One of the most innovative shops in Denmark in Søstrene Grene, which translates as “The Branch Sisters”. I’ve written before about how they make use of the mostly fictional personae of Clara and Anna throughout their store to make what is in essence a discount-price shopping experience feel very personal.  Once a year Søstrene Grene takes this idea a step further and sponsors a “Sisters Day” contest that could easily be adapted by your store — or mine.

Why Sisters Day? Because women are still the largest demographic of shoppers for almost all retail stores.  And because most women either have a sister, or have a friend they consider “like-a-sister.”   Gift shops can attest to the fact that sister-themed merchandise such as magnets and frames sell very well.

The annual Sisters Day contest at Søstrene Grene invites entrants select their sister, or “sister in spirit,”  from their own friends list on Facebook. This builds links and likes for Søstrene Grene, of course, and gets a wider public involved in the event.  Prizes, by the way, are not limited to store gift cards (although there are 50 pairs of them for winning sisters).  They also offer a travel, wellness or other experiencially-based grand prize (valued at about $5,000) chosen by the winners.

Their blog, which is most often a short product feature sent out via e-mail, offers a link to a form on their web site where sisters can enter the competition without going through Facebook. Those who do so are invited to write a comment — and of course many of them mention the store.  There is also a share button so that entrants can help spread the word through social media about Sister Day.

This annual “holiday”, which falls on the last Saturday of May, was founded by — you guessed it — Søstrene Grene. It has its own Facebook page with over 6,500 likes, and lots of fun photos of pairs of sisters.  The page says that Sister Day “gives you a chance to show your sister that you love her despite everything.”

How could you translate this idea into a promotion in your store? You could host an event exclusively for sisters (or women with good friends who are like-a-sister).  Refreshments and a discount on sister-themed gifts would be a start.  A wall display of 4 X 6 photos of sisters submitted by customers would be a nice feature, and you could even have a photographer on hand to take pictures of the siblings. 

If you wanted to do a prize drawing, you could ask entrants to fill in a “why I love my sister” slip (but I’d suggest drawing the winner at random).  These entries could also be added to your wall display, or transcribed onto a special section of your Facebook page. You’d want to eliminate the contact information, of course, to respect the entrants’ privacy.

Good customers could be offered a discount card good for one day, along with a second one for their sister (or friend). This would be a good way to bring new shoppers into the store.  Let me know if you think of any creative way to target sisters in your store promotions.  It would be great to share them with others.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder