UPSELLING IN THE GUN TRADE

I once had the good fortune to go for lunch with a friend who is fairly high up in a large, non-shooting-related retail chain. We compared notes for the first half before slipping into far more puerile conversation after lunch was consumed. My main take away from the conversation was the reasoning behind forcing staff to add an upselling pitch at every check-out encounter.

You’ll know what one of those is if you’ve ever been to a cheap high street fashion outlet. As you walk up to the counter, pass racks full of easy-to-grab items costing under £5, place your goods down and watch them get rung up, you’ll be asked whether you want to take advantage of the current “20% sequin head band offer”. From the moment you have approached that till, the shop has taken every opportunity to maximise your visit for profit — its mildly annoying, but it clearly makes a difference to the shop’s bottom line.

“Upselling” in a retail context is the practice of encouraging customers to purchase a higher-priced item, extra items or a more premium version of the product they were originally considering. It’s a common sales strategy when faced with a customer who has already committed to buy. Once the purse strings are open, it’s the salesperson’s upselling prerogative to widen them a little further if they can. Most commonly, upselling has three angles of attack.

The first angle is increased quantity. In a gun trade context, this could be a customer walking in for 250 clay cartridges and asking them, “How about you up it to 1,000 to take advantage of the better rate?”. Or instead of one can of oil, buy two “just in case”. This works well with smaller items but the “quantity upsell” would be quite the mammoth task when talking about something like a K80. Moving from a single gun to a pair of these is a large jump (although it can happen on the best of days).

The second angle is increased quality. This is probably the most relatable one from my years working in a gun room. A customer walks in for a Beretta Silver Pigeon for clay shooting, you give them your time, talking through their needs before trying a few guns from the rack. Realising that perhaps their budget and heart would extend, one may suggest a step up to the 694 or DT11 lines; that would represent a must longer term investment in a higher quality item. People often see the value when they are presented with a better quality item, and it’s here that the salesman can work the “quality upsell” angle.

The third angle is increased variety, known as the “bolt-on sale”. This is the most common of all upsells, can take multiple forms and is the easiest to convince a customer of. When the customer you have just upsold into a 694 walks up to the counter, it’s time to ask the “do you need?” questions. Cartridges, cleaning kit, clothes or gun slips are all great verbal upsells, but looking at the high street model, you don’t even need to ask to gain the upsell. Having an array of easy-to-grab, easy-to-buy consumable products near the till can easily result in a few more pounds in the till. Cleaning products are great for this, but things like handwarmers, gift cards or pocketknives have also worked well for me in the past. Having these small things here also aids in shop security, as the best bolt-on items are often the most pocketable by undesirable visitors to your premises.

The main benefit of upselling is pretty obvious — yes, more money in the till, but dissecting it deeper leads us to some rather cliché retail buzzwords.

“Increased average order value” basically means increasing the average spend per transaction. Given how much work you have put in to getting this customer through your doors and the high level of service you will obviously provide – it makes sense to capitalise on every opportunity.

“Improved customer satisfaction” may sound odd when also talking about trying to take more of their money, but the attention to fulfil their every need either by recommending better quality options to give them a better user experience, or guaranteeing that they are not going to get home and realise they are indeed out of oil and ammo will lead to happier clients. Its counter intuitive, yes, but looking at upselling as actually providing a better level of service can help channel that as your focus when walking the fine line between “good service” and “pushy salesperson”.

There is also an interesting article I read about how upselling using modern EPOS systems can lead to better customer loyalty. If you have a way of an EPOS system remembering individual clients (a loyalty card system is great for this), you can start to offer a more personalised recommendation for the upsell making the customer feel more valued. This is a step up from basic retail science and does require some investment, but it’s the game most of the big retail chains are playing for a reason.

On a final note, it’s important to remind yourself that upselling should be done ethically and without pressuring customers. Overly aggressive or manipulative tactics can easily damage customer relationships and cause harm a retailer’s reputation.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in Jonny Carter’s article. Please send your thoughts to editorial@twsgroup.com