Worried about how the economic slump is going to affect your business over the holidays? Some economists are predicting that holiday sales could be the worst we’ve seen in 20 years.
When times get rough, what happens to consumers? They pick the big box stores and chain restaurants over the little guys. They head out of town to the malls because they feel they’ll get more bang for their buck. And who can blame them? They’re just trying to survive. We also know that when a lot of the smaller businesses feel the pinch, their advertising budget is one of the first things to be slashed. This, of course, hurts our company since your advertising dollars are what keep the whole thing rolling.
So what can we all do to try and take on the economy and the big boxes together? What can we do to keep people in this part of the state instead of at malls in South Portland or Kittery? We believe that there is power in numbers. We believe that if there were incentive to stay local and shop local that it would be done. We believe there is a way to continue to get your business seen by new potential customers.
Independent Publishing Group is launching the Economy Buster Local Shopper’s program. The premise is simple. A membership is purchased by a consumer and they are given both an official plastic card and a list of participating businesses. You only commit to giving cardholders 10% off their purchases. You may offer more, or something of equal value, but that is the minimum we are requiring for participation.
The name of your business, along with address, phone number and web site will be listed on all materials pertaining to the program.
We’ll be advertising this program with large ads in our weekly newspapers, on our web site and in some participating merchant’s stores. We’ll also be advertising on our display racks and through the participation of local business organizations. We’ll also have regular commercials during The Fox Morning News during the month of November. The word will get out about this program in a hurry!
Once 25 businesses are on board, we’re going to begin marketing it to the consumer, who will get regular emails with new businesses or specials existing participants want to offer.
With enough participation, we should be able to create a program that helps keep the cash registers ringing not only throughout the holiday season, but into 2009 as well. The Economy Buster Local Shopper’s program will run roughly from Nov. 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009 to help you during those lean winter months. If there is enough demand, we’ll continue it next year.
IPG will be charging consumers $12.95 for the card. We’re not trying to get rich on this, just make sure that we make our costs back. We believe that if we can help keep people at your stores, you’ll continue advertising with us and everybody – the consumer, you and us – wins in the long run.
If you are interested in participating, contact Blaine Davis at 632-8852 or bdavis@independentpub.com |
