6 Tips to increase retail sales at the point of purchase

One of the most common areas to neglect solid marketing messages is right at the point of purchase. In a recent study, retail mass merchandisers discovered that 66% of all purchasing decisions are made in store and 53 percent of those purchases are made on IMPULSE! So it makes perfect sense to concentrate some of your marketing efforts on the consumers that you have captured right in your doors. Here are 6 tips to increase your sales at point of purchase.

1. Use better Signage– I was recently working with a retailer that felt it was better to leave products un-priced.  That way they could negotiate prices with their customers as needed.  The truth is that consumers are savvy enough to recognize this as a ploy to hurt their pocket books.  Additionally, it will negatively impact impulse purchases.  Instead, you want to call-out your best impulse items with price tags and signage that speaks to the features, benefits, and savings in order to educate and excite your customers. At the previously mentioned company, we changed the pricing strategy and combined it with a retail training program….the result was that the sales of their accessories and impulse items went up over 20%!

2. Show the savings– If something is on sale, show it. Use professionally printed signage to differentiate your sale merchandise and show the amount of the discount. Consumers do not know how great the sale is if they do not know how much the item was prior to the sale. Also put a clear “sale ends date” on your signage. This inspires urgency. 

3. Clean up your displays– Nothing takes away from the value of merchandise like dust and grime. Make sure your associates are cleaning on, around and behind your merchandise displays.

4.Organize your displays– Make sure your merchandise is displayed in a way that makes sense. If you are displaying clothing make sure it is sized correctly so customers can find what they are looking for quickly. This will promote them spending more time looking at other items and not wasting all of their time searching for a size.

5. Cross Merchandise– Most merchandise has complementary items that work or pair well together. Be sure to display items together to encourage that impulse buy. Niche retailer TraderJoe’s  regularly displays and stacks wine next to food pairings with which wine goes well. On the display tags, it will mention the great pairing wine and low and behold… there is a stack of it in arms reach. 

6. Train your Team Members and Track Results– Merchandising and marketing your products are important factors in your success, but the key difference between retail and other methods of selling is the sales person!  If your retail team members know their goals and have been trained on the techniques of add-on and impulse selling you will significantly impact revenue and margin.  When you add the operational component of activity tracking and scorecards to the mix you now have a winning formula!