Why Basket Building Is Vital to Retail Management Success

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How big is the shopping basket in your retail business? Not shopping baskets you may have for customers but the virtual basket containing what each customer purchases in a single sale.

So, how big is the average shopping basket in your store? If you do not know, you need to find out. This needs to be measured and tracked in terms of number of items and total value.

Retail managers rely on good data to make quality business decisions. Basket size and basket value, tracked over time and compared between trading periods are two vital pieces of business data which will drive better business decisions.

You can probably find out benchmark numbers for average basket size and average basket value for your particular retail niche. This information is helpful in assessing the performance of your business compared to others in your field.

Once you know your numbers and have a process in place, ideally Point of Sale software specific to the needs of your business, to track the numbers you can set about driving growth in basket size. This is the first step, understanding where you are at today and the trend for these metrics of the business.

Here are tips for growing basket size:

1. Know what the top selling items on your shop floor are. Often you will have around ten items accounting for more than half of all of your sales.
2. Use the space either side and around the top selling items to promote other produces which customers buying the top selling items are likely to want. Change these up sell items weekly.
3. Use your POS software to report on what is selling with want. This can help you understand what products go with what products.
4. De clutter your sales counter and ensure that easily selected items are placed there for customer purchase. Change these weekly. The best counter offers are those which are quickly and easily understood and which appear to be discounted.
5. Promote upsell items inside the entrance to your store. Change these weekly.
6. Promote items at key traffic congregation points in your store. Change these weekly.
7. Educate your employees about basket size, where the business is at today and where you want to take it. Give them the information necessary to making good business decisions with and for you.
8. Run regular employee incentives to encourage your team to offer upsell opportunities to customers. As burger chains found out many years ago, you can often get the add-on sail by asking for it.
9. Talk to your suppliers, seeking out products which could work as up-sell opportunities. Again, focus on products which are easily and quickly understood.

Obsess about basket size as attracting add-on business from existing customer traffic is easier than attracting new customers. If they are in your shop they are shopping, sell them something. That is the mindset you need to bring to the basket building opportunity.

Change is key to your basket building strategy too. Regular change helps you combat store blindness from you and your customers.

Keep measuring and reporting. Respond to what your measurements tell you. Basket building is a relentless yet valuable process for any retail store.

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Source by Mark T Fletcher