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Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
RC Willey
October 10,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on October 2012
Offering that something extra is key to success at RC Willey, which celebrates is 80th anniversary in business this year.
I personally have been here for 26 of those years, said Vice President of Marketing Clark Yospe. Coming from a retail marketing background, when I started at RC Willey as head of the advertising department, I was interested in the little extras that were given to the customers at time of purchase.
The CEO at that time, Bill Child, explained to me that over the years he always liked to include a little gift that could be presented by the salesperson after the sale and before the customer left the store.
Furniture retailers competing for business with the the likes of Costco and Wal-Mart need something that makes them unique.
Here at RC Willey we call these tiebreakers, giving a reason to come here as opposed to the big box discounters, Yospe said. We see that one of the ways to compete is by offering the service a customer cannot get elsewhere while still being competitive on price.
It also means an extra, little gift or extra to RC Willeys customers and how that makes the retailer special.
This little extra escalated years ago from a lemonade pitcher with glasses when on a Super Saturday in the mid 80s RC Willey offered a 13-inch color TV for just $88 with a new purchase of $599, Yospe said. This offer today may be impossible to repeat if you even wanted to. I am not even sure that anyone makes a 13-inch TV anymore, and I am sure nobody would want one for $88 with purchase.
Back then, though, showing the TV and price large on a full-page newspaper ad, along with telling consumers of the retailers storewide sale, gave the two RC Willey stores their first million-dollar Saturday.
At RC Willey we continue to look for things that customers perceive as a high value, items that we could offer at a discount or free with a new purchase, Yospe said. The cost of what we lost on each item determines what the minimum purchase price is to qualify.
Past examples include a DVD Player packaged with a newly released popular DVD, both for just $10 with any new purchase over $299.
As we have progressed we have sent buyers to China to shop and purchase items that we use exclusively as premiums with purchases, Yospe said. Just to name a few, there (have) been cruiser bikes, large doll houses, air hockey tables, dishes and pan sets, luggage, Blu-Ray players, theatre-type popcorn poppers, flat panel TVs, rocking horses that sing, giant piano key mats (like the one in the movie Big). And there have been many, many more. At Christmas time we try to offer a major premium each week the three weeks prior to Christmas.
Does giving that extra really work, or does what the store loses selling extras at these low prices inspire customers to spend more?
The answer to those questions is yes, Yospe said. We see it working, and now customers are expecting that RC Willey will offer something special for big events. Because we buy direct from the factories in China, our costs are kept at a minimum. But one of the biggest benefits for RC Willey is the consumer sees a value they cant find anywhere else, which leaves them with the impression that we are a price leader.