Inspirational Gift Trends -- Successful ‘Suggestive Selling’



Inspirational Gift Trends -- Successful ‘Suggestive Selling’ Successful ‘Suggestive Selling’ Maximum impact for a busy time of year As Christian retailers begin to prepare for the busiest and, hopefully, most fruitful days in their retail calendar, one all too familiar, but often forgotten tool is worth emphasizing—cross-merchandising. It's a simple way to significantly impact overall effectiveness as a retailer. Cross-merchandising enables the retailer to "suggestive sell" items to consumers without having to engage staff during the peak selling season. Not all shoppers come into a store with predetermined gift purchases on their radar screens. Many are just browsing—looking for the perfect selection for a "hard-to-buy-for" recipient. Merchandising products together by theme—"boutiquing" products—is a good way to capture the attention of browsers. On the other hand, some shoppers—those "type A" personalities—come in for one thing and one thing only. They don't venture into other departments because they are trying to keep on task. By cross-merchandising products in other areas, retailers expose shoppers to great gift opportunities they otherwise might have missed. Benefits One way to maximize catalog efforts and staff limitations is to help customers locate advertised items by cross-merchandising them on a "seasonal gift feature." Positioning a display unit, table or fixture that holds a limited number of each of the advertised gift items near the store entrance or cash wrap will help store managers, staff and customers in these ways: When customers enter the store, they can immediately identify and locate the advertised products they came in specifically to purchase. Most savvy retailers in the general marketplace do this, so customers are familiar with the concept. This helps reduce the frustration levels of customers and staff during busy shopping days. Specifically, it will drastically eliminate the need to find a frontliner to ask the location of these items and will likewise cut down on interruptions of that nature for store employees. Placing the seasonal gift feature near the cash wrap area will also ensure exposure and "shopability" during customers' waiting time in checkout lines. For those who remember a gift need during the wait, but don't want to lose their place in line, such a display makes it easy for them to complete their shopping needs without fulfilling them at their next retail stop. Using a gift feature to highlight only the items that are exclusive to one's store can be a real attention-getter. It's a great way to differentiate during this highly competitive season. Cross-merchandising can also generate a greater profit margin at this crucial time for retailers. By attractively displaying items with better margin on a gift feature in a high-traffic area, in addition to their "home" in the gift department, retailers increase product exposure to consumers and, ultimately, sales and profits. A well-known gift and book chain in the Nashville area cross-merchandises gifts effectively throughout its stores. In fact, there is essentially no gift department. In essence, the statement they make with their cross-merchandising strategy is that every item in the store can be purchased as a "gift." Add-ons Every successful retailer is conscious of the difference that add-on sales make to their store's bottom line, and cross-merchandising is a simple way to capture such sales. I experienced this firsthand while shopping for a gift for friends marrying later in life. I struggled with what to purchase for the couple who probably already had everything they needed. As I browsed the housewares department of a very nice department store, I saw a themed display centered on the "making of crepes." Since the groom was French Canadian, it captured my attention. I left that store spending more than I had planned because I had such fun thinking about the two of them making crepes on Saturday mornings—and my shopping bag was bulging with every item from that display. Cross-merchandising can also help reduce markdowns on seasonal merchandise. Consider not marking down some Christmas product, but adding it to nonseasonal gift areas. While decorating and merchandising, or as items are sold during the Christmas season, think about the possibilities of sales of what are normally thought of as Christmas products after the season. For instance, if nativity wall crosses haven't sold out, remove them from the seasonal packaging and merchandise them with other crosses on a gift wall. Blown-glass angel ornaments could be removed from their packaging, priced individually and merchandised with other gift items. Nativity sets could be moved to the section where wedding gifts are displayed, as some customers love to give nativity sets as wedding gifts. It's a gift that is almost never duplicated and can be treasured for years—as young married couples often don't have the funds for decorations that first Christmas together. Also, some people collect nativity sets, and friends and family would gladly give one as a birthday gift in April, if only one could be found. Ornaments Ornaments may be suitable to hang on gift walls during the year to add sparkle and interest. Consider mingling small crosses with larger wall crosses. Change Christmas ribbons on the star ornaments to neutral or earth-tone organza, and hang them on wall hooks, hutch knobs and wall-shelf hooks. If they have messages of faith not specific to Christmas, they are appropriate to use year-round. By applying basic principles of cross-merchandising effectively in store advertising, retailers can increase their response rate. Print advertising or the store's Web site may be thought of as a virtual endcap, cross-merchandising to draw customers into the brick-and-mortar store and impact how they will shop. Marilyn Turnipseed was formerly gift product developer and marketing coordinator for The Parable Group.
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