The decrease in the average check is the reason for the explanation. Average check in a restaurant: reasons for the fall and ways to grow

Average check in a restaurant: reasons for the fall and ways to grow

Today I wanted to touch on such an ambiguous topic as " Average check is this?”, “How to increase the average check?” and “Reasons for the drop in the average check?”. Why ambiguous? I had a history, way back in the early days of my career in restaurant business when exactly with this average check an incomprehensible situation arose. It was, it was taken into account in the reports, but I did not understand how to calculate it correctly, what signals it gives to the manager, what are the main reasons for its fall and how to increase it. I had to figure it out.

How to calculate

Average check - is the amount of revenue for a certain period divided by the number of accounts.

Also, the average check can be calculated per guest: the amount of revenue is divided by the number of guests. However, if you use this approach, make sure that the number of guests entered by the waiters into the program is correct.

When calculating the average bill, discounts from the loyalty program, discounts from the calculation bank cards, delivery, takeaway sales, banquets. How correct this is is the question. In my opinion, this is not correct, since the average check should be taken into account in the calculation of sales in the hall from the turnover of the table (per guest) and not affect delivery, take-out or banquets. This is an individual work of a waiter with a guest.

As for the loyalty program and discounts, these are marketing costs and should not be taken into account when calculating the average check.

Not just a number

What can we see in the size of the average check in addition to numbers? The average check indicates the target audience, the positioning of the institution and the satisfaction of the guest with your assortment. And alsoThis is a direct indicator of the work of waiters. This is an indicator of how well the waiter works, whether he does up-sale and cross-sale, whether he knows how to win over the guest, as well as how loyal the guest is and how much he is ready to leave in the establishment.

It's not just the size

The size of the revenue is good, but at the end of the day, the restaurant operates to make a profit.

Consider an example. One waiter takes orders from four people for a bottle of elite cognac, and the second takes orders from the same number of guests from 12 menu items. The amount of checks is the same.

Question: who worked better and what is more profitable for the Company?

In general, both did well, there is a benefit in both cases. In this situation, the cost of an expensive alcoholic beverage may be higher than the cost of meals. But there is a certain nuance here.
Often the cost of meals includes ut only the cost of ingredients, forgetting about the cost of utilities and on FOT. After all, the dish needs to be prepared, for this it is necessary to pay for the work of cooks and the cost of electricity.

In addition, if we are talking about alcohol, then alcohol suppliers often have better payment terms, there is a payment delay, there are marketing budgets, which cannot be said about food suppliers. But again, conditions vary.

How to increase the average check?

by the most in a simple way is (of course) the price increase on the menu. But here it is important to keep the price / value level for your segment. Otherwise, you risk losing guests and the total amount of revenue. And the growth of the average check in this case is not at all your merit and not the merit of your employees, it is the merit of raising prices.

I will tell you about my experience of increasing the average check in a restaurant. We understand one thing: in All we can do is train our staff to work.

We taught waiters how to sell. The waiter is not a robot at the table, he is a person who can identify the need and satisfy it with the maximum benefit for the guest and the institution. He should know by heart that we offer dessert for tea and coffee, water for coffee, main course for salad, garnish and wine for main course, digestif for dessert. Coffee can be drunk with milk, cream, lemon. Water - with lemon and mint. Tea should be offered with lemon, mint and honey. You can offer an additional ingredient to the salad, such as a double helping of parmesan or sauce.

It is very important how it is said and with what facial expression. The posture, gestures and facial expressions of the waiter should be conducive to the acquisition. A confident posture, an open stance, Sullivan's smile and nod is the least that can be done. If the waiter will stand with a doomed face and chatter everything he knows, the guest will not buy anything and may not even return.

You need to learn how to read the guests and understand whether they are willing to buy or not. If the waiter sees that the guest is in a hurry, you should not list everything that is on the menu. The order must be accepted and executed as quickly as possible, taking into account the wishes of the guest.

If you do everything right, the guest will definitely come back and buy twice as much. If the guest is hot, you should not say the hackneyed phrase “Do you want tea or coffee?” Unless they are cold, but then their names sound different.

The offer should be so tasty that it was impossible to refuse it. The goal is easily achieved with a colorful description and emphasizing the value of the dish. For example: juicy, ripe tomatoes, crispy lettuce, fragrant croutons, the largest portion in the city or the favorite salad of our regular guests.

If the average check has fallen, then the staff is not working out or is engaged in financial fraud. Why is the staff not improving? The reasons may be different: low motivation of the staff, low-quality dishes, conflicts between the kitchen and the hall.

Reasons for the drop in the average check

1. Low level of staff training

If the size of the average check for different waiters of the same establishment differs significantly, then most likely the reason is in the staff training system. It is worth conducting additional certifications and assigning appropriate training based on their results.

2. Low staff motivation

With low motivation, it is worth linking the average check to certain bonuses. For example, hold a promotion for staff "the highest average check." The waiter who has the highest average check for a certain period of time receives a cash reward.

3. Poor/inconsistent quality of some dishes

If your assortment contains low-quality dishes that the waiters do not want to sell, you need to deal with the Chef, technological cards and suppliers. Train chefs to maintain consistently high quality. Replace hardware. Or remove the dish from the assortment.

4. Long cooking time for expensive dishes

If waiters don't sell expensive dishes because they take a long time to cook, it's worth finding a common denominator in terms of cooking time between what the guest wants and how long he's willing to wait. Perhaps it is worth changing the technological map of the dish a little. Add kitchen equipment.

5. Staff financial fraud

Conclusion

The average check is a complex indicator that depends on many factors: the target audience, the positioning of the establishment, the satisfaction of the guest with the assortment and, most importantly, the quality of the work of the staff.

Accordingly, there may be several reasons for the drop in the average check. It is important to identify for which of them the average check is falling and take the necessary measures.

Sales Generator

Reading time: 10 minutes

Often the following situation arises: at first glance, everything is done with high quality, advertising is developed and launched, but the target audience, that is, the people to whom the product is oriented are in no hurry to buy it. Many business owners in this case are perplexed why sales fell and where they made a mistake, overlooked something or did not finish something.

Even if your business is organized in principle correctly, there can be at least four reasons for the decline in sales. If you know why sales have fallen, you can analyze the situation and quickly eliminate the shortcomings.

From this article you will learn:

4 main reasons why sales are falling
9 Reasons for Decline in Online Store Sales

4 main reasons why sales fell

Reason 1. Incorrectly chosen sales strategy and tactics

So, consider the first reason for the drop in sales. It should be noted that it is one of the most common and obvious. The company or retail outlet has already defined a portrait potential client, formed the target audience, conducted an analysis of the state of the market and understood exactly who their product or service is aimed at. But still no sales. Accordingly, profits too.

First you need to analyze the chosen strategy and sales tactics in order to understand why sales fell. It is likely that they are simply not suitable for the selected market segment, or that the strategy and tactics are very complex. As a rule, to improve the situation, it is enough just to objectively look at what you are doing, from the position of an outside observer. Then you will understand why sales have fallen, and you will find a way out.

Reason 2. Ill-conceived pricing policy

According to some marketers, the main parameter for the consumer when buying is the cost. But this point of view is wrong. Of course, the price is important, and the buyer always pays attention to it. However, he mainly thinks about what benefits the purchase of the product will bring to him and what problems he can solve with it.

An example is a situation when a person enters a store with an assortment of over 200 phones. But it doesn't matter to him. A potential buyer is busy looking for a model that fully meets his requirements. A professional seller will build a dialogue with the client in such a way that he will sell the phone. He will demonstrate the models chosen by the buyer from the favorable side, talk about the advantages of the company and let him know that the purchase should be made here. If your staff is customer-oriented and always highlights the quality of the product from the perspective of the buyer, then your sales will not decrease. Think about it now as you analyze why sales fell.

Reason 3: Unclear warranty terms

When a person makes a purchase, he must understand that the product that did not suit him can be easily returned. The order of the return procedure itself is important here - the simpler it is, the more the buyer trusts you. Nobody wants to deal with paperwork to get their money.

In accordance with Russian consumer protection law, the goods must be returned within two weeks. As a rule, 14 days is enough for a person to understand whether he likes a thing or not. Whatever happens, if the buyer wants to return the product, he will bring it to the seller one way or another. The law will agree with this provision, since the client is always right.

In this regard, thinking about why sales have fallen, you should pay attention to this parameter as well - perhaps you are providing customers with unclear warranty conditions. Adjust them to make them more understandable and transparent. Your target audience should understand that it will be possible to return the product in which case it will be possible without problems. She will regard this item as your significant advantage.

Remember that in the work of any outlet, returns are inevitable. If you make sure that they are good for your reputation, then you will not think about why sales have fallen.

Submit your application

Reason 4. Wrong time, wrong place

Why did sales drop? It can be quite difficult to answer this question, and often the problem lies not in you as a bad seller, but simply in the unfortunate location of the outlet. So, if you understand why sales fell, and found out that this happened for the reason indicated above, then what should you do?

Of course, changing the location is much more difficult than eliminating another cause. However, this factor greatly affects the business, and therefore if your sales have really fallen and the store is located unsuccessfully, it is still better to choose a more passable place.

Also, the product can outperform itself - another reason why sales have fallen. That is, the audience is not yet ready to perceive and use your product. Here it is appropriate to give an example largest company Apple, whose products have simply not been in demand for many years - consumers were not ready to accept innovative solutions and advanced technologies. It often takes time before the product enters into the habitual use of the user and becomes clear to him. Alas, it is very difficult to correct the situation.

So, we looked at 4 factors that can cause sales to fall. Note that we have only focused on the main and most common reasons for the decline in consumer demand. In reality, there may be many more, and this should be taken into account. But if you are aware of the mistakes that entrepreneurs often make, then you as a businessman can learn from them and avoid such mistakes in your practice.

Managerial Mistakes That Reduce Sales

Mistake 1. Untimely purchase offer

So, why did your sales drop in your case? Often, managers make the mistake of continuing to persuade the client to purchase the product, while he is already ready to do it. The offer to buy is a whole art, and here you should remember certain nuances and subtleties. The procedure can be compared to fishing, when your active action must be completed exactly on time and not a second earlier or later.

If your company employs a competent and professional manager in sales, then, most likely, he knows exactly how to offer a product or service to a client.

Mistake 2. Talking to the buyer not about the benefits for him, but highlighting the advantages of your company

You take pride in your company and the products and services you offer. Of course, any sales manager must love and believe in what he is promoting. This is the key to successful sales. But the client's psychology is such that in the acquisition process he is only interested in his own benefit. Not your product or service, but the benefits and benefits that he will receive after the purchase.

In this regard, when negotiating, a professional manager should highlight the value of a product or service for a potential buyer. This approach will allow you to further increase the implementation. And now it is possible that your sales have fallen precisely because of the illiterate actions of the staff.

Mistake 3. Feel free to touch on the topic of cost

Often, managers are embarrassed or afraid to voice the cost to the client. Especially if they themselves consider it overpriced and know that competitors offer lower prices. Managers are afraid to hear from a potential buyer that he is not ready to purchase a product because of its high cost. It is the doubts of the seller that can be the reason that sales have fallen. The client feels that the specialist is not sure what he is saying, and this causes doubts in him at the decision-making stage. “Am I doing everything right? Perhaps I was given little time to think? Perhaps you should ask for a discount?

How can a manager deal with fear and embarrassment to discuss the price? There are two ways:

practice talking confidently about the price;
practice responses to the “expensive” objection and do so until they become automatic.

Mistake 4. Use complex phrases and terms in a conversation with a client

Often, sales managers, especially inexperienced ones, use abstruse phrases and specific terms, long and difficult sentences in their conversation. What does this lead to? A potential client gets tired of perceiving such information, stops delving into what the manager says, and the deal falls through. It is possible that your sales have fallen precisely for this reason.

Why do managers of many companies express themselves in this way? To demonstrate to the client your professional level and savvy in the subject. But what is more important - to show a potential client that you are competent and well versed in the issue, or to sell a product or service? If it is in your interest to sell products, speak in such a way that the person understands exactly what you mean. So you will significantly increase the likelihood of a successful transaction, and you do not have to analyze why sales have fallen.

Mistake 5. Arguing with a client

Disputes on any occasion are a hallmark of our mentality. Why, under no circumstances, should you enter into a dispute with a client? Everything is very simple - in this case, a person simply will not make a purchase.

Even if the client is obviously wrong, don't argue with him, unless, of course, you are interested in selling a product or service. Buyers are often wrong. But it is you who knows the properties and characteristics of your product very well, and not the client who has barely got acquainted with the product. When you express your point of view, then, of course, you are pursuing noble goals - to prove to the buyer that the product is really of high quality, and to sell it. But voice your opinion should be careful not to provoke a conflict. If you argue with many buyers, then this may be the reason why sales in your company have fallen.

Why sales fell during the crisis, and what it can lead to

The strength of any business due to the economic crisis can be significantly shaken. One of the most vulnerable forms of entrepreneurship is mediation, including in trade. Wholesale companies constantly balance between the requirements of manufacturers and the demands of buyers, and the slightest deterioration in the market situation can lead to the failure of the entire system and serious financial difficulties for the company. That is, another reason why sales have fallen may be the onset of the financial crisis.

Here is the order in which the difficulties appear in the channels of movement of goods and how the participants who are connected with each other in trade relations - retail stores and wholesalers - react to them:

Decreasing consumer demand

So your sales are down. With problems in the economy, demand among buyers falls - in the country and at the global level. This happens because organizations are cutting jobs, delaying wages and having difficulty obtaining and paying loans. That is, everything is interconnected.

The retailer receives less money from the sale of products in stores

This is immediately reflected in costly retail business activities. When there is less working capital, it is more difficult for a retailer to take and repay bank loans, issue wages subordinates, pay rent for commercial premises and conduct advertising campaigns.

In such situations, store owners reduce retail prices and increase advertising activity. Costs for these activities operators retail are transferred to wholesale organizations - the retailer requires the wholesaler to further reduce prices and extend the loan period.

Of course, threats to change the wholesale supplier and demand the delivery of products on the terms of sale are extreme measures. But they cannot be ruled out. In this case, the reaction is determined by the financial condition of the company and its position in the market.

Among other things, a retailer whose sales have fallen begins to get rid of some of the products with the least liquidity. Because of this, the wholesaler cannot offer the entire range of goods to the final buyer.

If the country is in an economic crisis and sales have fallen, especially if the outlook is unfavorable, the retailer chooses a liquid product at the expense of the markup. This causes a change in the assortment in retail outlets - cheaper products prevail on the shelves.

Often, retailers also tighten the requirements for the costs of wholesalers to promote their products in retail chains. Such retail protection measures are fully justified.

Difficulties affect wholesale

If in wholesale trade sales have fallen, the return of receivables to suppliers is becoming more complicated. Besides, inventory the company is also accumulating in connection with the reduction of retail orders. As a result, the turnover of receivables and stocks of goods decreases. This, in turn, leads to a deterioration in the financial performance of the company.

As the firm is forced to lower wholesale rates to maintain sales volume, give customers additional discounts, and increase promotional spending, its profits are drastically reduced. A company that has lost sales finds itself in unfavorable financial conditions, in which it becomes more difficult for it to take and repay loans, and there is a cash gap.

The wholesaler begins to experience a deficit in finance, and therefore cannot effectively and quickly adapt to the changing crisis conditions of the market, maintain an assortment range that is in demand among buyers, and fulfill obligations to partners. Consequently, the profitability of the business decreases and financial problems become more.

9 reasons why sales in the online store fell

So, you wondered why sales in the online store fell. This is where you need to look at the latest research and analysis to determine why your store is not growing in deals and there is no demand from customers. And immediately, we note that it is quite difficult to maintain a leading position in the online trading market.

For three years, Qubit has been collecting customer feedback and complaints from 400 sites. As a result, it was possible to identify 10 main reasons why sales from online stores are falling, as well as to form a portrait of the buyer and his expectations, which often do not correspond to reality.

Below are the top 10 customer complaints about online shopping, according to Qubit research.

Price.

It is possible that your sales have fallen due to inflated prices. As a rule, customers most often complain about them. The results of the study show that the two most common complaints among buyers are “too expensive for the product presented” and “too expensive for me”.

Based on Nomis Solutions, shoppers are 7.4 times more sensitive to online prices than in-store prices. Therefore, you should take care of the competitiveness of your prices in relation to other companies in the market. In addition, it is important to have a unique selling proposition. You need to have something that other businesses don't have.

Assortment range.

Today, a large number of people prefer online shopping, and there are a number of reasons for this. One of them is a wide range of products and the ability to choose what you like. Customers shopping online want to make finding a product easier than in stores. That is, even at the initial stage of site development, you should take care of a clear user interface of the store and provide users with a convenient and quick search for the desired positions.

According to the researchers, the product portfolio needs to be improved by investing in resources such as a recommendation engine, lists of new and seasonal products, and “related products” grouping.

When analyzing why sales have fallen, be sure to pay attention to this indicator and correct the situation if necessary.

The size.

If your online store doesn't have helpful and accurate size charts, then that could be another reason why you're losing sales. However, their presence greatly helps the buyer to navigate and choose the right product. As the owner of an online store, this saves you from the problems associated with returning products, issuing money to customers and from negative emotions on their part.

Waiting period.

When thinking about why sales in your online store have fallen, pay attention to this parameter. The average shopper is impatient and aggressive. He wants the site to load as soon as possible. Complaints about long loading times are very common these days. This indicator is really important, and its value will only grow in the future. That is why you should definitely take care of the sufficient speed of loading an Internet resource.

Search on the site for the necessary information.

Buyers are very angry if the search engine on the site does not work at the level of Google. In order not to annoy customers, improve and develop the tagging system on your site, add advanced search options.

Availability of products.

Users often complain that the site does not have the products they need. Despite the fact that such complaints have decreased since the last study, this factor can also contribute to a drop in sales in the online store. First of all, customers are dissatisfied with the fact that the desired products are not on the site or they have already ceased to be produced, but they are still presented in the assortment. Often, customers expect that online stores will have a large selection and a wide range of products. If this is not the case for you, then it is likely that sales have fallen in connection with this.

Navigation.

When analyzing why sales have fallen, evaluate the structure of the site. Look at navigation objectively. It is possible that it is difficult for customers to navigate and find the necessary goods. Make sure that information about popular products and sales is clearly visible to users, and the site interface is clear and simple, which makes it easy to navigate through sections.

Discounts and sales.

Customers are often dissatisfied with the fact that it is difficult to find windows for entering a discount code on the site. If you are running a promotion, discount on coupons or codes, make sure that a person can quickly navigate and understand what's what. If customers have difficulty using your online resource, sales will drop.

It should be noted that a number of online stores now set temporary restrictions on the purchase of certain goods, due to which the sensitivity of customers to prices is reduced.

Images.

Your online store should look aesthetically pleasing. If you are analyzing why sales have fallen, then it is possible that your site is not attractive enough. The results of eye-tracking studies indicate that visitors first visually perceive the page, examine it, and only then read the text. In other words, beautiful and high-quality images on the site are very important.

The data obtained in the course of the study indicates that before buying, the client seeks to view as many photos and images of the product as possible. In addition, he is more interested in seeing how clothes look on models. The more high-quality pictures and video content you add to the site, the more you stimulate the client to buy.

How to find out why sales fell: analysis and control

In accordance with the formula of Ron Hubbard, who developed one of the most successful management technologies, control always equals income. When you begin to control and carefully analyze this or that process, you influence the situation, saving your strength, money and increasing efficiency. The sales process also needs control and analysis.

In order not to wonder why sales fell, constantly monitor:

how many potential customers contacted you - the number of people who entered the trading floor, the number of phone calls or visits to the official Internet resource;
how many deals were closed and checks were broken, the number of real customers, that is, those who made a purchase. This indicator is necessary to calculate the conversion and evaluate the professionalism of sellers;
in what volume the average deal was made or the average check was issued. To obtain this value, the total daily sales volume is divided by the number of transactions and broken checks;
seller conversion rate. The parameter indicates the professional level of your employees, their knowledge and ability to use the technology of transactions.

If you analyze why sales have fallen, then first of all, evaluate the degree of control over this process. If you do not effectively monitor and control the implementation, then you cannot influence the indicators. Only a tenth of the clients tell the higher management about conflicts and disputes that have arisen, allowing the leading manager of the company to eliminate the shortcomings. The rest of the dissatisfied buyers simply refuse to continue to cooperate with the company.

So how do you control salespeople? First, look at how they communicate with customers. Often, companies, analyzing why sales have fallen, reveal that sellers are primarily to blame. Perhaps they are discourteous with customers, ignore their requests, or are too intrusive. Do not forget that if you do not control discipline, then after some time you will see that you have missed profits due to declining performance. The sales process is managed using two tools - motivation and control.

The most effective means of supervision, according to many managers, is the installation of a video surveillance camera with a microphone in the trading floor or in another area where sellers work. The presence of video cameras allows the manager to monitor the work of salespeople online, assess the situation in the hall and, in general, determine why sales have fallen.

There is nothing surprising in controlling subordinates today, and this method is successfully used by many modern enterprises. That is why, if you want to find out why sales have fallen, it is definitely worth installing video cameras and figuring out what is wrong. If you, as a business owner, realize that sales have fallen due to the fault of employees, you can impose disciplinary sanctions on them or simply fire them, taking others in their place.

The next stage of control is the introduction of daily reporting for sales managers. That is, the duties of employees will include the daily filling out of special forms, which will display information about the volume of products or services sold, the number of calls made or presentations made, and plans for further activities or some other important data for your company will be entered there. . All this information will later be useful to you to evaluate the results of both a particular employee and the entire department.

Another effective method to understand why sales have fallen is to visit the company under the guise of a “mystery shopper”. Thanks to this technique, you will be able to evaluate how the enterprise works from the outside, putting yourself in the place of the client, and find out why your sales have declined.

First, a legend is prepared and coordinated with the management of the enterprise, and then they pay a visit to the company under the guise of a “mystery shopper”. This allows you to understand whether the service is of high quality, whether the employees are qualified, and also to feel the atmosphere of the trading floor through the eyes of the buyer. Checking competing firms will help you learn their advantages. Using this information, you will attract new buyers who chose other companies yesterday, and understand why sales in your company have fallen.

How to increase sales after a fall

So, you figured out why sales fell. Now your main task is to improve performance. That is, existing customers should consume more of your products or use your services more often. In addition, it is worth working on attracting new customers.

Attracting new customers

In this case, you can lure customers from competitors or develop new market segments. Both in the first and in the second case, certain marketing tricks should be used. The table indicates the tools for implementing each of the above methods. However, some of them are universal.

Looting customers from competitors	Entering new segments
Accompany your potential customer on the way to the store. This method is especially effective if you are in mall. In this case, the consumer who went to your competitor will be interested in your product, because he needs a product, and not a specific company. But be careful, excessive advertising can scare the client and cause irritation.
Use discounts, bonuses and gifts. Passing by your point of sale, the consumer will see a tempting offer. Even if he first passes by, then, not seeing the benefits of his "pet", most likely, he will return to you. But this technique will only lead to a short-term increase in sales.
Show that your product is better. This can only be done by improving the quality of products and improving service.	Cross events. Agree on a joint promotion with any enterprise. This can be an event (for example, a product tasting in a supermarket), a gift for a purchase from a partner (remember the joint action of the Perekrestok supermarket and the Sunlight jewelry store). The main thing is that the target audience coincides with you and your partner.

Increasing sales with existing customers

There are also two implementation options here - work on increasing consumption and increasing sales conversion.

Increasing sales conversion

Improve the quality of service. The store must have high-quality service so that customers return to it again and again. A good seller will sell anything. A bad seller will not be able to sell anything. There is intra-company marketing - the attitude of the enterprise to its staff. If you create favorable working conditions for your subordinates, then, accordingly, you get more income and do not wonder why sales have fallen. Do not forget about such components as training and motivation.
Pay attention to merchandising. Your sales and profits directly depend on how the product is laid out on the shelves. There is an arm's length rule in marketing. Perhaps your sales have dropped because you are not following it. In accordance with this rule, the buyer in 80% of cases takes a product that is easy for him to reach. If the item is located above or below this level, the sales volume will be insufficient.
Carrying out sales, promotions, issuing bonuses. But remember that thanks to such events, you will increase the conversion, but only for the period of their action.

Increasing consumption

Everything here should be aimed at increasing the average check. In this case, sellers:

Raise the cost. By raising the price of goods, you increase the size of the average check. But the conversion may decrease. Accordingly, your sales and profits will not increase. To avoid such a situation, keep in mind that the slightest change in prices must be justified. That is, it should be clear to the buyer that you increased the cost not because you wanted to, but because you changed the packaging to a more convenient one.
Offer additional or related products or services. After your customer has decided on the product, you can draw his attention to related products. Let's say you sold a bracelet. In this case, it is appropriate to offer a beautiful gift box. The client will not spend a lot of money on such a purchase, but the total check will become larger, which, of course, is only to your advantage.
Conduct loyalty programs. Thanks to the loyalty card, the size of the average check will not increase, but the number of purchases made by a person in your store will increase. There are several types of discount cards - bonus, accumulative, privileged. Each has its own purpose, but all of them are primarily aimed at increasing sales.

What is the principle of the loyalty program? Suppose you are the owner of a grocery store. If a person makes a purchase in the amount of 1000 rubles or more, you give him a loyalty card. There is a similar outlet near your store that does not have its own loyalty program.

Where will there be more customers? Of course you have. People who have your loyalty card will regularly visit the store in order to receive bonuses, discounts or gifts - everything is determined by the type of card. That is, with the help of such programs, you tie customers to you, and they willingly come back. Accordingly, your sales and income grow.

The average check of Russians, which, according to the results of August, again decreased by 0.2%. At the same time, hypermarkets do not remain in the loser - only large stores were able to increase checks. The situation is a stalemate for petty trade, they say in the industry. Pressure from federal and regional chains is increasing, as is competition among convenience stores, so the segment is teetering on the brink of profitability.

The average spending of residents of the country per visit to the store has been declining for the fifth month in a row. According to the research holding "Romir", in August the index of the average check amounted to 495 rubles. - minus 1 rub. to July. Thus, the index has updated a two-year low.

"Compared to last year's value, the average check decreased even more noticeably - by 4.4%, dropping from 518 rubles in August 2017," Romir notes.

The dynamics in specific regions is different: residents of five federal districts began to spend more on going to the store, in three they reduced expenses. The buyers of the North Caucasian Federal District shrank most noticeably - minus 9.7% against the July check. The least amount of money spent on going to the store is spent in Siberia - 398 rubles, while the amount in August decreased by 2.7%.

Compared to last year, residents of “millionaires” do not increase their expenses (even Moscow went down by 0.7%), and in cities with a population of 500 thousand to 1 million people, spending per visit to the store fell compared to August 2017 by 2.5%.

Buyers began to leave more funds in hypermarkets - large stores where food and non-food products are sold. Mostly these are regional and federal networks. Hypermarkets have become the only type outlets, which showed an increase in the average check - by 2.3%, to 758 rubles. But even they lost 7.8% compared to last year.

Discounters turned out to be the leaders in reducing the average check: spending in them decreased by 2.6% - to 331 rubles. Fall in annual terms - 9.3%. The average check decreased least of all in supermarkets - by 1.6% to 343 rubles.

The main reason for the decline in the average check, industry experts see the fall in household income. Rosstat will publish data for August 2018 on Wednesday; in July, real incomes fell by almost 5% over the month. At the same time, the level.

The size of the check decreased not by 0.2%, but by 1%, the head of the Association of Small and Micro-Enterprises in the Sphere of Trade of the Tyumen Region shared his estimates Vladimir Panov.

"There is nothing to be surprised. We are experiencing a drop in the standard of living of the population, therefore, we are seeing a drop in revenue. The second reason is the onset of federal retail. We are in the Tyumen region. We proposed to amend the law on trade in order to consider all federal chains as one subject of trade, "thus limiting the monopoly. But the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation came to reject the initiative. So far, no one has heard us, there is no progress," he said.

The expert adds that the reduction in the average check hits small retail outlets more, chains compensate for the decline due to turnover and the flow of customers.

According to Rosstat, the retail trade turnover in monetary terms in July grew by 3.3% MoM, since the beginning of the year - only by 2.5%. The share of retail markets and fairs, where products can be bought at the most affordable prices directly from manufacturers, accounted for only 5.8%. During the year, the number of official retail markets decreased by 71 units, while in 34 subjects the share of chain trade structures in the total volume of retail trade turnover exceeded the average Russian level - 33%.

Statistics show an increase in the number of outlets, notes a member of the commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation for the development of the economy, entrepreneurship, services and the consumer market Andrey Usenko, the trend goes in parallel with the reduction in the cost of the average check.

"There was such a thing as "Kudrin's scissors" - when one curve goes up and the other goes down. I don't know whose scissors the situation in trade can be called, but we have a similar picture. Turnovers are growing, but also at the level of inflation. All this is quite alarming the situation from the point of view of small businesses, because the federal and regional networks have more resources to withstand the difficult situation.When the cost of doing business increases due to the increase in outlets, but profitability does not, this threatens regional trading companies, small stores. In a large retail business a certain bubble is also inflated: an endless increase in the number of retail facilities at some point should turn into quality. And here the question arises whether the networks will hold out until the moment when this happens, or will reconsider their strategy, "said the member of the OP.

At the same time, the expert confirmed that the decrease in the check was also felt in the Kirov region - Usenko is vice president of the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The check will begin to grow only when the Russians feel the "paper" income growth. In the meantime, the threat of a decrease in trade turnover in the near future may result in increased tension in the labor market.

“You have to understand that a significant part of the population not only buys goods in stores, but also works in them. The complication of the situation in such a mass sector of the economy will undoubtedly affect the unemployment rate,” Andrei Usenko notes.

The retail business these days is like a fight for survival: every day we need to think about how to increase the efficiency of our stores in order to achieve targets, ensure standards are met. after-sales service, operational processes to win the trust and loyalty of the client and, as a result, get a well-deserved profit. One of the key points of this "fight" is the work to achieve the goal of KPI, as the main indicators that our actions are correct, and the stores are managed in the right way.

As a rule, most retail managers, among other KPIs, pay special attention to the average number of items per check or check fill, as one of the main indicators of the ability of the store team to correctly use the sales technique when working with visitors, namely to sell additional products. This publication will focus on one of the successful methods to stimulate the growth of check filling, the effectiveness of which has been proven by two years of practice in Puma retail stores.

What can affect the average number of units sold per customer? There are several answers to this question: this is the product range, the pricing policy of the company, and the solvency and mood of the client, as well as the availability of promotions and special offers in the store. But what is more important is the effective use of sales techniques by sales personnel in working with visitors. This factor also depends on a number of conditions:

knowledge of theoretical methods of offering additional goods;

The ability to use them correctly practical work with clients;

· impeccable knowledge of the sellers of the assortment of their store and the ability to competently combine different products to create a full-fledged image;

motivation of staff to work with additional goods;

Ability to deal with customer objections

It would seem that on all these points it is easy to establish work in traditional ways, such as conducting trainings and meetings, observing the work of sellers on the trading floor, quickly and timely training new employees, working as a manager on the trading floor of the store, as a mentor for his team, on personal example showing correct work with buyers. And it makes no sense to dispute the need for these actions - this is, of course, the basis for meeting the standards of visitor service. But in practice, we very often encounter the fact that despite the significant time spent on training our staff, the above methods do not help to achieve the planned value of the check filling both for the store as a whole and for individual employees. Failure to meet at least one of the conditions for the effectiveness of the application of sales techniques can nullify other attempts to increase the amount of the check by making a complex purchase.

Yes, knowing theoretical basis offers of related products a beginner may face a psychological barrier in working with a client in practice. On the other hand, an experienced employee may, for a number of reasons, not want to work with a client 100% due to lack of desire or mood, which reduces his personal UPT below the goal. The wrong approach to compiling a harmonious image of several products can also become an obstacle to a successful transaction.

As practice shows, the lack of a systematic approach to controlling all these factors is the reason for their occurrence. To eliminate this gap, it is possible to introduce a tool for comprehensive control of the fullness of the check - a certain form for fixing sales of checks with one position. It may look like this:

The bottom line is that the seller, who has made a deal with one unit in the check, fixes the name of the sold product in this printed form in the first column of the table. Next, he must list the related and non-related products that he offered to the client. In the third column, the employee indicates the customer's objections that led to the refusal to purchase additional goods. Finally, in the last column, the seller writes what actions he took in order to overcome these objections. Immediately after filling out, this form is worked out with the administrative staff of the store or their mentor, so that the seller is given timely feedback on the sale.

Such a scheme of work allows you to simultaneously identify and work out several problems.

First, looking at the second column of the form, the mentor can conclude that the employee is able to select the right additional item. As a rule, novice sellers limit themselves to offering a single item of related product, such as socks with shoes, instead of trying to match the client with a complete image from the existing range of products. In addition, when reviewing this sale, the conditions and circumstances under which the seller offered additional units will be considered, which will allow discussion of possible errors in the work.

Secondly, the mentor, based on the form, evaluates the ability of the seller to work with objections when trying to expand the receipt. Working on mistakes in this context will allow the employee to form the skill of correct argumentation when working with doubts.

The problem of lack of motivation to offer an additional product, as it turned out, is effectively solved by the emerging need to fill out the form for fixing checks by sellers and conduct a “debriefing” with a mentor. Many highly motivated employees will go to great lengths to work with a client to avoid entering a single sale on the form.

The most important thing in the application of this tool is to ensure control over its completion and timely verification with appropriate feedback. The form can be used in several situations. So, if we need to pull up individual lagging employees by the UPT value, we can implement check accounting only for these sellers. At the same time, the duration of filling out the form is limited by the moment they reach the planned values of the check filling.

Another way to apply this method is to implement a blank form for all salespeople. The need for this may be due to a sharp decline in UPT, including external reasons. Continuous accounting in this case helps to maximize the mobilization of the entire sales team to get the best result from working with customers. But it is worth considering that the long-term use of the form of a permanent result will not bring, but may have the opposite effect of reducing the motivation of employees. Therefore, in crisis conditions, the longest recommended period for applying the single check accounting form can be limited to one month.

As practice shows, the use of the check accounting form with one position allows you to increase the value of the average number of units in a check by 15-20% already in one to two weeks of its use. In addition to traditional methods of training and control, its application will improve the efficiency of any retail store and use the internal resource for the highest value of the check fullness in the most efficient way.

Yaskov Artem

Store group leader

The Russians began to spend less on food - the average check in the store reached a minimum in two years, in addition, the July figure fell by more than 3% compared to June, according to a study by the Romir holding. In Moscow, the average check amounted to almost 680 rubles, in St. Petersburg - about 640 rubles. The general decline in real incomes of the population played its role - Rosstat reported a drop in July by almost 5%.

As a result, Russians are more likely to make small purchases, says Andrei Karpov, chairman of the board of the Association of Retail Market Experts: “The consumer himself, simply speaking, saves and does not buy too much. At the same time, yes, he takes less, but he simply reduced the number of trips to hypermarkets, where he bought more, just began to go to the store more often. As part of one purchase, he takes only what he needs. In general, turnover has been declining in the last four years, Last year there is some slight dynamics in the region of 2% - these are extremely insignificant figures. All this suggests that the consumer has no extra money.

Over the past two years, consumer preferences have changed a lot: instead of large supermarkets, they choose small convenience stores, Andrey Vil, Deputy Director of Communications at Romir Holding, said. “People are leaving hypermarkets, supermarkets, large discounters for convenience stores, so-called traditional trade stores, they purchase goods at points where it was previously unavailable - for example, the assortment is constantly expanding at gas stations, the number of outlets in business centers is expanding, which offer not only coffee, he explains. “People are sort of diversifying their purchases right now.

If before they went to large stores, they bought, now they just shop in a lot more places.

All categories of citizens, both on the basis of age and gender, and on the basis of wealth, are subject to this trend - those who have less money can still buy on the go the goods that they bought earlier in the supermarket.

Large retail chains and hypermarkets attract customers with regular promotions: these are discount coupons and game formats, for example, collectible cards with the image of football players or sets of children's toys that are given for a certain amount in a check.

The share of goods with discounts is 20-25% of total sales. And it can hardly be said that buyers have turned away from retail chains and large supermarkets in favor of small stores, says Ivan Fedyakov, general director of the Infoline information and analytical agency: sales volume.

There is no question of any withdrawal from large retail chains of ordinary consumers.

On the contrary, the consumer has the opportunity to actively save thanks to promotions that are very active in most large federal chains and often cover the entire range of consumer goods and food products;

The reduction in the average bill is only a seasonal phenomenon, while it’s too early to talk about serious changes in the retail market, I’m sure CEO trading network Real Alexander Myshinsky: “There are a lot more small purchases in the summer – drinks, ice cream and something else. And secondly, every year there is a splitting of the total check for the day, that is, people begin to go not to one store, but to several, choosing goods according to promotions.

The only region where the reverse trend is observed is the North Caucasus federal district. There the average check grew by 15%.

Victoria Feofanova