Administration and Management

Cross selling: how to apply it in your bakery business?

01.08.2023

The bakery business and cross selling
Photo by Pexels on Pixabay

Table of Contents

The Cross selling technique consists in offering the customer a complementary product or item to the one they are purchasing.

The purchasing moment becomes the perfect opportunity to get the customer to buy more. This is done by offering other products that add or enhance the value of the main purchase. It is an aspect that the seller must demonstrate effectively.

In this section, we will delve into other terms associated with cross selling, such as upselling and downselling. Likewise, we will tell you the advantages of this sales strategy and how you can apply it to your bakery business.

Difference between cross selling, upselling and downselling

Cross selling involves offering customers products that complement the one they are already purchasing. On the other hand, upselling consists in offering the buyers a similar product to the one selected by them. In this case, one of better quality or better features.

Of course, this implies a more expensive product, but perhaps one that is better suited to the customer´s needs. Meanwhile, downselling involves offering the customers a product similar to the one selected by them, but cheaper.

This, either because it is made with lower quality materials or because it has fewer functions. In any case, it is one of the best strategies to save a sale when the customer is about to give up on their purchase.

All these are different strategies that have as main objective to increase sales. The aspect that stands out the most in them is that they must be presented just at the moment the customer makes their main purchase.

It must be said that these strategies are risky, since by offering one or several additional products, it implies that the client must spend more. As a result, he or she could become intimidated or uncomfortable.

Despite this, an investigation carried out by Harvard University points to interesting data. The European and American brands that used these sales strategies experienced a significant increase in their ROI.

Cross selling differs from other sales techniques because it allows the customer to increase the total purchase through the offer of various products Share on X

Advantages of cross-selling

The advantages of cross selling
Foto von snowing on Freepik

It is evident that the main advantage of cross selling is that it increases the amount of the final sale. But the truth is that it implies many more advantages. Here are some of them:

  • Costs are optimized. It is more beneficial to manage an order with several products than several with a single product. For example, the savings on the shipping service can be significant.
  • Increase in customer loyalty. The customer will be more satisfied with the anticipation of their needs. Undeniably, this increases the value of the shopping experience, which promotes customer preference.
  • Possibility of getting to know your audience in depth. With each sale, it is possible to analyze and specify the customer's preferences, needs and spending capacity. This allows to improve the sales strategy.
  • Advertise products. The closing of a sale is the ideal occasion to present those less famous products in the catalogue.
  • Improves the SEO of the web page. When other products are presented, user interaction with the website or online store is encouraged. Therefore, the bounce rate is reduced and search engines improve your position in the list of results.
Cross selling can increase your bakery's income without having to attract more customers Share on X

How to apply cross selling in your business?

Cross selling applied to your business
Foto von aleksandarlittlewolf on Freepik

If you don't know how to implement the cross selling strategy in your bakery business, here are some actions to apply. Test which of them or which combination is most effective for you:

Train your employees to develop sales skills

The face of your business are your collaborators. Therefore, they are your most important asset. Train them properly so that they can consistently make sales.

It is necessary that your collaborators know in detail the products that you offer in your bakery. At the same time, this knowledge must be combined with sales techniques together with social skills.

In this way, they will be able to correctly offer what the client needs or is looking for. The important thing in this sense is that it must be a continuous practice in order to give good results.

Digitize your business

Technology helps you better understand your customers. Therefore, take this advantage in your favor through an app or a CRM system that allows you to store and analyze information of your customers.

Use this data to tailor your products and services to what the customer wants, expects, or needs. This way you can improve the customer´s shopping experience through personalization.

The new generations highly value the use of technological tools in the purchasing process. Share on X

Make pertinent recommendations

It is advisable to preset which products within your bakery could be sold together. For example, if the customer buys a pizza, you can offer them a drink and dessert to complement the purchase.

It is necessary to emphasize that the application of sales strategies such as cross selling must be done in a subtle way. If it seems somewhat intrusive, it can cause discomfort and eventually have the opposite effect.

The fundamental thing is that the client feels that you are helping him to solve a problem, while increasing the total amount of the sale.

Conclusion

It is essential that you do not miss the opportunity to satisfy the extra needs of your customers through cross selling. This is a very effective way to encourage your buyers to spend more money in your bakery.

Determine in advance which products can be sold together or associated at the time of purchase. Combos are a good way to achieve this.

Go ahead and apply cross selling in your business and increase your average sales. This is the recommendation that we give you from gaux, as experts in specialized machinery for the baking industry.

Contact us, we can provide you with the ideal equipment to make excellent bakery products.

If you liked this article, we recommend you to read: