Jackpot Sign Updates
If there was something simple you could do that took less than three minutes a week, but had the potential to increase a product's sales by at least 30 percent, would you do it? Then, update your curbside Powerball jackpot signs twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays following the drawings.
It's a well documented fact that Powerball sales are almost completely driven by the size of the jackpot, which if not won during a particular drawing, will grow for the next one. Not every customer reads the morning paper or drives by one of the Lottery's automated jackpot billboards. These customers depend upon a retailer's curbside signs to alert them to growing jackpots.
It makes sense that if gas prices drop, you would rush to change outdoor signage to not be beaten by the competition. While you may not think the gas category and lottery category are comparable in terms of effect on your bottom line, consider this.
In many cases, your curbside Powerball sign is what motivates a pay-at-the-pump customer to come inside. And once there, he will spend money on other items in your store. Many other outdoor POS pieces have the same potential to impact sales, but like gas price signage, updating them is the key.
As part of servicing your store, your Lottery CSR will often update your curbside jackpot sign. But if you rely solely on your CSR, you will be missing out on sales, even during lower jackpot periods.
Take, for example, a Powerball jackpot of $25 million for a Wednesday night drawing. Just three drawings later, or the time you would wait for your CSR to change your sign, the jackpot has grown to about $57 million and draw sales have increased 30 percent!
And when the jackpot is $100 million or more, draw sales begin to increase at even greater levels with every drawing. This is when people who are not regular Powerball players to begin to play, but only if they are aware of the high jackpot!
The Lottery effectively advertises jackpot alerts on the radio and television, but what can you do to capture this market and ensure that they come into YOUR store? Make an established routine for staff of the first shifts on Thursdays and Sundays to update your jackpot signs and include this task in training new hires.
