We sold more than $2,000 worth of kinetic sand in my newsagency in less than six weeks from this floor display unit on the lease line. If that was all the sand did for us I’d be happy. But it did more, much more.
Shoppers attracted by the sand often purchased other items – cards, magazines and gifts – in the same transaction. If that was all the sand did for us I would be thrilled. But it did much more.
Sales generated by the sand offer resulted in discount vouchers and side sand purchasers were usually not regulars they more often than not spend the vouchers immediately. In order of popularity the vouchers were spent on magazines, cards and impulse toys.
The sand helped drive magazine sales, some sales which we would otherwise not have achieved.
This is what retail is about – attracting shoppers with compelling products and offers and having product placement strategy that attracts shoppers deeper into the business, supporting this with a commercial offer that gets them spending more than they intended and underpinning this with promotion of categories that are at the core of what defines your business.
It’s been a thrill to unpack the value of of the sand beyond the sales of the product itself. The results show that some products are worth far more than the gross profit you achieve from them alone.
I am also excited by how more and more shoppers visiting to purchase other products add a magazine or two to their purchase once they are in-store. This is one of the reasons our magazine sales are so good.
Gone are the days of newsagents being shopkeepers doing the basics. We are in a complex business serving sophisticated and engaged shoppers. The more time and thought we invest in our success the more we will achieve.