Surprise Your Customers With Sheer Novelty
Did you know that your pet needed a Christmas pageant dress this holiday season? I'm not talking about the holiday bandanas, bowties, or traditional red and green pet sweaters complete with snowmen, snowflakes and argyle designs that are must-haves for any fashionable pet, but an actual Christmas pageant dress! The merchants at PetEdge certainly had fun putting together this year’s offerings of holiday pet clothing novelties. Who would have thought of a pet pageant dress? And for only $7.99!
Sometimes a merchant’s job is simply to make consumers smile — i.e., surprise and delight them with nothing they absolutely need but with many little things that they just can’t live without. Why not gather your merchants together and take a peek at your product line to see just how well you're filling the novelty bucket. You know, the impulse “I gotta have it now” bucket. Depending on your brand’s positioning, you may not need many of these items, but you may benefit from some type of tickle factor.
It's part of Neiman Marcus’ brand heritage to surprise and delight its customers in grand ways each holiday season with its infamous Christmas Book catalog. This year the cross-channel retailer's Christmas Book is touting less expensive “Fab Finds” and “Little Gems.” Neiman Marcus’ merchants work all year on finding ways to create an amazing, smile-provoking (and often wildly frivolous) offer.
So, how much time have you and your merchandising team given to this topic? What surprises are in store for your customers?
