​By Moe Lastfogel
Director of Sales and Marketing for The Retail Observer

In June of this year, I was invited on an amazing trip by one of our partners, Liehberr, to visit the factory in Austria where the new Monolith refrigerators are produced. This was a special visit, as it was also an incentive trip for their top retailers and distributers to attend. It all started off with breakfast in an open-air garden restaurant in Munich with sausage, pretzels and beer.

We headed to the site of the 1972 Olympics and were treated to a feast in the revolving restaurant in the Olympic Tower. The food was amazing and the view was breathtaking— bringing back memories of the events that took place there in 72’.
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We took an amazing scenic drive from Munich to Lienz through the Austrian Alps and to the Grandhotel Lienz ( My personal rating was 5 Stars. ) After a wonderful evening of drinks and dinner , I turned in early as the next morning was going to be a full day. We spent 6 hours learning about the various products that Liebherr manufactures in Lienz, their history, and a tour their amazing factory. After the training, we had an amazing dinner on a cliff in the Austrian Dolomites. Talk about a view (and truly a white-knuckle bus ride.) More sausage, pretzels, and beer, of course.

The next day we were taken on another scenic drive to Telfs Austria, home of the Liehberr Bulldozer factory. As you’ll read in this month’s main feature, Liebherr makes more than refrigerators. My only wish after seeing how they made these massive earth movers was that I could’ve taken one for a joy ride on the testing grounds!

The last few days were spent at the Liehberr Interalpen Hotel high in the Alps (I’d rate it 6 Stars if that existed). This was the most amazing hotel I have stayed in and puts all others I’ve seen to shame. We were treated like royalty; golf, spa treatments, incredible food, and amazing rooms and views. I think my favorite part was experiencing Mrs. Liehberr’s culinary expertise with our meal the last night there. A true Germanic meal and amazing hospitality.

Our last day was spent on the road back to Munich, a historical walk thru the famous city, a visit to the Hofbrauhaus, and an amazing dinner (and yes, there were sausage, pretzels and beer.)

I’ll remember this trip for the rest of my life. Thank you again to our hosts, and happy retailing.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen (Sincerely),
Moe Lastfogel
moe@retailobserver.com

By Moe Lastfogel
Director of Sales and Marketing for The Retail Observer

Today’s consumer wants that extra something, whether it be a discount or an added incentive. Being up against MSRP, UMRP, and the Internet, retailers are expected to give away gifts or offer incentives and discounts. Consumers have more confidence these days and seem to think, “If I purchase from you, what incentives are in it for me?”

With pricing below set standards being against the “rules”, you now need to come up with better ways to entice customers to make a purchase—most importantly, a purchase with you. A few retail chains around the country are offering various sizes of TVs with the purchase of a complete kitchen, mattress or bedroom/living room set. Some offer free delivery and set-up, and some add an extended warranty.

At many of the shows and buy fairs I have visited this year, the opportunities to find unique incentive and promotional items were boundless. Some ideas I saw seemed so obvious, but many retailers are still not offering incentives such as pillows with mattress and bedroom set purchases; or kitchen utensils, pot and pan sets or small appliances as enticements for large appliance purchases. Even vacation/cruise packages have been an offering.

When I used to sell kitchen appliances, there were many instances where the cook of the household would inevitably remark on how they now needed new pots and pans to make the purchase complete. How many more customers would we have lured in if we had advertised that very thing as an incentive?

I would like to hear what your store does to make the buying decision sway to your favor. What kind of promotions do you run? What incentives do you offer your customers that have aided in the buying process? Is customer service your only offering, and is it working for you with today’s incentive-driven customer?

Happy Retailing,
Moe Lastfogel
​moe@retailobserver.com