Panini America Father’s Day Promo Records a Hugely Successful 2015 Edition

June 29, 2015

Panini America 2015 Father's Day Recap Main

With Panini America’s 2015 Father’s Day promotion almost entirely in the books now, it’s safe to say that this latest edition, like the three blockbuster versions that came before it, ranks as another resounding success. Once again this year, the Panini America Father’s Day promotion transformed hobby shops across North America into bustling holiday destinations filled with feel-good buzz, warm father-child bonding moments, monster hits and several days worth of social-media must-sees.

In short, the promotion accomplished exactly what it was created to. But don’t simply take our word for it. Below, we’ve captured feedback from a handful of hobby-shop owners who witnessed the benefits of the promotion firsthand and were kind enough to share their feedback with The Knight’s Lance.

“Each year, the Panini America Father’s Day cards bring innovative designs and new memorabilia into the hobby. It seems to be a Panini testing ground for innovation and, across the board, Panini hits the mark for customer satisfaction. Cracked Ice, Lava Flow, and unique, never-pulled-before memorabilia first entered the hobby through Panini America promotion packs. Everyone likes free, and the free packs always bring smiles to customers’ faces. Many customers came into my store because of the Father’s Day promotion, with some traveling hundreds of miles. I have a customer from Mexico City who visits my store about three times a year. He asked me to save him some Father’s Day Packs for his next visit in September. A few customers walked into my store not knowing about the Father’s Day promotion. When I told them their already-planned purchase earned them some free Father’s Day packs they were impressed and thankful. This is a great way to develop customer loyalty and add to the value of each customer purchase.

“Financial impact to my store is significant. I estimate my Father’s Day weekend sales to be about $14,000 above an average weekend. And, the Father’s Day promotion continues to bring customers back into our store. We were able to secure enough Father’s Day Packs to last us for about another week. We continue to have people call and come in asking, ‘Do you have any Father’s Day packs left?’ At the same time, the Father’s Day promotion is more than financial impact. It generates new interest in the hobby. The free packs result in customer satisfaction and cultivates customer loyalty. It is the model example of a ‘Win, Win, Win’ situation.”

— Charlie DiPietro, Sports Cards Plus, San Antonio

“Panini America’s Father’s Day and Black Friday promotions have quickly become the benchmark for hobby store promotions. Nothing moves the needle better at my store each year than the opportunity to share free packs with exclusive singles. It is not just free packs, though; it’s what Panini America does to make them special. Offering numbered rookies, incredibly low-numbered parallels and some sweet signed singles and memorabilia cards is such a simple thing to do, but this year it led to me spending more than $16,000 to stock my store well enough.

“It has been about a week since we started with our 1,200 packs and thanks to the most incredible collectors a shop could hope for, we have just a few hundred left to share. Is it too early to get psyched for Black Friday 2015?”

— Mike Fruitman, Mike’s Stadium Sports Cards, Aurora, Colo.

Once again, after never previously doing any business on Father’s Day prior to the start of the Panini America promotion, 2015 was a record. I was packed from before Father’s Day. I actually had several customers in on Saturday who couldn’t make it on Sunday, so my Saturday numbers were more than $1,000 higher then the previous Saturday. On Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., we had 18 buying customers, many of whom came in with spouses and children. My numbers were 40 percent higher then last year for the day. Father’s Day and Black Friday continue to be two of the best days of the year, thanks to Panini America promotions.”

— Steve Mandy, Attack of the Baseball Cards, Union, N.J.