It’s something we took pleasure in doing for numerous years… Until something occurred to us this year.
We noticed something last year during Christmas when we were shopping at our local Whole Foods Market. Instead of buying more expensive foods to feed our son, we spotted tall and lush green trees that looked handsome.
Our clothes were drenched with dew and sap, and our shoes were covered in mud as we ventured far from the trails in search of what we had only glimpsed.
We had to drive for an hour up a twisty and narrow road, then slog around to find it, and finally toss it on our car and haul it back ourselves – all for the big price of $39.99! Even the trees from the farms are cheaper than that.
Meanwhile, there was even a jovial individual using a chainsaw to trim the trees for all, while freely collecting and placing them into nets.
We have decided to return to our farm tomorrow and pick up the tree. However, we weren’t old enough to appreciate our tree and probably convinced ourselves that we loved it. There was no more family tradition like ours.
Why is a high-end grocery store selling inexpensive Christmas Trees?
As long as the sales of Christmas Trees increase, it doesn’t matter if they don’t generate profit or even incur losses, as the primary goal is to enhance overall profits. To understand why lowering prices should always be avoided, refer to this article. The Christmas trees serve as a promotional strategy during the Christmas season to attract customers to their stores without reducing prices. Their main focus is to encourage customers to make purchases from their stores, rather than specifically selling Christmas Trees.
How could they do better in attracting people who only want to shop at Whole Foods and allowing them to get more money for each tree, while dealing with fewer trees and charging a higher price to weed them out? They have tested a price of $39.99 in Silicon Valley, where the value that attracts everyone, including those who wouldn’t ever want to shop there, is low enough.
Given that Whole Foods provided convenience and efficiency, it would be a worthwhile proposition to even match their price. Moreover, there was no justification for being less expensive than the tree farms.
A timely promotion that makes it easy for your customers to check something off the top of their “To Do” list is a good way to attract them to you, without discounting your prices.
Inside, you’ll find them engaging in many clever activities that are not typically done in most supermarkets. Can you locate one in this next image?
Have you observed any other grocery store perform this? Stay alert the next time you’re shopping for groceries.
The problem is never the category, but rather how the shop organizes their products, which is generally fine. Would you like some fries with that? This is also known as the “that? With that” version or the “cross-sell”.
In reality, most people typically pick up the minimum or bare minimum number of items and forget even two or an item whenever they do. Whenever you need to hunt for what you need, it’s best to leave and run around to arrange stuff by category in most stores. Or if you want to make mashed potatoes for dinner, you always start with the problem of needing to buy stuff like “I” would.
“This particular one appears more appealing… The potato masher I possess at my residence was quite bothersome the previous time… Oh, I appreciate your kindness… You could be of assistance and suggest potato mashers to them, which provides them with an opportunity to consider, but if you are aware that your customers prefer to prepare mashed potatoes using actual potatoes.”
The kitchen utensils in the unknown location aisle, assuming they departed, most likely wouldn’t have acquired it, resulting in an extra $10 purchase in addition to the potatoes (increasing the transaction size fourfold), at Whole Foods in this scenario.
Rather than obsessing over what you want to sell, think about what problem your customers are trying to solve. Then make it easy — offer them everything they might need to solve it.
Enjoy decorating for the holiday!