DW's Blog

Ad Sales

by DW Green — July 17, 2018

We visited a Wisconsin retailer last week. They have three great stores! They are clean, well merchandised, and well signed. They emanate an incredible amount of positive energy! I was impressed!

“The purpose of print and digital ads is to attract shoppers to your store.”

A conversation regarding ad sales came up during our meeting. Apparently, ad sales from the front-page items of their weekly ad (17 items) account for 4% of total sales. Seems pretty good to me. However, there is no way to measure the effect of the print ad with respect to that 4% of sales. I imagine a portion of those ad sales is the result of excellent product merchandising and product signage.

In my view, the purpose and value of the weekly print or digital ad is to attract customers to the store. Even ad shoppers will purchase additional items, some which may be on sale but not advertised. Less is more with the weekly ad. Fewer items with a bigger markdown will attract more customers!