Be tactical with store layout to encourage bigger basket spend

Benedict Selvaratnam, Freshfields Market Store, Croydon, south London

“There are so many stats to prove that it’s cheaper and easier to get existing customers to buy more by looking after them, finding out what they want and stocking it, than seeking out new customers. It’s more efficient. Our basket spend was £6.80 but we’ve bumped it up to £8 by tweaking some things and get­ting people to trade up.

“We position complementary items like pasta and sauces or beer and ready meals together. It reminds people that they go well together, which they often don’t think of or forget. We have a post office and we encourage our cashiers to suggest items we have by the till area. You need to put high-margin items near the checkout and premium products at your gondola ends.

“Bundle deals are always very popular and help to increase basket spend, as do loyalty schemes. We teamed up with MyDD Points, which is used by a number of local retailers.”

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Reward your customers and encourage loyalty

Gary Hunt, CT & Baker Budgens of Holt, Norfolk

 “We’ve got a loyalty scheme with Azpiral and we really want to maximise that this year. We’ve got ideas for how we can do specific promotions that are unique for loyal customers. It’s all about enhancing the promotions you’ve got.

“We’re working with suppliers like The Cress Company and Suma to see what deals we can get, and then rather than push­ing that enhanced margin, we pass it onto the customers. We had a promotion running over the summer months with Bea­ver cordials and we saw a 22% increase in sales just for that set of products.

“Don’t be greedy. Try to reward customers, especially the ones who are shopping with us on a weekly basis. That can also come in the form of putting in a special order for a specific customer. It’s all about enhancing the offer to make the whole thing a more attractive proposition for your customers.”

Plan your range so customers don’t need to look elsewhere

Chetan Patel, Felbridge Village Store, West Sussex

“Having that complete range is important. If you want to create a meal from scratch, you want to be able to get everything you need in one store. So if it’s missing one item, you might just go elsewhere for everything else as well. We need to tie up all the categories together.

“Growing basket for us has meant adding to our fruit and veg range, our fresh meat range, our wine offer and our after-dinner dessert range. That means our customers can get eve­rything they need in one place. We’ve also added more organic and more premium options, which boost basket spend as well. Make sure they don’t have to go anywhere else for what they need.

“Offers and deals are also important, of course, and it’s al­ways worth having some PMPs. It’s a bit of a cliché, but people will just pick up another pack just because it’s cheaper.”

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