How to Run an In-Store Contest

In France, an in-store contest has been allowed to require a purchase since 2011, as long as it does not amount to an unfair commercial practice. An in-store contest is a short promotion that gives people a reason to walk in, leave their details and come back. Getting yours right comes down to five decisions: the goal, the mechanic, the legal framework, the prizes, and what you do with the contacts once the draw is over. This guide covers all five in order, with the French rules that apply.

Start with one goal

An in-store contest serves one goal at a time. Either you want new footfall, or you want known customers to come back. That choice drives everything else: the mechanic, the prize, where you promote it and how you measure the result. A contest built for both does neither well.

An opening or a new range

For an opening, a move or a new range, the contest works as a living sign. What matters is how many people come in and leave a trace. A highly visible prize and a twenty-second entry beat any clever mechanic. Judge the operation on the number of entries, not on that day's takings.

Rewarding your best customers

To build loyalty, reward the visit rather than the sign-up. One entry per visit, a prize to be used on a future purchase, a draw announced in the shop in front of the customers who are there. The metric becomes the share of entrants who came back within the month, which only a customer file lets you see. Our guide to customer loyalty for local businesses covers the other levers worth combining with a contest.

Pick a mechanic your team can explain

The right mechanic is the one your team explains in one sentence and a customer grasps without reading. Three formats cover almost every local shop. They differ in when the customer finds out whether they won, which changes both the feeling and your workload.

Prize draw

One slip, one box, one date. It is the clearest format for a single desirable prize and the cheapest to set up. Its weakness is the wait: entrants leave empty-handed and have no reason to return before the draw. Offset that by holding the draw in the shop, on an announced date, and inviting entrants to come and watch.

Instant win

The customer knows right away. The effect is stronger and gets talked about, but you need plenty of small prizes and a stock you actually track. Use scratch cards or numbered tokens, accept a no-win outcome, and brief your team clearly so the same prize is not handed out twice.

Prize wheel

A wheel is an instant win without the consumables. In its digital form the customer scans a QR code, leaves their details, spins the wheel on their phone and receives a voucher with a unique code. Odds, stock levels and expiry dates are set once and for all. That is what the Ma Belle Note loyalty wheel does, and our article on the digital loyalty wheel shows how to set the prizes without eating your margin.

The legal framework in France

An in-store contest is a promotional lottery. Article L121-20 of the French Consumer Code bans it only where it is unfair, in the version in force since 1 July 2016 (Légifrance). Unfairness is assessed under article L121-1: a practice contrary to professional diligence that distorts consumer behaviour (Légifrance).

In practice, three things expose you: advertising a prize you never award, letting people believe they have already won, and hiding the real entry conditions. A misleading commercial practice carries 2 years in prison and a 300,000 euro fine, which can be raised to 10 % of average annual turnover (article L132-2 of the Consumer Code). For a shop the real risk is not prison, it is an inspection and a complaint.

Are written terms compulsory?

No French text requires you to file terms for a shop contest today. Writing them is still strongly advised: they are the only record of what you promised. One page is enough.

1. 1
   Who is running it

   Trading name, legal form, address of the shop.
2. 2
   The dates

   Start, end, and the draw date or the instant-win period.
3. 3
   Entry conditions

   Who may enter, how often, with or without a purchase, any exclusions.
4. 4
   The prize list

   Type, quantity, indicative value, conditions and expiry date.
5. 5
   How winners are picked and told

   Draw method, notice period and channel, what happens to unclaimed prizes.
6. 6
   Data handling

   What the details are used for, how long they are kept, how to opt out.

Display the terms in the shop, next to the entry slip or the QR code, and keep a copy to hand. If you promote the contest on social media, say where the terms can be read.

With or without a purchase

This is the point most often misunderstood. The requirement that promotional draws be free to enter was removed by law no. 2011-525 of 17 May 2011, which amended what was then article L121-36 (Légifrance). Since then, a contest reserved for paying customers is lawful.

Two limits remain. The purchase must cover the product or service, never the right to enter: you do not sell an entry slip. And the operation is still judged on its fairness, which means on how clearly you set out the rules before anyone takes part.

Choose the prizes

A sound prize plan pairs one item that draws attention with a majority of small wins that get people talking. Work out the average cost per entrant before you launch: for each prize, its probability times what it costs you, added together. You then know what one hundred entrants commit you to.

One headline prize to pull people in

The headline prize carries the poster. It has to be obvious from the pavement and true to your trade: a meal for two, a full treatment, a hamper, a service package. Prefer something from your own range: it costs you trade price, it shows off what you sell, and the winner comes back to you to collect it.

Several small prizes so more people win

Small prizes create the word of mouth. A drink, a dessert, a short treatment, an accessory, a discount on a future visit: each costs little and gives a reason to return. Set an expiry date, or the vouchers will come back at your worst moment. A no-win outcome is fine as long as your terms say so.

Promote it, then make it last

A contest is only worth what it leaves behind. Two jobs run in parallel: making sure people know it exists while it runs, and keeping the link with entrants once the draw is done. Shops neglect the second one most.

Posters in the shop and social media

In the shop, put the poster at eye level by the door and near the till, with three facts: the prize, the closing date, how to enter. Your team mentions it at every payment, which is by far the strongest channel. On social media, show the prize, repeat the closing date halfway through, then post the draw. For regulars already on your list a short message is enough, and our SMS campaigns exist for exactly that.

Keep the contacts you collect

Every entry slip is a potential contact, provided you collect it properly. Tell entrants what their data will be used for and add a separate, unchecked box for marketing messages: the French data protection authority points out that a contest no longer has to be declared, but it must appear in your record of processing activities and entrants must be informed (CNIL).

Set a retention period as well. Prospect data used for commercial prospecting may be kept for 3 years from the last contact coming from the prospect (CNIL). After that you either ask whether the person still wants to hear from you, or you delete the record. A customer base that timestamps every consent makes that automatic, and the list you build then serves everything else, such as announcing a referral offer to your best customers.