How can you boost your company's sales figures? Several methods can be used. The most obvious requirement is that you have a good marketing strategy. A good marketing strategy can assist you in targeting the right people and converting them into customers for your company. The ease of using the internet, such as social media, can assist you in marketing through multiple channels. Another option is to hold a promotion. People appreciate low prices. You can run special promotions, for example, on weekend sales or sales on holidays.
However, your sales figures may return to normal once the promotion is over. This is, of course, natural in business. To continue attracting customers and cultivating loyal customers, you must continue to innovate. However, neither can be done solely through marketing activities. You can also increase your sales and attract customers by organizing your products: Cross-promotion.
Cross Merchandising can assist you in increasing and maintaining sales figures consistently. Cross Merchandising functions by utilizing the logical relationship between one item and another. Because of this, cross-merchandising can also assist your customers in locating the products they require. Cross-merchandising is a strategy that benefits both your company and its customers.
Cross merchandising has traditionally been associated with physical retail stores. It is, however, an excellent way for eCommerce businesses to increase order sizes and sales. You need to know about product merchandising and merchandising examples to entice online shoppers to buy more.
What is Cross Merchandising in Retail?
So what does Cross merchandising mean? You'll typically find the spaghetti near the pasta sauce and the pineapple cutters near the pineapples in a supermarket. This isn't a coincidence; it's cross-merchandising. Simply put, cross-merchandising is the display of complementary products side by side in-store or on the digital shelf. These items are frequently drawn from different product categories and thoughtfully combined with enticing customers to purchase more.
Cross merchandising has the potential to improve the customer experience. It should remind shoppers of items they need, make it easier to find items on their shopping list, and inspire unplanned, spontaneous purchases. As a result, cross-merchandising usually results in higher sales and average order values. This visual merchandising strategy necessitates careful planning and testing. However, it can benefit brands of all sizes and industries, including eCommerce businesses.
What is the Significance of Cross Merchandising?
Cross-merchandising has numerous benefits, including increased customer loyalty and sales. Visual merchandising, a subset of cross-merchandising, efficiently utilizes physical space in a physical store.
Making the most of your space, whether it's the floor, wall, counter, or entryway, is critical for assisting your customers in navigating and making purchases. Let's look at the advantages of cross-merchandising in retail:
1. Publicize New Products
Use Cross merchandising to introduce new products to your customers by displaying them in a high-traffic area next to complementary products.
Many retailers sell year-round merchandise, also known as "core" merchandise. These are typically the store's bread and butter—products that always sell at a consistent rate. You could display new products alongside your core product display to help sell and raise awareness of new inventory.
2. Bring in New Customers
Cross merchandising can delight browsers by assisting them in discovering products they weren't actively looking for but realize they require.
3. Identify a Requirement
Remind customers that they require an additional product to go with their purchase. If your boutique sells lingerie and accessories, you could put detergent and a delicates-safe washing bag next to the lace bras and underwear.
4. Assist Customers in Saving Time
You can save your customers time by putting everything they need in one location rather than having them walk through your entire store looking for items. A grocery store, for example, can place avocados, garlic, jalapeno peppers, and tomatoes on one display, allowing customers to grab everything they need to make guacamole. Including a bag of tortilla chips in the display demonstrates a successful Cross merchandising strategy.
5. Encourage Customer Loyalty
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Customers are more likely to become loyal customers if they save time navigating your retail store and can easily find what they need. Customer satisfaction equals increased product sales. And word spreads quickly—loyal customers can become brand advocates.
6. Improve Your Marketing by Utilizing Cross Merchandising
Branding and marketing are critical components of success. The objectives of these strategies are to increase sales and customer satisfaction. Customers begin to associate products from different categories in their minds by placing them next to each other. Identifying which products should be purchased together can help you generate more sales and meet your objectives while spending less money.
7. Inspire New Ideas
Displaying products grouped by occasion or experience can help customers get ideas for DIY projects, upcoming holidays, recipes, or lifestyle choices. A home goods store, for example, might group products by room and decor so customers can imagine themselves in the same room at home. In contrast, a clothing boutique might dress a mannequin in a complete outfit and place it next to a rack containing all of the individual garments for sale.
Who is a Good Candidate for Cross Merchandising?
Cross merchandising can be found in various retail outlets, including cosmetic, grocery, and clothing stores. Cross merchandising displays give customers what they came in for a while also offering related products they may want to go with. This could be a local boutique displaying a cocktail dress and then surrounding it with necklaces and earrings or your favorite makeup brand placing lip liner next to the lipstick you came in for. How managers merchandise products are related to the success of sales. Displays should be interesting, clean, and appealing.
How to Sell Cross Merchandise in Online Stores?
Cross merchandising is a strategy that is commonly used in physical retail stores. This is because cross-merchandising is generally associated with good product placement in terms of physical store design. Cross merchandising can, however, be done in online stores. The goal of cross-merchandising in online stores is the same as in physical stores: to sell more products and assist customers in finding the products they require. Let's take a look at how cross-merchandising can be done in an online store:
∙ Demonstrate How Your Product is Used
One of the benefits of having an online store is using strong visuals to make your products more appealing. One of the best examples is photographs of clothing. Online clothing stores, for example, can create themed clothing collections that allow customers to easily browse the available clothes. Aside from photos of your product, you can also show how it is used. For example, if you sell health products, you can use photos of people who appear healthy and fit to demonstrate the benefits of your products.
∙ Include Relevant Products
When shopping online, you may receive suggestions such as 'People who buy this product also buy the following products or 'You may also like'. This is similar to what you can do in your physical store. The steps are similar: you must first study your customers' spending habits and then make recommendations based on your research findings.
∙ Make a Bundle
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One of the most effective ways to generate Cross merchandising is to bundle your products. You can combine several products and sell them at a lower price than if the customer bought each item separately. This method can also help you sell products that are currently underperforming. Simply combine those products with those currently in high demand by customers to create cross merchandise that is ready to sell.
∙ Study Other Online Stores
When you're doing cross-merchandising in a physical store or online, you still need to learn from other stores. Discover how other stores do Cross merchandising; what themes were used or what categories were available in their store? How do they set the price of their cross merchandise? By learning from others, you can get new ideas and learn about the latest trends in your niche market.
Some Examples of Cross Merchandising
You can easily find websites created by other Strikingly users on Strikingly. This can be useful if you're looking for ideas for cross-merchandising in your online store. Here are some merchandising examples to get you started:
1. Dr. Chai Tea
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Dr. Chai Tea is an online store that sells natural-ingredient teas. This shop sells tea in a variety of packages and varieties. Not only that, but this shop sells brewing equipment for the tea you've purchased, such as a tea maker and a teapot. This is a good example of complementary cross-merchandise relationships.
2. Typewriter Company
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Typewriter Company is an online store that sells high-quality typewriters. Not only that, but this shop sells a variety of typewriter brands from which to choose. Aside from typewriters, the Typewriter Company sells the accessories that go with owning a typewriter. Do you require a typewriter cover for a new purchase? Typewriter Company has your back. They also sell various related items such as typewriter bags and ribbons.
3. Nice Cream
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Nice Cream provides a memorable ice cream eating experience. If you go to one of their physical locations, you can watch the entire making of the ice cream you ordered while you wait for it to be ready. You can also enjoy their premium ice creams by ordering from their online store. If you're not sure what ice cream to try, Nice Cream offers ice cream bundles that include several different flavors. Nice Cream also offers good cross merchandise as part of their monthly ice cream bundle, delivered to your door at the beginning of each month.
Getting the Cross Merchandising Just Right
In retail, no two cross-merchandising strategies are the same. Putting products together to increase sales necessitates some trial and error.
It is critical to keep a finger on the pulse of customer behavior and sales data to cross merchandise effectively. When done correctly, it can increase sales by increasing customer satisfaction, inspiring ideas, and reminding people of a need or problem that needs to be addressed.
