Monday, July 19, 2010

Monitor Your Community Involvement Payoffs

I recommend that retailers do well by doing good: By contributing to your community, you fulfill your ethical obligations as a member of the community as well as earn the sort of gratitude from your target markets that can build lasting profitability.
     There are many ways to contribute to your community and many factors you’ll want to consider when deciding which of those ways to implement. University of South Florida research indicates that pairing charitable contributions with the sale of brands unfamiliar to the consumer will boost sales of those unfamiliar brands. It doesn’t seem to matter much whether there’s any logical connection between the product or service category of the unfamiliar brand and the cause supported by the contribution.
     On the other hand, the charity you select does seem to make a difference if your contribution is to head off any suspicions of price gouging. Suppose major flooding hits a store’s target market area, resulting in a demand spike for flashlight batteries. If the store increases the price of batteries, but announces how a portion of the profits will be contributed to the Red Cross, acceptance of the price increase could be a slam dunk.
     In addition, whenever you organize a charitable activity, offer a variety of ways for your older customers to pitch in to help. Researchers find that altruism is especially important to elderly consumers. Seniors like to give their business to retailers who are compassionate, and seniors like to view themselves as generous.
     In all these cases, what counts is that the cause is something important to the customers. And that’s where it’s valuable to monitor the payoffs from your community involvement. Regularly assess how to allocate your charitable donations and how to publicize those partnerships to attain the most profitable payoffs.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more:
Peddle Unfamiliar Brands Using Contributions
Show Fair Pricing By Contributing
Help Older Customers to Help Others

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