94 / 102
Survey
Continued
[ 90 ]
TOBACCO BUSINESS
[
SEPTEMBER
/
OCTOBER
|
17 ]
4
ENGAGE CUSTOMERS
WITH AN E-NEWSLETTER
(% of respondents who have
an e-newsletter)
BISHOP’S TAKE:
“Don’t have a sign-up form if you
aren’t going to use it—and if you
use it, make sure you use it in a way
that you would want to be interacted
with,” advises Bishop, who notes
that retailers who find that less than
20 percent of newsletter recipients are
opening their emails should rethink
what they’re doing. “Retailers who do
a good job get open rates of 40-plus
percent. Something—wanting to
know about upcoming events or pro-
motions, for example—drew those
customers to give you permission to
contact them. Find out what it was
and deliver on that.”
78%
83%
83%
44%
TOP QUARTILE:
THIRD QUARTILE:
SECOND QUARTILE:
BOTTOM QUARTILE:
6
HOST THEMED EVENTS
(% of respondents who reported
running a themed event in the past
30 days)
BISHOP’S TAKE:
“Experiment with drawing traffic to
your store with themed events like live
music or a party to celebrate an event
like the Super Bowl or geared toward
a customer segment, such as police
officers or the military.”
7
OFFER KNOWLEDGEABLE,
PERSONAL SERVICE
(% of respondents who described
their personnel as “extremely”
knowledgeable and service-oriented)
BISHOP’S TAKE:
“You need employees who can do
more than just get customers what
they ask for. A tobacconist shop is
like a wine shop; many customers
who come in want to be guided to
something new or to engage with an
expert who can tell them what makes
a cigar different—something they can
then go and tell their friends.”
78%
57%
81%
50%
TOP QUARTILE:
THIRD QUARTILE:
SECOND QUARTILE:
BOTTOM QUARTILE:
5
OFFER ONE-DAY
SPECIAL DEALS
(% of respondents who reported
offering one-day deals in the
past 30 days)
BISHOP’S TAKE:
“When you shop Trader Joe’s or
Costco, part of the attraction is that
you never know what you’ll find. So
you don’t necessarily want to have
a specific cadence, once a week or
every Friday; you want to surprise
and delight your customers in that
same way.”
83%
52%
76%
65%
TOP QUARTILE:
THIRD QUARTILE:
SECOND QUARTILE:
BOTTOM QUARTILE:
83%
52%
71%
62%
TOP QUARTILE:
THIRD QUARTILE:
SECOND QUARTILE:
BOTTOM QUARTILE:
NUMBER
OF STORES
One Store:
76%
2 Stores:
9%
3-5 Stores:
7%
6-plus Stores:
8%
WHAT ELSE
THEY CARRY
(% of total
respondents
carrying category)
Pipe/Cigarette
Tobacco:
85%
Tobacco
Pipes:
85%
Premium
Cigarettes:
63%
Rolling
Papers:
48%
Smokeless
Tobacco:
42%
Make-Your-Own
Cigarettes:
42%
Standard
Cigarettes:
33%
Alternative Pipes/
Glassware:
5%
HOW THEY
REWARD
REGULAR
CUSTOMERS
(% of total
respondents
who have this
type of program)
Loyalty
Programs:
46%
Membership
Programs:
44%
Clubs:
30%
PARTICIPANTS
BY THE NUMBERS
The survey on which
this article is based
received responses from
110 cigar shop owners,
most of whom reported
weekly sales ranging
between $8,250 and
$14,950. To follow are
additional statistics on
the respondents.