by Lori Deschene
Retailers know we’re all strapped for cash this year, and they’re doing everything they can to capture a large piece of the pie—pushing value, empathizing with our plight, and using a little psychology.
First example: Kohl’s
Kohl’s Chief Executive Kevin Mansell said, “What we’re trying to do is to try to more forcefully get the message out to consumers that we recognize the environment they’re in.” And encourage buy-now-pay-later behavior.
Second example: Potomac Mills mall
Potomac Mills, the Woodbridge, VA mall owned by Simon Property Group, Inc. capitalized on black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving—by staying open for 22 hours. As part of the “Shop Smarter” holiday campaign, the mall offered free coffee and chair massages.
Caroline Green, director of mall marketing and business development for Potomac Mills cited a theory that the longer people stay in a mall, the more money they will spend, which makes it worthwhile to stay open for almost a full day, and offer amenities to keep people there.
Third example: Woot
Then there’s my personal favorite approach: reverse psychology. Take this newsletter I recently received from Woot. In the first couple of paragraphs they suggest you save your money:
“As a retailer, it'd make sense for us to fall in with the BUY STUFF, AMERICA conga line. But by now, you know that we at Woot never do things the ‘normal’, ‘sensible’, ‘rational’, ‘intelligent’ way…That's why we're encouraging you and your fellow wooters to save this holiday season. Save your money! Save until you pull a saving muscle. Horde your money until you are literally choking on it.”
And then the hook:
“But be warned: you'll want to stay far away from Woot.com this week. The breadth and scope of bargains we'll be offering –especially starting Tuesday morning at midnight—will be powerfully tempting.”
Try as we may to set benchmarks for our own spending, we may succumb to clever marketing along the way. I suggest you do as much pre-purchase planning as possible so you know what you need and where you're going to buy it. Go to the store with just the cash you plan to spend, and maybe a small, pre-determined cushion for bargains. You may miss out on the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of amazing deals. But there are more satisfying things in life—like a new year that doesn’t start with credit card debt.
posted @ Tuesday, December 09, 2008 4:21 PM