Assembly Line Selling in Public Locations

Yesterday I flew out of LaGuardia and they have a new system in which you shop at any food establishment and then you check out at a one central area. This is a new addition to the airport and they are continuing to grow. There will be several more restaurants and one central location to pay. This grab and pay system is extremely efficient and the line moves very quickly. If you want a cheeseburger from one restaurant and potato chips from another you can mix and match everything and pay in one location. This actually increases sales for all those that participate. In the past, I would grab something to eat at one and my wife would grab something at another one and we would meet at the table afterwards. Now we can purchase water, snacks along with magazines and anything else we need for our trip. This will increase sales for all the restaurants and kiosks there. Before the central pay station we would buy the bare necessities and move quickly to the gate. This also allowed us to venture around and try new products. Both of us had different types of drinks when we sat down together. I chose a new type of ice tea and my wife grabbed a new type of water. They were both new products and the different designs is what made us grab them. Changing your packaging allows consumers to view your product in a different light and peaks curiosity. I made my purchase because of the honey pictures alone. If you can perhaps alter your graphics slightly, you can increase your sales. This type of business assembly line works for all the merchants. In the past, owners would capture profits by forcing customers to purchase their drinks and chips. Now owners give customers the option to only purchase one thing in their area and move into the next area and then check out. This idea will take a little bit to catch on, but once owners become open to sharing customers, the will sell more and see the potential. It's a difficult concept to swallow, sharing customers that is, but all parties will eventually benefit from it. Now, one of the most important things will come down to how you design your point of purchases, and how to attract customers to your products when they are among many. If your package does not have a distinctive label or something that will attract the eye, you will get lost in a sea of new products. Your label will now need to "stand out" on the shelf. This was only the case in cereal and soda, and now has travel to Chap Stick and baby food as well. Every single product is challenged by new competition now. Gone are the days where products can have supermarket domination. New products enter every day with money to back them and compete right next to items that we have seen for generations. Get used to this new assembly line type of selling. We will all being seeing much more of it in the very near future.