Kirkland's In Early Stages Of Implementing Cross-Channel Marketing
By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA
With new digital loyalty program in place and increasing third quarter sales, Kirkland’s hopes to continue bringing in new customers and boosting sales
Kirkland’s reported a stronger than expected third quarter, with net sales increasing 9.8 percent to $106.1 million, compared to the $96.7 million for Q3’12. Comparable store sales including online sales also increased 4.9 percent, a nice improvement considering comps decreased 4.7 percent in Q3’12. Kirkland’s CEO Ronald Alderson says, “Sales momentum was strong during the quarter as our fall and holiday seasonal merchandise performed well… Traffic improved sequentially during the quarter, and early fourth quarter trends are similar. Our outlook for the fourth quarter remains upbeat, and we are optimistic about the further rollout of our branding initiatives as well as the introduction of our loyalty program, K Club.”
Kirkland’s was recently in the news because of its new, digital K Club Rewards Program, which enables customers to pay using other methods besides their store credit card and still earn rewards. With this program, customers no longer need to tout around a physical loyalty card or worry about losing or forgetting their card when they finally reach the register. All customers need to provide is a name, phone number, or email address and they can begin accumulating points. The company also enables customers to earn points for online purchases as well.
Kirkland’s has been particularly invested in creating a positive digital experience for its customers. About a year ago, the company launched a new “consumer-centric” mobile website featuring all of the popular desktop features. To encourage mobile usage in-stores, the company — an expert at engaging with customers via social media and email — celebrated the 2012 holiday season with a gamification campaign that combined in-store and online social and mobile components. QR codes enabled customers to access news and games involved in the campaign and play for prizes. According to the company’s marketing communication manager, Jessica Charlton, “Our focus around every holiday is to engage our customers, provide them with the information they’re looking for, and just have fun. We want customers to enjoy interacting with our products and the brand, and this campaign has certainly allowed us to do that.”
In order to continue learning more about what its customers are looking for, Kirkland’s says it plans to engage with cross-channel marketing in the future. According to senior marketing manager, Megan Casey, Kirkland’s sees “tremendous value in breaking down campaign silos so that we can focus on the consumer and let her behaviors, signals and preferences dictate the experience she receives. Particularly during the holidays, when we are heavily competing for shoppers’ attentions, it is important that we have the tools, technology and processes in place that helps us stand out from the noise and show our customers that we know who they are and what they like.”
The company also hopes to continue drawing in customers, not only through its new loyalty program, but also through the addition of new stores. Alderson says, “We also believe that fiscal 2014 is an opportune time to begin a more aggressive approach to store growth. We currently anticipate that our square footage growth will be at least 10% in the coming year.” By the end of Q4 the company plans to open 8 stores, closing 7. This will take the number of store openings to 24 for the 2013 fiscal year.
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