Improving your in-store experience is a surefire way to keep your customers happy and interested in spending more time shopping and purchasing. Create a shopper friendly atmosphere and encourage more sales simply by providing your customers with a shopping basket or a shopping cart. Both offer customers a convenient way to carry merchandise throughout your store and to check-out.  They also give your shoppers the ability to select more merchandise as they move through your store aisles. In retail, shopping baskets and shopping carts have been proven to help increase impulse sales.  In fact, a customer with a shopping cart will buy an average of 7.2 items compared with only 6.1 items purchased by a customer without a shopping cart. For bulk products, those sales can be double what a customer would normally purchase without a shopping cart (Source: America’s Research Group).

Shopping Baskets

Shopping Baskets are typically made of plastic or metal and range in size and capacity.  They are durable, break-resistant and don’t take up a lot of store space.  Plastic shopping baskets and metal shopping baskets are stackable.  A simple metal stand which usually comes with a sign topper is used to keep these shopping baskets organized and secure when not in use.

At www.discountshelving.com we offer a plastic tote basket set that holds up to 5 gallons or 50 pounds each, as well as a plastic jumbo shopping basket set that holds up to 7 gallons or 100 pounds of merchandise each.  For a modern look, our attractive wire mesh 12 basket shopping basket set is made of sturdy powder coated metal and comes in a choice of silver, black, red or blue colors.

Shopping Baskets are the most popular choices among retailers such as grocery stores, drug stores, dollar stores, convenience stores, home goods stores, retail chains, beauty supply stores, pet stores, book stores and more.

One of the newest options in shopping baskets is a hybrid of a shopping cart and traditional plastic shopping basket.  This easy pull plastic rolling shopping basket features an elongated handle and wheels.  These rolling shopping baskets make it even easier for your customers to shop freeing their hands to add merchandise.  Made of reinforced plastic, this rolling plastic shopping basket features a narrow design perfect for moving around smaller store aisles.

Shopping Carts

Retail store shopping carts also come in a variety of  styles, sizes and finishes. The most popular shopping cart is made of heavy duty steel and is designed to “nest” into each other for storage.  When purchasing shopping carts, choose the right size shopping cart to suit the size and aisle widths of store in addition to the type of merchandise you sell.  If you offer bulkier items consider a larger or wider shopping cart.  At www.discountshelving.com we offer a small shopping cart, medium shopping cart and a large shopping cart options.  If you have narrow store aisles consider a mini shopping cart  style. The mini shopping cart is more compact, and narrower than the traditional grocery shopping cart.  It is also lighter weight, making pushing this mini shopping cart around your store easier, especially for elderly shoppers. They’re a great option for smaller grocery stores and retailers that carry smaller merchandise such as dollar stores, pharmacies and beauty supply stores.

If you’re looking to increase sales and improve the shopping experience in your store consider adding Shopping Baskets or Shopping Carts.  They’re proven retail tools that make life easier for your customers and also encourage more sales.  Visit: www.discountshelving.com to find the perfect shopping basket or shopping cart for your store.

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One of the most useful product display hooks for slatwall is the slatwall scanner hook, also known as a flip scanner hook. This uniquely designed scanner display hook fits on slatwall or slat board and features an attachable clear plastic plate in which product and price labels, UPC Bar Code labels, QR Code Labels, etc. can be placed. Scanner hooks are ideal for use with POS (Point of Sale) Systems. Slatwall scanner hooks offer simple ways to display merchandise simultaneously while helping in product identification for both customers and inventory control purposes. Slatwall scanner hooks are popular among supermarkets and grocery stores, pharmacies and drug stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, party stores, beauty supply stores, variety stores, pet stores, health food stores, liquor stores, gift shops, automotive and are also used in warehouses. 

Slatwall scanner hooks (flip scanner hooks) are made of metal and come in different finishes such as zinc, black and white epoxy. Scanner hooks for slatwall are available in different lengths including:  4-inches, 6-inches, 8-inches, 10-inches and 12-inches.  The metal hook itself is 3/16-inch diameter wide.  The clear plastic label holder for the scanner hook measures 1 ¼ -inch high by 2-inch wide.  The label holder can be flipped up for easy access to merchandise and for product stocking.

When buying slatwall scanner hooks, choose the right length size to suit the number of products you wish to display.  Also consider your display area when deciding on placement of your slatwall scanner hooks. For example, it’s a good idea to use shorter length scanner hooks if your aisle space is tight between your slatwall and other floor displays.

As the retail industry continues to adopt digital inventory and POS systems, slatwall scanner hooks in particular will continue to be a must-have store display accessory.

Visit www.discountshelving.com or call 1-888-957-4353 for more information on Slatwall Scanner Hooks and other retail fixture and display solutions.

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Retailers know that Mother’s Day spurs one of the top spending sales events of the year.  According to NRF’s 2011 Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, the average person celebrating Mother’s Day this year is expected to spend $140.73 on gifts, up from $126.90 in 2010.

Retailers interested in capturing a portion of the $16.3 billion total expected spending for Mother’s Day this year are working hard to showcase their unique merchandise to catch shopper’s attention.  Many of our boutique and gift store customers in particular get real creative using glass showcases and glass cube displays.  Alternatively,  you can easily put together an effective display for Mother’s Day on the tightest of  budgets.  For example, one of our customers set up a colorful tabletop  jewelry display using a red tablecloth and a mix of different sized jewelry displays in black.  In addition to being bright and eye-catching, it’s extremely cost-effective and  set up was a snap!  How creative did you get with your Mother’s Day displays this year? We’d love to hear from you!

Visit www.discountshelving.com for more product information on jewelry display solutions, glass showcases, and more.

Not even a difficult economy can deter Americans from showing their appreciation for their Moms on Mother’s Day!  Deservedly so!  According to  NRF’s 2010 Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, the average person will spend $126.90 on Mother’s Day gifts, compared to $123.89 last year. Total spending estimated to reach $14.6 billion.

Mother’s Day is one of the biggest holidays of the year with billions to be spent at restaurants and stores. Although most Moms will say “it’s the thought” that counts, “sparkly” gifts are always sure to please.  Gift givers seem to agree on this point as they’re expected to spend $2.5 billion on jewelry for Mom.

Help Your Jewelry Sales Sparkle with the Perfect Displays

Retailers help make your jewelry sales sparkle this Mother’s Day! Select and use the right jewelry displays to showcase your merchandise. Experts agree that well-organized jewelry displays helps to grab potential customers’ attention and helps them to better focus on your selections. For the greatest impact, use displays that are specifically designed for each item (i.e. necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, watches, etc.). Whether you sell fine or everyday jewelry, there are many budget-friendly display solutions to choose from. Some of the most popular jewelry displays include:

• Easel-back Stands & Display Pads – allow you to showcase several (necklaces, earrings, bracelets, or body jewelry) pieces of jewelry at once.

• Earring Cards – use these plastic display cards to attach pairs of earrings and display the cards on a hook or on a countertop earring displayer.
• Earring Trees – use to display a single pair or multiple earrings.
• Jewelry racks, hooks and hangers – work well if you stock quantities of low-priced necklaces.  Use with fold over necklace/bracelet cards for easier hanging and pricing.
• Neck Forms or Busts – often padded or made from polystyrene, gives buyers a good idea of how a necklace will look on a person.

• Revolving Displays – fit on countertops, these square, rectangular, triangle and even hexagonal displayers hold earring cards and revolve or rotate.

• Ring Display –  allow you to feature a single ring or up to five rings separately in a row.
• Risers – come in different colors and materials including acrylic and wood. Risers allow you to display jewelry items at varying heights for a striking display.

• T-bars Style Jewelry Displays– ideal for showcasing bracelets and necklaces. These displays can sit on counter tops or inside display case.
• Trays and cases – elegant looking jewelry trays and cases are often used to display rings. There are a variety of inserts for these displays including flat pad and slotted ring.

• Watch Display – designed specifically to hold a watch upright, these displays fit attractively in a case or a countertop showcase.

It’s not too late to order jewelry displays for Mother’s Day and beyond.  May and June are great months for jewelry purchases with special occasions such as First Communions, Confirmations, Proms and Graduations, all in full-swing.

Retail sales are looking up for Easter.  According to the NFR’s 2010 Easter Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, the average person celebrating the holiday is expected to spend $118.60, up from $116.59 last year. Total spending is estimated to reach $13.03 billion.

The typical Easter consumer will spend $17.29 on candy and $18.16 on gifts. Other holiday purchases include clothing ($19.03), food ($37.45), flowers ($7.84), decorations ($6.34) and greeting cards ($6.30).  When it comes to buying Easter merchandise, most Americans will shop at discount (64.8%) and department stores (33.2%). People will also head to specialty stores such as florists or gift/greeting-card stores (22.0%), online (13.1%), specialty clothing stores (7.0%) and catalogs (3.7%).

Gear Up for Your Easter Sales

It’s not too late to gear up for those potential sales! Make the right impression with your customers by updating your supply of bags, tissue paper and gift boxes.  Also, don’t forget bright new signage. Freshen up your color palette for these items.  Go from dark to light by choosing pastels or vibrant hues like purple and orange.  For your sales signage try fluorescent colored signs like pink, yellow and green.  There are plenty of fun color options now available.

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