Micro market promotions are rewarding for operators and consumers. They help operators sell a slow product, and they even allow operators to introduce new ones; but sometimes, they can be hard to put into place. Where does an operator even start? Ryan McWhirter, Director of Product at 365 Retail Markets, gives insight to the most common questions regarding implementing promotions in micro markets and reveals that every operator, no matter the size, is capable of pulling off a successful promotions campaign.
Q 1: What’s the first step in starting promotions?
McWhirter: The first step in creating a promotion is figuring out what product you have too much of, what you have a deal on or what you want to feature. Then, in the case of 365 micro market operators, you can go into SmartHQ and use the Layered Promotions Wizard to walk through creating various discounts for those product(s).
Q 2: Is there a suggested minimum number of micro markets an operator should be running before offering promotions?
McWhirter: Promotions are meant to drive additional revenue regardless of an operator’s size. For example, promotions that move fresh food on Fridays to limit spoilage make sense at a single location just as much as at 20 locations.
Q 3: What kind of products should be included in a promotion?
McWhirter: Operators can work with anyone who is willing to give them a price break to create a promotion. As far as knowing how much product to bring to accounts, I recommend looking at average weekly sales of items and then adding 20 percent to 50 percent more units depending on the response expected. In regards to offering a promotion at all or just to some locations, it usually makes sense to be consistent across accounts from a buying and merchandising perspective.
Q 4: How long does it take to execute a promotion?
McWhirter: This all depends. Promotions can be scheduled or setup to run at the kiosk within a matter of minutes. The planning that you put into advertising and executing the promotion is where lead time can pay off. If you can communicate with your consumers quickly and easily, preparation may not be that important, but where you want to build buzz, a marketing calendar is key.
Q 5: How does an operator know a promotions campaign will be successful?
McWhirter: Success depends on the demand for the promoted products, the amount of energy you put into advertising the promotions and ensuring you have facings of the promotional product so that you can fulfill the expected demand (a promotion without product on the shelf is not a good thing).
Considering the product, price break, buzz and product on the shelf help any size operator maximize micro market promotions.
