FROM BEVERAGE RETAILER: "RETAILER ROLLS OUT THE 'WELCOMEMAT' FOR CUSTOMERS"

CHARLOTTE, NC—Welcomemat Services, Inc. was featured in Beverage Retailer Magazine. The following article is property of Beverage Retailer Magazine and is copy-right protected.

The old adage "nothing is ever really free" has been successfully challenged by Don Podrebarac, owner of Southern Spirits in Charlotte, N.C., with a unique marketing program that has spiked his store's sales by giving away free bottles of wine.

"I am a big believer in marketing," Podrebarac says. "Success is driven in retail based upon the number of people you can bring into your store, and advertising's job is to bring people in."

To draw new customers into his store, Podrebarac teamed with Welcomemat Services, Inc., a company that specializes in helping businesses turn new residents into loyal customers through direct mail gift certificates.

"It's not uncommon in direct mail for businesses to send out coupons for 'Buy One, Get One Free' or for restaurants to offer 'Buy an Entree, Get Your Second Entree for Half Price.' Those are the norms and I did not want to do something that was just normal. So in my case I decided that I would be more than delighted to give someone a bottle of wine just to come in and look at my store if they were brand new to the community," Podrebarac says. "At the same time, I give them a lifetime membership into our VIP club, so it's a good way of welcoming someone into the neighborhood."

Brian Mattingly, president of Welcomemat, says the company focuses on the newcomer market because statistics show that new residents are the most receptive market segment and are five times more likely to become loyal customers. "New residents spend more in the first year than existing residents spend in five years, and are even more likely to change their brand loyalty after a move," Mattingly says.

Podrebarac says the program has exceeded his expectations. "Our redemption rate on the coupons is 15 percent, sometimes as high as 25 percent, compared to what you normally get from direct mail (less than a two percent average response rate) it's been way, way successful," he says.

With the giveaways getting new customers in the door, Podrebarac says his job is to make sure they come back. It was my assumption that people were not going to come in and get something for free without probably getting something else," he says. "But there are some that have done that and I appreciate the fact that they came to see the store. Because the beauty of it all is that they will come back."