Appreciate your convenience customers

Tell your shoppers how you feel about them, advises Pat Pape.

It’s simple: customers visit your stores because you offer services and products they want. Often, those same things are available from other stores, but they come to you because of your great location, friendly staff or competitive prices. One way to thank them for their loyalty is with an in-store Customer Appreciation Day.

Customer Appreciation Days are not unique; they’ve been held by a multitude of retailers from Wal-Mart to Jiffy Lube and from businesses ranging from hospitals to banks. Even the US Post Office has formally appreciated customers with a designated day. The event can be elaborate with appearances by sports stars and radio remote broadcasts or simple with balloons, free samples and a door prize or two.

Giving back to the community

Atlas Oil Company, a fuel provider located in Taylor, Michigan, which services 17 states and approximately 300 gas stations, has helped its retailers thank patrons by planning individual Customer Appreciation Days. “It’s our way of giving back to the community and saying ‘thank you’ to the store owners,” said Karen Johnson, marketing analyst for Atlas.

Atlas provides items, such as hot dog rollers and popcorn makers, for the one-day event so the store’s customers can enjoy free snacks. The store’s suppliers assist by providing extras, such as a donut-dipping station complete with nut and sprinkle toppings, or by offering free samples to help a new product gain exposure.

Recent events featured streamers and signage, a giant “air dancer” (a hot dog-shaped balloon man) and the flashy show cars that help promote Cintron Beverage Group’s line of energy drinks. One appreciation day included an appearance by popular NASCAR driver Kyle Petty.

Johnson believes that passersby, including those who have never shopped at the store, are often drawn to the unusual activity. “It’s a full house all day long,” she says. “And as a courtesy, we notify local police in advance to ensure there are no surprises.”

While Atlas supplies most food and materials for the event, there is some expense for the store owner. “Labour - an extra person or two - is the biggest investment,” Johnson says.

7-Eleven does it in style

Over the years, franchisee Kathy Letterman has held numerous Customer Appreciation Days at her two 7-Eleven stores north of San Francisco. While she has received some assistance from the 7-Eleven Store Support Center in Dallas, Letterman typically organises and executes the celebrations herself with help from suppliers, friends and family members.

Planning begins months in advance as she arranges for food samples, games and prizes. The store is decorated with balloons, and Letterman rents a red carpet runner for the front door to symbolise the importance of her customers.

An agreeable volunteer dressed in a tuxedo serves as the store’s greeter and hands out a complimentary rose and newspaper to each customer.

“The fun starts around 5:00 am when the morning regulars come in for coffee,” Letterman said. “At the register they can roll dice, and if they get a 7 or 11, their coffee is free.”

A white-gloved sales associate wearing a chef’s hat and apron passes out 7-Eleven’s fresh food samples on a “silver” tray, and store staffers wear t-shirts promoting the celebration. The 711th customer of the day wins a basket of goodies, such as a refillable coffee cup and a selection of best-selling items.

“Outside in the parking lot we may have a Miller or Bud van playing music, and I think that brings people in,” says Letterman. “We also had a big, blow- up Coca-Cola bottle one year. That was impressive.”

Throughout the day people in costumes - Chester Cheetah, Mr. Twinkie and a talking Slurpee Cup - walk the store exterior passing out free samples and coupons. “The day ends when we poop out, usually around 6:00pm, having gotten most of the after-work crowd,” Letterman says.

As for the day’s sales figures, Letterman has tracked it for years “and it seemed that sales always ran about the same as they had been running,” she says. “I considered that a good sales day, because we gave away so much stuff that in order to keep the same sales increase, we had to sell more than usual.”

Did her customers appreciate Customer Appreciation Day?

“It got to where customers were calling the store ahead of time to ask if we were going to do it again,” Letterman says. “The best part is your regulars get something they hadn’t planned on. They would ask why they received a rose or why they were rolling the dice, and we’d say, ‘It’s Customer Appreciation Day,’ and at lunch they would be back.”

Pat Pape worked in the convenience store industry for more than 20 years before becoming a full-time writer.