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Tips for leveraging big lottery jackpots in retail

Big lottery jackpots can be a challenge in terms of shop floor management as well as that they can suck cash out of the local economy that might otherwise have been useful for spending of products in your shop. Big lottery jackpots are also an opportunity to leverage, bringing in people you have not seen before. The key is what you do with the new traffic.

Here are some tips for shop floor management:

  1. Have a clearly understood queuing system.
  2. Have someone on the floor triaging shoppers. For example, someone may want a simple quick pick. You might have these ready for immediate fast purchase.
  3. Ask early. Immediately you know a bog jackpot is happening, list $70M, $80M or $100M or more, immediately start pitching to every customer. It’s better you win the purchase early in the week than the lottery outlet they are closest later in the week.
  4. Play good music.
  5. On the heaviest day, invite a local busker in to entertain, have kids activities on the shop floor incite a local charity to run a sausage sizzle out the front of the shop. The goal here is to add to the event feel and support the jackpot.

Here are some ideas for leveraging big lottery jackpot traffic:

  1. Get everyone on board. Everyone working in the shop needs to be on the same page about the jackpot, leveraging the opportunity at the counter, talking to customers, sharing dreams, selling.
  2. Make it easy. Preprint tickets ready for people to purchase as a lucky dip. All the same price. Something they could buy with change.
  3. Respect other shoppers. Make sure that anyone wanting anything else in your business can easily shop with you. Manage any queue well. Talk about this on Facebook, that even though there is a jackpot , you are making shopping easy, fast and helpful. It is vital that people see your business as more than a lottery store.
  4. Reward early shoppers. Bring purchases forward by offering those who buy in, say, the first four days of an on-sale. With most impulse purchases for a large jackpot being in the last two or three days and these often made while people are out and about, try and ‘steal’ that business from other retailers. Here are some Earlybird jackpot ideas:
    1. Each purchase of a ticket in the jackpot over and amount you choose gets a free $1 scratchie – you could win $XXX.
    2. Each purchase today goes in the draw for a FREE $50 bonus ticket. Get them to write their name and number on a small form. Print the ticket to show it’s real.
    3. Each purchase in the jackpot between now and XXX (three days before the draw) goes in the running to win a System X (choose a size based on your situation).
  5. Map the route. Sketch out your floor layout and mark the route most jackpot customers will travel. This shows you the areas of your shop where you need to focus, where to place impulse purchase lines. These impulse purchase lines should be easily understood, priced for easy purchase, easily carried and relevant.
  6. On social media. In the week before the jackpot, while you may be tempted to promote it, talk about other products that help define your business because beyond the jackpot, this will matter.
  7. Make them walk through it. Create a fresh environment of products through which lottery shoppers to walk. This is where you pitch what you do that is different. It is crucial shoppers walking through the front part of the shop feel and see the change.
  8. Pitch at the door. As they enter and, crucially, as they leave. Show them products they would not expect you to have in the shop. Make it easy for people to buy these products.
  9. Pitch at the counter. Stand where your lottery customers will stand. Look at what they will see. make sure your messages are clean, simple and engaging. Everything they can see should be about getting them to spend money with you.
  10. Care for your team. The week of a large jackpot places extra demands on everyone. Help your team members through this with extra attention on breaks, coffee, water, snacks and other things to demonstrate appreciation for the extra demands on them.
  11. Have fun.

The value of any lottery jackpot to your business beyond lottery commission depends on what you do.

Footnote: this advice is part of the extensive newsXpress knowledgeable accessible by newsXpress members. It is a deep well of advice and encouragement for building more valuable businesses.

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