Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Hi Richard,

Food.

The death knell of every parent shopping with a kid is when the child gets hungry &/or thirsty) and starts to melt down just when the excursion is reaching its critical point - like getting a foot sized.

Take away the hunger & thirst and you have a captive audience for a few more precious moments.

Plus the kids will look forward to shopping there.

The parents in turn will use the food as a negotiating tool with the child "You have to behave in Wally's Shoe Store to get a treat".

Of course, make the treat/snack as non-messy as possible. The reality is kids will find a way to turn any food product into a mess, jusy try to minimize the mess and make it easy to wipe off with a "wipe" and clean off the furniture and carpet.

Also give some healthy options for those parents that don't want their kids to have an exteme sugar jolt.

Frozen yogurt comes to mind and fits all these requirements.

Anyway, just some input from a voice with experience, I know that would have been a hot button for my family back when we were living those years.

You've already gotten some great ideas on enhancing the store experience, so I won't waste your time.

As the father of a 12-month-old, however, I can tell you that Stride Rite does a decent job of building a relationship with their customers post-sale.

We left the store with a wall chart to track our son's growth, as well as a coupon for the next pair of shoes (which, as you know, comes sooner as opposed to later).

We also get well-timed postcards.

You could take this a step further and personalize your mailings with the child's name. Heck, you could even send your mail direct to the child in a kid-friendly format. I think kids would love to get mail.

I think there's quite a bit you could do after the sale to strengthen the relationships.

My $0.02. If only shoes were as cheap.

Paul

True story that my mom told me last month:

As a kid, she loved going to their local shoe store. They had this cool machine that you could step on and it showed all of the bones in your foot.

She says that apparently 50+ years ago, Al Bundy did not know about the hazards of x-ray machines.

Maybe you could install an MRI machine instead. ;]

Shelley

I like Jen's idea of playing fun music.... Some of our favorites (that don't drive parents nuts, like Raffi):

» John Lithgow's "Singing in the Bathtub."
» "Philadelphia Chickens" from Sandra Boynton collection (the Bellybutton song is my favorite)
» ANYTHING by Trout Fishing in America

These are great Christmas gifts, by the way. The middle one is addictive. My 55-year-old business partner even knows the words to a couple of tracks... ;]

- S

Richard, I reread all of the posts in this thread, and there are a lot of good ideas about the in-store experience.

I think that YOUR ideas, however, are the best ones regarding the nurturance of the long-term relationship with the customer. For example, using the web to post Junior's drawing or a bulletin board to post Junior's photo in new shoes -- or perhaps you could morph the two ideas together.

I like the idea of using photos, and your friend could have a "signature" style of taking them for his store. I visualize a platform a kid can stand on, and the camera angled from foot-level so that the foreground of the picture is the feet, with the rest of the kid proudly towering over that in the background. A bit distorted, even. Know what I mean?

It might require constructing a "photo booth" with a permanently mounted camera and the correct lighting already built in. A cool experience, especially with digital capabilities of printing a copy to take home immediately!

Then with the parents' permission, the family can get a postcard or email when the picture is published on the website. They're likely to share that link with their friends, I'll betcha.

The really great photos can become part of an ongoing ad campaign. A series featuring real customers!

Now to switch to another idea...

If the store had a simple database to track growth in shoe size, could it put that info to use in some creative ways?

Yes, the direct mail campaign could be tied to reminders of predicted growth in shoe size. What else?

It could be used to statistically rank the kid among the population of other young customers. "Mrs. Jones, it looks like Frankie here already has bigger feet than 90% of the kids at his age. Let's keep track on his next visits here and we'll see if he's destined for the NBA." Or, "Jennifer's current shoe size indicates that she's going to grow to be about five feet tall. Shall we keep tracking her shoe size and height for you?"

That tactic might encourage return visits.

(One of my favorite quotes goes something like, "Data will confess to just about anything if you torture it sufficiently.")

Enough from me. Three's my limit. ;]

- Shelley

Okay, I lied, now I'm on my fourth post here...

Put a dance floor in the store. Play some of the music I recommended earlier (hey, you can mix your own store soundtrack!!). Set up one or two video cameras hooked to some TVs so kids can see themselves on screen while they're dancing (you don't have to have the Record button on).

When they try on the new shoes, encourage them to try out a few new dance moves with them on.

Hold an impromptu dance contest a few times on busy days and give out prizes. What about this: a cool ankle bracelet with the store brand and a message like, "I've got Fantastic Feet!"

I wonder if the store could license its own soundtracks? Starbucks and Pottery Barn do it...

All done now.

Try a small SLIDE (to look like a shoe - concept) that can keep busy the kids (slide - wait in queue -slide again). They will love to play with a slide-shoe concept and will return back to play more..

Can't help thinking that we have this back to front, the question should be, "what as parents would you expect from this shopping experience?".

DO they really wants the kids, fed, watered and entertained ... or to know that the shoes have been fitted professionally, by well trained smiling staff?

I have twins, and I know the latter is true ... I will queue for 30-45 mins (and I have) to get the kids shoes, if I know that the shoes will fit properly, have a good range of styles, and I get service with a smile.
There was a lego (and rights acknowledged) area about 2 foot by 1 foot (sorry I'm from the UK) square. The seats were comfy, and I was happy.

I didn't want a coffee (too dangerous), didn't want the kids out of sight (too nervous), it was an ordeal (and continues to be), but as a parent, thats exactly what I wanted.

Hope this insight helps a little.

I think the thinking you have is right, you need a differentiator, but for a commodity product like this, you need to be looking at the standard ones (no order):

heritage
product quality
leadership
range of products
price
customer services
etc etc

If you drop me an email (andrew@blackwhite.uk.com), I'll pull together details on something I call the "value wheel", which explains how to look at how to look at strategic intent and what your market wants ... its obvious really, but useful to just look at :-)

There must be childrens retail outlets that would love to be associated with your friends business ... a captured audience of kids and mums!

Try suggesting that he looks at other clothing, food and toy retail outlets to see if they can provide gifts or rewards, either for good kids or prizes for in-store competitions etc.

The store would get a mention of course, and the kids would have something to look forward to!

Good Luck