Retail Industry Trends Which Drive Significant Sales Periods

Brands invest a significant amount of research into the holidays which drive the highest sales. Targeting these periods boosts marketing results, brand awareness, and even loyalty. While there is some controversy over the most lucrative periods, the most significant holiday sales periods for retailers are generally considered to be:

Personalizing Messages to Increase Mother’s and Father’s Day Sales

Personalization is the key to campaigns for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Consumers are often troubled by what to get their parents on these days. While flowers and cards are common go-to items, usually they want options a bit more unique for their family member.

Personalized marketing messages give consumers ideas they can use to get their shopping done proactively. This is an ideal time for brands to offer guidance, like providing favorite gift lists and themed gift baskets. Brands can use information available via their loyalty programs to provide customized messages that guide consumers along their shopping journey.

Setting Up Mobile Events for the 4th of July

Most brands choose to go with festive packaging for the 4th of July as it helps create an atmosphere for consumers celebrating, and shopping for the holiday. However, as many brands have this same idea, it can be difficult to make products stand out in the sea of red, white, and blue packaging. This is where mobile marketing programs can help increase visibility on the shelf and drive sales.

Gaining attention in the shopping aisle and at home was a vital part of Bomb Pop’s goals when the company came to Shopkick to optimize their 4th of July marketing strategy. Shopkick created a mobile marketing campaign that engaged consumers at multiple touchpoints during the purchase journey.

Taking a Values-Based Marketing Approach in Back-to-School Campaigns

Parents spend up to $1,355 per child on back-to-school expenses. As such, most campaigns for back-to-school marketing should be value-based. Coupons, discounts, and bulk-based deals can be particularly advantageous during this period. Parents are conscious of how costly this season is, so they’re more focused on finding deals that make it less expensive.

Tax-free days can help brands take advantage of deals without the need to offer discounts on products. Many states eliminate sales tax in early August on apparel, footwear, and back-to-school supplies including Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Brands can piggyback on these discounts by offering promotions of their own related to back-to-school shopping.

Harnessing Augmented Reality in Halloween Advertisements

If there is any place where augmented reality fits in well, it’s during the Halloween shopping season. Smart marketers can leverage the focus on illusion to heighten their consumer experience. A well-known liquor brand best exemplified this in 2018.

Leveraging Scarcity With Black Friday Shopping

The Black Friday shopping experience is all about scarcity. Whether they’re shopping online or in the store, consumers are driven to buy by the idea that supplies are finite. Researchers have discovered something called psychological ownership which impacts Black Friday shopper behaviors. Simply stated, consumers feel they already own the products they’re seeking on these days as they’ve been primed extensively before sales to believe it.

Consumers are more engaged in the shopping process over Black Friday than any other holiday. They research products, plan routes, and schedule their days to ensure they’re going to capture the best deals. As such, brands must focus on the lead-up to Black Friday deals to gain attention. The most successful retailers start their sales early to gain the attention of eagle-eyed consumers seeking exclusive savings.

Engaging Emotionally With Nostalgia at Christmas

While there are many recent examples of strong Christmas marketing campaigns from brands, going back nearly a century allows us to examine how brands can create their own nostalgic moments. Most people don’t realize that the red attire of Santa Claus isn’t part of the legend. Instead, it’s good branding.

In the 1930s, Coca-Cola commissioned an artist named Haddon Sundblom to create a Santa image for the company’s yearly Christmas advertising. Sundblom’s design would go on to create an iconic figure for the brand who would become the American idea of Santa Claus thereafter. That image is something Coca Cola continues to leverage today, as it cashes in on the nostalgia of consumers who remember Christmases in the past.

The Basics of Michael Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies

Michael Porter’s model was so groundbreaking in 1979 because it crossed industries. Porter believed that regardless of the type of product or service sold, the competitive strategies which provided the best ROI focused on one of three aspects:

1. Using Mobile Rewards Programs for Cost Leadership

While price is often considered the primary driver of consumer purchases in the CPG industry, less than 2% of consumers compare CPG product prices online. As this is the case, price focus is less critical in e-commerce than it is in the shopping aisle. In stores, consumers see hundreds of products, with prices prominently listed. Generic and white label brands have an apparent price advantage in the shopping aisle. In resolving this, brands should consider a mobile marketing strategy centered on rewards.

2. Standing Out With Mobile Marketing

Brands that choose not to compete on price point must instead find a way to make their products stand out. Mobile marketing allows brands to gain consumer attention, but only if they’re able to create messages which resonate with their target markets. There are several differentiation drivers brands can use in these efforts.  

3. Targeting the Right Consumers With Programmatic Advertising

The final aspect of Porter’s model is “focus.” This idea is less about advertising, but instead how the brand chooses to select an audience. This category overlaps into the other two, as in most cases, price and differentiation will play roles in the audience the brand selects. It’s about breaking down the audience within an audience to target niches. Consider the instance above where CoverGirl differentiated its product by establishing a relationship with male spokesmodel James Charles.

In this case, CoverGirl also leverages a focused competitive strategy. The entire cosmetics category is aimed at a broad demographic of female users. However, CoverGirl recognized a growing niche of male users of cosmetics. By bringing on a male spokesmodel, they spoke to that smaller segment of emerging users. They also created a way of targeting programmatic advertisements which could significantly boost their return on investment. Programmatic advertising options allow brands to specifically focus messages to users based on a wide range of criteria, including:

Increase Focus on Brand Safety

A major concern which does not get enough attention in the CPG industry is brand safety. Brand safety doesn’t relate to the safety of the products themselves. Instead, it centers on the safety of the platforms and marketing methods they use. When a brand directs consumers to an unsafe platform, they could suffer serious damage to their reputation. In 2018, 60% of marketing professionals reported that brand safety was a significant concern, and this is a problem which only grows more prevalent as new platforms roll out. There are a few issues that those thinking of brand safety need to consider:

Establish Trust and Transparency via Social Media

Social media is a powerful platform for connecting consumers and brands. Nearly 78% of consumers report they want brands to use social media as a way to communicate and connect with them. There are several ways that brands can drive these connections.

Reconsider the Role of Influencers

Unilever made news when the company announced they were pulling away from many of their influencer marketing partnerships due to concerns over their efficacy. The company specifically noted concerns over both brands and individuals who buy followers, which was a widespread but rarely talked about problem.  

Drive Loyalty With Mobile Rewards Programs

Customer rewards programs can allow brands to increase sales in retail by highlighting their products. These programs leverage incentives which can be redeemed for gift cards, branded merchandise and other benefits. They also offer a great alternative to discounts, which may gain brands one-time sales but don’t typically drive loyalty, and can hurt margins in the long run. One of the critical factors in any rewards program is the ease of use. The simpler it is for the consumer to manage, the more likely it is they will continue to participate. As such, the best reward programs are mobile.  

Branded rewards programs can be challenging to maintain, as they typically require consumers to take a few more steps in gaining their rewards for purchase. Also, unless a brand has an extensive portfolio of products to offer, these rewards programs may not be worth it to consumers. As an alternative, brands may choose to participate in third-party rewards programs. When seeking out third-party mobile app developers with whom to partner, brands should consider several critical components, including:

How to Increase Sales in Retail Using In-Store Gamification

Gamification is a strategy brands can leverage via mobile apps to increase sales in retail. Essentially, this gamification turns a simple app into a fun experience that consumers can enjoy as they shop. Shopkick uses this type of strategy in conjunction with incentives to drive sales. Consumers can collect rewards points from the app in several ways.