LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Cookies and crackers are a great accompaniment to complete a grab-and-go meal. According to research by NACS in late 2010, these items are the “purchase driver” of about one-quarter of transactions and an “add on” purchase three-quarters of the time. Retailers should examine strategies to enhance their potential as transaction builders, with a focus on placement, POP, market-basket analysis and more to capture that impulse buy.
Top-selling cookies and crackers should be displayed at multiple points around the store. Putting these items adjacent to complementary items such as beverages, foodservice and the checkout visually reminds the customer to complete the meal. Point-of-purchase (POP) signage, strategically placed with the right message, also can help.
Some retailers have the ability to look at market-basket activities within their stores, which is helpful when evaluating transaction-building items such as cookies and crackers, as well as promotions that include multiple items, subcategories or categories. This requires that retailers have transaction-level data that enables them to analyze the following:
- What products are consumers buying within each transaction or basket?
- How many items are consumers buying within each basket?
- Do certain products, subcategories or categories have natural affinities to other products?
- What are the sales and margins within certain baskets? Do certain products appear in the most profitable baskets?
- What effect did promotions have on overall baskets?
- What can we determine from those baskets containing specific products?
- What effect does day-part have on baskets?
For more tips and data, see pg. 132 of the November issue of CSP Magazine.
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