Mother’s day is coming quickly (May 10th in case you forgot!) and shoppers will be rushing to pick up gifts for mothers and grandmothers everywhere. For consumers, this is a great way to show mom how much you care. For retailers, it’s a fantastic opportunity to increase sales and provide a great customer experience. If your small business isn’t looking to break the bank, but wants to provide a unique incentive for customers to come in and shop, consider these three quick and easy Mother’s Day promotional ideas.
1. Free Gift-Wrapping Station
One of the biggest pains for shoppers is wrapping their gift and making it look nice. Offering a gift wrap station free of charge will bring those shoppers in the door who are looking for a convenient way to show they care. Having a designated gift wrapping station separate from the registers will create a focal point for customers as they shop. Use bright colors that are traditionally used for the holiday, such as pink and white. What’s more, pink has been shown to have a calming effect on people who view it—that means frantic shoppers, especially last minute ones, will be collected and cool when looking through the store. Consider investing in some ribbons, boxes, and gift tags as well to add that little something extra to the presentation. Your customers will appreciate the consideration, and your bottom line will appreciate the extra business.
2. Free Rose or Carnations With A Purchase
Add value to your customer’s transactions by giving them a free rose or carnation. The traditional flowers of Mother’s Day, red carnations symbolize admiration, pink ones symbolize gratitude and love, and roses are a symbol of devotion. Offer customers their choice of flower and attach a small tag which explains the symbolism of the flower. One thing to be wary of if running this promotion—keep the flowers alive. There are few things worse than giving someone an already dead flower, and your customers are no exception. Keep the flowers in a vase within the reach of sunlight to ensure that your customers and their mothers are happy with their gift.
3. Offer ‘Last-Minute’ Items and an Early Opening Time
Though most of us don’t like to admit it, sometimes finding the time to get mom the perfect gift just doesn’t happen, leaving shoppers running around the day before or even the day of Mother’s Day in search of a gift. The problem with this is that many stores have already ended their promotions, or are closed when these shoppers desperately need to buy a gift. If your location is open early on Mother’s Day and can facilitate the needs of these last-minute customers, not only will you give your consumers a great experience and breath of relief, you will be one of just a few places for Mother’s Day procrastinators to buy their gifts.
Whether you choose just one of these promotions, or run all three simultaneously, keep in mind that Mother’s Day is an important day for small businesses. According to the National Retail Federation, shoppers will spend on average, $172 for mom this year. Run the right promotions to ensure that some of that spending happens at your location.