Why Getting Your Product On the Checkout Counter May Make or Break Your Success

Has your eye ever started to wander towards the items merchandised around you at the checkout counter? Do you find yourself giving into temptation and adding one last product to your grocery cart or shopping basket because you just can’t resist? You’re not alone. Items placed at the checkout counter generally see a boost in sales, but why? How does it work? Here’s why getting your product placed on the checkout counter is so important:

Increases visibility.

Whether a customer comes into the store looking for your product or not, they will end up being exposed to it if it’s at the checkout counter. There is no escaping these items if you plan on making a purchase within the store. This helps increase visibility and brand awareness of the lucky products that are chosen for this prime retailer real estate. Plus, if there’s a long line and customers are forced to wait, there’s a chance they will pick up your item and learn more about it—either out of interest or just boredom. Either way, customers are becoming more familiar with your brand and what you stand for, all because of where you are placed within the store.

Gives the opportunity for interaction.

As customers are browsing through a convenience, drug or grocery store for example, they don’t have much opportunity to interact with store employees. Unless the customer actively seek an employee to ask a question, they probably won’t get have any interaction beyond the standard “hi, how are you?” But, when your product is placed right at the checkout counter, customers have the opportunity to talk to the store employees about it. They can ask the cashier for more information about the product, whether customers have said anything good or bad about it, and the cashier’s own opinion on it. When store employees are thoroughly trained about your product at the checkout counter, it can be like having a brand ambassador right in front of the customer selling your product.

Customers are impulsive.

Anyone who has ever grabbed a candy bar or a trashy tabloid magazine in the checkout line knows just how hard it is to resist the temptation of these items. This could be because of a concept known as decision fatigue. Let’s say a retailer places your items right by the front door. Items here are just as likely to get visibility than those placed at the checkout counter, since every customer has to pass through this area. So, why aren’t items at the front door as successful? Customers may be able to resist temptation in the beginning of their trip, but after traveling through the entire store and having to make dozens of decisions on what to buy and whether an item is worth it, their brains no longer want to make decisions. This is known as decision fatigue, and it explains why customers are more likely to give in and make impulsive purchases at the end of their trip. If your product isn’t at the checkout counter, you won’t get to tap into the benefits of customer decision fatigue, which is just one more reason why this placement is so important.

Has your wholesale distributor ever gotten your product on the checkout counter? Did you see an increase in sales as a result? Share your success stories in the comments below!

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