Wren's Eric White Offers Best Practices for Retailers to Bring in Revenue, Not Risk at Special Events

ATLANTA, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- To help retailers get in the right mindset to tackle the challenges and benefit from the opportunities that special events present, Eric White, Wren's director of retail strategy, has made some best practices available in a Wren's Bird's Eye View Advisory and as video content available for viewing at http://budurl.com/RetailSpecialEvents.  According to White, who presented on the topic with Suni Shamapande and Tom Arigi of Sears Holding Corp. at the June NRF Loss Prevention Conference in Atlanta, retailers need to prepare for special events year-round, not just on Black Friday, as their frequency in the retail industry has grown in the last several years.

"While special events present moneymaking opportunities for retailers, they also present risks, and that's where the loss prevention professional comes in," says White. "While it's a 'win' for every department from merchandising to marketing to draw a large crowd to a special event, the metrics for success must include translating the large excited crowd into big sales and happy customers. The Loss Prevention team contributes by ensuring the crowd is under control and orderly, risks are evaluated, threats mitigated before anything happens, and a post-event recap evaluates what could improve with the next event."

Taking Care of People Balanced with Enforcing Rules is the Key to Success

Retailers who want to truly understand the dynamics of crowd control need to look at both sides of the event goals – 1) it should be profitable, fun and engaging for the crowd, but 2) the excitement in the crowd has to be kept under control. To keep the crowd excited about an event as they wait in line, for example, White recommends that one side of the event staff should be focused on customer service – meaning they make the wait more interesting and comfortable by offering information about the products, quantities still available, and other exciting sales in the store. When combined with the concierge's touch of providing hot chocolate on a cold morning, giving encouraging updates on how much longer the wait will be, or in general conversing with the shoppers, the event will exemplify the store's positive brand messages and the customers' experience. Another responsibility of the event staff is to work to ensure the crowd knows the rules and that the store will enforce policies to keep everyone safe. This rule enforcement may employ staff to be "enforcers" or the strong, silent types who are there to watch over the crowd for problems, identify inappropriate behavior and intervene with proactive conflict management strategies before situations escalate. It is important to understand that the customers expect bad behavior to be addressed quickly and appropriately.  

Diffusing Competitive Situations, Avoiding Panic and Creating Sense of Fairness Key Elements to Successful Crowd Control

The marketing and merchandising retail staff are mainly judged by how successful an event is based on the actual turnout and how many items are sold. Whereas for the LP team, the success criteria they will be judged on is greatly affected by how well they diffuse competitive situations that could lead to arguments in the crowd. White cites this example: "Instead of having a mass of customers charge the store's front doors - like the running of the bulls in Pamplona - knowing that only the first 100 to reach the display will get the prize, stores should issue wrist bands or pull-tickets to those first 100 in line. This assures the shoppers that they will get the deal they were offered, but don't need to rush in front of others and potentially mow each other down in the frenzy to get what they were promised." It also lets those that did not get the item they came for begin to make alternative plans like buying a substitute item, taking a "rain check", ordering on-line, or heading out to another store location hoping for a chance to get the sought after item.  

In addition to diffusing situations that have the potential to become heated and competitive, when there are a large number of people crammed into a tight space like a retail's front doors and entrance area, LP professionals need to ensure people do not feel trapped or in any way that their personal space is compromised. This will help the crowd avoid going into panic mode. Effective queues allow customers waiting for specific items to stage in an organized manner while still maintaining available entrance and exit space for customers not seeking special buys, or leaving the store with their treasures.  Additionally, event staffers need to have the authority and resources to make shoppers feel they are being treated fairly for the sacrifices they may have made to attend the event. For example, if shoppers were promised 100 autographs by a celebrity and they have been in line since the early morning; but the celebrity walks off after only giving 50, the retailer needs to be prepared with pre-signed alternatives or to offer customers an acceptable substitute. It helps when the retailer always sees things through the eyes of the customer and applies the golden rule.  

To view White's full advisory for the growing trend among retailers to increase their shopper's brand loyalty and store traffic by holding special events (Black Friday being the largest), please visit http://budurl.com/RetailSpecialEvents to watch the video.  Or read the advisory on best practices for crowd control at http://wrensolutions.com/company/news/resources/crowd_control_at_retail_special_events.aspx. White also invites members of the retail community to exchange ideas and ask questions on his retail comment forum on his blog http://wrensolutions.com/LPXtra_blog/.  

About Wren

Wren specializes in physical security technologies and services for retail, education, hospitality, healthcare and government facilities. The company's solutions, including enterprise-class video management software, access control systems, security assessments,  surveillance cameras and hardware, and professional services, enable organizations to protect people, assets and facilities, while empowering them with operational insights for better performance. Established in 1983 and headquartered in Jefferson City, MO, Wren is a member of the Security Industry Association (SIA), the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), the National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers (NASSLEO), and the National Retail Federation (NRF). Visit us at our website www.wrensolutions.com.

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