Are You Taking Advantage of Pre-CashDesk Impulse Isles?

Are You Taking Advantage of Pre-CashDesk Impulse Isles?

If you’re not taking advantage of pre-cashdesk impulse aisles, you are losing revenue.

YES…IT’S A GOOD BET THAT THEY MISSED IT OUT ON THE FLOOR BECAUSE THEY WEREN’T EVEN LOOKING FOR IT!! THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF THE IMPULSE ITEM, ISN’T IT?

For a very long time – ever since visually pleasing retail displays became a ‘thing’ – retailers have been making the front rack, or table or front anything into the most valuable real estate on earth.

For them anyway.

But only so much can be squeezed up to and near and beside the front of the store.

And, front of store fixtures can only be so big…they can only hold so much.

Surely, you’ve seen those stores where the staff have actually (although inadvertently) created a barrier to entry because they are so taken by the idea of having every possible bit of merchandise shoved as close to the lease line as possible.

We don’t blame them for trying, that’s for sure!

Every buyer wants their ‘merchandise’ up at the front.

Oh sure, there are other areas like the back focal wall and near the cash desk but, let’s face it, there’s nothing like that front table or fixture.

Even still, when you’re talking about the front of the store, using the “pile ’em high and watch ’em fly” strategy isn’t a great idea for most retailers.

It’s usually not the most attractive way to do things.

JOIN the Retail Business Academy & Prosper!

Retail Business Academy

If you don’t have sales associates on your sales floor, you might ask yourself “how will I get my customers to buy additional items?”

“How will I get the average sale $ and units per transaction up?”

Over the years retailers have done their buying with all of that in mind; they’ve cross merchandised and worked the planograms to achieve those things.

But, to what degree did those actions replace the human associate?

That answer will vary depending on the skill and expertise of the people involved.

But, you know, necessity is the mother of invention.

Time and time again, that proves to be true. It certainly proved to be true in this case.

If you really need to start pushing those KPIs up and you don’t have sales associates to train to get better and better…

INVENT SOMETHING

And, they did. As we’ve said in the past, the creation of pre-cashdesk impulse aisles is pure genius.

Now, we’ve always had impulse buy sections here and there.

But a whole aisle – long and double sided – where a captive audience must slowly advance through as if on a conveyor belt, with lots of time to browse – but not too much time so time is scarce …genius, indeed.

Imagine this… you are just finished shopping and you have to pay for the shirt you’ve chosen for dear old Dad for his birthday.

You’re in the line up waiting to pay.

In this narrow aisle, there’s merchandise everywhere…in front of you, behind you, beside you. It’s everywhere!

There are tons of different things to look at and you quite enjoy it.

You see some very nice gift wrapping paper and recall you don’t have much at home and you are going to need some for Dad’s gift.

Hmmm, you wonder if you have enough or if you should get some.

Better get it just to be safe. You pick it up.

You advance a few feet.

Oh, and look!! There’s a mug that has “Best Dad in the World” written on the front…in gold!

Dad would love that and, you know, he really is the best Dad in the world. And, there’s only one mug like that on the shelf – with that saying on it.

You think “I should get that for him”…and just as you are thinking about it, you hear ‘Next Customer to Cashier #4, please, Cashier #4’.

You have to move up…you have no choice but to move up, you must decide…right now.

Oh, just get it and carry on, you tell yourself…after all you don’t want to hold up the customer behind you!

Soon they’ll be calling out that another Cashier is ready. Stop hesitating. And you do. You pick up the mug and carry on.

From a shirt at $35, to a shirt at $35 plus gift wrapping paper at $8 plus a mug at $15.

The $35 one item sale became a $58 three item sale.

That’s the genius, right there folks!!

Just think of the increased revenue! If it’s something that would work in your stores, you have to do it!

Installing these aisles creates an immediate bump in sales, average sale $ and units per transaction…no question.

If you’re not using pre-cashdesk impulse aisles as part of your in-store merchandising placement strategy you are losing sales dollars…like sand through the hourglass.

The only unknown is “how much?”

JOIN the Retail Business Academy & Prosper!

Retail Business Academy

It’s SURVEY time again…

So, here’s a few questions for all of you:

Please help us to help other retailers by sharing your experiences with us.

1.) Do you have impulse aisles in your stores?

If not, please tell us why.

Did you just decide not to do it? Perhaps you are not sold on the idea yet?

Maybe your stores or merchandise simply wouldn’t work with the impulse aisle.

Or maybe you tried but encountered difficulties trying to make it work.

2.) How much of an increase in sales, average sale $ and units per transaction did you see within the first month of having it in place?

3.) What did you learn about your customer, your store, your merchandising, etc.?

4.) Tell us about any Pros and Cons.

5.) Are there specific items you a) would recommend for an impulse aisle and b) would definitely NOT recommend for an impulse aisle.

6.) Do you merchandise items in two places: in the impulse aisle
AS WELL AS somewhere on the sales floor? If so, how is that working out for you?

Your feedback is very much appreciated and will be very helpful to others.

We will compile the information and publish it in a future edition of RetailWise.

 

JOIN the Retail Business Academy & Prosper!

Retail Business Academy