Holiday Promotion Ideas for Retailers

Bass Pro Shops is an outdoor and camping retailer with stores in the US and Canada. They sell outdoor supplies and have very large retail stores with everything from clothing to fishing polls, hunting and camping supplies. Many of the larger locations even sell boats. This case study can give any retailer in Australia or anywhere in the world. Bass Pro Shops (www.BassPro.com) run special events for every holiday, and even workshops to teach kids and adults outdoor skills like fishing and camping. The holiday events they run in their stores are free, but generate a large amount of in store traffic and buzz about the brand.

Holiday Retail Events

Since the holiday season is here, we will talk about Bass Pro’s holiday event first. They turn a portion of their stores into a winter wonderland that looks like the elves’ workshop. They have Santa during specific times available for kids to come and visit. Children can sit on Santa’s lap and have their picture taken, play games, and participate in free crafts. They offer different crafts each week and all of this is for free. One of the cleverest games they have is a treasure hunt game. Each family is given a sheet of paper that has a list of up to 10 items for them to find. The items are hidden around the store, so the families must walk through the entire store to find the treasure hunt items to receive a prize. All the while, looking through the store means they are looking around, probably shopping and definitely getting ideas of their holiday list.

Halloween Events

During Halloween season, the Bass Pro retail stores do a similar promotion with free photographs taken with a Halloween background and they have trick or treating during certain times and days, which takes families all around the store similar to the way the holiday treasure hunt game does. They also have colouring and Halloween crafts available; all for free.

Summer Camp Events

During the summertime when children are not in school, the stores offer fishing lessons for kids and also hold camping and survival workshops. Different versions of the treasure hunting game are revised to get families to walk through the stores and familiarise themselves with all of the things that they have to offer.

Can You Do This in Your Store?

These ideas can really be applied to any size store and any type of retail products. Do these ideas get your creativity and ideas in motion? Even holding something like this for one day in conjunction with a big sale does wonders for branding and exposure. Creating buzz and good will with families makes your store a fun place that will hold happy memories for your customers.