A Day of Shopping with Bad Marketers!

Had to deal with some personal stuff for a few months - but now "I'm baaack!!" - with plenty to say.

Just got done with a marathon outlet shopping trip with a close friend who is also a marketing exec.  Amazing how many companies lost out on opportunities today to not only gain fans, but to make money.

Bad Marketing #1:  Restoration Hardware: This"leading purveyor of premium home furnishings, operating more than 100 retail and outlet stores"- is trying to be a forward thinking company- it has embraced Facebook in a big way (though I can't find them on Twitter) yet they have ignored the key philosophy of today's marketing environment:
Listen to your customers and respond to them!  Maybe that's why they only have 7K fans.

My friend wanted to buy $160 worth of sale priced draperies - but the store was short  one package.  The manager/clerk was very nice and offered to find it at another store - which they did.  However, the other store hadn't put the drapes on sale - and corporate policy was they wouldn't honor the sale price!  So our store manager - who was very nice and tyring to help, but not empowered to override the corporate policy - allowed a $160 sale to walk, for not authorizing a $10 discount!  How ridiculous!

Bad Marketer #2:  Haynes/Bali/Leggs:  Haynes has a frequent shopper program (like half of the stores we went into.)  But here's the thing - they only honor it for IN STORE purchases.  Now we're talking underwear - frequently purchased in their online store.  Why only in store?  Because this HUGE apparel company with over $4B in sales hasn't automated their system.  They give you physical "stamps" for each purchase.  What do they think they are, a local sandwich shop?    They have 92K "fans" on Facebook - but you can only be part of their frequent buyer program if you buy in store!  Is anyone running marketing??  If not, Terri and I are both available for consulting.

Marketing Idea:  As I said above - so many stores are promoting their "club" or loyalty program - along with both of the above - there was also Eddie Bauer, Easy Spirit...  Everywhere we were asked if we were members, did we want to join, then all the contact info...   All that's really needed, is to ask for an email account!  (Of course, just having it beamed by smart phone/RID card is where we're headed.)

But right now - with existing technology, and minimal modifications to systems - save us all some time and get the email address!

1. By the customer providing it - you have your implied consent.  
2. The welcome email can:

• Invite the consumer to "Like" the retailer on their Facebook page
• ask for all, or some of the demo info all retailers want.  

This minimally slows down the sales process - so you don't have people waiting in line for the clerk to get the name, spelling, address, etc. (yes - they still wanted street addresses - I can see asking for a zip code for geo targeting - but for snail mail???), .

On another note - Social media can, and will probably eventually replace all the separate loyatly programs - but that's for another time.

So what do you think?  Am I just ranting - or is there a good point in here?