How Impulse Buying Can Increase Revenues

As Americans, we are all lucky to have options and access to almost anything imaginable. During the buying process, whether it be in-store or online, we always are tempted to kick into impulse buying for just a little more.  Companies implant the ideology of just a little more when they put yummy chocolates near the checkout line, or strategically place water bottles at the end of your shopping experience.  Another example of how companies insinuate just a little more is when Amazon increases the price of your ticket by offering complementary products that are often purchased together. Usually, these bundle items work together and tempt consumers to make that extra purchase.   For instance, if a customer wanted to purchase an iron for wrinkled clothes, Amazon could bundle the iron, ironing board, and de-wrinkling spray together for a discounted price.  In most cases, consumers do purchase these bundles at a higher price than they had originally intended to spend—which is, by definition, an impulse buy.  

Impulse Buy for Your Products 

Whether you are shopping at Amazon, Winn-Dixie, or Kroger, these companies are all tempting customers to purchase ‘just a little more,’ throughout their buying experience.  For your business, impulse buying may take the shape of one of the following examples: 

1. If you are a retailer who sells women’s clothing, you may offer designer earrings at a 35% discount as the customer purchases a pair of denim pants. 
2. If you are an ice-cream stand, you can offer discounted water bottles as the customer purchases a waffle cone. 
3. If you are a hair salon, you can offer a discounted conditioning treatment as a customer receives their quarterly haircut. 

All of these ideas are ways in which impulse buying can benefit both the business and the consumer.  Whether consumers decide to purchase or not is their own decision, but we do recommend offering discounts if you choose to implement impulse buying. This not only benefits the consumer, but it helps maintain the reputation of your business by avoiding the optics of pushing consumers to buy full-price items at the last minute. 

One Step Further… 

With a dual-screen point of sale system such as Franpos, you can easily implement Impulse Buying at the touch of a finger.  Say a customer’s card is in process for purchasing an item at an ice-cream parlor. The upsell is in the additional discounted cone the system is offering. The customer can decide to "add now" and get another cone, or they continue with their original purchase.  This simple but effective method is a great and easy way to subtly increase revenues while adding value to the consumer at a discount.  In conclusion, Impulse Buys can equally benefit both businesses and consumers.  We advise our clients to subtly offer Impulse Buys at a reasonable discount that customers will enjoy!   If you would like to demo our Impulse Buy technology, you may book a free consultation with one of our marketing consultants Here.