How a Vegan Store Can Appeal to Non-Vegans

As the owner of a vegan store, are you in danger of developing tunnel vision when it comes to marketing your products? Although the focus of your store is veganism and vegan products, you may be overlooking billions of potential customers who are non-vegan if the focus of your advertising is too narrow. Don’t forget about the mainstream audience. It can be very good for business (and raise awareness of veganism in general) to encourage mainstream consumers to do some vegan shopping!

Who Could Be Your New Customers?

In 2000, The Vegetarian Resource Group conducted a poll to identify “typical” vegetarian and vegan consumers. Some characteristics that described these individuals were: well-educated, coastal residents, women and health fanatics. These broad terms also, of course, apply to many non-vegans. As a vegan store owner or manager you can use this information to transform your advertising so it attracts a wider customer base.

For example, if you sell vegan protein bars, you can appeal to non-vegan consumers depending on the features of your bar. Consider, how can these individuals benefit from it even though they’re not vegan? Maybe, compared to other bars,  yours has high protein and low calories or sugars. Featuring these product strengths, you can appeal to moms on the go, workaholics, active and sporty individuals or college students – vegan or not.

Increasing the Appeal of your Vegan Store

Once you brainstorm the ways that your products can relate to non-vegans, you can develop a more strategic advertising plan for your vegan store. Maybe you will increase your target market to include health nuts and animal lovers as well as vegans. Whichever spin you decide to take, remember to keep track of sales and customers, and analyze your numbers to see if your new advertising is effective.