Sep
2
Written by:
host
9/2/2010 9:36 AM
One of the biggest challenges to selling anything is making your potential customers aware of your products and services. If your customers aren’t aware of what you offer they aren’t likely to even open the door to your facility let alone make a purchase.
In recent years hospitals have gone through aggressive changes, bringing more retail into their facilities, especially food and coffee.
Marketing and sales techniques are constantly evolving—with certain methods falling flat and others bringing a company’s bottom line to the next level of success.
Looking at the top retail trends this year from Peter Fisk, you see a lot of similarities in the hospital food service environment.
Think about the last time you went to the store. What grabs your attention? What convinces you to put a particular product in your cart? Is it the colorful advertising? Or is it the POS guiding your consumer dollars?
Answers will vary from consumer to consumer, but what will remain constant in each product’s strategy is to achieve one goal: Getting your attention.
Here are some techniques to apply to your hospital foodservice retail plan:
· Concept Spaces – Using modular bases helps your retail options become more mobile and provide retail offerings outside the typical retail spaces including “Grab and Go” Stations.
· Engaging Niches – In the health care environment you have many different customer demographics to engage with, identify which customers would benefit from special offering like catering.
· Streamline – Giving your customer a fast and convenient product is key to customer satisfaction.
With so many food service facilities vying for consumer dollars, it’s important that you work hard to have your products and services stand apart from your competitors.
Having your products catch the consumer’s eye is step one to them purchasing it. This is why the advertising, public relations, and social media are a billion dollar a year industry. Companies know that to increase their bottom line their products need to be accessible both online and in retail stores.
Researchers from the Point of Purchase Association International (POPAI) found that 70% of product purchase decisions are made within the retail store itself. What this percentage tells us is that consumers are making purchasing decisions largely based on what they see—literally what their attention is drawn to in stores.
What is your facility doing to increase point of purchase sales? What types of displays have been most successful?