Have you heard about the Build-A-Bear fiasco? Build-A-Bear Workshop declared last Thursday “Pay Your Age Day.” Customers could come in and build a bear at its workshops across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. for the price of their age rather than the $50+ it normally costs. Not a bad deal if you’re an 8-year-old or even a 35-year-old parent. The response was overwhelming, with mile-long lines in some places. According to The Washington Post, some waits were seven hours long.
It’s great that there is a large, enthusiastic audience wanting to build these bears, but that’s about the only ray of sunshine here. Some stores gave customers who were turned away a $15 voucher. As a parent, I can tell you that the voucher does little to placate a disappointed child. They were counting on a new furry friend. Many of the ones turned away were members of their Bonus Club, a frequent buyer program, already and others had to join to get the discount. In other words, their best customers. Yikes!
The CEO went on TV and said: “There was no way for us to have estimated the kind of impact, those kind of crowds.” He added, “We did put a notice out for people that we thought the lines could be long, and we worked with the malls, but it was beyond anything we could’ve ever imagined.”
That’s the point for any of us who run promotions. You need to imagine what an overwhelming response will do to your operation. In this case, maybe they should have had people sign up to take advantage of the promotion in advance (and get their emails as a bonus) to get places in the line, much as one does at a concert to get in “the pit”. Maybe extend the promotion for a few days to let those people into the store at predetermined times. Heck, maybe take space in unrented stores in the mall and add capacity. Be creative, consider lifetime customer value, and spend what you need to in order to prevent a disaster.
No good deed may go unpunished and companies that disappoint their best customers rarely go unpunished as well. You with me?
Consult Keith 