Save On Foods has recently got some new competition in the neighbourhood from new Thrifty Foods as well as Price Mart which have been built in and around Marine Drive. Save On has 3 locations on the North Shore: 1 in Lynn Valley, 1 in Park and Tilford, and 1 on Pemberton Road and Marine Drive. The store that I work at in Park and Tilford is by far the biggest of the three and has felt the largest impact in sales from the increase in competition in the market.
Our store has tried many creative marketing schemes to try and increase traffic in the store in hopes of increasing sales. The first big idea was to promote sales on everyday popular items that everyone buys such as white mushrooms, large eggs, vine tomatoes, gala apples etc. Our store thought we should put a very low sale price on those items, for example gala apples on for 48 cents/lbs, and have a 3-day weekend sale using this strategy. It has proven to be quite successful for the store as we were still making a tiny profit on the sale items while also seeing customers shop for other items in addition to the select item on sale. A 3-day sale item in the flyer has become a weekly theme.
Another idea our store manager had was to create “A Day in Park and Tilford”. We partnered up with some of the other stores in the Park and Tilford complex and put on a day of samples and prizes within our. We set up sample stations in each department within the store, and also had a spin wheel at the front of the store and gave away things such as Save On More points etc. This created somewhat of a buzz in the store and was also used to showcase the great customer service that our store specifically provides.
Because of the competition in the grocery industry anything that can leave a positive impression in the customers mind is huge for business. If we can retain a customer and create that loyalty we could potentially have his/her recurring business for some time.
Okay, I’ll post the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlJGrIyt-X8
PS: it’s snowwwwwing 🙂
Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan.