In your advertising, in your signage, and in your salesperson-to-customer conversations, emphasize your products' energy saving features. According to an Advertising Age/ARC survey, saving energy is a high priority for your shoppers. Today's consumer wants to be thrifty, and energy costs continue to climb. Moreover, consumers want to be socially responsible, and we're told repeatedly that we as a society are wasting too much energy. There's a third driver behind your customers looking for products which save energy. They like products which use the latest technology, and a sign of state-of-the-art is that the product consumes less energy than older models.
The mix of motivations for energy saving is different for different age groups, so you'll want to customize your approach. For teens, the driving force is using the latest technology. Tell them how energy saving prolongs the time they can use a product between battery recharges. For shoppers over age 35, on the other hand, the motivation has more to do with social responsibility. Tell these folks how their purchase helps promote a healthy future.
Emphasizing energy saving means going beyond talking to your customers about it. It also means considering revisions in your store's merchandise mix to pay attention to energy saving as a product feature. It means that when you negotiate with suppliers, let them know you aim to carry products which conserve energy.
Yes, many shoppers place a high importance on product features other than energy saving. And decades of consumer psychology research has shown that there is a subgroup of shoppers who actually aim to earn social prestige by being wasteful, including wasting energy. For your shoppers who fall into this group, you'll want to adjust what you say. But for most of your shoppers, hearing about energy saving energizes the urge to purchase.
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