Here’s a way to set your retail store apart from the competition: Get your own
ZIP code.

That’s what Saks Fifth Avenue did at its flagship store in New York. Saks worked with the USPS to get its special four-letter ZIP extensions: 10022-SHOE comprises its eighth-floor designer-shoe department, which Saks says is the largest in the world.

While the new postal code ads some “zip” to the store’s image, Saks also goes a few steps further by offering ” a VIP room for private shopping and a massive shoe fitting room.” That’s the kind of service you expect from a store where the ladies’ shoes start at $400 a pair.

You don’t have to be the size of a Saks to get that kind of attention. Continuing the postal theme, you could create your own stamps at stamps.com and use them on promotional mailings. They’re not that expensive and they certainly make the recipient more likely to read your message than one with a USPS stamp.

If you have a vast selection of specialty items such as, say, celebrity bobble-head dolls, claim that your merchandise “Is Not for the Levelheaded.” See if you can get a phone number like 1-800-BOBBLES. Hold a contest to see which customer is a celebrity-bobble-head look-alike.

Follow Saks’ lead in the promotion area. Set yourself apart in the community and the industry. You probably won’t get your own ZIP code, but you could get some real foot traffic by following in Saks’ footsteps.