5 Ways Your Retail Company Can Encourage Impulse
Many of us plan out our purchases, but occasionally we all buy something on the spur of the moment. This is known as ‘impulse buying’, and it can be a huge source of revenue for many retail companies.
Impulse purchases tend not to be entirely random – most of us buy things impulsively because a retail company has persuaded us into doing so. In order to help boost your bottom line, here are five ways in which you can encourage impulse purchases.
Display key products in key locations
There are certain items that we’re more likely to buy impulsively. These tend to be cheap items that we can easily justify buying without worrying about our bank balance. By displaying these types of items in key locations, you can often encourage people to buy them.
Placing impulse purchase items near the checkout is a popular option. People may be queueing and more likely to notice such items, plus they already have their cash or card out and ready to use.
You should also consider displaying impulse purchase items around high demand items. These could similarly be cheap items that satisfy a related need. For example, if you own a candle shop and there’s a certain candle that people gravitate to, consider displaying some matches and lighters nearby.
Use bold signage, colors and lighting
Making use of bold visuals can help to attract people’s attention to certain products. This may encourage them into them buying these products.
Signage is the most common form of this. By using large text, you can give these items a greater sense of importance.
These signs can also be brightly colored to help them stand out. Red is a popular color for creating energy and attracting attention.
You can also strategically make use of lighting to draw people’s attention to certain products. Some stores even use colored lighting to create an impact. You could even combine this colored lighting with signage to draw maximum attention to an item.
Make use of limited offers
Limited offers can often create a sense of urgency that can persuade consumers into buying items out of fear of missing out.
A limited offer could be an item that’s discounted for a brief time or only in stock for a brief amount of time. Using language such as ‘buy now’, ‘limited offer’ and ‘whilst stock lasts’ can help to entice a sense of urgency.
As well as displaying these offers on signage, consider making use of other forms of marketing such as social media, email marketing, flyers and internet ads. These can help to improve exposure and get more people interested in these limited offers.
Provide more flexible payment options
Allowing a range of payment options can also persuade people into buying items. Not everyone carries cash around nowadays – investing in a card reader can help to encourage last minute purchases by preventing the need to trek to an ATM.
You could even consider a credit card reader as a way of enticing people to buy larger value items. If you own a furniture shop, the option to pay via credit card could encourage buyers to buy furniture there and then by allowing them to spread out the cost rather than paying the full value up front.
Upsell extras
Upselling involves asking people on purchase whether they’d like to pay a little more for little extra. This could include a bartender asking a customer if they’d like to upgrade to a large glass of wine or a car salesman offering to sell a dashcam with a vehicle.
When done correctly it can be a great way of enticing customers to spend a little more. When done incorrectly, it could be annoying and have the opposite effect.
In order to avoid the latter, consider upselling extras at discounted prices – this makes the customer feel you’re doing them a favour rather than trying to drain them of some extra cash. Also make sure that these extras are related to their purchase in some way – don’t try to upsell a screwdriver to someone buying a box of chocolates.
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