I must admit that I was impressed as I was checking out during a recent visit to Old Navy. However first we need to start with how I ended up there on a Saturday afternoon with a lot of other shoppers.
I have a teenage son that is growing crazy fast. In addition he is the oldest, so when he out grows his clothes he gets to buy new ones. So problem – boy needs pants that do not look like girls capri’s. Where to go purchase was based on three factors; family loyalty based on previous experience with low pricing, a Special Coupon offer where all purchases during a specific time period results in a donation to a family preferred cause and finally location.
We have a relationship with Old Navy. Generally all of the kids like the clothes that they offer and the consistency of their product and pricing. I must also admit as a dad who does not like shopping that I was impressed with the store organization, cleanliness, staff and efficiency of check out to complete our purchase. They have done a good job of earning and keeping our loyalty.
As a family we want to do our part where we can to support non-profit efforts. In this case it was a win-win where we received a discount on our overall purchase on a flyer from a friend and the charity received a donation for all purchases made during this time period. Frankly this was the deciding factor. left to my own call he would have been shopping at the store 5 feet from the closest Starbucks.
Lastly location did play a role since I had to run some other errands. So I used my smart phone to find my current location and then locate an Old Navy in my area and then map directions so I could get their easily.
So here I am standing in line awaiting my turn to check out with my purchase and the next thing I know I am up. The employee says “good afternoon, can I get you email”, and you know what I almost gave it to her, I was very close. I have been so accustomed to “can I have your phone number or can I have your zip code” honestly I just did not think twice about the question. Think about it, the intro question by the check out employee has become a normal practice.
The part that hit me as a marketer was “dang that was smart”. I then went onto explain to my son as we got in the car how smart that really was. First of all they recognized a pattern of behavior that they could alter slightly for better results. Secondly, by giving them my email address I just opted in. Lastly, think of what they can do with my email now. Aside from basic email marketing they now know what I purchased so they can now tie my email address to specific types of purchases and therefore offers. They could also use my address to sell to other marketers. Think about the numbers – how many customers in that store per day, what % would supply their email address and then multiply that by market rates for email addresses, this could be a nice little revenue stream.
At this point you are probably thinking I need to get a life, but this is my life, I love this stuff.
So some questions for you. What do your clients need, are you staying on top of it and in front of it by anticipating their future needs as well. Are you continuing to evaluate what offers, methods, incentive tie ins will get customers to purchase from you? Is your product and customer service still good and are you continuing to build and honor the relationships you are building with your clients. When it comes to your location are you making it easy for your clients to find and buy from you and are you in all of the right places in order to inform your clients how easy it is to purchase from you.
But here is the most important part – think about your customer or your customers customer buying behavior – examine it and think about how you can make that a better experience as well as how you can make this a better marketing experience. What can you do at this last point to get them back to buy again soon, what can you do to collect more information to better assist marketing, programs and future plans.
Think about it, analyze it and make the change. Soon someone will be writing about you saying “Kudos”.
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Tags: email, Marketing, Old Navy, service
This entry was posted on April 6, 2011 at 7:45 PM and is filed under Industry Comment, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Kudos to the one who came up with this one
I must admit that I was impressed as I was checking out during a recent visit to Old Navy. However first we need to start with how I ended up there on a Saturday afternoon with a lot of other shoppers.
I have a teenage son that is growing crazy fast. In addition he is the oldest, so when he out grows his clothes he gets to buy new ones. So problem – boy needs pants that do not look like girls capri’s. Where to go purchase was based on three factors; family loyalty based on previous experience with low pricing, a Special Coupon offer where all purchases during a specific time period results in a donation to a family preferred cause and finally location.
We have a relationship with Old Navy. Generally all of the kids like the clothes that they offer and the consistency of their product and pricing. I must also admit as a dad who does not like shopping that I was impressed with the store organization, cleanliness, staff and efficiency of check out to complete our purchase. They have done a good job of earning and keeping our loyalty.
As a family we want to do our part where we can to support non-profit efforts. In this case it was a win-win where we received a discount on our overall purchase on a flyer from a friend and the charity received a donation for all purchases made during this time period. Frankly this was the deciding factor. left to my own call he would have been shopping at the store 5 feet from the closest Starbucks.
Lastly location did play a role since I had to run some other errands. So I used my smart phone to find my current location and then locate an Old Navy in my area and then map directions so I could get their easily.
So here I am standing in line awaiting my turn to check out with my purchase and the next thing I know I am up. The employee says “good afternoon, can I get you email”, and you know what I almost gave it to her, I was very close. I have been so accustomed to “can I have your phone number or can I have your zip code” honestly I just did not think twice about the question. Think about it, the intro question by the check out employee has become a normal practice.
The part that hit me as a marketer was “dang that was smart”. I then went onto explain to my son as we got in the car how smart that really was. First of all they recognized a pattern of behavior that they could alter slightly for better results. Secondly, by giving them my email address I just opted in. Lastly, think of what they can do with my email now. Aside from basic email marketing they now know what I purchased so they can now tie my email address to specific types of purchases and therefore offers. They could also use my address to sell to other marketers. Think about the numbers – how many customers in that store per day, what % would supply their email address and then multiply that by market rates for email addresses, this could be a nice little revenue stream.
At this point you are probably thinking I need to get a life, but this is my life, I love this stuff.
So some questions for you. What do your clients need, are you staying on top of it and in front of it by anticipating their future needs as well. Are you continuing to evaluate what offers, methods, incentive tie ins will get customers to purchase from you? Is your product and customer service still good and are you continuing to build and honor the relationships you are building with your clients. When it comes to your location are you making it easy for your clients to find and buy from you and are you in all of the right places in order to inform your clients how easy it is to purchase from you.
But here is the most important part – think about your customer or your customers customer buying behavior – examine it and think about how you can make that a better experience as well as how you can make this a better marketing experience. What can you do at this last point to get them back to buy again soon, what can you do to collect more information to better assist marketing, programs and future plans.
Think about it, analyze it and make the change. Soon someone will be writing about you saying “Kudos”.
Like this:
Tags: email, Marketing, Old Navy, service
This entry was posted on April 6, 2011 at 7:45 PM and is filed under Industry Comment, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.