Distinctive shopping bags are nothing new. But finding used ones listed on eBay for $15 each is. This article on Boston.com (free subscription may be required) examines how popular these status-symbol bags have become. A quote from an executive with the group that owns the New England Patriots sums up the new trend: “We spent more time designing this bag than we spent designing the items we will sell to put in it.”

Regardless of the merchandise you sell, it’s not a bad idea to offer shopping bags that help customers remember your store. You don’t have to spend a fortune; we list some very affordable bags on our site. Wherever you obtain them, add a logo or tag that makes your bags stand apart. Like the article says, they can become marketing tools that your customers use on your behalf. The article doesn’t say that bags also help with customer loyalty.

At our house, a few sturdy Crate & Barrel bags with handle grippers are always laying around, either for their originally intended use or for toting things from place to place. We’ll even take them back to the store when we know we’re going to buy something else. The bags of the yoga retailer mentioned in the article are the ones so popular that they end up on eBay. I like that the retailer urges customers to reuse them. They even urge staff at their stores to come up with ideas for encouraging this, like donating 50 cents to a local charity each time a customer reuses a bag.

Offering a great shopping bag doesn’t guarantee retail success. But by letting customers walk out the door with a handheld reminder of what you’re all about, the more likely you are to have success in the bag.