Maintaining Reputation
Cornell Farm in Portland, Ore., is known in the area for its superior plant quality. Much like most of you, focus is on the quality rather than quantity. That is, after all, what sets you apart from the big boxes. So if high quality is so important, why would you put your sale items — most often the old, low-quality, out-of-bloom plants — right in front of the store where they are the first things customers see? Cornell thought of this when it decided to place “Bargain Hill,” a sale section, off to the side of the store — where regular customers know where to find it, but it’s not screaming at them.
As we’ve said before, the entrance to the store is what your customers see first, and that sets the mood. Consumers are smarter than we give them credit for, and if they see a larger-than-life sign with bright red letters that says “sale,” they interpret that as, “not the best” or “cheap,” and that’s not the perception you want for your store. Make the sale section something customers will look for or ask about; they will see all of your other high-quality product en route.
Placement is very important. Instead of having a sale area in every department, Cornell decided on just one place to put all sale items. Therefore, customers don’t see “sale” (not the best) everywhere they look. Again, that just says poor quality.
Cornell tries to maintain its reputation of having excellent product by holding the price until the last possible moment. Prices are not lowered 10 percent one week, then 30 percent the next week. It’s the same price until it cannot be sold; all Bargain Hill items are marked at 50 percent off. What mood are you setting for your customers?
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