A leading Moray business that has been quick to recognise Social Media as the perfect way of interacting with their customers is set to give away £500 in goods to a lucky customer.
Lossiemouth-based Grampian Furnishers is leading the way in utilizing the online popularity of social media sites, recognising the phenomenal growth of the media in Moray and throughout the UK.
Increased internet speeds and availability has served to boost growth far quicker than had been anticipated, with the most recently published figures on the number of Facebook users in the UK quoting 31,456,000 – with 86% of citizens now having access to or use of the internet.
While no figures have been published for social media use specific to Moray the most recently published statistics show that the North East and Highlands of Scotland remains in line with the national average of well over 80% of people using the internet.
And while many companies in Moray have been surprisingly slow to react to the increasing importance of online web and social media sites, Royce Clark, owner of Grampian Furnishers, says that it has clearly become a key means of keeping in close contact with his customer base.
“Traditional advertising methods still have a role to play in any retail business while a continuing face-to-face relationship with customers remains the single most important aspect in maintaining customer needs and loyalty,” Mr Clark said.
He added: “What is becoming increasingly clear to me is a changing demographic in the way people shop. Customers are using web sites to seek out the product they wish to buy at the price they wish to pay – even those customers who call in at Grampian Furnishers are increasingly likely to have checked what we have online before they did so.
“Having a good web site is only half the story – to maintain a close contact with your customers then Social Media sites such as Facebook are also very important.
“Our Facebook site has grown rapidly in recent months and is very close to hitting 5000 people. We have used that community to bounce ideas around, from the type of products we sell to the direction our business is going.
“We find that both regular and new customers appreciate the direct contact and having a say in how we do things – while in return it allows us to repay their custom by offering special deals from time to time.”
To mark the approaching 5000th Facebook ‘like’, Grampian Furnishers are inviting customers to enter a competition that will see one of them win £500 in vouchers to spend in store.
Mr Clark said: “The ‘Your GF’ competition asks our customers to post a photo of something related to the Grampian Furnishers brand. It could be a room kitted out from us, your family sitting on one of our sofas, your dog on one of our rugs, our van in your drive – or simply a photo of you in store.”
Further details are on the Grampian Furnishers Facebook page, while the company’s web site can be found at http://www.grampianfurnishers.com/