Giveaway, gift card, or %off

[EllieAnne Silverfall]

I'm finally getting some sales! Eventually, I want to do a monthly gift for group members, but I'm not quite there, as I don't have a following yet. In the meantime, I want to thank my customers somehow. I was originally thinking that I would award a random customer with a random prize from my store inventory (along with a thank you note containing my store LM and Group join link) - but that doesn't really help sales, nor guarantee repeat customers. So, then I started thinking about giving away a gift card or giving the customer a percent off "coupon". Not sure how the percent off would work, other than - "hey notify me when you purchase ad I'll refund you the difference", which even I am leery of. The gift card seems the better route, but I have no idea how to do that. Any advice?

[Pixieplumb Flanagan]

Are there any shopping groups for the products you sell?  If so, you could offer a small gift to members of those groups, by putting a vendor configured to that group only in your store.  Then put a group joiner for your own group and another gift vendor for that close by.  If your group has a join fee you can justify it by promising a regular gift, monthly or every other month, whatever suits your work flow.  Some vendor systems also have a facility for you to offer discounts by group, with either a lower price option or automatic refunds.  So you could offer limited time discounts on some items.  Perhaps also consider offering a percentage of total spend as store credit.  Also, to build group membership, consider offering a special gift to members when the group has grown to a certain size.

I do or have done all of these, and they do work

[EllieAnne Silverfall]

3 hours ago, Pixieplumb Flanagan said:

Are there any shopping groups for the products you sell? 

Well, I sell home decor and furniture ... but I'm not aware of many groups for that. Most of the groups I see are for clothing. I'd happily take some suggestions! (but I am a little worried to do that as of yet, since I only have about 12 items so far, but constantly working on more.

 

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

Subscriber with a small gift for subscribing maybe? Generally fewer expectations for those because they don't take a precious group slot, so you can change it for a new one as and when you want.

A hunt maybe? There are a couple of blogs with listings of upcoming hunts which are accepting applications. If you have a way to communicate with your customers (like a subscriber), you can invite them in to find the gift. I like participating in hunts because the themes often suggest new ideas and directions. Just pointed out my hunt gift to a new customer last month and he was confused about what a hunt was but delighted with the prize.

I've seen shopping group signs in home decor stores so there must be some that are open to more than clothing and appearance. The easiest way to figure out which those are might be to take a peek at similar stores. Doesn't hurt to ask group organisers too, the worst they can do is say no. Good luck.