Encouraging Impulse Purchases in Your Store

Picture this: you’re standing in line to check out at your local grocery or convenience store. In your hand is your basket of regular groceries. While waiting at a safe 1.5-meter distance from the person in front of you, you take a moment to breath in a somewhat distorted breath of air. On exhale you spot a colourful little box of lip balm. Your dry cracked lips practically order you to pick one up. As you unpack your groceries, and you obediently do so. That is the power of a well thought out impulse display unit.
Store owners are currently concerned about the fast rise of online sales and the slow but steady decline in brick-and-mortar store traffic. There is only one way to overcome this growing concern: strategic marketing, especially instore. One easy way to accomplish this is simply: the impulse unit.
Sometimes known as “the isle of doom” for parents shopping with children hungry for sugar. This simple marketing strategy is a sure-fire way to increase sales. Stores do not have to only push the “sweet stuff”. Rather this display unit can be used effectively to remind customers of items they often forget about. In the case of a bottle store: a wine opener. In the case of a butchery: a lighter for the braai. In the case of a supermarket: batteries for the TV remote. These are just a few examples of strategic promotional activity in store.
According to Psychology Today, “People who like to shop for fun are more likely to buy on impulse. Once we start experiencing pleasure as a result of this sense of vicarious ownership, we’re more likely to buy those products so that we can continue to experience that pleasure.”
Considering this: here are 5 tips to promote impulse buying.
1. Use smaller, inexpensive items that will not make a dent in the customers wallet.
2. The products you display on your impulse units should guide the customers purchase. For example, in a grocery store the items on your impulse shelves should complement the top 10 fastest moving goods in your store.
3. Use the power of convenience to promote the product. For example, it might just be more convenient for your customer to buy paper plates at your butchery than drive to the supermarket.
4. Every now and then, promote struggling items at the impulse unit. A simple sign with the promotion and the price can move a customer to purchase on impulse. This is because they have a shorter amount of time to decide on the purchase when they are already at the checkout counter.
5. Make impulse buying a regular habit. This can be accomplished by taking the time to understand your customers buying habits. The more you know about your customers, the easier it will be to make suggestions about what they need to buy and the easier it will become for them to do so.
You can boost your impulse sales by purchasing an impulse unit from TCK Retail solutions. For the month of March only view our Impulse Special!