Which of the following strategies is better for improving retail sales $;
A: take my best offer- 40% everything and run it the duration of my entire weekend sale
B: Take my best offer- 40% of everything and make it good only during my historical slow periods, Fridays, 8a-1p.

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Jay’s Answer: I’d pick choice "C": Do something dramatic. During the time period of your sale, your customer picks the discount by spinning a wheel, picking a piece of paper, popping a balloon, etc. The catch is that one of the random options is 100% off, the majority being 10%, and scattered other discounts. Take a picture of the 100% winner and put it in your window, ads, etc.

Long term, this isn’t a good strategy, though. You don’t want people getting trained to come in only for a discount, nor do you want to be known for low prices. You want to be known for quality, unique goods, etc. Short-term, it might be what you need to clear out older goods and generate some cash for your business.

I have owned a very successful furniture showroom in New York City (NYC) for almost 10 years and would like some ideas to increase my business. NYC has become a very tough and competive environment for high end furniture venues. Rents just have climbed to astromical levels and I need to increase traffic! I think that the NYC housing market at the median level is in big trouble. Any information on how we can increase our business would be greatly appreciated. We are not a chain store so we have to be frugal.

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Jay’s Answer: The obvious questions are: What makes the furniture you sell unique (or is it available at other stores in NYC)? How can you justify the "high-end" label/price for it? You mention competition – are other stores having similar problems (i.e., is there a glut of stores) or is the problem specific to your business? Who is your target customer (age, demographic, etc.)?

Obvious suggestions include: contacting (by phone, email, mail) your previous customers. Based on what they purchased before, tell them something that might be of interest to them now. The holidays are coming up – think entertaining. Do they need a new sofa? bed? Invite the furniture maker (if they’re local) to present at a show – invite the public to your art/furniture show, serving wine & hors d’oeuvres. Co-market with art galleries, jewelry designers, clothes boutiques.

If you’re feeling the pinch from Ikea – then you need to advertise why it’s worth paying $$ for products from your store instead of Ikea.

I’m working on a paper that recommends how to make a home service product “greener”. Any ideas?

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“Green” is often-used and poorly-defined term these days in advertising. To me is means that the life cycle of the product has less impact on the planet than other similar products. This could mean that: the packaging is using recycled (or easily recyclable) materials, ingredients that have few/no known negative side-effects, low embodied energy (didn’t take a lot of resources to produce it), disposing of the product has little (or no) impact (ex: it can be safely composted), or its manufacturer is utilizing better harvest techniques (ex: managed forests).

To make a product green, study its competitors and its life-cycle.

I’m working on a paper that recommends how to make a home service product “greener”. Any ideas?

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“Green” is often-used and poorly-defined term these days in advertising. To me is means that the life cycle of the product has less impact on the planet than other similar products. This could mean that: the packaging is using recycled (or easily recyclable) materials, ingredients that have few/no known negative side-effects, low embodied energy (didn’t take a lot of resources to produce it), disposing of the product has little (or no) impact (ex: it can be safely composted), or its manufacturer is utilizing better harvest techniques (ex: managed forests).

To make a product green, study its competitors and its life-cycle.