Making the Most of Shopping?
December 2006
The month of December is the premier shopping month in a good part of the world. From the tourism perspective, shopping is important not only because it is one of the pillars of economies, but also because it is perhaps the number one tourism sport. In some communities, shopping has become so important that it is the number one tourism attraction and in those “shopping centric” communities people come specifically for the purpose of shopping. This urge to shop is not new. In fact, shopping was an important activity as far back as Biblical days and played an essential role in the development of medieval community life.
Shopping, however, is more than merely exchanging money for goods; it also provides a window into the soul of a community. Many visitors in fact use shopping as one of the ways by which they judge your community or attraction. The decision to return to a community is often based less on the quality of its lodging or events than it is on the shopping experience had while the person was in the community. Shopping also acts as a marketing tool for a community or attraction. When someone says that he/she bought an item in a particular place, that person is subtly, yet often effectively, advertising not only the item but also the place of purchase. To help you promote your community’s or attraction’s shopping experience Tourism Tidbits suggests the following:
- Tourism shopping is most successful when you offer items that are unique. Too many tourism centers have become so standardized that visitors may wonder why they ever left home. Develop a listing of places that sell local or unique products. Connect the sale of these products to your local theme or motto. Encourage shop owners to stress this theme not only with the products that they sell but also with the appearance of their store or locale.
- If you cannot compete in price, compete in quality and service. Often merchants complain that they cannot compete against the buying power of the large chain and retail/wholesale discount stores. The basic rule of thumb is: “Do not fight a war that you cannot win.” In other words, rather than compete on price, local stores should compete on customer service, a willingness to find local products and promote these products while offering outstanding service. For example, the telephone should never take priority over a customer. Make sure that every customer is greeted with a smile and even if the customer buys nothing, develop a relationship so that he/she or a friend may return.
- Keep regular and convenient business hours. Often store owners, especially in smaller communities forget that they are there to serve the public and not vice versa. Hours should be kept according to the posted sign. Most importantly, highly successful businesses are those that are open when people want to shop. For example, in the United States the two busiest shopping days are Saturdays and Sundays. These days are followed by, the “shoulder days” of Mondays and Fridays in importance. Yet in too many communities stores are closed on Sundays and Mondays while being open on the off days of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
- Remind your city workers and law enforcement that they are an important part of the shopping experience. Communities can only survive if they make money. It is important for city/community workers to encourage people to go downtown to shop, develop ways so that people are not fined for parking, and know what stores and products are available in their community. Every city employee should see him/herself as a community ambassador. The more that public officials support and promote local shopping, the healthier the local economy will tend to be.
- People shop where merchants know their niche markets. Often communities have no idea who is shopping in their community. Good service also means meeting the needs of your customers. For example, if your costumers come from specific age or linguistic groups, try to provide service in their language or give them the type of attention that will make people want to buy. Tourism people can be of tremendous aid to local merchants by sharing visitor profiles with them.
- Too many tourism and travel products are rich in hype and low on product delivery. The worst thing in the world is to get someone to visit your locale and discover that you cannot deliver what you promised. The best advertising in the world will not compensate for a poor product. If you are a community, do a full outside assessment and then advertise only what you have. If you are an attraction, review what you offer each year. Is the admission price and time investment worth the visit?
- Find alternative ways to market your products so that people will shop at your local stores. Instead of spending a great deal of money on good advertising, consider spending more money on personnel development and creating a better level of customer service. Most tourism officials already know that the best advertising is word-of-mouth advertising. Create a paradigm shift that sees advertising as one part of a total marketing strategy. While being the best product may not insure success, good person to person skills combined with good products are helpful in gaining success.
- Train! Train! and then, train some more! All too often shopkeepers believe that they are offering good customer service, only to find out that their employees are not translating the owner’s vision into actions. The higher the quality of training, the better your product. Bring in experts to train people all over your community. Seek ways to get the entire community on-board by training everyone from security personnel to front line people. Ask these people about the training that they would like to have and then provide it.
