How to avoid a sales horror show this Halloween

Darker evenings and falling leaves – it’s time for retailers to conjure up some Halloween excitement. Supermarkets have excelled in recent years in stocking wide ranges of fancy-dress costumes, party-ware, and ‘trick or treat’ sweets, and we’re increasingly seeing toy and fashion retailers jump on the ghost train. The event has become a massive traffic driver into UK stores, and despite the moaning that consumers could do with one less invented festival, sales are soaring year-on-year. 

So, in the spirit of keeping Halloween fun and stress free, we think there’s a lot to be done to personalise the experience for your shoppers and make this event enjoyable for them, and a sales-winner for you. By using omnichannel customer data, for example, you can sink your teeth in early to consumers looking to splash out this Halloween, by providing inspiration or personalised offers via email or SMS.

And, with the right retail technology in place and detailed planning between your departments, it’s possible to drive ‘transient basket’ sales with personalisation during this important retail event, without spooking your customers. Opted-in online shoppers can enjoy the exclusive benefits of special invites and email updates about store events and eye-catching Halloween ranges, and be attracted into stores where they can redeem loyalty deals and rewards, and have a far more personal experience. Once in the store, the circle is completed with point of sale (POS) staff able to offer online ordering at the till if necessary, interactive digital receipts and reward points or news of additional deals to come.

In the engaged commerce world, this is easily within your grasp. By analysing and segmenting customer data, retailers can create personalised marketing campaigns, and when integrated to a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, retailers will have a single view of the customer, via a central repository which makes it possible to select specific data sets. Ultimately, you can segment those who have spent on Halloween items before, or those that have engaged with offer sign-ups or newsletters, and be sure you’re talking to and targeting the right audience with marketing efforts.

Then it’s possible to target these customers with offers or coupons, even using location or proximity to store as a trigger. Especially magical for customers is the fact that these coupons can then be redeemed across the retailer’s entire online and offline shopping estate, ensuring a seamless integrated experience.

Remember that personalisation for valued customers can continue after the spray-on cobwebs of Halloween have long been swept away. As you head into November there’s nothing to stop you from following up on a Halloween purchase to engage your customers further – perhaps in time for Bonfire Night. Alongside an e-receipt why not send a post-Halloween message, supplying that customer with timely information on what’s happening next in store, as you head towards Christmas!