Blaze Trails With Your Customers on the Road

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Your retail operation may stock the supplies that traveling vacationers need, but have you thought about marketing specific products to recreational vehicle owners? If your business is located near one or more of the thousands of campgrounds in North America, then you may benefit from better understanding the customers who are passing through your area in their RVs.

Most of the 9 million RV owners in the U.S. take short trips three or more times every year, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. The association also reports that RV owners tend to range in age from 35 to 54, which means many of them are likely established in careers and have families they take with them on their travels.

These vacationers could regularly turn to your business for the supplies they need while traveling, such as small propane tanks and charcoal for grills, motor oil for their RVs and camp chairs for gathering around the fire pit, as well as small impulse items you sell at your checkout counter, like car chargers for cellphones and snack foods.

Applied to Retail

Attracting travelers to your store might require additional targeted marketing. Ask local campgrounds if you can post flyers near camping sites or advertise in campground maps.

If you’re not familiar with the busy seasons for the campgrounds near your business, ask for local statistics from tourism bureaus or chambers of commerce. Stay in touch with those organizations to learn when special events may attract extra campers.

Then, make your business traveler-friendly during those busy weeks or seasons by merchandising RV and camping products in easy-to-spot sections of your store. 

Create supply checklists for RV owners and post them in store windows or at the cash register. Doing so might go beyond attracting RV owners who need a specific item or two by reminding them of other supplies they want or forgot.