Sunday, August 8, 2010

Expect Shoppers to Expect Nonexistent Discounts

“Opulence. I has it. I like the best…. But I also like savings zee money.” So speaks the Russian rich guy in a DIRECTV video ad. And that brief monologue nicely reflects what you should aim for now with the segment of your target markets suffering recession fatigue. Offer them a sense of luxury, but in a way that they feel they’re getting extraordinary savings.
     Then they may very well want to brag about the savings, even if this means lying. Researchers at University of Alberta, University of Calgary, and University of British Columbia concluded that when people believe they might have been able to wrangle a better deal on a product or service, this conclusion leads to them feeling a threat to their self-esteem and their self-image. They fear not only that others will see them as being suckers, but also that they’ll see themselves that way.
     The researchers found that people are especially likely to lie to coworkers about the good deals they got. Since a natural follow-up question from a coworker is, “Where did you get such a good price?,” you—the retailer—might expect some people to come into your store these days looking for discounts you’re not offering. They were lied to.
     How nice to have them come to your store! So be ready to turn confusion about pricing into conviction to make a purchase from you:
  • Have each employee on your sales floor and at the checkout area carry copies of your store’s current ads and discount announcements. If a customer thinks the ad said something different from what it really said, it’s quick and easy for the employee to straighten out the problem. Having the ad itself takes it away from being customer versus store employee. There’s the objective source both of them can look at.
  • Offer the shopper an opportunity to purchase merchandise that is actually on sale. The sale should be on what the skeptical shopper will find attractive. If the discount is on merchandise different from what the shopper believes was offered in a bigger sales event, the amount of the discount does not need to be as deep as what they had in mind when they entered your store. They feel they’ve still gotten a good deal.
Click below for more:
Stand Ready to Sell Luxury
Head Off After-Order Regrets
Have Staff Carry Copies of Store Ads
Follow a Big Sales Event with a Smaller One

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