Suggestive Selling Techniques

As the holiday busy season is approaching, now is the time to start creating strategies to maximize every possible moment of seasonal sales.  Suggestive selling is a merchandising technique that can increase your retail product sales - sometimes without having to say a word!

Celebrity Endorsements

Whether we agree with it or not, celebrities offer selling power.  If you have a product that endorsed by a celebrity such as an famous actress or musician, then showcase it. Maybe you have a local community figure that loves your items too. Use signage or visual aids including their picture and a quote of how the product worked for them.  Prop these aids next to your retail product display. These images and words suggest eduate that the product worked for these well-known people and they are putting their name behind it. This builds trust and credibility in the product and encourages more sales.

Write It Up

Take a tip from doctor's prescription pads and write down the products you used on your clients. This gives them a visual reminder of the products that made they look fabulous!You can show them the bottles and how to apply or recreate their look. Not only does this provide the client confidence to re-create your work, but also gets them closer and engage with the product. A slightly more hard sell approach is pre-packaging the items for them potentially offering a discount as they go towards check out.

Cross Sales and Up Sales

Stock your displays or retail product tables with related items. A cleanser and the new spot fade cream or a shampoo and deep conditioning mask. Offer a discount for the cross-sell product with the purchase of the other item. This allows clients to try products they haven't tried before but feeling their a getting a good value. You can also up-sell by offering value size, 2-for-1 deals, or half-off the second like item.  This is a more promotional selling tactic but the goal is to increase your average ticket sale plus the client might fall in love with the new product and drive a repeate purcahse.

Group It

Your clients want to know they are getting a good value. Increase the perceived value by grouping products together. Creating retail product sets of hair systems, skin care, or cosmetics makes clients feel they are getting more bang for their buck.  Package the set in a ready-to-go bag. This allows easy carrying to the check out area and again makes the customer feel they are getting more value with a potentially reuseable travel bag.

Selling retail doesn't have to be overwhelming or so stressful. Suggestive selling can take a more soft-sell approach that customers appreciate and respond to by buying! Happy Selling!