loyalty Program with a Simple Lesson

Loyalty Lab’s David Rosen has a great example on the Loyalty Dogs Blog of a simple but effective loyalty program for independent retailers. Loyalty Lab is one of the best at creating loyalty programs and other customer management strategies for national retailers.

In the post Keeping It Simple David writes that, “A simple program that achieves a very focused goal is sometimes the best solution for smaller retailers.” I couldn't agree more. Over complicating a loyalty program creates a burden on the staff and the customer alike. Those programs almost always die out.

But this is great advice beyond just loyalty and marketing programs for small retailers. We retailers create a lot of complicated programs for some very unfocused goals. I'd have to admit I've done a few myself.

Keep it simple is great advice no matter what the strategy is or the size of the store.

Welcome Email Opportunities

An article from DM News reports how welcome e-mails are one of the most overlooked sales tools out there for retailers

According to a new report from on-demand business services firm Premiere Global Services and the Email Experience Council only 72% of major online retailers regularly use welcome e-mails.

I would have to think that number is considerably lowers if the customer gives their email at a brick and mortar store. Whether a customer gives their email at time of purchase or to be just added to a mailing list, a welcome email is a great way to establish the relationship and drive customers back into the store.

Bath and Body Works is a great example of what a retailer can do with the right strategy. They began collecting email addresses from customers last January and they now have over 10 million addresses.  In just eight months!  "By November we'll have the largest e-mail file in all of specialty retail," said Brian Beitler, vice president of customer marketing for Bath and Body Works, at a presentation during eTail 2007. 

They value each customer's email address at $18 each.  Multiply the 10 million times $18 and that's a whole lot of incremental sales. Well, if the numbers are correct. To entice customers to give their electronic addresses, Bath and Body Works offers free tubes of lip gloss.  However, they don't give it to the customer in the store. 

The lip gloss offer comes to the customer via email that they have to go back to the store to redeem. And because the store employees see the additional traffic and sales with the coupons they continue to sign people up at a high rate. Awesome.

Vocal Advocates

When I was a kid, my father used to boast to his friends and associates that he was a manufacturer’s representative for a popular shoe company. He would leave the company’s mail-order catalog mixed in among the other magazines on the living room coffee table. Whenever somebody mentioned shoes, he strongly encouraged them to look into his favorite brand. After all, he was quick to remind, he was a manufacturer’s representative.

Now, my father didn’t sell shoes for a living. He didn’t work for a footwear manufacturer, and he didn’t have any financial stake in that particular brand, other than buying their shoes on more than one occasion. But my dad was a great advocate of the company whose shoes he wore, and that company recognized the value in the word-of-mouth he generated. So much so that they made him an honorary “manufacturer’s representative”, the only proof of which was that those words appeared above his name on the catalog mailing label.

Some new research on customer word-of-mouth has come to light, and it puts into question some long-held beliefs. On a recent entry on The Perfect Customer Experience blog, author John I. Todor, Ph.D comments on these findings. Among John’s insights:

Word of mouth is emotionally triggered and emotionally driven. Both the triggering and the emotional expression are harder to achieve online.

…harness and amplify those customers who are prone to evangelize.

…leveraging your most vocal customers is powerful and expedient. However, unless the value customer's gain from interaction with your company is compelling the impact will be short-lived.

So, despite all the technology that can drive and sometimes challenge retail, it’s still old-fashioned word-of-mouth that compels a vast number of consumer decisions. When a potential customer hears of a positive encounter at retail, they will more likely want to experience it for themselves. And when customers have positive experiences, they want to talk about it. Give those vocal customers an incentive to talk about their experience, and they become powerful advocates.

So, can you identify your honorary “representatives”?

Seen (and Heard) About Town

Living in (relatively) rural Maine, I see a lot of small local businesses competing with the influx of big box retailers and the ever-growing presence of agency-produced advertising on the landscape and airwaves. The state of Maine bans roadside billboards, but there's nothing to prevent a business from using a marquee to promote its good or services, or it's owner's personal agenda. And of course, locally-produced radio and TV spots are numerous, and often more interesting than the regular programming. Here's a small sample of some things I've spotted recently.

Locally-owned sandwich franchise marquee: "Closing Help Wanted"
If they're closing, why are they hiring?

Locally-owned fast-food franchise marquee: "Now Hiring Closers"
When I read this, all I can picture is Ricky Roma from David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross asking "What do I have to do to get this hamburger into you today?"

Local jewelry chain radio spot: "Inconveniently located at..."
Now, this chain's stores are not hard to find, but their self-deprecating humor is used to highlight the fact they're not passing along the overhead of a mall lease to their customers.

Local seafood shop marquee: "See Our Rare Yellow Lobster. 1 in 1 million."
You'd think that ought to bring in the tourists, except...

Competing seafood shop across the street marquee: "Yellow Lobster Rolls 4 for $20"
Actually, that ought to bring in tourists and locals.

Local car stereo sales/installation shop marquee: "Car Making Funny Noises? We Can Help."
Judging from the condition of a lot of cars I see around here, this place knows their customer.

Locally-owned car insurance broker radio spot: "Would you really buy car insurance from a caveman or lizard?"
Good point. Cavemen and lizards don't even drive.

Local hearing aid shop marquee: "Get a Hearing Aid. Make Your Spouse Stop Yelling at You."
I'm guessing this has appealed to a few folks with perfect hearing.

Local glazier and window shop marquee: "Get Ready for Spring. Let Us Fix Your Window Screens."
Time to change that calendar, folks.

In addition, there are a bunch of local businesses who use their signage for purposes other than advertising. Many of them are currently wishing a speedy recovery to a local teen critically injured in a car accident. Some are encouraging passers-by to check out local citizen-initiated legislative issues. More than a few businesses are extending thoughts to military members and their families. And then there's the local gun and ammo dealer who uses his marquee to voice his personal, sometimes militant, political thoughts. Regardless of what they say, this homespun advertising attracts the eye (and ear) and keeps the businesses top of mind for many locals. It sure beats having neon and animated LEDs blight the landscape.

The Attack Of the Marketing Gizmo

I’m in Denver this week at the annual Consumer Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) show. On my walk to the convention center is a T-Mobile store with an inflatable gizmo that is supposed to attract the attention of people passing by. What’s funny is as this thing flips flops back and forth in front of the store it's actually attacking customers instead of of attracting them.

I saw a woman walking by the store practically get knocked over as she walked by the store. Maybe they figure if they knock people down they’ll crawl in the store and buy a handset to call 911.

Or even better, maybe it’s a metaphor for how some retail employees end up attacking their customers instead of attracting them Either way, this thing has to be doing more harm than good.

So let me ask, do your stores have any “gizmos” that are doing more harm than good?