How I Tripled biz in our Antique Shoppe
 

Hey.....I met my 2nd wife on the ski slopes in Aspen, CO. She had gone thru a divorce and had started up an Antique Shoppe and one day....asked me to "watch the Shoppe" while she went to an Auction.

So.....there I am....knowing nothing about Antiques...sitting at the counter... watching people come in the door...and I'd ask..."Can I help you find something?"...and the answer was usually...."Oh...we're just Browsing!" and they'd continue around the shop.....not really looking "too Hard".

So....my "Marketing & Sales" brain got a "Flash"...."How can I stop visitors from "Just Browsing" and get them to start concentrating on "Something To BUY?"

It was THEN....I got my "Brain Flash"...."Why don't I GIVE THEM A DISCOUNT COUPON when they come in the door? And....I wouldn't have to give a BIG Discount....I thought...."What if I gave them a Coupon with just ONE BUCK OFF?

So....as my Brain was muddling around in this....and after I heard 2 more visitors say...."We're just BROWSING!"....I thought BANGO, WANGO that's IT.....I'll make up business card coupons and call them "BROWSER BUCKS!" "Good For One Dollar Off ANYTHING in the Shoppe....NOW!" (So they HAd TO MAKE A DECISION...RIGHT THEN AND THERE....couldn't take the coupon home)

So....at noon...I rushed back to my "Man Cave".....printed out 48 "Browser Bucks" (12 on a sheet) on my home pc and printer...went back to the Shoppe and....I could not believe the CHANGE in visitors.

When they came thru the door....I grabbed a Browser Buck....went up to them and said, "Howdy Folks...welcome to our shop....here's a Browser Buck for One Dollar off Anything in the store!"

They took the Card and...rather than just meandering thru our stuff and leaving....they STOPPED IN THEIR TRACKS and began LOOKING HARD at our stuff....wondering WHAT they could spend the dollar on.

SALES WENT THRU THE ROOF! Sure...there were some who just wanted 4 old marbles at 25cents each BUT.....one lady came over to me and "slighly" asked...."Could I apply this to this Table?"...as she was holding up the Browser Buck coupon! I looked at the Table and the price tag said "$2,450" So...I responded with..."I surely can sell this table to you for $2,449"!

You Kidding Me! Holy Camoly! What happened that day was "Magical"! Instead of people asking for a Discount or "Better Price" or just walking thru the shop and out the door....they NOW were in a "BUYING MODE"!

So....this little Card caused 2 things to happen;
1) Shoppers became INTENSELY interested in BUYING something they could apply their Free Buck to
and....
2) They did NOT ask for any special, extra discounts. Oh....a few did BUT. for the most part...they felt that..."Hey! They're giving me a discount already, I don't want to show my "Greediness"...so I won't ask for any more!"

Man O Man....when my future wifee came in later....she could NOT believe what had happened. Rather than worrying about selling stuff...she started thinking about...."Where To Get MORE Antique Stuff"!

Thus....we continued using "Browser Bucks" and I've given this Marketing Idea to other dealers over the years....who have also profited from it.

I was going to make a big deal about this...get a domain and trademark, etc, but...chose to simply give it away so others could use it to help their biz.

Don Alm

Why this is not the same as regular "coupons"...
 

Hi Don,

What I like about "browser bucks" is something which makes them different from "regular" coupons...

As you said, you have to spend it right away! No taking it home... Thinking it over... And maybe never coming back!

No... they have to buy something right away if they want their discount!

It forces a decision...

Absolutely killer idea!

(With some creativity, you could adapt this to online sales too...)

Best wishes,

Dien

Re: How I Tripled biz in our Antique Shoppe
 

WOW! Hey Dien.....you just gave me an Idea....instead of giving this program to friends in the Antique biz.....why don't I put together a website where consumers can download a "Browser Buck" and use it in a local "Participating" shop?

And...to get "Participating" shops.....I'd create a Sales Letter.....telling local Shops about my way of Promoting THEIR biz...in THEIR Local Area.

Granted....shop owners could just make up their own Coupons and hand them out to visitors who enter their shops ....BUT.....MY program would be devoted to Bringing New Customers TO THEIR STORES!

Also.....I would offer EXCLUSIVES....only ONE shop in an area.

Thanks Dien
Don Alm

Re: How I Tripled biz in our Antique Shoppe
 

Shop owners could easily make and distribute their own coupons. A simple program like that would be an impossible sell, especially in a time like this.

What could peak a business owner's interest...

Presenting them with a turn-key, joint venture, sale enhancement option. Say that five times in a row :)

Get a group of 5 non-competing businesses together and have each business contribute 1,000 browser bucks. Then, put together a packet of browser bucks (in an envelope or specially printed as a "ticket pack").

This would increase perceived value and would result in businesses helping other businesses with their promotional efforts.

For the ambitious, you could create a mobile platform to run this off and correspond it with the development of a private Facebook group which could be used to drive more traffic into the stores and to encourage more online engagement among local residents.

Both Skip Rosell and Gord have talked about somewhat similar ideas in the past (Skip with his business card exchange idea) and Gord with his host-parasite idea as well.

Be unique and offer extra value - it will make it much easier to close the deal. We all know most business owners won't take the time to set up such deals.