How to Increase Profits on Small Purchases

Small purchases don’t provide a lot of margin when it comes to profits. However, it’s still possible to build a successful business from these types of purchases.

Examples of companies that rely on small purchases include convenience stores, bars, cafes and restaurants. Beyond raising prices, here are a few strategies that these types of companies use to make small purchases more profitable.

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Introduce a minimum spend limit

You’re not going to make much profit from selling someone a $2 bottle of water or $1 packet of screws. In fact, when you subtract merchant fees, you may not make any profit at all. Introducing a minimum spend limit encourages customers to spend a certain amount so that you are able to make a real profit from each purchase. Many online stores have a $10 minimum spend limit, while some convenience stores have a $5 spend limit. If you own a physical store, it may be possible to still accept purchases below this spend limit - but only in cash, so that you’re having to pay merchant fees.

Choose the right credit card processing company

Speaking of merchant fees, these can vary depending on the credit card processing company that you choose. If merchant fees are too high, you could find that you don’t make a profit whenever a customer pays by credit card. Take you time to compare different credit card processing services and their fees - some companies charge a flat fee, while others charge a percentage fee.

Upsell small extras

Upselling can encourage customers to spend more per purchase. Examples include asking a customer if they’d like a drink or side with their meal, or recommending purchase of batteries with a battery-operated toy. Even if this only increases your profits by a dollar or two, it’s an extra dollar you wouldn’t have received had you not upsold. Make sure to apply gentle pressure when upselling, as aggressive upselling may put off customers from returning.

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Buy supplies in bulk

Buying supplies in bulk typically gives you access to bulk discounts. This allows you to make more profit per item when reselling them. Some suppliers will have set bulk discounts, while others are open to negotiation. Of course, if these items have an expiry date, you need to be sure that you can sell all of them before they expire - so be careful as to how big you go with your order just to get a discount.

Promote your most profitable items

Some items are likely to have bigger profit margins than others. For example, restaurants tend to make the majority of their profit on beverages like wine and soda. Heavily promoting these items can encourage you to make larger returns. Avoid promoting products with slim profit margins too much, unless they’re the type of product that you can sell in large volumes to make up for this.

Conclusion

Increasing profits on small purchases typically involves using a variety of methods from setting a minimum spend limit or strategically promoting items with a high profit margin. Make sure that you’re implementing these strategies if most of your customers only make small purchases.