Shop Talk: All’s fair in profits war
Heaven help us. It's the return of Stikeez
Heaven help us. Stikeez, the collectable promo peddled by Pick n Pay that so effectively brought out the hustler in little (and big) kids alike, is back.Collectable campaigns, like loyalty schemes and "hint of desperation" discounts (like BOGO — buy one, get one free — and AYCE — all you can eat) fall within the auspices of marketing techniques aimed at creating "stickiness" or repurchase behaviour between consumer and brand.They get feet in the door.Last week I had a chat with a retail boss, who told me that the level of promotion in the SA market at the moment is unprecedented."Guys will do anything," he said.And can we blame them? Annual growth in retail sales fell to 0.2% in August — that’s the weakest growth rate since June 2014.A song comes to mind. It goes something like this: "Um boom ba bay / Um boom ba bay / Um boom boom ba ba bay / Pressure, pushing down on me / Pressing down on you ..."Retailers have been cranking up their promotional hype machines because consumer spend...
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