What does Lego have to do with converting customers?

There are lots of creative ideas out there for in-store events and promotions, but inspiration for this blog was actually a trip to the LEGO store.

Lego Club is a day when the store is consistently busy for the hours the event is on and there is a steady line-up to the cash register as well.

Parents sign up their kids in advance and pay $10 for a Lego build that ends with them filling a box with Lego pieces from the wall of bricks.   

Parents happily interact with their children, helping them build the figure and then choosing bricks to bring home. Everyone walks out with a small Lego figure and a box of bricks for creative use at home. Most people take the time to look around the store at the boxed sets and other Lego products.

The Lego build creates a scheduled event for families at the store, building a community of Lego enthusiasts who become regular customers.

So Lego has essentially built a day when they have a guaranteed amount of increased traffic and built rapport with potential future customers. It also facilitates increased sales from people browsing after their child has built their figure.

How you can grow your retail business using the Lego marketing strategy?

By creating an event, like Lego Club, you can give your customers a reason to visit your store. Then by focusing on the customer experience, you can convert them into paying customers.

The Lego Club has extra, well-trained staff on hand to ensure the program is running smoothly and more staff to attend to browsing customers. Despite the large number of people, the customer experience is generally positive.  

Similarly, you can find ways to bring customers to your store for events that relate to your product that can build a loyal, repeat client base.

By covering the cost of hosting an event and running the program with an ‘entrance fee’, you’ve just built a cost-free marketing strategy. 

Here’s the breakdown of the LEGO Club concept and how you can apply it to building a program for your store.

Breakdown:

1. service you are offering. Eg: It wouldn’t make sense for LEGO to host a monthly cupcake decorating club, unless those cupcakes were used to lure people in to celebrate an event at the LEGO store.  You could tie the theme to seasonal events such as Halloween.
2. The organization and customer intake process must be smooth. Having a bad experience can have negative effects on your brand and store as well, make sure everything is well prepared and planned. At he LEGO club booking happens online or in store one month ahead, all the build pieces are laid out on tables around the store, staff are trained to assist and understand the flow.
3. Meet the expectations you set. Customers don’t want to be baited into coming to your store, only to find that the event was just one giant sales event, like those timeshare presentations that tell you to come and pick up your gift.
4. Make it a recurring event to build your following. The rule of thumb is to give your program six to eight months to determine whether it is worthwhile. This timeframe allows you to work through potential down cycles in your industry and also gives you enough time to make adjustments to your program. 
5. Charge for the event – you must put a value on the event in order to attract people. You can provide limited free tickets if you are just starting out, but it’s always wise to tag a value on it or else people won’t take the event seriously.
6. Create experiences that give your customers a sense of purpose or togetherness. LEGO’s use of show-and-tell after the free build, really pulls on the heart strings for the parents. Find a way to make it a positive, emotional experience for your customers.

If you have questions about business growth strategies, business planning, generating sales or marketing your business, call Chris Yeung, VP of Business Development at 403-837-8341 for a free one-hour consultation.