The aim of cross-merchandising is to provoke impulse buying by creating a need in the consumer.
This technique enables the store to make additional sales on items that the customer had not necessarily planned to buy.
What’s more, this cross-selling method is often perceived positively by the consumer, who sees it as a service provided by the store.
Complementary products can be presented to customers on the shelves in a variety of ways. Presentation aids (ties, baskets, free-standing displays, etc.) can be disposable or durable, and can be installed in the middle of the aisle, at the head of the aisle, at the end of the aisle, or even in the form of an island display.
For effective cross-merchandising, however, it’s important to follow a few basic rules:
- Choose a legitimate product: the link between the two products presented side by side must be obvious.
- Focus on visibility: products must be prominently displayed in a well-designed, high-traffic area.
- Pay attention to merchandising clutter: the complementary product must be visible, but it must not clutter up the shelf, as this could reduce sales of back-of-shelf products.
- Focus on durability: a durable cross-merchandising solution (fixed equipment or furniture) is more profitable than a disposable solution, which may be stolen by a competitor.
- Don’t forget practicality: the support chosen for cross-merchandising must be easy for customers to use, facilitate restocking, and offer sufficient storage capacity.
Cross-merchandising is a commercial strategy that can increase sales of certain products and make shopping easier for the consumer.
This practice, however, requires a certain amount of organization because it necessitates the installation of additional presentation supports and restocking outside the original radius of the product being promoted.
