would you?

[greenoak]

there is one other store in town that appeals to the same kind of customers ours does....its a real fancy expensive girly store....perfect for the ladies who lunch....we are friends. and she has bought a lot from us for her store fixtures.....we send each other customers..

we are considering a joint ad in another town saying come to rochester and having both our ads in it....i see this kind of thing suggested a lot...we dont sell the same thing....but if the customer only has 50$ to spend on her girls day out im not sure if i should be trying to get her to go to the other store....
on the other hand its always more fun to take a shopping trip if there is more than one place to go to.... and her store is as big a draw as ours...
what do you think?
ann

[Dan Furman]

I'd definitely do it.

[vangogh]

I'd do it too. Sure some people may not spend their money in your store, but some may not spend it in the other store either. You shouldn't worry about what gets spent in each store. See it as a way to increase your own business. Sounds like it's the kind of thing that could help you both.

[Steve B]

I would take it a few steps further and try to get several other merchants involved. Your goal should be to increase shopping traffic to your town.

Our local town has a group called S.M.A.R.T. (Shelbyville Merchants and Retail Trade). They get together once a month to discuss how to increase tourism and shopping in town. They run the annual Christmas Light Up ceremony and various other events. They do a fair amount of joint advertising. Several antique shops are involved - they know that if someone comes to town to visit one shop, they will likely visit them all. They are even familiar with each other's inventory and send people over if they know the other merchant has something the customer is looking for.

[huggytree]

i would do it!

[greenoak]

thanks.....
more details.....i would be able and willling to run the ad without her..... and the other stores in town wouldnt fit the customer we are after....one of the resturants would tho...

...im not in the downtown ..and have nothing to do with their promos....i know that works in a lot of places...
ann

[Steve B]

Then I would run it alone. You're not going to save much money and it will make for a confusing ad with two unrelated businesses together. Not to mention, coordinating with them on the ad will probably be more trouble than it is worth.

[Patrysha]

I think this is an excellent idea and it's one I'd encourage my clients to consider.

But why stop at a joint ad? Why not look into other promotional partnerships that can benefit both shops? since you are going after the same target market it makes sense to work together to penetrate the market, right?

It's just a more formalized referal program really...

For instance, a joint contest with promotion and prizing from both shops will get both your clients into the habit of shopping both stores :-) If you're going after the ladies who lunch crowd, then Mother's Day would be a great one to do a joint promotion with :-)

Link up with a salon, a florist and a restaurant and you can do a pretty high impact promotion with very little effort on anyone's part (because you can share the workload and the costs...or you can eliminate the workload by hiring out to a company like mine and just share in the costs...well and of course get your portion of the profits)

So you offer up a prize package that includes a Mother's Day Bouquet for both the winner and her mother...a mother's day brunch...a spa treatment or two and gift certificates to both your stores...

(Then of course make sure you make as big a deal out of the winner as possible...and then get to work on the next low cost promotion (lol)...with programs that incorporate about 4 big events a year that you can re-use from year to year the price of putting it together (other than the advertising costs) will be less each time...

[Spider]

I say, Do it!

And I like Steve and Patrysha's extended versions, too. It won't be confusing if you don't make it confusing. Why not include a map with all ad participants marked on the map with a suggested route. "Buy this here, and this here and take lunch here...."

Strategic alliances with other businesses is a great way to grow your bottom line.

[KristineS]

I'd say definitely do it, and considered the expanded suggestions that others have made here as well. A join ad gives people more choices and will bring more people to your town. Maybe they don't spend money with you this time, but if it gets them into your shop, or if you and this other shop owner cross promote, so people who stop by your shop hear about her, and people who stop by her shop hear about you, you're going to be further ahead, and you're laying seeds for future business.

I'd also recommend using the shop local angle. Keep your money and your jobs in the local area is a really powerful message right now.