Gearing yourself up for a holiday sale can be easier said than done, but if you do not have a proper plan in place then your efforts may be in vain. The following tips can help you generate impulse sales in a fun, imaginative way. Break yourself out of the box and be unique and original. Don’t look at merchandising as a mundane task but as a way to be creative and inventive.
St. Patrick’s Day Merchandising Ideas:
Tip #1 – Create a staging plan. Plan and schedule events proactively. This will allow you time to purchase product, buy decorations, print flyers and coupons, and propose discount promotions. For example, a fun promotional idea may be to offer customers wearing a bit of green a fixed discount on a particular item. It is extremely important to know which products to highlight and where in the store they will have the most value. Placing items within aisles that have a high visitation frequency will drive sales up. We want to increase impulse-purchases. Who hasn’t passed up the opportunity to buy an ice cold soda while standing in line after a grueling trip to the grocery store? Definitely not me!
Tip #2 – Get your theme on! It is St. Patrick’s Day after all! Create displays to draw attention to specific products, such as Eileen O’Connor Old Country Corned Beef. Surrounding your displays and aisle end caps with festive green lights or four-leaf clovers will draw attention to the display and draw customers to the products. Be sure that the products are fresh and the lighting used in the display is bright. Include your employees in the fun! Have everyone dress up in green sweaters or matching aprons, hats or pins. This will draw customers to your team to ask questions about what is on special. Changing up the scenery from its regular humdrum look will get eyes popping and customers asking, “What’s going on over here?”
Tip #3 – Cross-merchandise your products to increase awareness and drive sales. Remember that you are providing a solution to customers and not just a product. Combine products that are relevant to your theme. For St. Patrick’s Day you can display corned beef with cabbage, potatoes, and carrots and surround them in a glass case. These items are typically displayed in different departments. Pairing them together encourages customers to purchase them all at once. Help customers see that this is an easy meal idea with all ingredients in one serving dish. Taking all of the guess work gets them excited and will prompt a purchase.
Tip #4 – Have fun with your promotional signs. Signage is key to getting your messages across but they don’t have to be formal. Play around with font style and color, increase the letter sizing and add some fun St. Patrick’s Day images. Just don’t go too crazy. Be sure the fonts are easy to read. And yes, less is more. You want to engage your customers and also move product. With today’s short attention span, you want the sign to bring your customers to the display and answer their questions. Just including the product name, pack size, and the cost will go a long way. Too much information will discourage your customers and they will walk away.
Tip #5 – Offer samples of the items so that your customers can personally taste and feel a connection with the product. Sampling also allows for your customers to ask questions and leads your sales team to educate them on the products and all of the other cross-merchandised items in the display. For some of your customers, this may be their first time preparing this great Irish American classic, corned beef and cabbage. You can tell someone how deliciously juicy the corned beef is, but until they actually experience it for themselves, they’re just words. You will increase your sales when customers have a greater understanding of how each item compliments the other and why they should be purchased together.
In short, these 5 simple tips will not only drive sales for your stores but also create a fun and easy way for you to engage with your customers. Being personable creates a memorable experience with your customers that will keep them coming back again and again. Harvest Food Distributors has a team of Field Marketing Representatives that can also assist you with these efforts. We distribute Eileen O’Connor Old Country Corned Beef. Please visit our website to see if we have a location near you and can help you with your corned beef needs this St. Patrick’s Day.
