Delight customers with clever add-ons to popular baby purchases

Baby retailers know that the year-round market for baby care and parent convenience items often comes down to timing. Having the right items in stock and available at the point of sale right when they are needed, can make or break a sale.

The cash register or online shopping cart is the only spot where you can work your sales magic. Three strategies can help you reach busy parents, indulgent aunties, and frantic friends right when they are making buying decisions.

Streamline the point of sale: Make the actual exchange of money an easy step for shoppers. Add coupons and discounts automatically. Expand your payment options or go completely cashless with mobile payments.

Target impulse buyers by offering check-out items with tax included – those nice, round numbers make last-minute add-on decisions even quicker.

Use the entire shopping experience to cross-sell. Point of purchase displays and related-item recommendations online have been shown to increase sales by as much as 20 percent!

Catch your customer’s eye in store by grouping small items in baskets and grouping several baskets together. This technique is great for diaper bag items. Online, offer your own curated collections of related items and show them in product photos.

Go beyond the shelf: Point of purchase displays can be free-standing or attached to shelves or aisle end-caps to offer complementary products together.

Even if your suppliers haven’t provided a point of purchase display or marketing materials, displaying your own photo of items used together – like a towel “cake” decked out with baby-sock flowers and an assortment of bath toys.

Display multiple items together – like a stroller shown with bag hangers and toy tethers – can help you sell more without eating up shelf space.

Our favorite add-on for baby retailers right now are:

• Pacifiers in fun designs and colors, including college teams
• Teething beads that pull double duty as a wearable accessory
• Feeding spoons that are eco-friendly in bamboo
• Bean-b-Clean Cradle Cap Brushes that fix flaky scalp fast and help promote new hair growth
• Blanket stickers for baby’s first milestone and 0-12 month birthday pictures

Revisit your add-on products seasonally and keep best-sellers in stock. Timing is an essential part of the equation when it comes to piquing the interest of buyers and making the sale.