Concepts for success: March 2013

Ease your customer’s information overload by helping to make their purchases easy and memorable.

Ease your customer’s information overload by helping to make their purchases easy and memorable.

In today’s fast-paced world, especially with the rapid developments in digital and mobile technology, consumers are constantly being bombarded with marketing and advertising campaigns for thousands of different products. With so many choices, it’s easy for consumers to become completely overwhelmed about what they should be buying and where they should be buying it. It is important for your bakery to provide as much good and useful information about your products to your customers as you can, and get them to remember your products. Ideally, it would be great to be able to personally spend the time with each and every customer who walks through your door to go over their needs and your products, but realistically, neither of you may have the time. In order to deliver this type of service without the personalized time, you must communicate your products and your brand to your customers using proper signage, point-of-purchase (POP) materials, labels, packaging, merchandising displays, graphics and other tools.

Here are some quick tips to ensure that you are giving your customers a memorable product.

Write effective POP materials
Writing effective POP materials can help entice your customers to try something new. Be sure to spell out the benefits of your products on each POP, and reasons why they should buy it. For example, instead of writing “Whole grain bread,” try, “Whole grain bread containing five servings of recommended daily fibre. Ideal for a delicious and healthy grilled cheese sandwich!” Be sure to include pricing on your POP materials so that customers can calculate the cost of their purchases.

Use in-store merchandising
Using proper in-store merchandising techniques will help build connections between the product and the customer, resulting in more impulse and trial sales. For example, setting up a large, eye-catching display of your new breads or pastries right at the entrance of your bakery will force customers to see and notice the product, perhaps have the opportunity to sample it, and ultimately be enticed to buy it. Use proper signage around the display to highlight the features and benefits of the product.

Use floor graphics and floor stands
A good way to drive your customers to the right products on-shelf is to use floor graphics to help lead them there. For example, if your bakery sells a large line of gluten-free products, it’s a good idea to put a floor graphic right at the entrance of your store not only to let all customers walking through the door know that you sell gluten-free products, but also to direct those in search of gluten-free products to the right shelves.

Strategically placed floor stands can create some additional real estate in your store, and are ideal for highlighting new or special items that you want to push. If possible, place a double-sided floor stand outside your bakery to attract passersby. Ensure your floor stands are colourful and eye-catching, and filled with an abundance of products.

Display the ingredients
If you have used too many signs and words in your bakery, consider highlighting the freshness and wholesomeness of your baked goods by displaying the ingredients you used around the products. For example, if you are selling lemon meringue tarts, place fresh lemons, slabs of butter and a bowl of eggs around the tarts. This conveys the message to customers that your tarts were baked in-house using only the freshest ingredients.

Design proper packaging and labels
While it is important to ensure that you provide all important information on your packaging and labels, including lists of ingredients and nutritional information, you must also make sure that the design is cohesive with your brand name.

Customers should be able to look at your package and recognize that it comes from your bakery. Creative and original packaging and labelling will help customers remember your brand, and remind them to visit your bakery again when they see your packaging at home.

Diane Chiasson, FCSI, president of Chiasson Consultants Inc., has been helping restaurant, foodservice, hospitality and retail operators increase sales for more than 30 years. Her company provides innovative and revenue-increasing foodservice and retail merchandising programs, interior design, branding, menu engineering, marketing and promotional campaigns, and much more. Contact her at 416-926-1338, toll-free at 1-888-926-6655 or by e-mail at chiasson@chiassonconsultants.com, or visit www.chiassonconsultants.com.