The power of promotions - Research; product promotions in retail trade

Discount Store News, Jan 21, 1991

The power of promotions

Nothing warms a retailer's heart more than the sight of a crowded selling floor. In fact, packing in customers is arguably the single most important duty of any merchant.

But that's easier said than done. In fact, despite a good deal of talk to the contrary, price promotions remain a primary tool that retailers use to lure the throngs.

As it turns out, apparel ads are among the most effective traffic builders, according to an exclusive study by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates. (See more Traffic Builders reports elsewhere in this issue.)

Women's jeans are the leading traffic draw in the apparel category among consumers who said they were drawn to a discount store because of a published promotion. On the average, shoppers who are brought in by women's jeans advertising spend $39--although not necessarily on jeans--in the store.

Women's intimate apparel--lingerie and sleepwear--places second in mentions, spurring consumers to spend $33, while women's sweaters are the next best apparel traffic draw. Consumers who see sweater advertisements spend $33 on average. Next on the apparel list is women's shoes and boots, which generate median sales tickets amounting to $31 among those at discount stores. The fifth top apparel traffic builder is women's accesories. This category also generates an above-average total spending ticket of $50.

It will no doubt please retailers to know that all these classifications not only bring in shoppers, but in many cases the customers are prompted to purchase the items that they see advertised.

For instance, those shopping for women's shoes and boots may have spent only $31, but a full 74.3 percent of those drawn in by a shoe promotion actually purchase the shoes. More than 81 percent of those corralled by intimate apparel purchase the sale item. About the same number of those responding to women's blouse promotions buy them. Seventy-one percent of those attracted by sweater ads purchase these tops.

Surprisingly, women's jeans don't fare quite as well. Just over 59 percent of the shoppers who come to a store after seeing advertisements for women's denim end up buying jeans.

Other apparel classifications also prompt good sales of promotional items. It is almost astonishing that all of the respondents who mentioned jogging suits as one of the items they see promoted have purchased one due to that promotion.

Over 89 percent of those who knew of a men's underwear sale say they got the product that they saw on sale. Underwear generates $42 in sales tickets.

In general, a higher percentage of discount store shoppers actually purchase promotional items than those who shop in other retail outlets. A full 75.4 percent of discount store shoppers say they made the purchases in all the categories that they came into the retailer to see. Only 56.5 percent of those shopping department stores actually made purchases of the sale items. At mass merchants--Sears Roebuck and Co., JCPenney and Montgomery Ward--the figure is 49 percent.

While the top apparel classifications were not the leaders in producing the highest total tickets, the clothing category as a whole does, in fact, lead the list of the top sales tickets.

Shoppers who see women's apparel advertisements and make purchases of what they see advertised will spend, on average, $104 in total purchases.

The high sales ticket on women's clothing probably means a complete outfit is being bought. Because the clothing may be more expensive, the total may include fewer items.

Perfume is a distant second, with $83 spent on this category by shoppers who knew of a promotion and make the purchase.

The study found an average of $40 is spent among all shoppers surveyed.

Many apparel classifications garner sales tickets above this average at discount stores.

In specific women's product areas, women's dresses capture a sales ticket of $66, while women's coats and jackets come in at $56.

Children's clothing spurs spending of approximately $64. In the infant/-toddler range, shoppers spend a little less, $33.

In men's wear, shoes and boots garner about $60. Men's shirts also do well, with $50 in total sales tickets in this category.

Compared to 1989, the two apparel categories most mentioned in the 1990 survey made the biggest jump from '89. Women's shoes and boots rank fourth overall in 1990, but were 13th in 1989. Women's jeans also moved up several notches. Jeans, fifth in 1990, were only tenth in the ranking list in 1989.

The largest drop in ranking occurred in women's accessories. That category was ranked seventh in 1989 but 22nd in 1990.

At department stores and mass merchants the categories vary only slightly. Women's blouses and shirts lead the apparel category among the mass merchants, followed by women's dresses, casual pants and slacks, women's shoes and boots, and the lingerie/sleepwear classification.

At department stores, women's dresses are most often mentioned by shoppers who see a promotion on the items for the store. This is followed by women's jeans, women's casual pants and slacks, women's shoes and boots, and men's shirts.