When you own or manage a grocery store, you have quite a few customers coming through the door every day to make purchases. A 2011 report revealed that 86% of customers will actually pay more when they have a better experience at a store.
While each customer will likely have their own definition of what constitutes a quality experience, it tends to include the ability to easily locate the items they want or need. Customers also like to have a variety of product choices as well as ready access to sales associates when they have a question. The check-out experience is also an area that influences how a customer perceives whether or not they are a valued customer.
Most shoppers will make their final purchase decisions when they’re actually at the grocery store. In fact, studies show that 82% of purchases fall within this category. Since the average consumer is exposed on a daily basis to 3,000 advertisements and promotional messages, this creates space for impulse buys.
Shoppers will usually decide whether to purchase their usual brand or a competitor’s within 3 to 7 seconds. Given that 6 to 10 store purchases may be impulse buys, display signage makes a difference in this regard. If your store offers its own brand along with competing brands, this is something to consider.
A 2014 Mass Merchant Study showed that 16% of these purchases were made as a result of seeing a display sign during a shopping trip. Whether these were clear plastic hanging signs, deli signs, picture display stands, or a poster stand, it’s clear that signage does make a difference in what sells and what doesn’t.
Brigham Young University, among others, recently conducted surveys related to these issues. The combined results of these studies showed that merchandise with signs outsells those without by 20%. Furthermore, full-priced items performed 18% better when they had a sign.
Given that there are approximately 30,000 SKUs launched every year, according to data from 2014, labeling product sections and bins with clear plastic hanging signs and other types of signage can make a significant impact on the customer experience and sales.
