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In our July column, we revealed that one way to drive traffic to your store is to make it an enticing shopping experience. Offering samples creates a shopping experience rather than a buying chore. Customers to whom samples were offered spent 34 percent more than those not offered a sample. We cannot say that being offered a sample caused this greater spending, but the positive association is certainly worth noting.

This August tip will discuss the dramatic relationship between shopping list usage and spending. Our second annual supermarket shopper traffic study revealed that customers who shop with a list spend 41 percent more at the cashier. It is possible that list users shop less frequently (and thus spend more when they make their visit once per week) than those shopping without lists; however, we feel that a significant difference in spending is associated with shopping with a list written at home where items are added as they are seen missing in the kitchen.

We think that shoppers buying solely from memory of what is needed (i.e., those shopping without a list) will spend less at the store because they are more apt to rely on what is seen on the shelf to trigger what is lacking at home. Non-list shoppers could thus easily fall victim to an inability to recall all of what is needed in the home. If customers without a list see an item, they may place it in their cart, but will they see this item as an ingredient in a larger meal and remember to buy the other seven ingredients needed to prepare it? This shopping list tip is one of which of you can easily take advantage, and we feel it could be well worth your effort.

Some have theorized that shopping with a list leads to less spending because customers do not deviate from a list mostly comprised of sale items. List users still indulge via buying exciting items which are not being discounted, and they return home with more products. Lists are often long and well-planned, and when customers shop with them, your top line may dramatically improve.

At your next store meeting, we suggest that you contemplate creating a list for your customers that becomes simple, habitual and valuable for them while simultaneously boosting your top line. Hand a shopping list (with your store name, manager’s name[s] and contact information centered at the top) to customers when they are given their receipt. On the back of the shopping list, include a coupon promotion as an incentive to bring them back soon (e.g., $1.00 off of two store-label products if used within the next week). This is a fun and exciting way to not only improve the likelihood they will return soon, but also to increase their desire to use the other side of the coupons — the shopping list — to write what they will need to buy on their next shopping trip.

We suggest that you also have sub-headings on the shopping list with ample space for fruits, vegetables, snacks, meats, dairy, desserts, beverages, staples, etc. By creating this list for your customers and tying it to the coupons on the back, you increase list usage (which is associated with greater spending), while offering an easier and cheaper (if the coupons are utilized) shopping experience.

In a previous column, we discussed how coupon use (and the mind-set into which coupon use may place a customer), is associated with a 24 percent greater ring. So, taking advantage of the positive associations between list and coupon usage on sales may be something you want to put on your own list the next time you prepare for a store manager meeting.

Our shopper traffic research will unveil some quick and manageable tactics that could have a profound impact on customer satisfaction, loyalty, and on your top line. For more information on how to purchase our traffic research or on how I can cater our traffic research to meet your specific needs, please e-mail me at Kenny.Herbst@mba.wfu.edu. Alternatively, feel free to visit my Web page at www.mba.wfu.edu/herbst. I can also be reached via phone at 757-345-1205. I look forward to speaking with you about the research in order to prepare a traffic study designed for your specific needs.

Dr. Kenneth C. Herbst will return to his alma mater this summer to serve as an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. For the last two years, Dr. Herbst has been an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Mason School of Business at The College of William and Mary. He earned a Masters and Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, Dr. Herbst earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Dr. Herbst has been interviewed about his food research and industry expertise by, among others, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Ottawa Citizen, the Montreal Gazette, the San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and Woman’s Day.

Harold Lloyd was the President and CEO of a 14-unit retail organization for 10 years. His practical, exciting ideas and dynamic presentation style have combined to earn him a highly regarded reputation reflected in his top ratings at numerous appearances at such prestigious events as the annual FMI and IDDBA conventions.

For almost two decades, Harold has worked very closely with small and large businesses to provide a “powerful push in the right direction!” His mission is to provide qualified, executive-level assistance to companies on a “temporary basis,” eliminating the need to add permanent top management overhead. To further assist his clients, Harold authored the book It’s About Time, focusing on time management.