Six easy ways to make your bakery sales rise

Beyond wafting the aroma of apple pie through your store, here are ways to help your bakery sales rise
5/12/2011

Build buzz around baking

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Host a cooking class or create an in-store culinary event. Interactive in-store sessions add to the shopper experience, says Valerie Windham, director of corporate marketing at Georgia-based CSM Bakery Products. Events encourage shoppers to identify with the store and can also drive customer loyalty.

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Label like crazy


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Shoppers care about wellness and they are increasingly reading the nutritional labels. Windham says 76% check the nutritional facts on product labelling. So it’s vital to list the ingredients and label the packaging. Especially in the bakery section, customers want to be able to quickly scan for desired (and undesired) ingredients.

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Plan for sales all day


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Do you see tumbleweed drifting through your bakery at certain times of the day? To drive sales and traffic at all times, feature items in the appropriate day-part. Windham says it can be done across product segments (e.g., feature muffins and cinnamon rolls in the early to mid-morning, fresh-baked cookies between lunch and dinner, and bread pudding or cobbler during the dinner hour) or within product categories (bran, banana-nut and blueberry muffins in the breakfast day-part and dessert-inspired muffins during the lunch and afternoon day-part).

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Follow the trends


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Flick on the TV and flip through some magazines. Shoppers emulate the culinary trends and recipes they see there, so alter your bakery offerings accordingly. Has a reality show revealed a craze sweeping the cupcake-loving community? Did a celebrity baker just come out with a cookbook? Stay on trend to ensure you can keep up with demand.

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Sweet’s neat, but don’t forget savoury


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The appeal of a hefty blueberry muffin, moist chocolate cake or slice of banana bread is clear. But there’s also a lot to be said for yummy savoury treats. Consider adding focaccia, stuffed croissants, calzones and flavoured bread to your bakery lineup.

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Grab-and-go is the way to go


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Prepacked offerings and displays are a great way to serve customers who don’t have time for a leisurely stroll through the store. “Convenience is of utmost importance to consumers and grab-and-go snacks, desserts and breakfast products are the perfect solution for eating on the go,” says Windham.

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