RETAILERS USING MORE INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS

STEPHANIE FAGNANI

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Retailers are spurring impulse purchases this spring with interactive displays of special, unadvertised promotions -- in the process appealing to consumers through a touch of nostalgia.

In one recent example, Price Chopper Supermarkets, based here, has been running a two-week, in-store promotion called the Store Manager's Sale, which was designed to surprise shoppers with previously unannounced special discounts on select items each day.

In-store circulars, starting on Sunday, March 21, directed customers to "look and listen for secret items being revealed by your store manager daily throughout the store for the next two weeks." Flashing lights were used to draw attention to the secret items, which included products from all departments.

During a nighttime visit to the Price Chopper unit located at South Hills Mall, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., SN spotted signs directly in the entranceway heralding the promotion and featuring a photograph of store manager John Adams. While the promotions had already concluded for the day, SN noticed a sign adorned with a light on top indicating that one of the manager's special items for that day had been pound cakes at $1.49 each in a variety of flavors. A store employee told SN there were three different products on sale, every day, during the promotion.

"We have seen this kind of promotion before, most often associated with the on-premise perimeter departments," said Peter Breen, managing director of the In-Store Marketing Institute, Chicago. "It's a simple, effective way to make shoppers feel like they're getting something special, and also can help establish a bond between store employees and customers."

It also calls to mind the days of the Kmart "Blue Light Special" during which the store's public announcement system would communicate -- after the famous "Attention, Kmart shoppers" introduction -- a limited-time sale in a particular aisle, where the blue light would be turned on, Breen told SN. The "Blue Light Special" became synonymous with the mass merchant, so much so that the retailer resurrected the program a few years ago after several years of its dormancy.

Other retailers have also adopted variations of this strategy. A Giant Food Stores unit in Pennsylvania ran a similar promotion last summer in which shoppers had their pick of certain items from the in-store bakery. Even mass merchandising giant Wal-Mart Stores runs a program in which certain sale items are designated as the store manager's picks, and signs located near the products often include the manager's photo, Breen said.