Increasing Retail Sales at Your Storage Facility

Increasing retail sales at your facility is crucial to growing the overall revenue and value. This is not always as easy as it may seem. You can’t simply put items out and expect to sell a significant amount of product.

Here are a few ways to increase your retail sales.

Display

Fully Stocked- People need to see the products before they can buy them. Make sure the racks look full. People are more inclined to buy when the shelves look full and fresh of inventory.

Displays- Some customers might not understand what some of the products are completely. Dish moving kits usually get the most confusion. Take one out of the box and put it on display so customers know exactly what it is. Use as many visuals as you can on your display.

Organization- Keep the display as organized as you can. Labels should always face out. Use peg-hooks and stands to display certain products.

Paint Colors- This is a subtle change you can do that will cause the customer notice the display a little easier and keep their attention. The display should be a bold contrast color like red, while the rest of the office is one or two neutral colors. New customers will immediately notice the display when they walk in the office.

Pricing- Put prices on all of the items. People are less likely to buy if they have to ask for pricing.

Sales

Phrases- Use phrases like “I recommend” and “it makes sense”.

Explain- Explain the product and why it benefits their needs before they can object about price. Using locks for example, tell the tenant that you are selling one of the best locks on the market. Do this by telling them a few features of the lock. You can explain that it’s stainless steel so you won’t have to worry about rust. Or you could explain that it’s rated a top rated lock (if you are selling them, that is). The tenant needs to understand why your lock is beneficial compared to the big box store. People will buy when it’s more expensive because of perceived value.

Recommend- Recommend a few items for each customer. People typically show up to the facility with very little storage experience which makes us the experts in their eyes, so they will listen to our recommendations. If they plan on being here long-term, suggest a dust cover and explain why.

Ask- Ask for the sale! You can’t sell anything if you don’t ask for it. Majority of sales are lost because the manager never asked for the sale.

Push- Push the sale a little bit. Sometimes people need to be pushed into the right direction. Bring the lock with you when you are presenting the unit. Put the lock on the unit and ask for the sale, then hand them the keys.

Promotional

Advertise- Always advertise your products for display on your billboard and on signs inside/outside the office.

Bundle pricing- Bundle any amount of product for a certain discount. Exp: bundle of 10 boxes gets 10% off OR any new move-ins gets 10% off on all retail items.

Buy back- In conjunction with the bundle pricing you can offer to refund any un-used and un-damaged boxes. This will get rid of any worries the customer has about buying too many and not using all of them.

High volume vs. high price- Most facilities sell a small amount of items, but get great margins on them because they are sold at full price. You can change this by increasing the number of sales by lowering margins and advertising “liquidation sale on moving items” or “sale on moving supplies” on the billboard. The margins are thinner but inventory will move which means more people will come into the office which equals more move-ins.

Product Cost- Increase your margins by lowering the cost of inventory. Shop around for different suppliers. Directly from the manufacturer usually requires higher volume to get good pricing but the benefit can sometimes be 50% cheaper. This would drastically change the profit realized in each sale.

Facility/Manager Incentives- Create a budget/target for each facility to hit in retail sales. If the manager hits this target then you can offer any incentive you can think about…extra PTO, gift cards, bonus, etc. Get as creative as you want. Sometimes retail sales are low because the manager is simply not motivated enough to take the extra step with presenting products to the customer. You can’t blame them either, more work, same pay. If this is the case with your manager, create an incentive.