In-store promos can use signs, displays, cups, menu
boards and more to keep customers fully informed BY ANN MEYER
closest to the cash register. “It’s what you do once the customer is inside of your store
I
that counts the most,” says Sonya Hardy, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Barnie’s Coff ee & Tea in Orlando, Fla. Product information at the point of sale “helps them with their decision-making process,” she says. Like many of its competitors, the chain of 12 coff ee shops
relies on a variety of signs, displays, menu boards and logoed paper goods to draw customers and encourage repeat visits. “We logo everything,” from shopping bags to cups,
16 | June 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com
n an age of information overload, some of the most eff ective marketing messages are the ones at customers’ fi ngertips or
napkins and travel tumblers, Hardy says. Paper goods become portable billboards displaying the company name, logo and website address. While mass media is generally directed toward new trials,
in-store marketing is a versatile approach that can aff ect how frequently customers visit a coff ee shop, how much they spend and the number of people in their party, says Aaron Allen, a restaurant consultant based in Orlando, Fla. He recommends that about 20 percent to 30 percent of a company’s marketing budget should be spent on the premises, from the sidewalk to the cash register. Short on marketing funds, Overfl ow Coff ee Bar in Chicago
