LEFT-FIELD, CRAZY, PRODUCT & SERVICE IDEAS TO ATTRACT MORE SHOPPERS

You want new traffic, new shoppers, coming to your business right. Who doesn’t?!

If you have read our comprehensive new traffic strategy document, of course you have!!, you will know there are many opportunities for attracting shoppers leveraging the existing many opportunities with newsXpress preferred suppliers.

In some situations, those opportunities are not enough. In some situations, more is needed. So, here are some wacky, crazy and outright ridiculous ideas for new traffic. Actually, they are new product and or service ideas that you would need to promote outside your business to find the new traffic.

But, first, we have a WARNING. These ideas should only be contemplated if you are already promoting your business outside your business.

No, opening your front door is NOT a marketing activity.

By promoting outside we mean using boosted Facebook posts, wearing a A-Frame and walking the streets, driving all over your area yelling through speakers on the roof of your car … not really but you get the drift. 

Here are our ideas, for now. We say for now because this list will grow over time. These ideas are intended to surprise. They are different, challenging, and, we hope, ideas through which you can see new opportunities … maybe not from these ideas but from ideas these ideas trigger when you confront them.

These ideas are not allied to what you do today, deliberately, as those ideas, the ones allied to what you do today, are pitched elsewhere in newsXpress advice and documentation.

1. Rent collectible bears. If people cannot afford to buy, maybe they could afford to rent for a few months. This could also see them have a range of bears through the year rather than just one bear. Think of it like time-sharing. Have a pool of rentals and they can select from the pool.
2. Rent dogs for walking. People come to you and ‘rent’ a dog by the hour. You have a walking pack ready with bags, a leash, treats and other things they need. Ideal for people who love dogs but cannot have one at home. The do this in Japan now.
3. Cat café or cat café.  Setup the cats or dogs in a couple of rooms and people come in and pay by the hour to enjoy the cats or dogs. This works for people who love cats or dogs but cannot have them because of their circumstances. The do this in Japan now.
4. Snake café. Have a selection of snakes in Perspex containers. People come in, sit at a table, order drinks and food and between them, on the table, is the snake they have selected. The do this in Japan now. The first dog café opened in Los Angeles in early April 2016.
5. Boardgame café. People pay to come in and play a game. Pricing based on game time.
6. Dog grooming. Carve out part of the shop for the service. Install glass walls so people can see the dogs and what is done. Offer the service with staff you hire or sublet space to a groomer.
7. Sell pet food. Purchasing pet food is habit based, as are many purchased from your business today. OzLotteries, an online lottery business, sells pet food to lottery customers today.
8. Offer a shirt ironing service. This is a habit-based service. It could work for people who have time to wash shirts but not iron them.
9. Second-hand books and or CDs. Buy and sell books and or CDs. Buy low and sell at a good margin with a deal available for people who buy and sell through you. Establish an up front price to be in the avid readers club or the music fans club. They still pay per transaction but by joining they provide capital for your buying.
10. Party room. Set aside a unique and appropriately designed location within the shop for a local party venue. Offer food and entertainment services – ideally using products you sell too. If you go strong into the Lombards range now available from newsXpress this could be a nice add-on to the business.

Note: if the dog café, cat café, dog walking or snake café interest you email Mark as he has photos of these from a recent trip to Japan. mark@newsxpress.com.au.

Yes, these are mostly crazy ideas, we get that. Our sharing of these aims to get you thinking outside the square for opportunities for your business.