Retail Trends: Streamlined Promotional Efforts Bolster Customer Focus, Drive Increased Sales

Chances are you’ve recently been exposed to a headline or news story that focuses on one of the following messages: store closings, foreclosures, rising food prices, or rebounding gas prices.  Unfortunately, the list doesn’t stop there, and the audience has no boundaries.  These headlines bombard your customers on a daily basis.

However, when the economy starts sputtering, that's when savvy retailers take action.  Through well-planned in-store promotions, shoppers can receive targeted brand messages at a critical time – when they’re faced with a purchase decision.

And, although marketing and promotional costs can significantly impact a retailer's top and bottom lines, in an industry where profit margins are key, retailers are always looking for ways to streamline their promotion processes.  They want to deliver consistent, targeted messages to their customers at the lowest possible costs and in the quickest, most efficient timeframe.

Read on as we address the complex promotional environment faced by many retailers today and how retailers large and small are creating successful sales promotions.  Included is an example of how one leading department store has streamlined their biggest sale event of the year and freed up time for developing deep, relevant connections with their customers and making them customers for life. 

Combating a Complex Promotional Environment
Successful store promotions are critical to a retailer’s profitability.  Today, businesses are challenged to ensure that promotions are carried out flawlessly, print materials are accurate and remain true to the company brand, and merchandise is placed and priced correctly.

The process of promotional campaign development, management and execution is often an imprecise science: multiple departments can be involved, much of the efforts can be manually-intensive and error-prone, and frequently, events may not align with financial plans and objectives. In addition, the need for multiple roll-outs targeting specific markets or regions adds another layer of complexity for retailers.

Often faced with an extensive amount of materials to manage, retailers rely on too many suppliers with materials coming from multiple locations and vendors, leading to a lack of control over costs and brand image.

By finding a partner who can provide a one-stop shop for the tools you need to execute successful sales promotions, you’ll not only increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your marketing efforts, but enable marketing staff to spend less time on manual or administrative tasks. 

Delivering a Smarter Shopping Experience
Promotional materials displayed at the retail point of purchase are about as close as a marketer can get to their customers.  However, the processes for preparing, sourcing and distributing these materials can often be a logistical nightmare, not to mention a drain on company resources. 

When faced with the manual process of preparing promotional materials for their yearly store anniversary and associated kids’ shoe sale, one leading department store decided it was time for a change.  Having previously relied on a regional printer for the production of “look books” (showcasing available shoes and price points), informational and training materials for sales associates, point of sale signage and order forms, they had to include other vendors in the process for complementary promotional items, such as lanyards, balloons and balloon weights.  This led to a process that was piecemeal, inefficient, and costly.

Turning to Standard Register, the retailer now benefits from a single source for their merchandising materials.  All printed materials are produced on-demand, kitted with promotional items both sourced and warehoused by Standard Register, and distributed to nearly 112 stores across the country for the yearly event based on pre-defined quantities per store. 

Standard Register not only produces and fulfills the department store’s promotional materials but has also partnered with the business to control their brand, effectively target their audience, and improve their overall marketing strategy. 

Having all the correct materials available to the right people and locations, on time, every time, allows sales associates to educate themselves on the details of the promotions so they may better serve their customers, saving both time and money, allowing marketing to focus on customer buying behaviors, refining promotional campaigns and driving sales. 

At Standard Register, we understand your need to create, communicate, and deliver value to your customers on a daily basis. Our national production footprint, global sourcing network and enabling technology combined with our experienced team of account managers, implementation, design, fulfillment and technical specialists means a total solution for retailers.

To learn more about how we can enable you to spend more time on what’s most important – developing deep, relevant connections with your customers and making them customers for life – contact us today.