Choosing to incorporate impulse merchandising into a retail environment can have a drastic impact on profits. In queue merchandising displays for instance, have been demonstrated to boost impulse purchases by 400% and overall profit margins by 30%. However, there are certain reasons behind why shoppers choose to make impulse purchases, and by understanding these reasons, you can make impulse merchandising one of the most lucrative aspects of your business.
Consumers are most likely to make impulse purchases when the store environment is attractive and comfortable. An unpleasant environment will encourage shoppers to leave the store as quickly as possible, resulting in not only lost impulse purchases but possibly lost planned purchases also.
And make sure to invest a decent amount of money in the stores design – it will definitely be worth the expense.
In store and window displays can also make a huge difference to how successful a store is at implementing impulse merchandising.
Attractive window displays can lure a customer into a shop that they were not intending to visit, while displays in store can attract shoppers to a product that they would not have noticed otherwise.
Using signage is also a very effective way of attracting consumers to a particular product and encouraging an impulse purchase.
It’s also important to consider exactly who is most likely to make impulse purchases. Research has demonstrated that the ratio of male to female impulse purchasers is almost equal and it is age where there appears to be the biggest discrepancy. The largest percentage of impulse purchasers is within the 13-17 age group, followed closely by those aged 35-44. It isn’t difficult to establish why this is. Those aged 13-17 have a small amount of disposable income, while not having the worries of bills, rent or mortgages to pay.
This means that all the money they have can be spent on whatever they like, making them very susceptible to impulse merchandising. Meanwhile those aged 35-44 tend to be entering the peak of their career, whereby they are now enjoying more disposable income than ever before. However their tendency to impulse buy may well tail off as they get older, since they become more accustomed to having this disposable income and age makes them less concerned with material or unnecessary belongings.
You should definitely consider this information when deciding what to place within impulse merchandising displays. Ideally you want to target these age groups the most.
However, research shows that most people fail to return unwanted goods, particularly if they were of a low cost (the items that are best placed within in queue, impulse merchandising displays).
What strategies are you using to improve impulse merchandising?
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