I recently bought a skateboard from SkatersHQ at Manly. My wife calls it ‘the poor man’s mid-life crisis’ as I can’t afford a Porsche!
The actual reason was a little more practical. We’ve been going for family walks along Manly shorefront, pushing my 2-year old son along on his ‘Euro-Trike’, and my 9-year old daughter scooting alongside on her scooter.
When my daughter Maisie would stop to have a rest, I’d jump on the scooter and ride around for a bit, much to the delight of onlookers given it’s a Barbie scooter!
Maisie was starting to enjoy using the scooter after it sitting around gathering dust for 2 years. So I quickly decided I’d buy a skateboard, so we could ride together, and encourage her to ride more.
Off I trundled to SkatersHQ at Manly to select my weapon of destruction (I literally hadn’t stepped on a skateboard for 20 years, so there was an element of risk involved!).
After chatting with the skater dude (shop assistant) about the pros and cons of various decks and wheel combinations, and then going for a quick skate out the front of the shop, I decided on a suitable combination.
When I went to pay for the board, he asked me for my email address, which I provided and he entered into his POS system. Given I’m in marketing, I’m usually happy to provide my email address as I’m curious about what people send out.
Another customer was being served at the same time, by a different skater dude, and went through the same process except… he offered a 10% discount if the customer provided their email address.
I was pleasantly surprised. Here was a relatively small, local retailer who was thinking strategically about their business.
They obviously knew there was value in capturing a customer’s details, and that it was important to start some form of dialogue with them, and of course encourage them to buy again.
And, I didn’t have to wait long. I received my first email within 2 weeks – a bunch of ‘members only’ offers for hoodies and t-shirts. The email also had a link to their Facebook Fan Page, so they were using it wisely to cross-promote their brand in different platforms.
I’d give them top marks for capturing their customer’s contact details, and top marks again for actually using them!
So, the question is, what’s a name worth to you in your business?
A 10% discount could be significant depending on the basket size.
Do you just look at the current sale, or do you take future sales into account?
Or do you think you can capture an email address without offering a discount (or other suitable offer)?
