Ah, Valentine’s Day. That week where everyone needs to profess their love through gift. The week where you need a revolving door, double the staff and an on-site therapist for both employees and customers. We love it and it exhausts us. We look forward to it and we cheer its denouement. What if 20% of those once-a-year customers could become regulars? What if half of them came back just one more time during the year? What if they told their partners or a friend about their great experience in your boutique? A little preparation and support will make Valentine’s Day your best marketing opportunity of the year.
Prepare. Make sure your staff and your inventory are prepared for an onslaught of gift buying. Go deep in stocking your most popular items. Take the time to do some extra training on product and customer service. Here’s a suggestion: Ask your employees what their favorite toy is and then stock extra of everyone’s favorites. Your sales team will tend to push their favorites so this information will help you prepare. *Tip: Think about budgeting for lunches the week of Valentine’s Day. The small effort of ordering lunch and feeding your staff makes a huge difference on those extra busy days.
A little preparation and support will make Valentine’s Day your best marketing opportunity of the year.
Train. Get your staff ready to make this your best season.
Don’t oversell — upsell. Lubes, condoms, pasties, and massage oil are great add-ons for any sale. Guide your customers to the right products and they will remember you forever. Even if they don’t buy the most expensive toy, the accessories can add up. *Tip: Silicone toys need water-based lubes. If you let your customer sample a silicone-based lube too, they may want to buy water-based for toys and silicone for massage, sex and everything else.
Be the expert. Customers want your expertise. Make sure your staff are experts and know how to present themselves and the information. *Tip: Do some role-playing and quizzing right before the holiday. Make it fun but set your staff up for success by giving them the opportunity to share knowledge. Reward them with “Expert” buttons to wear in your store.
Get creative with options. Inevitably you will not be able to satisfy every customer’s first choice. Be ready with options when you are out of something specific that a customer asks for. Make sure it is a valid option and use your expertise to decipher what exactly the customer is looking for so that your alternative suggestions seem better than their first choice. *Tip: Get a whiteboard for your backroom and keep an “86” (out of stock) list on it. Your manager or a designated employee can check the list and make sure any samples of out-of-stock inventory items are removed ASAP.
Promote your business. Do you offer workshops or parties? Use the holiday as a time to market all that you do. Make sure you have flyers or postcards out in two or more very visible places. Have staff recommend classes and workshops. A gift certificate especially designated for a workshop is a perfect gift for that undecided customer. Upsell that gift certificate with a bottle of lube or massage oil and your customer will go home happy.
If you are not offering classes, now may be a great time to consider a workshop program. The current environment of retail depends on creating community. You have a well-trained staff that enjoys educating your customers on a daily basis. It’s worth a little extra time and training to work with a sexpert and develop a workshop curriculum that creates a source of revenue and customer retention for your business. Local doctors and sex educators are wonderful resources for curriculum. Additionally, you may be able to partner with boutiques in other cities to share travel expenses for visiting experts. *Tip: The more invested your staff is in this process, the more registrations you will get. Compensate them well for teaching classes and for selling product after a workshop.
Stay Connected Begin your email and social media campaign now. Use a countdown to Valentine’s Day to keep customers thinking about the urgency of the season. Include educational information and suggestions for creating a spicy and special Valentine’s week. If you’re offering special discounts, do it at the beginning of the month. Help people to take care of their shopping early. Include video, stories and Facebook live posts in your campaign. Remember it takes at least three impressions to make a sale. Consider the different types of people who are shopping for Valentine’s Day; couples who have a long history together, couples who just recently connected, singles, friends, lovers…There are a lot of stories out there. Use them to create engaging and useful social media posts.
Once the customer is in your store do all that you can to make them a part of your marketing and education community. Ask for emails. Even though it’s a busy time, take a moment to ask for a customer’s email while checking out. This should be on remote control for your staff at all times of the year. An email is still the No. 1 way to stay in touch.
Social media links. Make sure to share your social media links throughout your boutique. Signs, QR codes with more info on products, reminders from your staff are all ways to continue customer engagement. You may even want to offer a small discount or gift with purchase when somebody follows you on a SM platform at the register. *Tip: Tie a ribbon around a few lube samples or put them in a small organza bag and use them as free gifts. They look special and encourage customers to try new products. Maybe they will come back for more.
Right after Valentine’s Day is a good time to sit down and plan your marketing schedules for the next six to 12 months. Hopefully you have just increased you email list and social media following by a considerable amount. Keeping new customers engaged is a top priority. Use the next three months to retell and reaffirm your story. Educate, engage and entice your followers. They will become a part of your community and will return to you because you are the expert and you understand how to fulfill their needs.
Try something new this year. Engage both employees and customers in your continuing conversation about sex and wellness. You just may see an increase in sales and productivity. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Cheryl Sloane is a co-owner of G Boutique, a Chicago-based retailer that’s developed by women, for women.
