Try These Cross-Merchandising Ideas
Cross merchandising is an important strategy in food sales. People don’t necessarily come to the store for a single item, and when they do come for just one thing, they can be persuaded to buy a second item if a complementary product is easily accessible. When done correctly, cross merchandising can lift sales in one or more categories on a regular basis.
How Cross Merchandising Increases Sales
The most common example of cross-merchandising in food stores is the age-old pairing of salty snacks and soft drinks. When these items are displayed together, salty sales remained the same, but soda sales increased up to 9%. When someone has a hankering for salt, they are going to get thirsty, and a bubbly soda goes well with crunchy, salty snacks. However, when someone is thirsty, they are not as inclined to reach for chips, which will only exacerbate their thirst. Pairing two items together can boost sales, but only if you think about it strategically and pair them in the proper location to capitalize on shoppers’ tastes and impulses.
How To Succeed With Cross Merchandising
Use these tips to cross-merchandise successfully:
- Understand your customers: Dig into your customer data to determine what types of products they actually want to buy and what type of display will speak to them.
- The products must correlate: The products must go well together, like salty snacks and drinks or fruit and cheese. The pairings must make sense for the shopper.
- The pairing must be relevant: Pair products together around a theme. During football season, put together a display for all the necessary snacks and drinks people reach for when rooting for their team.
- Study the numbers: Watch how sales do in your cross-merchandising displays to determine whether or not the pairing actually impacted sales in one or both categories.
Cross merchandising requires a little more thought and strategy than just moving one product to sit next to another. You must understand the threads that tie products together and you must capitalize on that theme to achieve success.
Are You Ready To Embark On A Cross-Merchandising Strategy?
If you want to appeal to shoppers’ impulses and provide them with true solutions to their snacking needs, Mister Snacks can help. We have a wide variety of healthy, savory, sweet and always delicious snack foods that can be paired well with everything from beverages to cheeses. To learn more about our products, pricing and the ways we can help you boost sales with irresistible products and strong cross-merchandising strategies, contact Mister Snacks today.