4 Costco Tricks That Generate Foot Traffic
The Coronavirus Pandemic has changed shopping behavior forever, but how are some brick-and-mortar businesses, like Costco, still generating foot traffic?
Today’s shoppers are leaving brick-and-mortar businesses in their virtual dust as more continue to shop online and give their money to online businesses and massive corporations like Amazon.
This is putting pressure on brick-and-mortar businesses to find creative ways to continue generating foot traffic while ensuring their shoppers stay healthy and safe.
Let’s examine some of the most important Costco foot traffic tricks that are letting this wholesale company remain competitive in today’s rapidly changing market.
1. In-Store Returns Encouraged
Costco does a phenomenal job of allowing and encouraging in-store returns to the point where it’s almost comical. The stories of people returning air conditioners after the summer or coming back with an old TV to try and get the full, original price for it are not jokes: Costco’s return policy really covers this in detail. It’s also a great way to get people to come to your store.
Shoppers can walk in, return their items, and:
- Get their money back and feel good
- Search for another deal to take advantage of
- End up spending all or most of the money they got in their return at Costco
- Costco then keeps that income
It’s an incredibly effective Costco foot traffic trick, one that other businesses can learn from and apply.
2. Reserving Inventory Checks for Physical Visits Only
You can try and look up items online, but it won’t always work. Oftentimes, Costco will have items in store that aren’t listed online or are listed as out-of-stock but aren’t stocked in the Costco location closest to you.
On top of this, Costco rearranges the store regularly. While certain products generally stay in the same location, adding in new inventory or moving other key items around is a great way to get more income out of customers and make people walk the store.
3. Text and Email Notifications Encourage Repeat Visits
Text and email notifications are very good at affecting human behavior. It stands to reason, then, that you can use them for something as simple as physically visiting a store. Restaurants, apps like Uber Eats, and tons of other businesses already use it, so why shouldn’t other small-to-medium businesses?
No advantage is too small: If you’re a business owner, you should be leveraging every tool and tactic you can to keep your customers walking in.
4. Unbeatable Prices Make Physical Visits Irresistible
Of course, we can’t forget about the prices. Costco’s prices are known to be great. Their widely cherished, ever-popular deals are sometimes only available at a physical Costco location, forcing you to make the trip.
Bringing people in with deals, discounts, and sales is a classic Costco foot traffic trick and something that makes total sense. If you’re struggling to get people in your store and remove some of your inventory, consider testing this tactic yourself.
Perhaps send out a new flash sale in an email blast to your customers that can only be redeemed in your physical store, or run a locally targeted Facebook ad that promotes the same. Give it a shot and track the results!
Generate More Foot Traffic with These Costco Foot Traffic Tricks
Strategies like returns, pricing, inventory management, and other tactics as simple as text notifications are smart, effective ways of generating foot traffic. Some of these may not seem as important as others, but they’re all essential tools for a brick-and-mortar business to use to keep customers walking through the door.
Try implementing some of these Costco foot traffic tricks into your own customer acquisition strategies if you feel as if your in-store customer base has been light as of late. Sometimes, all a shopper needs is a simple reminder (in the form of an in-store flash sale) that you’re back in business.
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