Retailers can Increase Length of Customer Visits

Consumers will Shop More and Buy More
When Drawn to the Back of the Store

A few days ago I went into a hardware supply store.
The back wall of the store was about 20 feet wide, with
a door to the back storage area on the right side. The
rear wall was basically empty with the exception of some
dusty, old obsolete metal parts that have probably survived
a string of American Presidents over the years. In the corner
was the store vacuum cleaner and a mop.

When I asked the manager why the rear wall was so
sparsely stocked he stated that very few customers
ever wander there so it has become a catch all for
store equipment and old stock.

One can only wonder how many customers would wander
throughout the whole store, including the rear wall area
if there was something interesting to see there. A rear wall
draws people to the back, especially if you can see the rear
wall from the front of the store. A visually dazzling display
and/or a great price offering motivates your customers to
walk the whole store, go to the back and spend more time
on your premises. Typically, the more time they spend in
your store, the more they experience, the more they will
spend.

Grocery stores know that drawing customers to the rear
of the premises motivates people to shop longer and buy
more goods. Milk and other staple items are placed at the
rear wall of the store so that people seeking these essentials
will go back there and encounter most of the store's
offering in their journey.

Most store neglect the power of their rear wall area. Some
low cost enhancements to this area can motivate today's
precious traffic to shop longer, shop the whole store and
increase your average sale. A handful of simple tactics can
dramatically increase the interest level of your rear wall
area and boost sales:

• Rearrange fixtures so that your rear wall is visible
  from the front of the store
• Merchandise the rear wall area with high visual
  impact. Use dramatic  color and signs to draw
  customer attention to the rear wall area
• Consider aggressive price points as another
  strategy to draw customers to the rear of the store
• Add sales displays midway in the store for
  customers to encounter as they travel through
  your store to the rear wall
  
  Offer the customer a journey through your store of
  multiple promotional offerings. Longer visits with
  more to sell the customer will increase your average
  sale. Retailers must capitalize as much as possible
  on lower traffic levels in order to prosper in these
  challenging times.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

1. Discuss the Back Wall strategy with your team.
   Gather ideas on what products could stimulate
   customer interest in the rear wall area.
2. Consider older stock, stock on sale or a
   particular product line and use a theme to
   promote the rear wall.

Contact one of your suppliers and consider a
vendor co-promotion and feature their products
on the entire wall. Ask for a temporary margin
increase and aggressively price point the vendor's
product line.

HANG IN THERE!