Making Events Fun While Making Customers Safe

By King Rogers and John Gantenbein, KRG2, LLC

Highly marketed special events like celebrity appearances and media excited special sales like "Doors Open At 5 a.m. For After- Thanksgiving Sale" or "Doorbuster Sale" can drive a lot of buzz into stores — not to mention customers and, most importantly, sales. However, we've all seen and heard news reports where the event mushroomed out of control and customers or employees were injured or worse by the crowds. What was intended to be a fun and profitable sales event turns into a media relations and brand-eroding nightmare. The question then becomes, how does the retailer hosting the event make it fun for the customer while also making it safe for everyone?