Boosting Retail Sales with Efficient Add-On Strategies

Join Bob Phibbs, a.k.a. the Retail Doc, as he shares his valuable insights on how to boost retail sales by effectively utilizing add-on strategies. Having helped retailers amass millions in sales worldwide, Bob discusses the importance and practicality of add-ons - items suggested for purchase in addition to an initial acquisition.

In this instructive episode, Bob demonstrates how a simple item like a hair massager can be the perfect add-on. Priced at just $5, it's an easy and affordable option for customers, particularly those in a salon setting. Bob emphasizes the value of starting with small, easily comprehensible add-ons before gradually introducing more complex options such as service contracts.

Framing add-ons as an opportunity rather than an imposition is key, suggests Bob. Drawing from his experience in the shoe care industry, he offers anecdotes of how small incentive schemes motivated employees to promote add-ons. Training your staff to see the value in add-ons, understand their benefits, and communicate these effectively to the customers, could enhance the shopping experience and improve sales performance.

This episode is a must-hear for anyone looking to up their retail game in 2024, providing valuable strategies and tips on how to increase sales, boost profit margins, and enhance customer experience through add-on strategies. Leave your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more retail insights.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hi, I'm Bob Fibbs, the retail doc. I've helped retailers sell millions of dollars
worth of products all over the world.
And one of the ways we do that is to increase add-ons. Add-ons are something
that someone's already bought one item and you add on something else, right?
So think if you're ordering a hamburger, the fries are extra,
the server suggests them, or you have a great dinner and they suggest the dessert,

(00:21):
that kind of thing, right?
Well, you have to start with something small. So you know what this is?
This is a hair massager. And I learned this trick from Patricia Fripp.
And a hair massager is about $5.
And it's the easiest thing you could add on because if you have long hair particularly,
it's easy to get the shampoo and the conditioner in.
But anybody, people, guys with less hair like me, it's a scalp massager.

(00:43):
It's only $5. This would be the perfect thing for a salon to have every one
of their hairdressers, salon professionals suggest and demonstrate to their
crew, right? It's like $5. No one has to think about this.
It's the easy thing to do. Well, this is the point that sometimes we go through
and we sell something and then
we want the add-on to be like a service contract for an extra $50 a month.

(01:06):
And someone's got to think like, yeah, I don't know that I want that.
And the crew has to think like, what a waste.
So you want to start off by training your crew with something easy and something
under five bucks is easy.
So like in the shoe care industry where I started, it was, I got a spit for
50 cents for every shoe cleaner I sold. old.
And connecting that performance to them getting something out of it is going

(01:28):
to let them understand that add-ons are something easy.
And especially if there's something that they could see is fairly cheap,
and more importantly, they can see the value in, you're going to spend your
time training this really well to get them comfortable with the concept before
you move on to something else. What do you think?
Put in comments below, and I will see you later for another tip about how to retail great in 2024.