‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ goes the famous proverb. Some smart business entrepreneurs in Visakhapatnam and neighbouring regions seem to have understood the true essence of this and are making the best of the present currency crunch by coming out with clever marketing strategies to keep the cash registers ringing even as several trade and commercial establishments struggle to tide over the crisis generated by the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
Hub For Youth Go Karting Arena at Mangamaripeta is offering a special package of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 to encourage people to enjoy an evening there and spend the demonetised notes. “We are offering a special package of four games for Rs 500, which is otherwise charged at Rs 800. Similarly, people can play games worth Rs 1,600 by just paying the demonetised currency of Rs 1,000. We plan to keep this offer on till the end of December,” said Pramod Kumar of Hub for Youth Go Karting Arena. Interestingly, the Go Karting arena has seen their business go up by 40 per cent on Saturday as several people turned up at the entertainment zone to chill out in the weekend and part with the demonetised currencies.
“We normally see a daily business of Rs 45,000 on an average. Today, we made Rs 80,000 and are expecting a good turnout on Sunday as well,” Kumar added.
A similar strategy worked out well for Plot 17 restaurant that didn’t waste time in bringing out a smart marketing tactics to attract customers. Shortly after the news of demonetisation was out, the restaurant came out with an offer wherein customers could give their Rs 500 notes and enjoy meal worth Rs 600. “We normally get customers who spend Rs 200 or Rs 300 on an average on a single bill. But the initial days were difficult for us as returning change to customers were an issue in the absence of access to banks or ATMs. So we came out with this special package encouraging people to spend the demonetised currency. The response was very encouraging. We had people who visited us four times a day from breakfast to dinner,” said Sumanth Behara of Plot 17 on running the successful two-day campaign.
For Voonna Rohit, proprietor of Deccan Fried Chicken in Srikakulam, it was like killing two birds with one stone. While the Kartika Masam is normally a dull season for non-vegetarian outlets, the effect of demonetisation has come as double blow for many outlets. But Rohit has managed to turn it to his favour with a special offer wherein people can give their Rs 500 note and get food worth Rs 1,000. “The one-plus-one offer has seen tremendous response. In this season, we see only 150 orders daily. After coming out with this offer, we are getting 300 orders on a day,” said Rohit, who will keep the offer on till November 16. Many other small businesses in the region are accepting the demonetised notes in order to spur sales.
