Stage Special Events to Build Sales

Last Thursday night, thousands of mid- to high-end fashion stores held special events under the title Fashion's Night Out. The objective was to build store traffic which would lead to increased sales.
     The payoff may not be immediate. A New York Times article about FNO, quoted one shopper as saying the event was, "effective in terms of speaking to my aspirations and desires, but maybe not my pocketbook." When asked about sales results, Macy's executives seemed to be far from effusive: They said that profits from the event would at least cover the expenses of keeping eight Macy's stores nationwide open a few hours later than usual.
     The real profit from FNO for you could be as a reminder of the value of special events.

• The appeal is worldwide. Although FNO was centered in New York City, the thousands of participating stores were in other areas of the U.S. and in Brazil, Britain, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, and Taiwan.
• You don't need to be a high-fashion retailer to benefit. Say you sell cat food in NYC instead of what comes down an NYC catwalk. Well, consider how Meow Mix Wet Pouches were launched in the Big Apple at events in which consumers were encouraged to bring their cats for taste tests.
• Research at University of Colorado and Columbia Business School suggests that the nature of a special event should take into account whether shoppers perceive the items for sale as routine or risky purchases. For items that are fairly routine purchases, special events should emphasize free trials. For items carrying financial or social risk, emphasize how-to-use-it information.
• Never let the crowds or the activities get in the way of your special event participants easily buying merchandise from you at any point.