The holiday season brings out in people a spirit of giving. That's true for both retailers and consumers, so how about teaming up with your customers to contribute to one or more charitable causes?
You'll gain a profitability in spirit. At the same time, there's nothing wrong with doing this in a way that also yields the highest financial profitability. Consider research findings from University of South Florida which indicate that pairing charitable contributions with the sale of brands unfamiliar to the customer will boost sales of those unfamiliar brands. The research finds that the boost is not nearly as great when it comes to brands already familiar to the shopper.
There are all sorts of reasons you might want to introduce a new brand to your shoppers: Higher margins from house brands. Better deals from the suppliers. Do recall that there's more to introducing a new brand than pairing it with a charitable contribution. Most importantly, prospective purchasers will want to know how the unfamiliar brand compares and contrasts with the well-known brands. But an alliance of brand purchase with helping a noble cause can move sales beyond what they'd be otherwise.
Now which of the many noble causes should you select? Ones which have a logical fit with the product category? Selling a new brand of shoes and contributing some of the profits to an orthopedic hospital? Selling an unfamiliar brand of bras and contributing some sales dollars to the American Cancer Society?
The answer is it doesn't really matter. The University of South Florida research found that, contrary to what many retailers would guess, there is no added boost from having a logical relationship between the product category and the cause supported by the contribution. What counts is that you select a cause important to your customers.
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