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Cashing In With Your Cash Wrap Troy Schwer, Retail Consultant The check out experience is the last and usually most memorable interaction a business has with its customers. It can either make or break a shopper’s visit; so if there is one fixture deserving of a little extra design attention, it’s the cash wrap. However, it seems that for many stores, this essential fixture is more of an afterthought than an integral piece of the package. Dysfunctional designs, cluttered counters, and long lines are making this most memorable interaction an unfavorable one for many customers. If there is one thing that I have learned throughout my career it’s that money is a motivator and success if often measured in financial terms. For those reasons alone, it really makes sense to put a little extra thought into your cash wrap. Though not in the same way as say a merchandise display or point of purchase promotion, cash wraps may actually help increase sales. How? A functional cash wrap can decrease the time is takes for the average customer to finish the check out process. This increases the number of transactions a store is able to complete in a given time. It also works to shorten check out queues, which could be considered a sales booster itself –long lines tend to be a turnoff in our time-starved world. A cash wrap serves two audiences: employees and customers. For employees, it becomes their work area and should accommodate their different job functions. During the design phase, consider what your cashiers need to do to complete a sales transaction and other tasks customers may ask of them, such as returning items or gift wrapping. Even something as common and simple as bagging purchases requires a clear work surface and a storage system for bags that is easily accessible from that area. Another aspect of functionality for employees lies in the location of the cash wrap in the store. If cashiers frequently need to retrieve items from a stockroom, placing the cash wrap near the stockroom shortens travel time to and from storage and decreases a customer’s wait. In some stores, the cashiers act as the sales associates too. These employees need easy access from the sales floor to the cash wrap. In this case, it makes sense to place the check out in a central location, making it easier to mind the store and the paying customers. For your customers, on the other hand, the cash wrap is the place where they pay for items and needs to be functional for them in that regard. With point of purchase and other in-store promotions increasing in popularity, it’s easy to cram a cash wrap with impulse items. However, a cluttered counter may actually work against you. Without a place to put purchases, purses, etc., customers are forced to perform a balancing act to get to their money. This increases an individual’s time spent at the register which decreases the number of transactions you can carry out in a given time and so on. Envirosell, a behavioral market research and consulting company out of New York , found in one study that by including a ledge at its client’s cash wrap for customers to set pocketbooks and purses on, they were able to decrease the average customer’s transaction time by 15 percent. This might not seem like a lot, but it meant quite a few extra people (think 70-90) could be served during the business’s rush hours. Up until now I have focused on functionality, but it’s important to remember that functional doesn’t have to mean unattractive. In fact, having fun with your cash wrap creates visual interest. Giving customers something to look at is one way to shorten their perceived wait time, or how long the wait feels. Some stores incorporate magazine racks while others are experimenting with TVs and targeted media. My company recently redesigned a point of sale area for a specialty retailer that included built-in merchandising areas as well as glass shelving suspended from the ceiling. These unexpected touches direct waiting customers’ attentions to the retailer’s products that are on display. It’s time to start cashing in with a well-designed cash wrap. More than an afterthought, this pivotal piece of the fixture package has real money making potential, and to begin to make it work for you, you need to make it work for the people who use it: your employees and customers. This starts with the functionality of the design and the location of the cash wrap in the store. With these needs met, don’t be afraid to have some fun with the design; visual interest is rarely a bad thing. Couple these ideas with a friendly, helpful sales force and you’ll be well on your way to leaving your customers with a favorable lasting impression. Troy Schwer is a Retail Consultant for F.C. Dadson, Inc., a nationwide fixture management company. The company offers space/floor planning and conceptual design, graphics, POP displays, trade show exhibits, turn-key fixture design and manufacturing along with nationwide installation. To learn more about F.C. Dadson, Inc., click here. You can reach their national sales consultants at (800)728-0338 or visit them on the web at: www.fcdadson.com |