Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM NOVEMBER 2022 48 A s a kid, purchasing decisions were easy. The ice cream truck offered a half-dozen choices priced from a dime to a quarter. Most buying decisions came down to finances rather than flavor and depended on the coinage in your pocket. I'm still an ice cream fan. Our town has three national chains offering the frozen treat: Baskin-Robbins, Hershey and Dairy Queen. Purely for market research, I feel it's mandatory to visit each one several times a month. It seems the line at Dairy Queen moves about three times faster than those at Baskin-Robbins or Hershey. That means three times more customers are served, resulting in triple the cash register rings. Why? Because the good people at DQ make it easier to choose! While all three shops offer multiple dessert options including sundaes, frappes and concretes (thick frozen custard mixed with toppings), DQ has limited its ice cream selection to just three flavors: chocolate, vanilla – and a twist of both for indecisive patrons. Just like your Baskins, ours features 31 choices, and Hershey's one-ups them with a whopping 40-flavor selection on their wall- mounted menu. On your next trip there, chances are good that each of the soccer team members who hip-checked their way in front of you will want to review all the flavor names and taste three or four samples before making a choice. It's probably not much different in your shop. When it comes to merchandising, you need to offer product choices – you can't just have chocolate and vanilla. People expect to see a wide selection in your store. But unlike your local scoop shop, you can have a selling process that slims the selection to a manageable level, easing the stress of decision-making for your shoppers and your salesperson. Part of that process means reducing your entire catalog to a three- choice selection, just like Dairy Queen, thereby creating an easier pathway from showroom to cash register. In the mattress world, it's a fairly easy process. A typical 30-bed selection provides a myriad of triple-choice selection options: • Technology: Memory foam, innerspring, or hybrid • Comfort: Soft, hard, or medium • Base: Foundation, adjustable, or platform (no base) • Size: Adult (king or queen); youth (full or twin) • Budget: Premium, mid-price, or budget • Payment: Bank card, finance, or cash The choices become a selling process when you develop discovery questions to help the shoppers understand their needs. Explaining that memory foam provides a passive ("sink in") support feel, an innerspring provides active ("push up") support, and hybrid is the best of both makes it an easier choice. Asking about their sleeping and waking position, along with their pain points helps you recommend the comfort level that will suit your shopper. When you ask if there's a TV or laptop in the room, or if reading helps your shopper wind down, it can lead to a decision on the triple-base choices. Mattress size is a given – most shoppers will purchase to their headboard and room size. Your shop most likely displays comfort and support feels in multiple price ranges. Once you determine your shopper's comfort level, you can have them test-rest the three price-point levels. (Start with the premium – it's like the super banana split but with far less calories.). And don't forget the extras. Just like a sundae, they offer your shopper more satisfaction. Protectors, pillows and sheets are the sprinkles, hot fudge and whipped cream of our industry. Payment terms are the cherry on top. Offer all three choices, and their decision means the purchase decision has been made. Gordon Hecht Furniture Trends Gordon Hecht is Senior Regional Manager/Strategic Retail Group at Serta Simmons Bedding. Gordon's blogs are regularly posted by the AVB BrandSource buying group. You can reach him at ghecht@sertasimmons.com. RO MATTRESS MAYHEM How to avoid becoming the Baskin-Robbins of bedding

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