MARKETING CASE STUDY:
Specialty Retail Stores - Texas
About this client.
This client is a franchisee owner of 15 specialty soap stores in the key Texas communities of Houston, Dallas, and Austin. Each store takes tremendous pride in handcrafting every soap bar in their Soap Makery with delightfully scented, handmade plant-based soaps.
They are the definition of specialty retail with brick-and-mortar locations aligned with a major grocery chain and associated retail around them.
Client: A Franchise of 15 Specialty Soap Stores.
Location: Texas, United States.
Industry: Retail Specialty, Brick & Mortar.
Time Frame: 10-Day Campaign.
Results
STORE SALES
ENGAGED SESSIONS
AD ENGAGEMENT BY PRODUCT
270
377
131
SOLD TUBS OF LAUNDRY SOAP THAT WEEKEND
CLICKS TO RSVP TO THE EVENT AND PRODUCT PAGES
CLICKS TO LAUNDRY SOAP AS THE MOST POPULAR ITEM
Services used:
Permission-based Email Marketing.
Store Foot Traffic Studies.
But they had a store traffic problem.
“In the last 14 months, we aggressively opened eight new retail stores in various Texas locations in larger metros. We also opened stores in smaller Texas towns. In each case, our grand openings were very successful, but once the buzz died down, we started to see store visits dip, especially during the early days of the week and even on some weekends.
We were searching for an additional way to create a new buzz about our first anniversaries and raise store traffic numbers, which meant more in-store sales. We asked the agency if there is a cost-effective way to reach more of our core audience of women, ages 30 - 55, in the zip codes within a 10-mile radius of our stores? Most of our store's anniversary dates were coming quickly so we needed to add juice to our current tactics.”
What our agency did.
1
Researched store foot traffic.
Researched their store foot traffic data vs. their competition, going back one year before suggesting any messaging strategy. Kind of like a time machine, we determined who they shared store traffic with and who they didn't from mobile device ID geo-recognition.
We found some surprise data points in the local shopping patterns of shared store visits with complementary competitors that they did not realize they had.
2
Align2Compete got the word out locally with a small test permission email blast that was recommended to support their Houston stores' First Anniversary Sale Event.
At 8 AM the Tuesday before the weekend, we sent 25,267 emails from our proprietary list within a 10-mile radius of one of their Houston stores that needed enhanced attention.
The emails were sent only to women, ages 30 - 55, who had children present in their households. We ensured the emails had information about their RSVP for doorbuster and laundry soap special offers.
Chose the audience and got the word out fast.
3
Designed a creative message that was compelling.
This looks like a small thing but it is a big thing. Many businesses get this very wrong with email marketing.
We designed a custom HTML email blast creative piece for the client to communicate the tremendous in-store events and specials they had going.
We crafted their subject line to create excitement and counseled the franchisee on which products to feature.
4
Provided in-store visits
attribution from the email.
We provided Mobile Device ID tracking attribution for those who saw the email blast and as a result, went to that store for 30 days after the blast was delivered.
So given what you have just read, do you feel that your current marketing team and resources are fully aligned with your business objectives? Where do you see disconnects or areas for improvement?
Their best results were with laundry soap sales, their highest margin, and customer retention items.
SOLD TUBS OF LAUNDRY SOAP THAT WEEKEND.
270
4,501
EMAILS OPENED AND READ.
CLICKS TO RSVP TO THE EVENT AND PRODUCT PAGES.
PEOPLE VISITED THE STORE ATTRIBUTED BY MOBILE DEVICE ID TRACKING.
377
19
Results from a 2-week campaign.
Laundry soap was the most clicked product item.
The actual number was closer to 76 over the month as only 1/4 allow themselves to be tracked this way.
“At our Houston store, the best sales from this event were from Laundry Soap, our highest margin and customer retention item. This was the most cost-effective single-store sales event ever, with a great customer turnout.
We liked the test so much that we will use Align2Compete to execute the same strategy on a larger scale for our April anniversary sale events for our 5 Austin, TX stores.”
-VP of Marketing
For the Texas Franchisee.
Get the word out fast out about big store events just like this franchisee did.
If the next step is a discussion,
then choose your preferred means.