We all know the value of impulse purchases; eye-catching items that can push spend up and increase your bottom line. But would you ever have imagined that a ‘cat radiator bed’ would be a good impulse seller?
Well it has been for Jane Holloway, manager of Marldon Service Station in Paignton, Devon, which is part of the Cox of Torbay group.
“Every time we have the cat bed that hangs on the radiator in stock, it sells really well,” she says. ”It’s an impulse purchase that shoppers see and buy. It’s the same when someone sees sensor lights for the garden in our store at a reasonable price or a charging cable for the car. They buy them.”
Jane gets her pumptop promotional stock from Fast Trak and is delighted with the service they provide.
“Ours is a very busy store so we don’t get a lot of free time. The Fast Trak rep comes in about once a month and takes care of everything for us. He checks our stock; takes back anything that hasn’t sold and credits our account. He puts out new items; it’s a really good service.”
Jane has two Fast Trak stands in her busy Budgens store – one at the front of the shop next to the newspapers and one half way down the store. Both easily earn their space in the shop.
Asif Ayub, director at Fast Trak, says positioning pumptop promotional products by the till is best as customers have already seen the product at the pump and if they can’t find it easily in-store you are likely to lose that sale.
“Advertising at the pump with pump toppers is crucial. We’ve found that it can increase sales four-fold,” he explains.
Ayub says items for less than £10 tend to sell the best and he doesn’t like to go over the £20 price point.
“We have been very careful in our selections and during the time of high inflation stuck to “I need” productsrather than “I want” products. We’ve still managed to reach as wide an audience as possible, particularly because we have some really good brands such as Goodyear and Paw Patrol. Marvel items sold really well last year but this year it’s Barbie. However, our number one best seller is Flava car scents.”
And Ayub says retailers don’t need to worry if they have a big seller on their hands as his team can replenish stock within 24 hours.
The aforementioned Flava car scents are a big seller at Top 50 Indie Sectorsure aka Refuel & Go. Group operations manager Baz Patel says: “We have pumptop promotions through Fast Trak and they have adapted our offer via individual planograms for each store, to make sure we have what our customers want.
“Our biggest sellers are traditional seasonal items which we have found work well as they provide us with the latest trends. Examples include this year’s luxury sunglasses offer through Bench and Marvel Avengers Baseball Caps last year and Paw Patrol sunglasses the year before.
“We see the pumptop as an opportunity to advertise our vape offer too which Fast Trak provides us with. Not only do they sort the pos on the pumps but they manage the whole category for us and keep us informed of all the latest trends.”
Prominent place
Obviously Fast Trak is not the only pumptop promotional supplier out there. Top 50 Indie The Brookfield Group uses DSL.
Managing director Aziz Patel says: “We have the promotional items on all our pumps at all of our sites. They work really well on the pumps as they are in a prominent place and customers have time to look at the offers while they are filling up their cars.
“The products DSL provides us with are definitely relevant for today’s customers and we do really well with sales. The best sellers vary as products change every three to four weeks. We’ve definitely seen an increase in sales of pet care and DIY products. And sunglasses are always a big seller. We find DSL very professional; they give us great service and deliver quality products.”
