Impulse Items

By Gregg Salkovitch

In 1914, Edward John Noble came up with a clever idea. His product, Life Savers,was a struggling brand; but he believed if it was placed in front of adrug-store cash register, it could sell well at a nickel. Noble saw this asprime real estate in the retail world. The location was idealwhere there ischange, there are nickels! His small company grew rapidly because he recognizeda need for an inexpensive item customers could easily add to their shopping cartwithout much thought. In other words, he saw a place for impulse items in smallbusinesses.

Last month, I went to an electronics store to purchase a CDplayer. After 15 minutes of looking at various brands, I found one I liked for$79.99. While waiting in line at the register, I saw a pack of blankCDs in a compact display for $7.99. As someone who likes to mix his own CDs, Iadded these to my order without hesitation.

The store had an entire aisle containing several brands ofCDs. Why did I purchase them at the counter instead? Three reasons: First, they were visible. I hadnt considered purchasingblank CDs; but since they were conveniently located at the register, I thought,I could really use these. Second, it was easy. I was in line and only had to pick themup. Finally, they were inexpensive. An additional $8 was not a major purchase.

The objective with impulse items is to boost sales volume onproducts customers want more than they need. The characteristics of most impulsebuys are low price, marginal need, self-service and small size. These were theexact characteristics of the CDs I purchased. As a result, the store increased my sale by 10 percent.

Like drug and electronics stores, your self-storage facilityshould offer impulse items. Locks are a necessary item and sell well at mostfacilities. A customer who stores with you is likely to buy a lock from you.Therefore, locks do not qualify as an impulse product. Choose instead a productthat might get lost in your retail display and has a reasonable price point, forexample, carton markers or cutters, and moving labels. These products arelowcost, and many customers will buy them without wavering. They are idealprecisely because they do not call attention to the fact they are beingpurchased.

Sixty percent to 70 percent of consumers make whimsical buyingdecisions while in a retail store. This is why it is essential for you todisplay impulse items. Boxes and locks are easy salesmany customers who walk intoyour retail-sales area are ready to buy them. Put impulse items in front of themso you can build on those sales. Your customers want these items; they just do not know they need them!

Gregg Salkovitch is an account manager at Supply Side, whichdistributes packaging as well as moving and storage supplies. The company hasdeveloped merchandising programs for many leading companies, including StorageUSA, the U.S. Postal Service, Kinkos and Mail Boxes Etc. For moreinformation, call 800.305.6110 or 216.738.1200; e-mail [email protected].