Merchandising
Merit
Doggone
good deal
Floral and wine departments work together to create a
successful promotion.
You just never know where the next successful floral promotion
will turn up—through a new product, an inspiring prop or maybe a
nonfloral-related vendor who is looking to promote his or her
own product.
Last
fall, Floral Manager Jennifer Bower at the Hy-Vee in Muscatine,
Iowa, was approached by the store’s Wine & Spirits manager,
Kayleen Kight, regarding a proposal from its distributor of the
Dog House wine collection. The wine company, Johnson Bros./Iowa
Wine & Beverage, wanted to market this new vintage line by
teaming with Ms. Bower’s floral department on a “Get Out of the
Doghouse” promotion. The wine representative, Troy Gutlanecht,
was convinced that most men go to the floral department for
exactly this purpose.
THE PROPOSAL Johnson Bros. proposed offering customers
$2-off coupons for fresh floral bouquets whether they purchased
one of the Dog House wines or not. By merchandising the products
together, the consensus was that customers would better
understand that they did not have to purchase the wine to use
the coupons but might choose to do so anyway.
TEAM EFFORT Ms. Bower suggested that Ms. Kight bring the
wine to her floral department, which is at the front of the
store, because it has more traffic. There, Ms. Bower
incorporated the wine into a fall display with the theme “Get
Out of the Doghouse,” which she submitted to the 2006
“Merchandising Award of Excellence” contest, sponsored by Super
Floral Retailing and Borgen Systems.
The display stayed up in the floral department from the end of
October into November. Ms. Bower says it was well received.
Along with increasing fall floral bouquet sales, the promotion
also sold several bottles of the uniquely named wine. After the
promotion, the wine vendor reimbursed the floral department $2
for each coupon used by customers.
The promotion was fairly simple for all involved. The Wine &
Spirits department supplied the wine for the display. The vendor
provided the coupons. Ms. Bower combined the wine with
fall-themed mixed consumer bunches and placed the coupons at the
floral register and on the wine boxes. When customers spent a
minimum of $5.99 on fresh flowers—including bouquets,
arrangements, and wedding and funeral business, Ms. Bower
allowed them to use the coupons.
TRADE-OFF Customers who brought coupons to Ms. Bower’s
staff were shown the wine and told about the promotion. The
floral staff also approached customers who were near the display
to explain the promotion. Ms. Bower was amazed at how many
customers said they weren’t really wine drinkers but purchased
the wine anyway.
Ms. Bower also has cross-merchandised with the bakery, meat and
produce departments. She says the keys to successfully
cross-merchandising floral are to keep the promotion at the
front of the store and make a big deal about it to customers.
You can reach “Merchandising Merit” writer Monica Humbard by
e-mail at
mhumbard@superfloralretailing.com or by phone at (800)
355-8086.
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