Supermarket sweep (you off your feet)!

Love was in the aisles at Casey's SuperValu in Lusk this month, when the store hosted a supermarket date night. General manager Trevor Kearns outlines the benefits of developing such creative events

News

18 February 2014

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"Shopping for your dinner, and a new partner, brings a healthy mix of passion and practicality to the normal grocery shop." So says the team at Casey’s SuperValu in Lusk and judging by the success of their recent in-store dating event on Sunday, 9 February, we would be hard-pressed to disagree! Out of a total of 50 participants, eight potential new partners agreed to swap contact details, with even more placing each other on a ‘maybe’ list.

Feel good factor

While the romantics among you will no doubt be pleased to hear that Cupid’s arrow didn’t miss the mark, general manager Trevor Kearns explains that the event generated many more positives for the store. Top of the list was a "real feel good factor" for staff and customers. "Everybody at the end of the night said that was absolutely brilliant, it was really different to ordinary dating and they would do it again," says Kearns.

In the following days, the event continued to be a prime topic of conversation, with every customer asking: ‘How did it go?’ And although the manager can now happily note: "I’ve never had something with so much positive feedback", the initial decision to host a Valentine’s-themed event was not without risk. "There was a danger when we were setting out that people would say ‘are you having a laugh?’ or make fun out of it, but nobody did that, everybody took it in really good humour and it was all really, really positive."

Publicity perks

The event’s fun factor also ensured it attracted plenty of media coverage. "We actually got bucket-loads of publicity," Kearns notes enthusiastically. "We were in two of the local papers, we were in the online paper, The Journal.ie, where the article got over 15,000 views. We were on three different radio stations and we were mentioned on another radio station. The publicity that we got from it far outweighed the cost of the event."

Valentines

An added bonus was that many participants decided to do a trolley shop afterwards. It’s small wonder therefore that Kearns says Casey’s SuperValu will "absolutely" host the event again next year, and "might even extend the booking period to get more people interested in it".

In general, events are a key priority for Kearns who has been running the store for the past 18 months. Providing an example of the rewards that can be generated, at Hallowe’en the supermarket hosted a colouring competition with a magician in-store. "Our sales were 27% up on that day versus the same day without an event the previous year," says Kearns. Meanwhile on St Patrick’s Day, Casey’s SuperValu hosted a ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ which showcased the SuperValu own-brand range. Over the next six months, own-brand sales rose by 4%.

Valentines

Building customer loyalty

What’s more, the store’s Facebook following has grown by 700% since it started running such events, and has now achieved over 1,000 ‘likes’. Yet even more important for the enterprising manager, is the fact that such events can help build an emotional connection with customers and develop their loyalty. "It actually brings you closer to your customers and helps you to build a relationship with them because they see your fun side." Kearns recounts how store owner Robert Casey used to manage a SuperValu in Dungloe, Donegal. One day, a man came up to him and told him how he remembered visiting the Dungloe store as a child and loving its events. "You’re therefore building a customer for life; people respect that and they get it. The discounters or Tesco, they wouldn’t be able to do things like that – they don’t do that – and that’s where the small independents can really, really create a point of difference by showcasing that."

An exceptionally strong emotional connection with the store will certainly be made if any of the newly formed couples manage to last the pace! In fact, a band called the Retronauts has already contacted the SuperValu to say that if any of them are still together in 18 months’ time, they’ll play for free at their wedding. So that’s the week’s groceries, adoring partner and wedding entertainment sorted! We think the pioneering Casey’s SuperValu in Lusk has just brought a whole new meaning to the phrase one-stop-shop.

How did the event work?

Casey’s SuperValu in Lusk partnered with dating events organiser Getout.ie to host its night. According to Kearns, the store was keen to get the dating experts involved from the beginning. As he candidly admits: "To be fair we know about selling value, but we don’t know much about dating nights! They run loads of events throughout the year so they have experience in how to set everything up and how everything works. They advised us every step of the way. We worked really closely together on this to make sure it was a success."

The event was carefully structured along the following lines:
• Inspiration was taken from date nights held at Asda in the UK and Trader Joe’s in the US
• People could book free tickets to the event at Getout.ie
• The booking process ensured an even balance of men and women
• Name badges and comment cards were given to participants on arrival so they could mark down who they wanted to see again
• 50 people participated and were separated into smaller groups of 10, according to their respective age groups
• The groups visited different ice-breaker tasting stations around the store
• Tasting stations included the SuperValu Signature range, beers, chocolates, wine and cheese
• Each station host explained a little about the products being sampled and initiated ice breakers such as ‘ask the person on your left what their favourite food is’ – encouraging people to interact and mingle
• All groups came together at the end to take part in ‘getting-to-know-you’ games
• A DJ was on hand to keep everyone entertained throughout the night
• The successful matches swapped their contact details

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