Selling the Seafood Sizzle
Selling the Seafood Sizzle
One of the biggest problems that most consumers have with seafood is that they simply do not know how to cook it. This problem can be solved with a little education which will, when done effectively, create a loyal, committed customer. The question is how to educate. In today’s fast paced society, the consumer is typically looking to reduce their time shopping. Although they may say they are looking for an experience, in most cases, they target on developing a solution to their need for a meal and want to be in and out of the store as fast as possible. Getting your customer engaged will be the key to making them a customer.
The passive route to take is to develop recipe cards and to make them available to customers both at the counter and via your web site. The benefit of this approach is the low cost - on the flip side - it will do little to engage your customer and get them excited about seafood. The more proactive means of engagement would entail product demonstrations on site to show the customer the possibilities for creating a meal. The upside of this approach is that your customer will see, smell, and taste the product - the downside is that it is expensive and results in limited customer exposure.
I would recommend a hybrid approach - shoot a short video - no more than one minute - showing customers how to cook a particular meal. In order to fully engage your store associates in the promotion, have them submit the recipes and do the cooking. Combine this with a menu planning card as a take away and you have fully engaged your customer and made a sale in the process.