by Sally Bouorm | December 1, 2013 9:50 am
By Ted Lawrence
As the pool and spa/hot tub industry goes through what everyone hopes will be a short winter, it is important for business owners—especially those operating pool/spa retail stores—to start the New Year off right by putting together a marketing and advertising plan for the coming year. To do this properly, it is important to start with an advertising budget; once a reasonable monetary amount has been determined, plan all of the events and sales, the type of media that will be used to reach the end consumer and, finally, all of the products that will be advertised to bring consumers flocking to the store.
Does this sound ludicrous? There are many retailers who have extremely large advertising budgets to those who have none. Some retailers may even have competitively priced chlorine tablets, shock, and algaecide in all of their advertising, which may be better and cheaper than the competition, but they do not get the response they think they should with respect to drawing customers to their store, while others with small budgets may get huge reactions to their advertising. Why does this happen? The answer always comes down to the content. If the content does not get the consumer excited then they will not come through the door. Face it, chlorine and its ancillary products are not the most exciting products; however, they are a necessity to have in some advertising. Where many retailers are failing is they are not giving the consumer what they really want in an advertising piece. Sure the pricing has to be competitive, but it should not be the only content.
It is hard for retailers to know exactly what the consumer wants, but guess what? They do not know either. For example, it is hard for some to imagine their lives without their smartphone (an item just a few years ago many lived without). Today, however, almost everyone has one of these devices and they cannot be pried out of their hands.
The pool and spa/hot tub industry may not have the exact equivalent with regards to product demand, but there are definitely products that once the consumer sees they will not only want, but also could not imagine their pool without it.
What are these products? One good example is illuminated accessories. Why? Because pool builders never talk about them, mass merchants hardly display them, and online/catalogue companies cannot properly convey the ‘wow’ factor to the consumer to create excitement. However, retailers can. But, similar to mass merchants, most do not display or talk about them either.
Illuminated products cover a wide array and variety; some are obvious, while others not so much. The following is a list of these products:
Adding a light to any product definitely makes it more intriguing; however, simply putting the product on the shelf or lighting it up in the showroom does not sell it. There are seven things a retailer must do in order to sell these products and reap the benefits of increased profits. Satisfied customers will refer their friends and family, which will result in a new customer base that will shop at the store. Here is how to get started:
consumer comes back to return the light, more often than not, many will purchase the product along with several more. If not, it opens the door to selling them a product upgrade. Either way, once they start with accent lighting for their pool, over the years they will supplement their lighting features by adding permanent illuminated fixtures and landscape lighting to the mix. ‘Try me’ promotions pretty much have a 100 per cent success rate. Once the consumer turns the light on at night in their pool, they are almost always likely to buy it.
With little effort and focus, illuminated products can help pool/spa retailers increase their sales while making their customer’s pool/spa experience better. Giving the customer an experience they cannot get online is a competitive advantage to the business. In addition, these tips can be easily applied to other products and services that are offered.
Ted Lawrence is a global retail specialist with Pool Corp., a wholesale distributor of swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products in Cleveland, Ohio. He has served the swimming pool industry for more than 20 years and is an authority on retail, sales, and management. Lawrence is also a regular seminar presenter at various national and international industry events, and participates on several professional retail boards and councils. He can be reached via e-mail at ted.lawrence@poolcorp.com[4].
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