With the holiday season approaching, shoppers will come to your store in search of the perfect gifts. To enhance their shopping experience and boost your sales, consider optimizing your point of sale (POS) strategy. A simple yet effective tactic is to offer small, enticing items right at the checkout counter.

 

A sleeve of beautifully decorated chocolate-covered sandwich cookies or a charming little bag of foil-wrapped chocolates can easily be added to a customer's purchase. Presenting small, eye-catching treats by the register, perhaps tied with a festive bow or ribbon, creates a visually appealing display that encourages impulse buys. This not only enhances the shopping experience but also prompts customers to treat themselves or grab a quick gift.

Positioning and Pricing for Success

To make this strategy effective, consider the placement and pricing of your POS items. Items should be easily visible and within arm's reach of customers as they wait in line. Keep the price reasonable—around $3 to $5—so customers feel comfortable adding these small extras to their purchase.

Highlight Seasonal Favorites

Offering seasonal items can add to the holiday spirit and draw customers in. For instance, a pair of holiday-themed chocolate truffles or a square of peppermint bark can create a festive atmosphere and resonate with customers looking for something special.

Encourage Shoppers to Treat Themselves

A small sign saying something like, “You deserve a treat!” can remind shoppers to enjoy a little pick-me-up. After a long day of holiday shopping, many people appreciate a small indulgence.

Before the holiday rush, take a look at your checkout area. Make sure it’s stocked with fun, affordable items that make great little gifts or quick treats. By adding these festive extras, you can increase sales and make your customers’ holiday shopping experience more enjoyable.

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Football season isn't just a time for fans to gather and cheer for their favorite teams—it’s also a sweet opportunity for candy makers and chocolatiers to get creative. Game-day excitement will continue to grow until Super Bowl Sunday in February, creating a growing demand for football-themed sweets that add a special touch to each gathering. Whether it’s for tailgating, Super Bowl parties, or just family gatherings to watch the game, football-inspired treats appeal to both children and adults alike. Keep reading for fun and inspiring ideas that are sure to make shoppers cheer!

 

Football-Shaped Chocolates

Rich, detailed moulds can capture the look of a classic pigskin football, complete with stitches. Consider offering various sizes, from bite-sized treats to larger centerpiece chocolates that fans can break open during halftime. RCI member Peterbrooke Chocolatier, for example, offers life-sized chocolate footballs filled with their signature chocolate-covered butter popcorn. As if this realistic chocolate football from RCI member Annedore’s Fine Chocolates wasn’t impressive enough, we love how they package it with a pretty branded ribbon in their team colors.

Transform your chocolate Easter eggs into footballs by simply piping the football stitching with white chocolate.  This rocky road football by RCI member See’s Candies is a real showstopper!

 

 

Tailgate Essentials

You don’t have to be a devoted football fan to love this sporty merchandising display by RCI member Bon Bons Chocolatier! Not only do they showcase a variety of sizes of chocolate footballs, teaming up their football-themed treats with other cute tailgate essentials, such as a Game Day platter and fun puffy vest koozies, makes us want to host a football watch party just because!

 

 

Team-Colored Candy

Fans love repping their team colors, and that can easily translate into candies and chocolates. Always a hit for snacking at football parties, jelly beans, gummies, or chocolate-covered pretzels can also be used to sport your local team colors. There’s no surprise which team Baltimore-based Wockenfuss Candies is backing with these vibrant purple non-pareils! RCI member Fowler’s Chocolate Company developed their own popcorn mix complete with mini chocolate footballs, chocolate drizzle and team-colored sprinkles.

 

 

Chocolate Charcuterie Boards

RCI member, Vande Walle’s Candies has enjoyed success with their team-inspired chocolate charcuterie boards. Read RCI’s blog post for tips on building your own chocolate charcuterie board. RCI member Li-Lac Chocolates packs four varieties of sweet treats into a wooden tray to complete their chocolate football platter.

 

 

Themed Candy Bars

Another option is offering football-themed chocolate bars. Create custom wrappers for your own chocolate bars with football designs and clever sayings or better yet, chocolates that incorporate ingredients inspired by stadium snacks—pretzels, caramel corn or peanuts.

 

 

This social media post by RCI member Bruce’s Candy Kitchen is a nice reminder not to limit yourself to professional football teams. You may see just as much support, if not more, for high school and college football teams in your community.

Take advantage of football season by giving buyers a reason to spend on game day. Build a football-themed display by incorporating your local team’s colors (or black and white stripes will work too) and a chalkboard with spatterings of X’s, O’s and arrows…leading them straight to their next purchase!

Crave more?Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices.  Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

 

 

This week’s post is a must read for candy retailers looking for a merchandising refresh as holiday shopping and festivities begin to pick up speed. Past RCI President Adele Malley and founder of Malley’s School of Merchandising shares expert merchandising quick tips designed to sell more product and maximize your retail space.

 

1. Go up, use the air. Make each column of boxes higher than ever before, however, do not display every collection in columns—it is boring.
2. Break up displays by arranging the boxes differently. Plan for low stacks; vertical boxes sloping next to each other; boxes leaning against the high stacks of the same kind and size; put a strong twist on boxes.
3. Place gift bags in a stand or container to give them more stability.
4. Arrange boxes, around or off-center, from a sample box or picture.
5. Present a jumble of smaller, same content boxes in a massive bowl with low sides. The bowl will add depth, dimensions, and the juxtaposition of round versus boxes adds fun and eye interest.
6. Intermix different size boxes, for example, half-pound boxes with one-pound boxes, to prevent needing a dedicated space for each.
7. If displayed items have the dual purpose of showing and selling, make a run of the look by using two or three boxes as backing for the two or three leaning small boxes placed in front. The expanse will tempt the eye; it will be attractive and very sellable. In front of those boxes, if room, slope boxes on each other for easy selecting.
8. Breakup expanses of horizontal views to interest the eye and increase storage and display space. Go up!
9. Use shelving to get additional vertical height. One deep shelf will help and can be effective in a short section.
10. Create bump-outs to help relieve the eye and create drama. Create a simple, custom display table by cutting a wooden board into a quarter of a half-circle and attach table legs.
11. Use cake stands to create elevation in displays. Display a box sample sitting on one or two actual wrapped boxes. The tabletop below surrounds with boxes.

 

If you are used to nice and neat stacks of product and clean rows, these tips may seem counterintuitive to you. Adele explained during a Candy Clinic presentation on merchandising that sometimes techniques that look too neat and orderly can actually deter interested buyers, because they don’t want to disrupt the display. Adele recommends giving boxes a “strong twist” makes them easier to pick up and more inviting to shoppers.

We love that most of these quick tips could be easily incorporated into your retail display today. You could start by incorporating one tip at a time and easily have a totally refreshed retail space in no time at all! Consider devoting some time to watching customers shop your refreshed displays. Involve your staff, by asking their opinions of the changes and to make note of customer behaviors to observe their effectiveness. We’d love to hear what tips you’ve incorporated into your retail space and how well they’ve worked for you on Facebook, by sharing and tagging us @retailconfectioners.

Crave more?Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

In this five-week series, retail strategists and instructors at RCI’s Merchandising Boot Camp, Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, of KIZER & BENDER, share important areas of your retail space that can either set your business up for sales success or failure. This week we’re covering another variation to the store layout which Kizer and Bender like to refer to as “Lake Front Property.” Learn if this approach applies to your store layout and what to display in this space to capture more sales.

 

Ninety percent of people enter a store and look or turn to the right. This space is prime real estate, otherwise known to as “Lake Front Property.” Too many retailers use this area as just another space to house merchandise, or worse, it’s where you find the checkout counter (ideally, the checkout belongs in the center or on the left side of the store, at the natural end of the shopping experience). If the front right does not work for your sales floor just reverse the flow, making the left side your lake front property.

Use your lake front property to feature new items; tell product stories and display high-demand, high-profit items. Kizer and Bender recommend changing this display frequently to keep your sales floor fresh.

Stay tuned for more retail therapy next week to learn about a sales tactic known as a “speed bump” and how it can set the tone of your whole store.

Crave more?Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

 

 

In this five-week series, retail strategists and instructors at RCI’s Merchandising Boot Camp, Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, of KIZER & BENDER, share important areas of your retail space that can either set your business up for sales success or failure.

Just inside your front door is a space called the decompression zone; an area customers breeze right through without stopping. You can expect they will miss everything you place in this zone of the store.

You may wonder why no one is reading that big sign just inside the door—it’s because people are not focused on shopping yet. In fact, they are unlikely to notice anything until they are at least five-feet inside the door. Anything in the decompression zone is essentially invisible, including shopping baskets.

The placement of your shopping baskets alone, may be costing you sales. There is a direct correlation between the percentage of shoppers using a basket/cart and the size of the average transaction. Want customers to spend more money? Make sure your shopping basket is at least five-feet away from the entrance.

Stay tuned for more retail therapy next week, when we’ll share KIZER & BENDER’s tips for maximizing a free-flow store layout.

Crave more?Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.