How do you test the water?

Cultural Tip: Unlike in America, stores in Europe aren't open all the time! 

Sounds terrible, right?  No grocery shopping on Sunday evenings, no 24-7 Walgreens for picking up supplies in the middle of the night, and no way to buy that fabulous pair of jeans right before going out for the night.

Actually, it's only a tragedy for people like me who get a hankering to go shopping only late in the afternoon--typically only a very short time before the shops all close!

That's why I'm really excited about the shopping promotions that Bremen, Germany, is doing this summer.   

I think that they're testing the water to see if there is interest for longer opening hours.  But the way they're doing it is really fresh and smart!

Instead of just extending their opening hours quietly and hoping people will notice, Bremen decided to make a big splash. 

About once a month, all the stores in the city center throw a big event outside of their regular operating hours. In July, the stores stayed open on Friday until midnight.  Yesterday, the stores opened on Sunday for a couple hours.

There's music, samples, treats, and TONS of people. All the young people come out in force to shop, and the streets are completely packed.  A shopping bag on the arm is de rigueur and everyone wants to know what's inside and where it came from.

It's brilliant.

Here's why this promotion is so fresh:

• Not only are the stores finding out if people want longer opening hours, they're attracting traffic in droves because the whole trial is a big social event. 

• Sure the stores have to pay a couple employees for a few extra hours, but the stores are packed.  It's almost like Christmas season in there!

• It's way better than sales or discount coupons.  Not only are people coming in with the intention of buying, they're happily purchasing full-priced merchandise.

• It's a rare event, so it gets a lot of attention.  People talk about it on the internet, the radio stations bring it up, and the news is all over town.  Doesn't happen too often, so everyone talks about it when it does!

• It's a party!  It's fun, it's festive, and it's a ball to go shopping there with friends at night.  Even people who had their own parties that night dropped in on the fun.  (We counted 6 bachelorette parties!)
  

Of course, the stores of Bremen could have easily gone the boring route in testing out the water.

Perhaps a couple surveys, or perhaps a gradual lengthening of opening hours. You know, the normal stuff that doesn't get a lot of attention, but also doesn't have a lot of risk.

But luckily, the stores in Bremen decided to go a different route and do something much more exciting.  Kudos to them!

Comments

[shaji.k]

dear katie, i read entries in this blog and also in doesyour majormatter.com.as an admirer of de bono and as one who tries to follow him in organising or (deorganising) thought patterns and observations, ur blog has been a gr8 help. ur education in malta ensures that u don't leave college like jumping out of a moving train!
congrats, keep it up and if u plan to explore India, let me know.

[Adam Lawrence]

Katie,

great report, and you really catch the atmosphere - thanks. But I'm afraid the stores are not really being innovative, just taking advantage of what they can get.

Extended opening is flat illegal in Germany - and highly political. The larger stores are screaming for it, but the Unions and Churches are set against it.

To keep both sides happy, most local councils allow a certain number of special days a year. On these handful of days, the stores can open as they wish. Of course, the stores need to make it work (they want to prove it would work as a permanent change), so they promote it like crazy.

Legislation more than innovation, I'm afraid...

Cheers

Adam
Germany