Wow, the dollar store actually used a smart marketing technique...

Business 101. Upsell your client when the opportunity presents itself.

Amazing,

That reminds me of way back, like 30 years ago, yeah I know I am an old fossil, but I was single and said "what the heck" and got a second job selling furniture on nights and weekends. While I was training, the old owner of the store required me to add .99 cents to every order.

Kind of unethical, but I guess when you buy $800 of furniture, you don't notice the $800.99 total plus tax, delivery, scotchgaurd etc of course I got a whopping 14% of that, but the old dude made a nice 85 cent pure profit.

Thanks for the memories,

Darwin

Heck - McDonalds has been doing this for years...
"You want Fries with that?"
"Would you like to supersize this?"

"the old fossill" line reminded me of an old joke on this subject (up sell), and since you "wasn't even alive 30 years ago"...stop me if you've heard it - :p

One Sale Only

A country lad applied for a salesman's job at a big city department store. In fact it was the biggest store in the world - you could get anything there. The boss asked him, "Have you ever been a salesman before?" Yes, I was a salesman in the country" said the lad.
The boss liked the cut of him and said, "You can start tomorrow and I'll come and see you when we close up." The day was long and arduous for the young man, but finally 5 o'clock came around. The boss duly fronted up and asked the young lad, "How many sales did you make today?" "One," said the young salesman.
"Only one?" blurted the boss, "most of my staff make 20 or 30 sales a day! How much was the sale worth?" "Two hundred thousand dollars," said the young man. "How did you manage that?" asked the flabbergasted boss.
"Well," said the salesman, "this man came in, - and I sold him a small fish hook, then a medium hook and finally a really large hook. Then I sold him a small fishing line, a medium one and a huge big one. I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast. I said he would probably need a boat, so I took him down to the boat department and sold him that twenty foot schooner with the twin engines. Then he said his small car probably wouldn't be able to pull it, so I took him to the truck department and sold him that new Deluxe Cruiser." The boss took two steps back and asked in astonishment, "You sold all that to a guy who came in for a fish hook?"
"No," answered the salesman "He came in to buy a box of feminine napkins for his wife, and I said to him, - 'Heck, your weekend's shot, you may as well go fishing.'" :rolleyes:


(My apologies to anyone that might have been possibly offended by this joke in any way shape or form - though I can't understand how you would )

Thanks Falkonator -
I always liked that joke, and it illustrates the up-sell well !

I probably used it to avert 007's thread question a bit though, about The Dollar Store using impulse buy in their marketing strategy...
I became aware of this at the Dollar Store nearby around July 1st - the clerk asked me if I wanted to buy their "featured item" (I noticed all the clerks doing it - as a competition it seemed) the item was a barbecue lighter - a smart idea for upsell - given the upcoming holiday - but I was taken aback by the question..."What is the deal?" "How much is it?", I asked. When she said a dollar, I wondered,what person at the head office came up with this? That was a smart use of the upsell however, because of the holiday connection. Like you stated, your girlfriend bought the soda - but what really in the up-sell was in it for her? Nada - had she wanted a soda, she probably would have gotten one to buy before she got to the counter. I guess the question we have to ask is "why was, or is, she so susceptible to the purchase? Simply on the power of suggestion? Simply on the "throwaway" price alone? - If the clerk suggested anything less than a dollar - say .89 cents, they would increase the sales immensely, because though the mindset a the Dollar store is "it's only a dollar" - which is why people shop there. Imagine if they featured items that were LESS than a dollar? You would be getting a BETTER deal than you're getting NOW! Wow!
(Btw: Comedian Larry the Cable Guy says he won't shop at the .99 cent store -
"that stuff is CHEAP! - not like the Dollar Store" :rolleyes

But then again maybe these type of stores don't have to lower price, because the price model is already so low they realize customers consistently buy things they don't need anyway, because it's "only a dollar". So they don't need to?
The point is, you are right - this type of impulse,special buy technique works great for almost anyone - but I think that for the Dollar Store, it seems devious. A more flexible price point is needed in most cases...
I'd be interested to see the figure from the test marketing though, and see how it has affected sales figures -

Stay Successful,
D&C

Fast Food "Would you like fries with that?"
Coffe shops "Would you like a donut with your coffe?"
Grocery Stores "Would you like to donate a dollar to XXXX"
Most Massive Retailers "Do you have a 'Rewards Card'?"

Its nothing new. It works. And more businesses are doing it than you think. Hell, Amazon suggests 10-30 products between the "Buy" button and the grocery card screen. Those items are related to what you have already put into your cart. This is them digitally asking if you want fries with your meal.

Any suggestions for using this tactic in a local webdev type business?

Sometimes some businesses don't even really need all the extra marketing. Just by upselling they can increase SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. thanks for the post vegabond

an extra $6,927,552 per year!Really unbelievable, but it is realistic. With some good technique and hard work a small business may convert into a huge business. Thank you very much for sharing this point with us.

$6,927,552 per year is amazing, it's really breath taking. Im sure the owner isn't doing any work at all leaving all the hard work to teenagers... But i can agree no more that McDonald has been doing this for couple of years now. Apparently more than 40% fast food shops in US, are McDonalds. Hardly surprising...

Good point 007 - maybe I did put too much thought into it...my brain just started typing...:rolleyes:
the power of suggestion...
How were we to know your GF is a gatoraid junkie? That explains it all!
Also, curiously, I just started reading "Influence"... have you ruined the ending for me? :p
D&C

btw: I kidded the girl @ Dollar Tree store once if she ever messed with people' minds and called for a price check...she said no, but people ask me the price of things all the time... I said "you're joking" - and she responded, "I wish I was!"
(really folks?)
B

Great insight. But the key sentence was: "They asked it (buy a Gatorade) at the right time. My gf was in buying mode and was ready to pay."
Never miss an opportunity to upsell when the prospect is in the buying mood.

Yes it is 6 mil but then figure they make about .09 on each bottle comes out to about $150 per store. Definitely better to make more profit but not close to the 6 mill figure.

On a side note, I've read some articles about margins at these dollar stores. They actually do an amazing job with their margins and they are much better than grocery stores and even other retail outlets. Surprising considering their prices but as the saying goes, "You don't make your money when you sell, you make it when you buy."

I think I have "Marketer's Blindness" When I see lots of capital letters, quotations and bold font, I just scroll down. It's hard to even read that. Apparently it works, but my mind blocks it out. Anyway, would you like fries with that?

Great posts and jokes...LOL

I knew someone who started a dollar store franchise don't remember if it was Dollar Tree or what but they where in profit by the end of their second year.

When most other businesses it takes at least 5 years.

Ahhh... gotta love them dollar stores lol.

Our dollar store uses an even better technique.

At the end of the checkout counter are a bunch of different food items - boxed or canned.
The cashier scans all your items and asks if you would like to donate one of those items to the Food Bank. If you say yes, she takes the item you choose, scans it and it adds to your total. The food item gets placed in a container for the Food Bank.

Many people say yes. Brilliant.
You feel generous. The Food Bank gets a donation. And the dollar store sells another item it otherwise would not have.

They do this at the Superstore (Big grocery store chain), where I live. I hate it, they always try to sell the dumbest products, ie: shoe polish.

Yesterday wife and me went to a Radio Shack to buy a doodad for her TV. While we were checking out the clerk upsold us on everything from their cell phone programs to a special on a package of thrity batteries in our size choice. It took us longer to check out then it did to find the doodad. She gave us an opportunity to buy everything but shares of stock in the company.

We also stopped at our local dollar store on the way home. The clerk showed us their featured $1 item. Everybody finally has caught on. Oh, go to your local chain restaurant. As you are being seated you are offered every type of drink they have not to mention appetizers.

I love this country. So much opportunity to spend my minimum wage paycheck :-)

The entire dollar store model is a smart marketing technique with a multi-billion dollar track record, year over year. This was a good reminder for you that the world wasn't built by online sales geeks.

Thanks for analyzing that. It definitely gets you thinking and shows that a little effort done consistently really adds up!

Upselling is the most popular strategy every store applies to get more income, it is indeed a brilliant idea especially when made at the right time like in your case. Me myself have been into this situation where saleslady offer me something and my response is case to case basis.