Christian Retailing

ANSWER OF THE WEEK Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Wednesday, 08 April 2009 12:10 PM America/New_York
WE ASKED: Since greeting cards are a good way to introduce a new customer to a store, how can retailers boost their sales?

"It's a great point about greeting cards being a great ‘entrée' for new customers to a CBA store because cards are a highly penetrated category (90%+ of U.S. households have bought at least one greeting card in the last 12 months), have a low purchase price and are often (if the store is smart strategically!) located in maximum viewing places in the store.

We suggest retailers face their seasonal card section toward the main traffic aisle to trigger seasonal/impulse purchases and to draw shoppers into the rack. Suggestive selling of greeting cards is probably the No. 1 way the Christian store staff can:

  • engage shoppers
  • introduce shoppers to another department
  • grow market basket size ($ per transaction)
  • grow ministry (Greeting cards are the only item in the store that absolutely are guaranteed to touch at least two people-sender and receiver-for every one purchased.)"

Jim Hauskey
Consumer Insights
DaySpring Cards