Thursday, 28th February 2019 | Sales,Marketing

Increase your average receipt with POP sales

Point-of-purchase sales, coupled with compelling displays and meaningful marketing, have the power to increase revenues. Here’s how to make POP offers work for your business.

Point of purchase sales are 'POP-ping' up everywhere. Commonly referred to as POP sales, you’ll recognize them as physical displays located at the check-out in retail stores and restaurants, and as last-minute electronic offers that online retailers tempt you with upon check out.

Is there more you can do with your POP sales?

Whether it’s an eye-catching display for the newest lipstick or chocolate bar in-store, or an upsell on insurance when booking a car rental online, point of purchase sales present a win-win situation for both buyers and sellers alike. For buyers, a POP display or offer can be a helpful reminder that they forgot to add a necessary item to their cart. For the seller, these POP sales can quickly add up (regardless of price) to increase the average revenue on each receipt.

Below, we dive into the benefits of POP sales for you as the seller, and the best practices for creating an effective point-of-purchase system that will increase your sales.

The retail benefits of point-of-purchase displays and marketing

Connect with your customers at a crucial time. Whether buyers are browsing in-store or online, they’re likely bombarded with products and messages at every turn (or click). There’s only so much information they can absorb. But, the check-out presents a critical moment when they’re in a purchasing mindset. That’s why POP displays work so well in increasing sales: retailers connect with customers when there’s less overwhelm from other products at the exact moment when they’re ready to buy.

Versatile POP displays enable you to change thing up. For in-store displays, many retailers are taking advantage of modern, digital printing to change up their POP sales. Smaller print runs and custom designs means you can conduct A/B testing to see what works (and what doesn’t) and revise your POP displays accordingly. For online retailers, flexibility in POP sales are often limitless and simply require new images and small tweaks in back-end website coding.

Point of purchase systems are relatively affordable. Creating an online POP sale doesn’t typically require any additional investment as a retailer. While custom, in-store displays and offers will require an initial investment to create the marketing materials, retailers such as pharmacies, hardware stores and cafés can create permanent in-store fixtures as a one-time investment. Then, they simply swap out the products depending on the season or demand. 

Best practices for profiting from POP systems

Command attention with your POP display. If your point of purchase is a crowded one, your POP display or offer needs to be eye-catching to stand out. Focus on implementing bright, bold colours and large fonts. If a point-of-purchase offer blends in with the rest of your retail space (or online store), it’s likely that buyers will breeze past it.

Offer additional value. Everyone loves a good deal. You can further intrigue buyers with a POP offer by giving them additional incentives. This is a common tactic used by online retailers where last-minute items are offered at a discount upon check-out. Consider how airlines offer you a deal on travel insurance with your airfare, which is significantly cheaper than purchasing the insurance on its own later. Discounts, coupons and other offers like these help to increase a buyer’s desire and convert more of your POP offers into sales.

Add digital intrigue. Adding a digital element to your POP sale can enhance its intrigue; bonus points if it’s interactive. Instead of playing a video on repeat, consider a brief interactive quiz for your customers that customizes their product offering. Or, an entry screen where they can input their email address to receive future discounts from you, but also rewards them with a coupon that they can redeem on the spot.

Use clear and concise messaging. Whether you maintain an e-store or physical location, compelling messages are essential. And, since many buyers hurry through a check-out, your marketing needs to focus on only a few words. Do your best to say more with less; consider using five to seven words to sell. Today’s shoppers are savvy and have more pre-purchase information than ever before. So, detailing every single product feature isn’t usually necessary for these last-minute POP offers.

Measure your point of purchase effectiveness. As simple as it can be to implement a POP display, it may not have effectiveness year round. Key to implementing POP systems is measuring your return, and knowing when (and how) to use it to drive further sales. Keep in mind that there’s a fine balance between driving additional sales at the check-out and driving buyers away entirely with overly pushy tactics at the point of purchase.

Point-of-purchase systems, coupled with compelling displays and meaningful marketing, have the power to drive each individual sale higher. No matter what type of business you have, POP sales tactics like these could increase the value of each receipt with minimal investment on your part. Consider the benefits and best practices mentioned above to tack on additional sales to each buyer at that critical moment of purchase.

Read Also

Customer retention best practices for your small business

In 2023, the business landscape will be more dynamic, with constantly evolving trends and changing customer demands. You can keep your customers engaged and returning for more with the right strategies. Here are some invaluable customer retention best practices to help you stand out from the crowd and keep your customers coming back for more:

Embrace Omnichannel Sales

The pandemic accelerated the shift to online shopping, and customers are now more comfortable than ever buying online. This means providing a seamless experience across all channels, from your website to social media platforms, mobile apps, and online marketplaces. Investing in innovative technologies such as AI and automation can deliver personalized and efficient products that set you apart from the competition. 

Use Social Media to Build Relationships


Social media is a powerful tool for building relationships with your customers. You must use social media to build a community around your brand, engage with your customers, and create meaningful relationships. By actively listening to your customers and responding to their queries, feedback, and concerns, you can show that you care and establish trust. Furthermore, social media allows you to showcase your brand's unique personality and values, which can help you stand out from the competition. Sharing customer stories, testimonials, and reviews can also be an effective way to humanize your brand and build social proof.

Leverage Data Analytics


Data analytics can help you understand your customers better and identify opportunities to improve customer retention. You can identify opportunities to improve customer retention and create personalized experiences by tracking customer behaviour, preferences, and feedback. Investing in data analytics tools can help you make data-driven decisions and optimize your marketing and sales strategies to meet your needs.

Be Transparent and Authentic


Customers are increasingly demanding transparency and authenticity from the brands they do business with. Customers are looking for open and honest businesses about their practices, policies, and values. This requires being transparent about pricing, shipping, and returns policies and using authentic and inclusive marketing messages. Doing so can build trust with your customers, which is essential for long-term loyalty. Customers are also more likely to recommend businesses they perceive as transparent and authentic.

Focus on Customer Experience


Customer experience will be a major differentiator for small businesses. As a small business owner, providing exceptional customer experience across all touchpoints should be a top priority. This means investing in customer service training for your staff, optimizing your website for usability, and gathering customer feedback to improve your products and services continuously. 

 

These customer retention best practices can help your small business to stand out from the competition, improve customer loyalty, and grow your business. By embracing omnichannel sales, using social media to build relationships, leveraging data analytics, being transparent and authentic, and focusing on customer experience, you can create a loyal customer base that will continue to do business with you and recommend your brand to others. 

Sales ,Marketing ,Management

7 ways how AI empowers small businesses to achieve more in less time

What is artificial intelligence (AI)?

AI is a revolutionary technology that enables SMBs to automate tasks, predict trends, forecast demand, improve decision-making, streamline operations, and scale up. With advanced AI models like Stable Diffusion, DALL-E 2, and GPT-3, and the emergence of AI-powered products like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot, we can now utilize technology that was once considered exclusively human.

In this blog, we will explore the benefits of AI for SMBs and how you can gain a competitive advantage in your respective markets by optimizing operations and maximizing output with minimal resources.

1. Automating Repetitive Tasks

AI-powered tools can automate time-consuming tasks such as data entry, invoicing, and email management. This frees up valuable resources that can be redirected toward high-value activities, such as strategic planning, customer engagement, and product development.  

2. Improving Customer Experience

Chatbots and virtual assistants can provide customers with quick and accurate responses to their inquiries, improving their overall experience with your business. Additionally, it can analyze customer behaviour and preferences to personalize marketing efforts and provide targeted recommendations, further enhancing the customer experience. 

3. Improving Decision-Making

SMBs are frequently required to make critical decisions that impact the trajectory of their business. AI-powered tools can enhance your decision-making by providing real-time insights and analytics. For example, an AI tool can analyze sales data and identify trends, empowering owners to make data-driven pricing, promotions, and product development decisions.

4. Predicting Trends and Forecasting Demand

AI-powered tools can help you predict trends and forecast demand. By analyzing data from various sources, including social media, sales history, and online reviews, AI has allowed you to identify emerging trends and help your SMB adjust strategies accordingly. 

5. Enhancing Marketing Efforts

AI can also help enhance marketing efforts. Analyzing customer data that will identify the target audience, create personalized marketing campaigns, and predict which marketing strategies will most likely be effective.

6. Enhancing Cybersecurity

With the rise of cyber threats, SMBs can use AI to strengthen their cybersecurity measures. AI-powered tools can detect and prevent cyber attacks, identify vulnerabilities in systems and networks, and provide real-time alerts to potential threats. This helps SMBs protect their sensitive information and prevent costly data breaches.

7. Improving Decision Making

Lastly, AI can help improve decision-making by providing data-driven insights. AI-powered tools can assist you, and your managers in making well-informed decisions regarding crucial aspects such as hiring, resource allocation, product development, and pricing.

 

Marketing ,Management

5 Strategies for Growing your Business

What can I do to start developing a plan for growth?

Deciding to grow your business is a big step, so take a moment to congratulate yourself. Now, let’s get to work. The first thing to do is to develop a plan, and these five strategies can help.

1. Take care of your cash flow

Just for everyday operations, businesses need to have a steady flow of capital coming in and going out, but the importance of your cash flow intensifies when you’re planning to expand. 

Survey your income and expense reports to determine your current cash flow, and identify trends so you can estimate how much you’ll have in the future. Don’t stop there. Make sure that you return to this information regularly to ensure you remain on the right path. 

Should you find yourself in a cash flow crunch, you can consider a business line of credit so you can continue to take care of your responsibilities. Alternatively, you can take out a small business loan. 

2. Invest in marketing and sales

It’s common for sales and marketing costs to fall to the bottom of a small business’ priority list, but they’re an absolutely crucial investment, especially if you’re expanding. Bear in mind that marketing and sales strategies and tactics can be tailored to your business’ unique needs, so you’ve got a variety of options to choose from–all with different budgets. Consider your audience, sales goals, and business forecast to build regular (think monthly) marketing efforts into your long-term plan. Marketing your business is an investment in its success. 

3. Attend to your core audience while attracting new customers 

Expansion often involves courting new customers, weather from different market segments or simply additional regions. It’s important that during the growth process resources and attention aren’t stolen from your core customers. They’re the ones who got you here, after all. 

One way to give everyone the attention they deserve is to break your audience (and marketing dollars) into distinct segments and sell each according to their wants. Be open to different configurations. For example, depending on the situation you might want to serve everyone under a single brand, or develop distinct brands for different segments. 

4. Confirm your supply

Few things can turn customers away faster than hearing you don’t have the products or services they need. Supply chain issues and slow delivery since the pandemic have put an increasing number of businesses in a precarious position when it comes to meeting customer demands, so your expansion plans should include the establishment of relationships with multiple reliable suppliers. Your efforts in advance demonstrate good business practices and respect for your customers. Plus, positive relationships with multiple suppliers can help you with your expansion goals. 

5. Ensure quality and consistency 

It should go without saying, but the last thing you want to happen when you expand is to have your quality or customer experience decline. Plan against this by establishing production, operations, and customer service standards. .

You have a better chance of expanding successfully if you plan carefully in advance. Attend to your finances, marketing, suppliers, and customers in advance to make sure you’re growing on a solid foundation. 

 

Speak to an iCapital advisor about small business loans or lines of credit to ensure steady cash flow during your expansion process. 

Marketing ,Accounting ,Management

Do I Qualify?

Check Eligibility

Do I Qualify?

Unfortunately you are not eligible at this time, but things change! Let's stay in touch.
We will contact you if our requirements change and will keep you up to date with our latest services so you wont miss out.
ENTER YOUR INFORMATION BELOW