Using Social Media to Increase Sales

Owners of baby and children’s shops are ready to offer some savvy insight into using social media to increase sales.

At Cookie Pot Children’s Boutique, in Gladstone, Ore., Owner Liz Banta described her technique as “posting new items that come in and doing that three posts a day. We also try to respond to people in a timely fashion and interact with our customers via social media sites. People can put things on hold, and we can invoice them online, and that often brings them into the store which leads to more sales,” she reported.

In Tucson, Ariz., at Lil’ Chic

Baby Bug Boutique, Owner Darrial Hellpao said, “I use Facebook and Instagram, but to be honest, I wasn’t really seeing a lot of traffic there. So I mostly focus on google on Google Ads. I have seen more traffic based on shoppers finding me there, and basing purchases based on those ads.”

In Scottsdale, Ariz., at Kidstop, Owner Kate Tanner said, “We did an Instagram video last night about a new gel blaster, a $60 toy, and we sold eight today plus accessories. People will come in and they will come in for those Instagram live items, they’ll share the video with each other there, or they saw us on Facebook. It works for us.”

In Laguna Beach, Calif., Allie Bennett, owner of the 550-square-foot Little Freebirds, posts a variety of new items on Facebook and Instagram, as well as offering the option to Facetime the store for personalized shopping without a visit in-store to browse.

While social media doesn’t translate into a large increase in purchases for every baby and children’s shop, in a number of cases, it does, and also serves to supplement other efforts to reach out to customers in this category. ❖ babies and adults, whiskey flasks for dads, Spongelle bath sponges for the kids, and in adult styles, we have a buffet table of Easter items. We like to do quirky, fun things. When you gift someone something from here, they will remember you.”

As far as pandemic changes go, Tanner said website updating was her key to sales survival. “We were very fortunate and blessed that we went to a new website when we got our PPP loan. We loaded about 3,000 toys on website in four weeks, and that helped us limp through last April to July on our old site. Then we launched a new site in November, ditching the outdated, four-year- old site. If your website has plugins or things like that, you have to make sure that you are updated to the nth-degree. As easy as it is to build a website now, there is no reason to sit on old- fashioned, cookie-cutter websites anymore. The baby industry always brings in a millennial panel to its conferences, and I will never forget a woman saying at one that ‘we judge you by your website.’” Tanner elaborated, “People are looking to see if it is a custom site that is a representation of the store, not just something basic. Your website and social media are big.”

But, for Kidstop, Tanner finds the biggest pandemic change to be a very positive one in terms of customer relationships. “The biggest change is how nice people have become. They are thankful for simple things like us carrying toys to their cars for curbside, and they are thankful for seeing us on Facebook. People say thank you a lot.”

In Laguna Beach, Calif., Allie Bennett , owner of the 550-square-foot Little Freebirds, said the pandemic year has been challenging, but despite that, “People always have a heart for little children.” She reported, “One new trend is in Legacy books, they’re very sweet, and I have seen people wipe away tears for these books. I think they offer hope.” Additionally, she finds items such as little Jellycat toys with books and ecologically sound Green Toys, do strong sales, as well as little trucker hats. “They’re well-made and, COVID or not, there is a lot of sun here, so the hats remain really strong sellers for us as gifts.”

Encouraging add-on sales means cross-merchandising for Bennett. “We always cross-merchandise everything. On mannequins, I have layered brands in clothing and always include toys. My mannequins have headbands, hats, sunglasses, everyone is fully dressed. I have a mannequin right now that’s wearing a Mimi & Maggie dress, a headband, glasses, and holding a Jellycat stuffed dog.”

As far as pandemic changes, Bennett asserted, “We do social distancing, and we have hand-sanitizing dis- pensers at our door and register to use and to buy; we sell masks, nice cotton ones for little kids. And if people need masks here to shop, we offer them. We didn’t find curbside pick-up to be that great for us. People either wanted to come in, or they did not. We offered it, but very few people called up about it.” Bennett said the shop also offered Facetime visits for shoppers. “I feel like a lot of my customers really didn’t want to jump online and do ordering. But by the same token, they didn’t want to buy from just everyone. They knew what we had. When they knew they were going to spend money, they really wanted to spend with someone they knew. I have been here in the community for a long time. They would rather call and do a Facetime buy, and I would bag, box, bow and they would come into the store for pick-up.” Above all else, she said, “We definitely had to pivot this year.”

In short, while gift and toy items at baby and children’s stores remains strong overall, one of the main takeaways in this category is that buyers want to shop local, rely on good customer service, and will support stores offering both - even in pandemic times. ❖