There’s good news for retailers this holiday season—consumers are expected to spend more this holiday season than in 2018. The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual holiday spending forecast projects holiday retail sales will increase between 3.8%-4.2% for total sales between $727.9 billion and $730.7 billion.
Now, you just need to get your share of the spending. How can you get your customers to spend more with your business—in other words, how can you increase your average transaction value (ATV)?
Average transaction value is the average dollar amount that a consumer spends with you within a single transaction. To calculate your ATV values, take the total value of each of your transactions from a specific time period and divide that number by the total number of transactions your business had during the same timeframe. This will give you an average of how much each transaction was worth during that period. Generally, the higher the ATV is, the more income your company generated on each customer who made a purchase.
The key is understanding where your ATV excels and where it needs help. Here are three ways to increase your ATV this holiday season:
- Teach your staff how to use suggestive selling techniques. Encourage your employees to personalize your customers’ experiences and learn to discern a customer’s likes and dislikes. Your staff should pay close attention to how the customer asks questions, what items are picked up and then put down, etc. If you’re an online retailer, regularly check your website’s analytics to see where customers are browsing and how long they stay on each page they visit. Think about adding complementary items to your product and service lines and make suggestions when appropriate. (For example, check out these scarves that go with this shirt.) Incentivize your team by creating a contest with a prized awarded to the staff member who increases their ATVs the most over a certain period. Time off at the holidays or a free dinner for their entire family are always great motivators.
- Present different price points. Similar items offered at different price points gives your customers more choices and creates an opportunity to upsell to the higher price level. Your goal is to show customers the better value in the higher quality (and higher priced) item. Remember, upselling is a delicate balance of not appearing too pushy, instilling a sense of urgency and making the upsell relevant to the buyer. Customers want their purchases to make an impression during the holidays, so take advantage of their holiday cheer and help (gently) persuade them to buy more items or spend more on the products they initially came in to buy.
- Offer flexible payment solutions. Even if consumers will be spending more this year, most are still shopping with their holiday budget in mind. How can you alleviate some of that stress? Offer a payment solution that enables them to make larger purchases in phases or installments. Splitit is the only company that offers installment payment options on the consumer’s existing MasterCard or Visa, removing the business owner’s responsibility of offering credit. Merchants pay a small fee on each transaction paid for on Splitit—and customers can then spread out their payments to you without paying interest or other fees.
Here’s how it works: Whether they’re shopping in-store or online, shoppers can split their purchase balances into up to 36 interest-free monthly payments (depending on how many installments you choose to offer) using their current Visa or Mastercard. Splitit offers instant approval as long as the shopper has the available credit (there’s an 80% credit card approval rate), which can encourage increased spending at your store, and consumers don’t need to apply for new a credit line—there’s no application form or credit check involved.
Plus, using the “Buy Now, Pay Later” option, shoppers can try out items for up to 90 days and then decide if they want to keep them. Once they make up their minds, shoppers can then go ahead and pay in full, or start paying on an installment-payment plan.
In the spirit of the season, Splitit is making a special offer for SmallBizDaily readers: Sign up for Splitit by December 31, 2019 and get the first 60 days fee-free! Click here to take advantage of this great offer!
In partnership with Splitit.
Holiday shopping stock photo by Stock Rocket/Shutterstock
