How to increase the average check. Offering different payment methods

29.12.2017

In other words, if store sales amount for the period divided by the number of buyers (checks) in this period (for example, 1 month) - we get the average arithmetic sum check. This is the amount that the average buyer leaves in your store.

I must say that this is the simplest formula for calculating the average check. You can also calculate the average check as a weighted average, you can add service factor values ​​​​to this formula, as well as the percentage of the number of people who bought from all those who simply entered to stare ... But, today we will leave the science of forecasting and data analysis to applied mathematicians. We only note that this indicator is not the only value that allows us to judge the effectiveness of trade and personnel. There are a number of other indicators that allow you to evaluate the performance of the store and its growth potential (Conversion or service rate, sellers' efficiency, etc.). But more about them next time. Our task today is to consider how we can influence average check size shop in the direction of increase.

For limited service restaurants

Now divide your estimated annual sales by square feet. See where they match the results below. If you fall into the bottom category for your type of restaurant, you can look at your menu and overall plan for your restaurant in the first year and adjust accordingly.

The growth of the retail business requires expansion: expansion in terms of increasing the number of stores in stores, or increasing the number of customers in a store. But there are several other ways to increase profits, although many of them are often ignored by most owners. retail stores. While you should be similar to total sales, cost of goods sold and overhead, having tabs on the following retail metrics ensures that you are in control of other elements of your business, which will ultimately affect your bottom line.

2. To properly organize store loyalty programs. For example, when a store owner wants to implement system of cumulative discounts, bonuses or promotions, offered by the Torgsoft program. We are often asked: “How much is it better to issue a discount card?”; How much can you start discounting? What percentage of the discount?”, “How much to start the promotion?”. For each store, the answers will be individual, and just the average bill can answer many questions.

Sell ​​"First in price" position

We have classified these measures into two parts: the revenue side and the cost side, based on their impact on either of the two. Tracking the number of visitors to your store is a basic metric that every retailer should track accurately. Whether it's a shopping season, a new store location, a new display window design, or a loyalty program you recently launched, the steps will help you understand what's working and where you need to improve. Once you know your steps, it's important to track if they're generating dollars for your business.

3. And finally to increase store revenue! Analyzing not only the size, but also the composition of the average check, you can understand what is more profitable: to sell 3 large crayfish for 5 rubles, or 5 small ones, but for 3 rubles each ... or maybe reduce the price of large crayfish and sell them in larger quantities? .. .

Why increase the average check?

Naturally we want increase store revenue. Let's theoretically estimate how this can be done:

1. Raise prices: increase the margin, or bring in a more expensive assortment. Suitable if you have a unique product for the whole district. In life, not everything is so simple - there are competitors around, but like this - once! - and changing the assortment or pricing principles is not a matter of one day. All of these can be seen as strategic opportunities.

2. "Catch up" with more visitors. According to the law of large numbers, and there will be more purchases;

3. Make it so from among those who simply entered the store, there were more of those who bought;

4 . Achieve to the buyer left more money for one purchase. That is, to increase the average check!

Ideally, it's a good idea to apply all these methods in combination, each of the tasks deserves an article.

Of the four given ways to increase store revenue, an increase in the average bill - seems to be the most feasible, because allows you to take action even today, and at the same time not change the key aspects of the store as a whole. This is the first.

You may have heard this before: happy employees lead to happy customers, which means a thriving business! But employee attrition is highly counterproductive to this equation. Recruiting and training a new employee costs huge resources in terms of money and time, although retaining an existing employee is usually much cheaper.

Here are some additional disadvantages of losing an employee. It may take a new employee several months to several years to reach the same level of performance as an existing employee. Quality of Service - Customer service suffers due to mistakes made by new hires. Loss of personal touch - especially in the case of smaller retail stores, employees hold the key to a healthy one-to-one relationship with customers. Influences culture. Other employees who see turnover around them often lose productivity and may even reevaluate their plans to continue.

• Abridged edition.
• Therefore, the loss of an employee can lead to the loss of customers!

There are spare costs for stock that remains unsold on the shelves.

Secondly, it is profitable to work on the average bill: the cost of attracting buyers to the store remain the same, but the revenue is growing. As the turnover of goods increases. Third, it pays off in the long run. According to research, a person's loyalty to a store (institution) is higher, the more money he left there.

Before the recession, small retailers rarely felt the need to achieve operational efficiency. At the time, sales figures more than made up for such operational inefficiencies. The economic downturn has become a call for small businesses. If everyone is thinking about big data in retail, it is to be believed that tracking these metrics will go a long way towards ensuring the sustainable success of your store. What retail metric do you use to track your store?

How to increase the average check?

Let's break this task down into 3 subtasks. The amount of the purchase will become larger if a person:

a) I bought a lot of different goods in your store,
b) bought the same product, but in larger quantities;
c) bought a more expensive product (more precisely, a product with a margin that is more profitable for you).

There are two universal ways to increase sales - upselling goods (up-sell) and selling related products to the main one (cross-sell). These techniques are so accessible that they can be used, perhaps, in any store. Because offering something else is the easiest way to increase sales, while spending almost nothing. The main thing is to know what and how to offer.

Determine the average check

Achieve your goals faster and with fewer customers by increasing your average transaction value. Growth of your business by increasing the number of customers, like most businesses, is the most expensive, demanding, and time-consuming option available to you. The cost of selling them is no longer significant in comparison.

Bonus - the engine of trade

Increasing both the number of customers and the average amount each customer spends on every transaction they make with you, using some of the methods listed here is the fastest and easiest shortcut to achieve your goals.

Cross selling (cross-sell).

To start with an example. There is a pharmacy near my house. It employs an elderly pharmacist, who has an absolutely simple sales increase technique. After the list of medicines is announced by the buyer and the check is almost broken, she will definitely carefully (this is important) ask: “Is Citramon in stock?”, Or “Now the weather is changing, do you have medicines for pressure?” ... I admire her every time ingenuity and insight! She will definitely offer something sympathetically, and always on the topic: vitamins and tinctures for immunity during the period of colds, children's tea for young mothers, “antipohmelin” during the holidays ...

Offering added value or a better deal right at the point of sale when your customers are most receptive is one of the easiest and most effective ways to instantly increase the size and profitability of your sales. Cross-selling gets your customers to buy an additional product or service that will give them a superior result. Packaging products or services.

A combination of a group of individually desired products or services that naturally complement each other and offer a complete package for one fixed price that represents an almost insurmountable value for your customers when compared to buying the components separately. This can greatly increase your profit margins and also allow you to sell complete solutions that block the customer from using these products. This is definitely a win-win situation for both you and your clients.

All right! In order for the buyer to purchase as many products as possible in your store, you need to correctly and timely offer related products (or services) to the main product.

Do not worry that your offers will annoy or seem intrusive to the buyer. If everything is thought out, most buyers will appreciate that the seller cares about his customers and is involved. For example, simply offer the buyer a piece of similar style, saying: "Look at this pendant for earrings that you like." Or "Try on, this bolero looks good with this dress." If the client hesitates, you can make him a special. an offer, for example, to give a discount (“When buying something, we have a discount on something”.

They get a streamlined buying process and a full solution discount while you increase sales and often own your market. This method has changed the fate of many organizations. Suggest larger purchase units. Increasing your minimum purchase unit size is a powerful and remarkably simple way to increase your average transaction value. If people buy one week's supply, you can offer them monthly, quarterly, or yearly consumption units at an attractive and favorable price.

Tactical ways to increase the average check

Your customers will appreciate the added value, huge savings, and added convenience of buying in bulk, while your average selling unit will be greatly increased and you will also block your customers for longer. As an added bonus, many people who turn down the offer and would never buy at all will now buy your smaller units.

How to use:

1. Observe and figure out what a person wants from buying a product, and what will more fully allow the buyer to realize his expectations.

2. Find products (it can also be services) that complement the solution that the buyer came for. Think in advance of combinations and combinations of such products and convenient situations. To use this technique, you must have the correct assortment structure and upsell items.

Increase your prices and profits. There is no law that your product or service must be a commodity that is simply bought by price. People will willingly pay more for most products or services if they feel they are becoming more valuable. The more distinctive your product or service is, and the better you educate your customers, the more valuable your market will be. Increasing your prices usually means you can afford to serve your customers better, work with them better, include additional products or services in a transaction, and do more than your competitors.

3. Offer useful additions to the main product. Please note that the offer must be justified (price, convenience of buying in one place, saving time, etc.).

The main thing here - after all, really try to benefit each specific buyer.

Up-sell

Upselling encourages us to buy more than planned. Typically, such incentives are achieved on the basis of the “Cheaper in bulk” principle. Or any other tempting offer that promises benefits when buying a “Large Pack”, “3 for the price of 2”, “Subscription for a year”, “Complete cheaper”, “Discount from 1000 UAH”, “Free delivery when buying an amount from …" etc.

This will allow you and your business to share favorably in the eyes and minds of your customers and allow you to charge what you are truly worth. Positioning in the market. If you are good at what you do by promoting your products or services, raise your profile and position your business to a higher level of distinction or quality than your competition can greatly improve your business. By repackaging your product or service to appeal to more sophisticated or affluent buyers in parts of the market other than those you currently serve, you can often drive higher prices in the market and leave behind the type of business that gives you all your headaches. pain.

Two important points. The technique will work if the price per unit of goods will be lower when buying more quantity. And second: the proposal must be adequate and correspond to the realities of life. That is: you would rather buy 4 packs of yogurt for the price of 3 than 16 packs for the price of 12, right?

Yes, such promotions apply to goods that are stale or whose expiration dates are running out. But even without these conditions, the upselling method can be successfully applied. The main thing is to think: how to shift the buyer's attention from thoughts “Why do I need so much” to thoughts about profit.

The more you improve your market positioning, the more your existing clients are likely to respect and appreciate what you do, which often results in even more loyalty and referrals. Providing additional products or services to each customer right at the point of sale is one of the easiest, most immediate and predictable methods to increase the average selling unit. You can get their attention by showing "impulse" items, or by using signs, literature, and displays.

You can also offer compelling offers at trade shows or seminars, or offer first-time sales incentives. This can greatly increase your profit per transaction without additional time, effort, or extra cost.

How to use:

1. Think about how many units (kilograms, packs) of a product or service will be useful to your circle of customers in event-driven situations public life, weather conditions, work, etc.?

2. How much can your customer buy? For each store and product, the answers will be different: from “how much can he carry in his hands” - for a home goods store, to “if each schoolgirl brings a girlfriend, then they can buy 2 pairs of jeans for two ...” - for a youth clothing store.

Increase horizontal penetration. If your customers are not aware of the full range of products or services you offer, they are also unlikely to think of you when a problem arises that can be solved by your product or service. Teaching them how to use the full range of products and services using a simple yet powerful matrix will immediately allow you to focus on infiltrating each of your products or services into your existing customer base. It will also identify any opportunities to increase penetration of your product or service, for strategic alliance opportunities, to block out your competitors, and to increase both your average selling unit and your bottom line.

3. Calculate how much you can reduce the price per unit of goods so that it is beneficial for both you and your buyer?

4. After coming up with several options for promotions and special offers, test them to find the most effective ones. Enter the goods and conditions of the promotion into the Torgsoft program, and when selling, the seller will no longer decide on a discount and calculate the price - the program will determine everything automatically.

What about specific methods to increase the average check?

Obviously, despite the universal ways to increase sales(average check), each store will have its own methods. Depending on the assortment, product, external environment (holidays, fashion, trends), season, locality… Combining competent merchandising, assortment, sales techniques, service standards, you can achieve a significant increase in sales!

. Show buyers ready-made solutions, harmonious combinations of your goods, the finished look of the set. For example, in a clothing store, these are things that create full image on a mannequin, including clothes and accessories (scarves, belts, glasses, etc.). Furniture set, complemented by decor items. Uniform style in plumbing store. In addition to the purpose of selling additional items, ready-made compositions by themselves greatly increase the chances of a purchase at all;

. Use the principle of completeness. Many household items have additions. Special dishes - for the microwave. Cream - for shoes. Hat for scarf. Purse to bag. Bulb - to the lamp. To the table - a tablecloth. And there are many such options. As an experiment, change the layout of the product, teach sellers to prompt and remind buyers which products can complement each other functionally. Tell me with posters or signs “They often take this product with this product.”

Also, many devices and things require consumables, care or protection products, accessories or accessories, or simply “gadgets”. For example, in household appliances and electronics stores - cords, cables, connectors, cases and bags, memory cards, coasters, spare light bulbs and batteries ...

. For online stores There are a lot of possibilities in this regard. Display the 3-5 most popular products prominently. Show what's new. Display products that are bought together with the product being viewed. The system can track what a person put in the cart last time and offer to repeat or purchase items on the topic. Set up an automatic discount offer when a certain amount is reached.

. Offer gift certificates or cards. Thus, you can make fairly large sales to corporate buyers in your area. Firms and firmochki, organizations and teams are often puzzled by the purchase of gifts for employees, colleagues or corporate holidays.

Give opportunity pay by bank card. So buyers tend to spend more than with cash. For goods that are bought unplanned, this is perhaps one of the decisive ways not to miss a random customer without required amount cash. (The program provides for the accounting of non-cash sales).

. Easy return or exchange of goods. If the buyer knows that he will be able to exchange the goods if something happens, or even take the goods for fitting, then it is easier to decide on a purchase and have less doubts. Of course, the exchange or return process requires the store owner to be more careful approach to accounting for goods and issuing sales receipts to customers. But the cost of this pays off due to increased sales. In the Torgsoft program, you can print a sales receipt automatically for each sale. The check contains a barcode, by scanning which the seller sees the composition and amount of the purchase, and can return selective goods to the store.

Suggest obviously more goods, counting on the fact that the buyer will not waste time on trifles. Rolls in grocery stores and in the markets (“A hundred kilos (instead of 1 kg) will you take?”; “I don’t have change, let’s weigh ten”) and the like. Giving goods "for change" - from the same opera, the main thing is not to overdo it.

. Inexpensive, small goods at the checkout. Seduces with availability, reminds customers that they forgot to buy.

. Create excitement.“Last time this season. Quantity is limited! "Limited Collection"; “NO more than three packs per hand”, etc.

Suggest paid gift wrap on the eve of the holidays.

. Focus on more expensive items. Can your salespeople immediately name the benefits of the most expensive items? Do they have "price selling" skills and sales techniques in general?

Spend promotions or create purchase conditions on the topic “Dial for such and such an amount - get a bonus (prize, discount on the next purchase, free shipping).

Organize efficient service process: consultations, the availability of readable price tags, ordering goods, issuing shopping room, shipment, settlement at the checkout. As few queues as possible, as much accuracy as possible in the work of sellers. In this case, an indispensable help will be store automation.

. Think over the system of motivation of sellers. Have you noticed that when the store owner himself is on the trading floor, the average check increases these days, and the trade goes better? If this is your case, it means that the system of motivation of sellers does not work well in the store. Now the Torgsoft program allows you to calculate the individual profit of each seller and maintain a system of additional payments, take into account the effectiveness of the work of "teams" of sellers, calculate the rating of each employee based on his personal sales results for the period, incentives and fines, and other points related to employee payroll.

The main secrets for success

1. Offer a related or additional product it is necessary when the buyer has already made a decision to buy the product for which he came or who he chose. When he is ready to pay, you offer him something else, less expensive, but also useful or profitable. After making a decision to buy, it is much easier to sell to a person in a load than offering it right away and risking being in a “buy something” situation.

2. Any technique you use in sales should create added value. for your buyer - direct or indirect. It is important. Because only with this approach you will get more money. And pass this on to your salespeople. Otherwise, sticking to the stupid observance of the sales plan (or upselling plan) will turn your store into an institution with a bad reputation, where “they just need to sell”, “they are stupidly sold”, “intrusive sellers”, etc. Do not try to sell what a person does not need. Don't go overboard! Otherwise... they might make a purchase, but the sediment will remain.

An example from life. We sit at the barbeque. We ask the waitress to bring a cup of ground natural coffee (I can’t drink instant coffee). They bring coffee, take a sip and understand that it is soluble. To the remark, the waitress explains: “But we don’t have ground ...”. Why didn't she just say that, you ask?

3. Don't be afraid to be intrusive! Be professional and caring. The offer of an additional product will definitely work, if not every second, but every fifth will definitely buy something extra. Checked!

Encourage sellers to approach the process with soul and creativity, control and set a personal example.

Good luck with your decisions and great sales!

Average check– is one of the on sale. The average check can be calculated by dividing the turnover by the number of checks. Naturally, the higher the average check, the better for the trading organization, and it should be aimed at increasing this indicator. The average check, traffic and conversion are the main indicators in retail and you need to constantly work on increasing them.

How to increase the average check

Average check can be increased in two ways: by increasing the number of items in a receipt and by increasing the average cost of one item. The average cost per item is the turnover divided by the number of items. The average purchase price can vary greatly depending on the geography of the store and the positioning of the outlet (economy or premium segment stores). But in general, this is an indicator that can be influenced.

You can increase the average cost of one product in the following ways:

1. Train salespeople to sell expensive goods. Naturally, the buyer always wants to buy cheaper, this is a normal and natural desire of everyone. Managers of a trade organization must not only sell expensive goods, but also conduct training on expensive goods, sellers must know where the expensive goods are located. Naturally, sellers must have a good command of the technique of selling expensive goods. And it is especially important to teach in an expensive product and conduct a high-quality presentation of the product.
2. Thoughtful merchandising. In general, all technologies have been known for a long time, I will list only the main ones: the product line should be displayed at a price from expensive to cheap, expensive goods should be displayed at the ends and in priority places, expensive goods should always be clean and neatly displayed.
3. Naturally expensive goods are bought by wealthy people and such people need to be attracted to the store purposefully. For example, the average check in areas where more affluent people live is usually higher from 30% to 50%. But you can attract a wealthy population through advertising in the media and building a quality service.

For expensive goods, as a rule, the margin is much higher than for advertising positions that are aimed at attracting customers. Therefore, the policy of the store for the sale of expensive goods should be thought out.

As stated above, we can also increase the average check by filling the shopping cart. Any store needs to ensure that the client buys not one product, but as many as possible. Large retail chains are doing everything to increase the number of goods in the check, and to see all the tools, just go to any. Let's describe the main ways to increase the number of goods in the check:

1. Proper use of "golden meters". The pre-checkout area is considered to be the golden meters of the store. Here you need to place small goods that are in constant demand. The checkout area must be replenished with goods on time and kept clean and tidy. Very often, the cashier is responsible for the order at the cash desk.
2. Exhibiting at the entrance of seasonal goods. Island slides at the entrance are always filled with seasonal or heavily discounted items, and should attract the attention of all customers.
3. End decoration. Goods from the ends are sold out much better, here you can place the most popular products of the main row or items at a discount.
4. Arrangement of goods according to the degree of need. The most needed product, for which the client came, should be located at the end of the store, and while you are going to it, go through the entire store and be interested in whatever it is.
5. Cross merchandising. Cross-merchandising is the correct placement of related products. An accompanying product is an addition to the main one (to beer - chips, to a washing machine - powder, etc.)
6. sale of accessories. Sellers, as a rule, sell goods where consultation is required, and you can always sell many useful accessories for it.
7. Good navigation through the store and the transparency of the hall. The client must always find what he is looking for. Therefore, the display of goods should be logical, and the trading floor should be visible. Posters and signs should help navigation.
8. Using cashiers for sales. Cashiers can resell a hot item very effectively. And many networks use it.

Employee motivation to increase the average bill

Often material motivation sellers are tied to the value of the average check. has shown its effectiveness, and sellers should be interested in selling expensive goods and accessories. In many sales organizations, about 70% of the premium falls on these indicators of the quality of the seller's work.

But many managers forget that there are also among them. You have to recognize the best sellers at meetings in front of the rest of the team, the motivation for recognition is often much more effective than any money.

Where does it all begin? Let's imagine two friends meet, both wealthy people, business owners. They talk about life, measure their authority, the beauty of their wives and the length of cars. Someone's car turns out to be shorter, you urgently need to buy a new one - "richer". Instructs the secretary to conduct an urgent analysis of the car market. Having received the results, he finds out that the thickness of the wallet is diametrically opposed to the “steepness” of the car.

Or so, all the same business owner is pushing his capital and understands that his business does not bring the desired income, loans hang, banks call every day, interest is growing and there is no light at the end of the tunnel in the current state of affairs.

Or maybe such a situation - the owner of the business - a caring and caring leader for his employees (by the way, the situation is not so rare for a modern capitalist, including a Russian one). Or maybe the owner is just a numismatist? Selflessly loves banknotes, especially in large quantities. Maecenas? Or he simply sees that his business can bring more income and excitement overtakes him. You can give an unlimited number of examples, but all of them have only one thing in common - the owner needs additional funds that he wants to dispose of in one way or another.

What is important for an employee to understand (that is, you and me, dear reader) is that it is absolutely normal for an owner to want profit from his business (unless, of course, the size is manic, however, and then it’s normal). This is his business, which he once started, developed, invested his soul (maybe he just bought it - but for the money that he also didn’t get easily, for which he worked hard and also invested his soul) and he has the right to demand from his employees to give him this profit . Just as normal as the fact that an employee with qualifications, skill, diligence and other virtues has the right to demand from the business owner the benefits that he deserves, thanks to his contribution to the business owner's business.

So, let's agree on this understanding - the owner of the business has the right to want more return from the business, regardless of the reasons that drive it. And what is this giving? Of course, money! The goal of any business is to make a profit!

What does the respected Ivan Sergeevich (Valentin Petrovich, Anna Stepanovna and other combinations of names and patronymics) do? He calls his CEO(Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sales Director or other first persons of the company) and names the desired amount.

After some forecast, the owner's attitudes, the manager was given the task of making a certain amount of revenue.

How can a manager achieve the goal of turnover?

Before disassembling this question, I will give an example of setting goals in one retail company. Imagine that the network's top managers meet to discuss the issue of increasing profits. It should be noted that this company for a fairly long period of its existence for the first time came to the conclusion that a control system is still needed, that the volume of development is already overtaking and overtaking manual control, which has prevailed so far. All those gathered begin to express their decisions, to propose specific actions. So far, the turn has not reached one of the leaders of the network development. He sat silent for a long time, listening to others, and then spoke: “Why all these decisions, why all these actions? You just need to tell people to work better, to sell more!”.

Well, it's hard to say anything about this decision. Let's look at the options if this solution were pushed further down. “Sell more and do better,” the sales director told his store directors. What will an ordinary director do upon receiving such an order? He scratches his head, shrugging his shoulders. After all, he already works, in his opinion, well and maximally (again, in his opinion) ensures the sales process. It will scratch, it will scratch, it will scratch, it will scratch, well, it will start working as before. What will a more advanced director do? He will go to the trading floor (rest room, dining room, reception and other places where the team usually gathers) and say: “Dear team, the senior management has analyzed our activities and allowed the Central Office to work better and sell more.” What will the team do? Scratch, scratch his head, shrug his shoulders. After all, they already think that they are working to the limit, they believe that their contribution is underestimated, and here is such news. And, of course, they will work as before.

Let me remind you that we are talking about a company where they never thought about this issue at all. When setting goals for their subordinates, many managers naively think that their subordinates will not only be able to independently figure out the actions that they need to take, but will also be able to carry out these actions.

Let's look at our task again - the company must receive a certain amount of money - turnover. Suppose that this turnover is more than the store did before this period (and it always happens) or the situation on the market is such that there is a reduced sales dynamics, but the plan is the same. Take, even a specific figure of 10,000,000 rubles. And it was 9,000,000 rubles ...

"And now what i can do?" the director thinks. “To hell with him,” a pessimistic director will think and deduct the amount of the bonus from his salary in advance. “What if fate does not turn away?” - the optimist will think.

But if the director wants to be effective, if he says: “I will do it,” then he immediately faces a whole range of questions: Where to start? How to predict revenue? What to do? What should I do and what should the staff do? What should I tell the staff? How do I know that my staff is capable of performing these tasks? How to make sure that everyone understands correctly? How can I understand that they understood everything correctly, and then fulfilled it? How can I explain to the staff that this is necessary and how to motivate them to perform these tasks?

What the store manager needs to understand initially is that he does not directly affect the turnover. How so? And who brings the money? Through whom does all the capital go? Any leader will ask. That's right - stores bring money, and capital flows through them, but the store has an indirect influence on the turnover directly. The thing is that turnover is the final result of the product of several financial indicators. These indicators are as follows: traffic, conversion, average bill. Let's see what these indicators are.

Traffic is the number of visitors to the store. Visitors - not buyers - that is, only those who entered the store, but did not make a purchase. Traffic is one of the indicators for determining the conversion - without traffic - the conversion (more on it below) cannot be calculated. How can you find out your traffic? Basically, this is work with counters of buyers. They are installed at the entrance of the store and fix everyone entering the trading floor. The most efficient installation in terms of performance management would be to install meters with on-line traffic data. Some companies that install meters enter into contracts for processing and receiving data over the next period (say, the next day). This is not critical for data analysis and forecasting, but it deprives the department head of operating traffic data in the current situation.

In addition to the fact that traffic is used to determine conversion, traffic gives us an understanding of the popularity of your brand, an increase / decrease in the number of visitors during holidays, vacations, and determine the seasons of active selection of a particular product category. Traffic is an essential indicator for the analysis of the store.

Average check (hereinafter we will call it MF) – average cost one check for a separate period of time. That is, how much money the average buyer leaves in our cash register. MF is calculated as follows:

MF \u003d Turnover / Number of checks

That is, to determine it, the manager only needs to know the amount of purchases (turnover) for the required period and the number of operations carried out at the checkout. For some, specially implemented technologies (programs that process cash and warehouse operations) are engaged in this calculation, and information on the midrange can be obtained online. Somewhere, these same programs provide information after the fact (the next day). Here we repeat - this is normal for analysis and forecasting, but for the current operational management of indicators - this is critical. MF data should always be at hand. As one of the examples of manual counting for those who do not have this program, but want to know this information. - we remove the X-report at the checkout for the specified period - there is data on the turnover and the number of transactions performed and calculate the midrange manually. What SC gives us is, first of all, an understanding of the value of the goods sold for the buyer, the opportunity to analyze the assortment matrix, and most importantly, the quality of the work of our unit.

However, the analysis of the average check does not yet give us clear picture about specific moments in the work of staff. In order to understand what exactly to pay attention to when analyzing the quality of work, it is necessary to divide the midrange into two more components: the average cost of the goods and the depth of the check.

Average purchase price- this is the average cost of one sold unit of goods, regardless of the number of checks, for a certain period of time. Calculated as follows:

CC = Turnover / Number of items sold

If your store has a lot of traffic and the number of purchases, then here without special program not to do without, it is difficult to calculate this indicator manually with high sales activity. This can be done manually in stores with low conversion and traffic (for example, in the jewelry segment).

Check depth- this is the average number of positions in one check for a certain period of time. That is, this is the number of purchases of the average buyer in one visit to the store. It is calculated as follows.

NS = Number of items sold / Number of receipts

HF is also better to calculate using a special program.

Knowing the dynamics of SS and PM, the manager will be able to quickly formulate tasks aimed at maintaining or increasing these indicators (for example, designing complex solutions, controlling the skills of questions about the experience of using products when working with a buyer - there are a lot of methods and we will talk about them separately).
Another mathematical moment - the MF can be obtained not only by the above method of dividing the turnover by the number of checks, if we multiply the SS and MC, then we will also get the value of the MF accurate to the ruble.

Let's move on to the last of the indicators that form the turnover of the store conversion or conversion rate.

Conversion rate- This is the ratio of the number of store visitors to the number of purchases made in a certain period of time. In other words, the percentage of customers who made a purchase in the store. Calculated as follows:

CC = Number of checks/Traffic

As already mentioned, in order to calculate this indicator, you need to know the incoming traffic. Some managers are confident that they can name their traffic approximately, "by eye" and are confident in the accuracy of their calculations. Can such calculations be trusted? In no case! Errors from such approximate indicators from 10% to 100%!!! Why (besides accurately calculating the turnover forecast) do you need knowledge about the conversion? In many ways, conversion can be compared to the word store ambiance. How much the buyer likes in your store - the conversion will be so high. The set of tools for increasing indicators is also quite large, and we will also talk about it in future articles.

Remember, we said that the director (and staff) do not directly affect the turnover, but only through indicators? So, the director also does not have a direct influence on one of the above indicators. Traffic, SS, MS, QC - which one? Of course it's traffic. Most directors don't have traffic management tools (unless we're talking about customer repeat visits, which is very hard to calculate - and we won't, as this calculation won't affect the tools discussed here). MF, SS, MS, QC are indicators on which the influence of the store director and staff is extremely large (though not unlimited) and therefore these indicators are called quality indicators of the store.

"Stop, stop!" - you say: "But what about the rest of the indicators?". There are also other indicators, for example, the marginality of goods, the turnover of goods. They are certainly important if you calculate the profitability of your store, this is a very relevant topic in the modern retail business, and this topic is for a separate article.

But there are other indicators - the sale of certain product categories, services (for example, the sale of discounted, "stale" goods, installation of equipment, delivery, insurance, etc.). These indicators also speak about the quality of the store, but they are all components of the midrange, since each of these types of products or services has its own cost and occupancy. Of course, we will talk about them, but within the framework of the main financial indicator - MF.

So, in order to understand how to achieve the goal, we need to determine at what stage of achievement we are, and where we should go. Our main tools are three indicators (traffic, midrange, CC) - Three components of success. If we take these indicators of the store for a certain period and multiply them together, we will get the turnover for the given period. The formula looks like this:

Turnover Formula (Success Formula, Organic Growth Formula) =
Average Check * Conversion Rate * Traffic

It is important to remember that this formula is mathematical, that is, if we substitute our current indicators into the values ​​of the Average Check, Conversion Rate and Traffic, then we will get our current turnover.

And what to do with these indicators and how to influence them, we will discuss in the following articles. 

Average check - a starting point for sales plans and an important marketing tool. In the article we will tell you how and why a financial director should calculate the average check, as well as how it can be increased.

What is an average check

Any business depends on revenue. Whether it is trade, manufacturing or services, the amount of revenue determines the success of the business on a par with the amount of net profit. Naturally, when revenue is calculated, the business also grows, but stability or decline are indispensable signs of a company having problems.

But revenue is a concept too general to be analyzed or predicted in any way. extended period time. Revenue depends on many factors. There are many analytics by which you can decompose revenue: by market segments, geographical features, product portfolio, business lines, etc.

But in this article we will consider the following formula:

Revenue = Sales Amount × Number of Sales

That is, if a company wants to increase the amount of revenue, it must manage each of the two factors:

• look for ways to increase sales (check) to each buyer,
• Look for ways to expand your customer base.

In businesses with a relatively small number of customers, all relationships with which are described by contracts, this will individual work for each specific case. And in retail sales, service sector, retail?

This is where the term “average check” comes into play. Since there are many customers, they are “impersonal” and make a huge number of purchases in total, it is neither possible nor necessary to analyze each specific purchase. Therefore, marketers, financiers and managers operate with a convenient “average check”:

Average check = Revenue ÷ Number of purchases

As you can see, the average check formula is as simple as possible, but this does not detract from its importance in the analysis and evaluation of current sales, and in forecasting sales for the short-term, and especially long-term periods.

Download and get to work:

How to increase the average check

When you know your business's average check value across multiple dimensions, of course, the next question you'll ask yourself is, "How can I increase the average check amount so I can generate more revenue?"

Let's first understand the structure of the check. The check consists of:

1. Quantity of commodity items ("receipt depth").
2. Quantity (weight, volume) of units of goods in each item.
3. Unit prices.

Accordingly, it is necessary to work on increasing the amount of the check in the indicated three directions.

The simplest step towards increasing the amount of the check is to increase the price per unit of goods. Let's not repeat corny, supply and demand. We only note that any price increase must be calculated and based on market indicators.

An alternative to raising the price will be the work of the seller (manager, site) on the reasoned persuasion of the buyer to buy an analogue of the product, but costing more. This is an art and requires knowledge of both assortment and sales techniques, but it usually works.

The number of product items in the average check can be increased by encouraging the buyer to buy those goods that he was not going to buy initially or wanted to buy elsewhere. A very sad situation with marketing for companies whose average check contains only one position. This indicates both an insufficient assortment and incorrect layout, as well as the incompetence of sellers.

Find a counterparty to check

Do you want to know how much money one conditional visitor brings to the institution? We will show how to calculate the average bill in a restaurant or cafe, which affects its growth and decline.

What is the average check

Each guest of your establishment makes an order for a certain amount. It does not matter how it is calculated - in cash, by card, from a bonus account or in installments. The purchase is evidenced by a receipt.The sum of all checks is equal to the revenue for a certain period.

The average check is usually considered as an indicator of the success of sales in an establishment. The higher the average check, the greater should be the final revenue.

When calculating the average check, four indicators are used

• RP - billing period. Depending on the purpose of the calculation, choose a shift, a week or a month.
• KN - the number of checks (purchases) for the period. It does not equal the number of guests, because one check can be paid by several visitors - for example, a company.
• GRP - the sum of all purchases, or revenue for the billing period.

GRP / CN = MF.

Manual calculations take a long time - from 30 minutes or more. It is much faster to use mobile app calculations. They are connected to the cloud cash desk, keep records of sales and generate reports at the request of the user.

However, you should not rely on the fact that the program will manage the business for you. It just speeds up the acquisition of data and conducts quantitative analysis - that is, in numbers. Competent management decisions require complex analysis data.

Qualitative analysis of the average check

Analysis of qualitative indicators is based on cause-and-effect relationships. Need to find out why the success rate of your business has changed, what has influenced the changes.

If the causes of unwanted changes are found, then you will be able to respond to them correctly. The number of purchases in your establishment, its profitability will increase again.

Qualitative analysis of the average check takes into account two groups of factors.

Quantitative factors

These are indicators that answer the question "How much?". They can be counted inrevenue for the period, tonumber of checksguests, etc. The number of guests per check also determines the revenue. The more orders from companies, the higher the average bill for the period.

Mobile and web applications for restaurants and cafes help you quickly get numbers on the quantitative factors influencing the average bill. You don’t need to count anything, everything is in. You simply select a period, an indicator and generate reports.

Qualitative Factors

These are events, circumstances, facts related to the daily work of the institution. They cannot be counted, but they can be identified and explained.

Qualitative factors answer the questions “Did…”, “Why…”, “When…”, “Who…”, etc. These questions always involve specific answers that can be linked into a single logical chain.

For example, you want to know if the introduction of new dishes has affected the cost of the average check per month. Questions for analysis can be the following:

What new dishes have we introduced for last month?» - titles, menu section.

When did new dishes appear on the menu?- date Time.

« How many new dishes have we sold - from the moment it appeared on the menu until the end date of the billing period?»

« What was the sales amount for the new dishes?". It is desirable to determine not only the figure, but also the percentage of revenue from new products in the total income.

« How has the restaurant's revenue changed after the introduction of new dishes - increased or decreased?". This indicator depends on the price of new products, their culinary value, the ability to supplement the menu or replace obsolete items. Great importance has an updated menu. The rarer it is, the more likely the guest is to switch to new items.

After the reasons for the changes are found, you can draw a conclusion and make plans.

To get a summary of the average check, use . You will always be aware of the affairs of the institution and, if necessary, make adjustments to the action plan.

How to increase the average check? The topic is very large, so I suggest not to waste time on calling from afar, but go straight to the point - how to earn more from one client.

This is especially true for those companies that have already built a stable flow of customers or they just hit the ceiling in terms of market size.

count and know

Before we move on to ways to increase the average check, let's decide how to calculate it. Everything is simple and complex at the same time.

The complexity of the process depends on your business. If you have a large assortment matrix, then you will have to work hard, if there are only 1-5-10 products, then consider yourself lucky.

Average bill- the average amount of money a customer spends on a single purchase.

This indicator does not require additional explanation. The most difficult thing for many is to understand how to calculate the average check. And I will immediately break the myth - in any company you can calculate this figure.

Therefore, I don’t need to sing a song about “we all have different purchases now. All clients are different." Even in such cases, this is not an obstacle.

The basic formula for calculating the amount of the average check: we take the entire volume of sales (for a certain period) and divide by the number of purchases.

Voila! We get an average check. But there is important points which can ruin everything for you.

Seasonality. If your business “floats” from month to month, then consider the average purchase over a certain period. The more volatile the market, the shorter the settlement period.

Range. If you have a large assortment, then divide it into groups and calculate your indicator for each of them.

Clients. If all your clients are different in terms of income, then calculate the average check for each of the categories of consumers (at least economy and VIP).

In most cases, the calculation of the average check does not require dancing with a tambourine. Everything is easily calculated according to the basic formula with minor adjustments for the specifics of the business.

Raising prices

Yes! The easiest way is to raise prices. As they say, everything ingenious is simple. The easiest, but at the same time, the most scary way for any business owner and manager.

I'm talking about marketers in general. They will immediately hit the hat as soon as they go to the head with such a proposal. In 95% of cases it's true.

In general, in Russia it is customary to raise prices only in two cases: the supplier has raised prices or the competitor has raised prices.

Meanwhile, I can say with confidence that this method of increasing the average check is one of the simplest and most effective. We raised prices in retail stores (even grocery stores), catering, beauty salons and other companies.

And in all cases, they only received an increase in profits. At the same time, there was no strong dissatisfaction from customers (very little). To achieve the same effect, increasing the average check must be done according to several rules:

1. No need to raise prices popular item in company);
2. Do not immediately raise prices by 10 percent or more;
3. No need to raise prices for all goods/services at once;
4. Write scripts for your staff to justify price increases;
5. Be sure to collect feedback after raising prices.

I would like to draw your attention to point 4. This idea was born after we raised prices for one client and brought a recording of a conversation with the seller (who was then fired). It looked like this:

- Why did the prices go up?
- Don't know! Maybe the suppliers have raised prices, or maybe the management just doesn’t have enough money for vacations.

In marketing, such a tool is called “Zoom-price”. And if the owner wants to quickly increase profits, then usually all the action begins with him. So don't be afraid, do it smart. Our video will also help you:

Cross-sell and Up-sell

Our blog is also useful because we describe each method in detail with examples and even scripts that you can give to your employees. And these two methods are described in detail in the article.

The essence of this method is to help the client make a more expensive purchase and additional products to it. Let's be more specific with an example.

Up-sell - transferring a client to a more expensive product. Example: buy a TV not 50 inches, but 60 or even better 80.

Cross-sell - an additional sale to the main purchase. Example: buy a TV mount, warranty, hdmi wire, installation, apple TV, antenna, 3D glasses or even a Play Station game console.

For a successful implementation, you need to work through, and control with.

As a rule, you already have all this, you just need to take it and put a lot of emphasis on it, you can even run it to get the maximum effect.

Another way to resell something to your customers (based on the cross-sell tool) can be cross-merchandising.

This is when you are near products that sell well, place related products that sell much worse. For example, you can put a juicer near a basket of oranges.

In the door store, next to the doors, you can place a film for them. In general, you can get creative here.

Upsell example

And it's not just retail products. In services, this technique is also applicable. It’s just that instead of shelves, or are used.

By the way, cross-merchandising is included in the list of 100 free tools to increase sales 😉

Small wholesale

Small wholesale example

For example, take a fitness club. A monthly subscription costs 5,000 rubles. Subscription for 3 months - 12,000 rubles.

There will be people who will purchase a subscription for 12 thousand to save. I personally always do this, and most often I immediately take it for a year. But if we talk about sports fanatics, then most often people take for a year, and go at best for 6-9 months.

Small wholesale is when what you sell by the piece, you start selling in large volume. Offering discounts, gifts, bonuses and more.

Lots of examples! For example, a case of beer costs less than buying one bottle at a time. Roses in a store from 10 pieces are sold cheaper by 10 rubles (well, you won’t give a girl 10 roses, you will need to buy another one).

Or full car maintenance is always more profitable than doing it piece by piece for a year.

Yes, goods/services will be taken in bulk less often, but if you are not greedy and sell them with tangible benefits, you can make a good increase in the average bill.

And also, you don’t need to think that in this way you earn less due to the loss of marginality. Most often, people who buy in bulk were not going to take it and took it only because they were convinced and shown the value.

Important. Do not make the main mistake of all entrepreneurs - do not implement always and everywhere only discounts. Use gifts, bonuses and more.

For example, instead of giving a discount on a 3-month subscription to a fitness club, you can give the 4th month as a gift. With the correct calculation in money, you will win more.

Bundles

Or, in Russian, these are sets consisting of several goods or services. The simplest example is from a sports store, the Young Skier's Kit - a ski suit, skis, poles and boots.

If you buy everything individually, then the purchase amount will be 45,000 rubles. If you buy a package, the price will be 37,000 rubles. For many, this can be a deciding factor in their decision.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
TURN ON

With the help of product grouping, you can convince the customer to buy even what he does not really need (sometimes not the most popular ones are inserted with popular products).

For example, if there are 5 creams in a cosmetic set and one of them is superfluous for you, you will still buy it, since it is beneficial for you. Plus, our Russian people will always need everything.

Exists different ways combining products into sets. A set of services, a set of goods, or a set of services and goods. Think about what will be profitable for you, and valuable to the client. The whole Bundle approach is built on these two words.

Interesting. It also happens that a bundle costs more (or not cheaper) than taking everything individually. And people are buying. Perhaps even you fell for this bait, you just did not notice.

Top magnet

Each person with him (physically or morally) has a "stash" that he will spend if he sees a valuable offer.

Therefore, it is a sin not to use it, especially if you really have good idea that the client will like.

The magnet on top is based on this “stash”. In short, when buying for 3,400 rubles, you will need to offer the client to buy up to 4,000 rubles in order for him to receive, for example, your company's discount card. Together with a discount card, there may be an additional product or service.

For example, I was recently offered to buy only 800 rubles and I will receive a bottle of branded perfume as a gift (optional).

The result of the purchase - I have a new perfume. So implement. This technology for increasing the average check is described in more detail in the article.

promotional products

This method is ideal for retail stores. And you may have even seen it in big chain stores like Zara, H&M, Ikea and many others. Or maybe even fall for it. They hit exactly.

The essence is simple - at special points there are baskets with promotional products (towels with a 90% discount, etc.).

Since the price is very attractive, people take this product, although they did not plan to do it at all.

Pay attention to the difference from cross-sell. In that case, we were talking about a regular upsell to the main product.

In this case, we are talking about the sale of a product that may not be related to the main purchase. This is the cardinal difference.

Some people call it a sale, but in my opinion, this is just a well-placed promotional item, because a sale is a targeted action in trading that needs to be prepared for a long time and carefully (if you want it to be profitable).

You can implement the same in services by placing a promotional offer on marketing materials. Or by issuing a ready-made sales script for your managers.

Payment Methods

The average check can be increased not only by interesting and unusual ideas. Everything can be much easier. And our practice shows that by working with payment types, you can also achieve an increase in sales growth. We are studying.

TO redity

If you have goods from an expensive segment, then I strongly advise you to agree on a partnership with a bank so that it issues a loan for customers of your business on favorable terms.

Customers are more likely to take out a loan for a product they like than to save their own funds for it.

In bad situations, customers simply refuse to buy, believing that they do not need it or can not afford it. So let's give customers credit.

And we kindly ask you to do everything possible for a comfortable loan processing. Lead the client from A to Z. Do not leave him with the words - “Try. Get it - come back." This strategy is a failure, we tried.

B cash settlement

But what if the purchase is unscheduled and there is no cash with you? Or do I only have a credit card, and the money will not be available soon? And there are many such examples.

I understand the desire of owners to receive money in cash. Someone does not want to pay% to the bank for transactions. Someone does not want to show their income tax.

But if this prevents you from earning extra money, then why this savings? Miser pays twice. But the choice is always yours.

By the way, now some companies, on the contrary, attract customers to pay only by card. This is done in order to attract customers who pay by credit card.

And also large businesses have an agreement to lower the rate when paying by card. Such promotions for payment by cards are no longer a rarity in completely different areas.

Example of a promotion when paying by card

Installment plan

Interest-free installment plan from your company for a product or service for a client. It is from YOUR company. Not from a bank. Scary?

All owners are afraid of such installments. Why are they afraid? They think they will never see their money again. That you have to knock them out.

There is good news - the percentage of non-return is very small and rarely exceeds 10-15% (and this is the maximum). We worked with different niches that provide such installments and in all cases we saw a positive result.

Even if you just “score” on non-payments, then as a result you will be in the black, as the company's turnover will increase.

There is only one result - the installment plan increases the opportunity to buy from you and at the same time the percentage of non-return is small. But if you’re still afraid, then here’s a little life hack for you: raise the prices in installments by 5-10% and protect yourself, and it will still be much more profitable than any loan.

Additional options

But this method will be just perfect for all businesses, especially for those who complain that nothing more can be resold in their area. This can happen either because of the small assortment, or because the client has already bought everything.

Imagine a situation, you are installing plastic windows and you have very cheap prices for this service due to constant competitors.

In this case, what can you offer customers, for which they will be ready to give you money?

1. Fast production. Standard in 7 days, express - in 3 days;
2. Individual production. Standard view - 5,000 rubles. In individual design - 10,000 rubles;
3. Additional guarantee. Standard - 1 year, 2 more years for money (example - M-video);
4. Installment payment. For cash - 20,000 rubles. With an installment plan for 6 months - 24,000 rubles;
5. Additional service. Once a month, your master will come, tighten all the bolts and lubricate all the joints;
6. etc..

You need to think about what it could be in your case, what other services you can offer the client.

“Extra Guarantee” is suitable for almost all businesses, from our experience it brings a lot of net profit if the product is of high quality. But, as you can see from the example above, there can be a lot of ideas.

Price line

It will be extremely difficult for you to achieve an increase in the average check in the store if you have only one price range.

I'm not talking about the fact that you will also lose a significant part of the buyers, since people are now used to choosing. And in confirmation of this, my video about it:

Therefore, to increase the average check in the store, you need to introduce products of different pricing policies.

This does not necessarily mean that you need to slide into the economy or rise to the VIP segment. These goods and services must be in your price range.

In addition to increasing the average check, when creating a price range, you get other advantages that you didn’t even think about at first. Pay special attention to point two:

• Those who have already bought from you are more likely to purchase expensive products because they trust you;
• Against the background of expensive products, cheap ones will seem more affordable and they will be more willing to purchase.

We all belong to this category of people, the only difference is that everyone reacts this way to different numbers.

Briefly about the main

As you can see, there are many ways to increase the average check. Only in this article I wrote a few that can be applied in any business - retail, services and b2b.

But how do you know what will work for your business? And nothing, except by introducing what you liked. Better all at once. Then your average check will inevitably grow.

Without working with him, you lose up to 30% of profit. Of course, this is not a doubling, which all marketing agencies are full of. But you and I know that the result is just the sum of such small and targeted actions.