With less than a month till Father’s Day, now is the time for retailers to ramp up their campaigns and prepare their stores for a boost in sales. Traditionally, Father’s Day doesn’t attract as big a sales numbers as Mother’s Day (our poor dads!), it’s still a great opportunity to create some interest and attract more shoppers into your store.
Research from the National Retailers Association showed that Australians spent an average of $51.60 per person in 2015 on their dads, on gifts such as personal care products, footwear, clothing, tools, hardware and electronics. Spending last year reached over $768 million.
If you’re still putting the final touches on your Father’s Day campaigns, or looking for new ideas to spice up your existing ones, these tips and examples will help you secure a slice of spending and achieve some retail success this year.
1 Make last-minute shopping easy
Expect a lot of last-minute shoppers to walk into your store in the week leading up to Father’s Day. Many of them are likely to be in a rush or unsure of what to buy. So do your best to make the shopping experience as quick as possible. To make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for, you may want to consider having a special Father’s Day section – whether that’s in-store or online.
Father’s Day bundles work well for customers who are confused or who lack ideas on what to buy. Why not handpick special items that you think dads would like, then create a special gift set for them? If it’s feasible, you could provide a gift-wrapping service as well. Your customers will be thrilled that they’re able to take care of two tasks at once, and you’ll be the hero who made their shopping experience a whole lot easier.
Or, look to technology that can make it easier for customers to shop with you when it’s busy.
Kate Vandermeer who owns TheSuperCool store in South Melbourne has invested in technology to make it fast and painless for customers to buy.
“TheSuperCool store uses Vend as we only have a small space and wanted our store to look beautiful, so having ugly black registers sitting on desks wasn’t for us. We run Vend on iPads throughout the store, so we can help customers buy wherever they are and avoid people standing in lines during peak shopping periods like Father’s Day,” she says.
2 Offer Father’s Day-specific products
Consider selling limited, dad-centric products at your store. For example, TheSuperCool is segmenting products to make it as easy as possible for customers to make a choice and offering bundles. “We’re targeting different dads this year, for instance the ‘The New Dad and ‘The Hipster Dad’ with gifts we know relevant to their lifestyle and values,” she says. TheSuperCool is also offering special themed wrapping paper for the occasion.
3 Offer experience, not just merchandise
People aren’t just looking to buy physical products on Father’s Day, they’re also wanting to gift unique experiences such as race car rides, beer tastings and massages. If it makes sense for your business, see if you can hold special events for your customers where they can invite their dads along and treat them to something special. Or, team up with another local business that provides experiences dads would love to create those special Father’s Day packages.
5 Make sure your social accounts are in on the Father’s Day fun
Father’s Day is a busy one for social sites, so make sure your pages get with the program. If you’re on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, update your cover images to something more dad-centric. Also prepare relevant content (tweets, status updates, images) and send them throughout the week. For instance, this year TheSuperCool will be focusing their marketing on Instagram to reach target shoppers.
If you’re on Pinterest, why not create a special Father’s Day board that you can fill with inspiring messages, gift ideas or heartwarming images. And then encourage your followers to share or even add their own pins.
Finally, keep an eye out for popular Father’s Day hashtags so you can jump in on relevant conversations. Be sure to include trending Father’s Day hashtags in your updates to draw more attention to your posts.
Francesca Nicasio, Author and Retail Expert, Vend
