– “Promotional technique whereby the use of a product is demonstrated in a retail outlet. The in-store demonstration is used most often in large department stores, supermarkets, or mass-merchandise outlets that exhibit a heavy consumer-traffic pattern. Often, manufacturers will offer product discounts to dealers who will do in-store demonstrations.”
https://www.allbusiness.com/barrons_dictionary/dictionary-in-store-demonstration-4962689-1.html
– “In-store demos are a fun, unique, and engaging way to introduce new products to shoppers through product demonstrations or sampling. They can help you attract new customers, build personal relationships and trust, and increase sales and loyalty.”
– “In-store demonstrations provide a bevy of benefits that can help you engage your customers and improve your products and service. In-store demos empower you to: Test new brands or products. Enhance in-store experience. Improve customer loyalty. Increase sales. Gather customer feedback.”
– “Connecting with shoppers one-to-one or one-to-many—whether it’s to educate them about how your products are made or explain the benefits of using them—is a surefire way to build stronger and longer-lasting relationships. The more opportunities you create to engage with people, the more likely they are to feel a connection with you and your business, which can help improve customer loyalty.”
– “Brand ambassadors or representatives are a great way to increase brand awareness and engagement with shoppers. Whether you have brand ambassadors in your store during a demo day or hire them to hand out samples at another location or event, having more people to educate potential and existing customers about the products you sell will help grow your brand.”
https://www.shopify.com/nz/retail/in-store-demos
– “A successful campaign will deliver strong sales during the demonstrations and a sustained increase in sales after the campaign is finished.”
– “Shoppers expect a deal when they approach a demonstrator, so try to tie in your demonstrations to a price promotion, or at least a coupon.”
– “If your demonstrators have a stand, have them sell the product directly from the stand and position themselves near a product display if possible. If they don’t have a stand, they need to be in a busy foot traffic area close to the product.”
– “Think of your stand, tray, uniform, brand ambassador etc. as a live billboard. You must capture shopper interest and convey brand and key messages in a glance. Once you have hooked a shopper’s interest it is far easier to get them to engage and buy.”
https://stoppress.co.nz/partner-articles/how-get-great-results-your-store-demonstration/
From an early age, my Mum would take me & my four siblings on weekly trips to the library. I learnt it was ok to ask for help from the librarians, they were the ‘information specialists’. As I grew I learnt to research the library catalogue by myself, the non-fiction section opened up a world of learning for me & still does today.
When I became pregnant with my son, my doctor referred me to the Early Start Project. For the first five years of my son’s life, we were provided with wrap around services, thanks to our support worker, Margaret. Whatever help I needed, if she couldn’t help me, she would connect me with another organisation/service that could.
“We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. Oh no! We’ve got to go through it!”
“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen
Ben’s favourite book as a baby, became my life motto during his childhood.
I know what it’s like to be on a ‘waiting list’ & wondering when ‘help’ will arrive. I know what it’s like to ‘not meet the criteria, sorry we can’t help.’ I know what it’s like to be judged…”don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”
Over the last 15 years, I’ve engaged with 50+ organisations for support & the opportunity to learn the life/coping skills I needed.
My husband has bipolar, my son was diagnosed with ADHD, Autism & Sensory Processing. I was diagnosed with RSI in my early 20’s, then CRPS. In 2017, I was diagnosed with chronic pain, which is why I’m so passionate about well-being now.
‘You don’t know what you need to know, until you need to know it.’
‘I wish I had known about that organisation sooner’ & ‘I wish they taught that at school’, are thoughts I’ve had over the years.
After overhearing conversations between employment support workers/tutors with their clients in our libraries & observing how different customers react to instore demonstrations, I came up with this concept to integrate support services into our library learning spaces.
‘Participate, Engage, Observe’
Instore demonstrations work with the flow of people in a supermarket & are positioned accordingly.
Shoppers usually have one of three reactions:
1. Participate (stop & engage with demonstrator),
2. Engage (walk passed & take what is handed to them by the demonstrator),
3. Observe (watches & listens by shelves close to the demonstrator)
The same principles would work if we integrated support services into our library learning spaces:
1. Participate: support services can invite residents to learn more about their services or hold weekly/monthly meetings.
2. Engage: support services ‘demonstrators’ become a familiar face, in residents local ‘safe’ place, more accessible ‘bumping’ space.
3. Observe: residents are now aware of this support service, they might not need their help at this time or they might remember this support services & refer someone else to it. Residents might not be comfortable approaching ‘demonstrators’ in a public place & may reach out to the support service in private. Some residents who have trust issues, will need to see the support service or ‘demonstrator’ more than once, before they decide it is ‘safe’ to ‘participate’ or ‘engage’.
“We cannot force someone to hear a message they are not ready to receive. But we must never underestimate the power of planting a seed.”
“One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said “I made a difference for that one.”
By Loren Eisley