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Further to considering how you could increase average order size, this week here are a few ideas on ways you can frame your price to make it more appealing to your ideal customer. These methods are used by many businesses and can be applied in creative ways to help grow your baking business and brand.
Adding product options for perspective
You may have heard of this one – it’s where a customer is given a choice of 3 products, usually of different sizes, and where the most expensive product is made to seem more appealing by adding a 2nd product between the least and most expensive.
For example, a customer is offered a pack of 3 brownies for £10 and a pack of 12 for £30. The pack of 12 seems expensive as there is a huge jump, however introducing a step such as a pack of 9 for £25 will make the pack of 12 appear less expensive – and of better value than the 9 pack.
So you start with a small product and a large product option, the middle product provides perspective to make the larger gift better value and easier to compare in a consumer’s mind.
Using different units
Another method is to use different units. This tends to be one of the most common tactics used even in small businesses.
For example, you could sell a large fruit cake for £12, or you could say its £1 a slice (with 12 slices). That doesn’t seem so much now, if I have a slice a day – now I can compare that to buying a one-off snack bar or another treat which may be £2 or £3 a portion.
So changing the units to portions or slices can be an effective mechanism to make the price more appealing.
Comparison
Continuing along the same lines – your goal here is to compare your price to something else, preferably something of a less essential cost and usually a regular purchase.
For example, many businesses use the old “price of a coffee” tactic, but it’s not exclusive to coffee. This comparison aims to make their purchase more reasonable.
Time
Again, causing your ideal customer to compare to other products and think logically about your price will enable your price to seem of greater value.
You could market your cheesecakes as 6 days of dessert, at £2 a serving, rather than £12, for example. This enables your customer to think about how buying a supermarket dessert each day would compare to buying a box of your bakes or desserts.
Bundling and packaging
Similar to last week. Bundling gifts together into packages or bundles instead of selling them separately saves you some costs and also gives the impression of a package full of value, especially if you note the individual item costs and the saving that can be made by purchasing a bundle or package. You can also use partnerships to create special bundles or gift boxes.
Discounting
Following on from packaging and showing the saving. Discounts allow you to make a price more appealing when compared to an original price. Though it’s best not to rely on one particular tactic like discounting all the time – as it can undermine whether the original price is really the actual “worth”.
Adding something extra
Exceeding expectation always leaves a good taste in the mouth. Adding something extra whilst not influencing the first-time purchase could help you build loyalty. Lots of handmade gift sellers use this to stand out from bigger businesses and show that they put the customer’s interests and experience at heart.
The tactics here are just examples of how you can market your bakes to be great value for customers. Price will always be a difficult thing to get right – but as with last week’s increasing order value, isn’t the only way to increase profitability.
