Superman. Paw Patrol. Snow White. Elvis. The list of licensed products can go on and on and on. The question is, of course, are you optimizing how licensed products can help your retail business?
The opportunity to introduce licensed products into your store assortment is nearly endless thanks to the vast variety of well-known and customer-favorite characters such as those mentioned above. In fact, it’s possible even you gravitate towards licensed products because you’re a fan of a particular character or two yourself or you care about someone who you know would enjoy them. Keeping this in mind, consider how introducing licensed products into your store assortment can benefit your retail business.
#1. Licensed Products Connect With Customers By Being Familiar
When a customer sees a character that is familiar to them – such as Spider-Man – they relate to the item that character is associated with and thus, are more likely to want to take it home with them. This attraction to products is out of a direct result due to the licensed character on these items. As retailer – whether you have a gift store, are based in a tourist destination area or any other type of merchant – this offers a great opportunity to help move additional inventory.
#2. Licensed Inventory Connects to Customer Emotions
Creating a store with a diverse assortment of inventory is among the best ways to capture customer dollars, but this assortment should not be limited to just categories of inventory but rather the details that make up the inventory. Licensed products are a great example of this since they provide emotional connections to customers. When a consumer sees a product with a licensed character that they can relate to, they are more inclined to want to purchase that product. This connection is due to their emotional connection to that character and thus, provokes them to want to buy it.
#3. Licensed Products Welcome New Ways to Sell Gift, Novelty & Souvenir Items
Statisa estimates that gift, novelty and souvenir sales will reach $17,681 billion in 2019 and for retailers, this should be enough of a reason to identify ways to be a part of this revenue opportunity. Incorporating souvenirs, collectibles, novelty items and gift products that have licensed characters on them can help push sales – and provide more choices for your customers to select from along the way. Whatever category your store falls into, consider how introducing licensed products can help your store increase sell-thru and move additional inventory. To help, IGES offers customizable apparel, souvenirs, novelty items, collectibles and more that can be personalized with licensed characters.
Finally, it’s important to always look for ways to increase store success and often that means welcoming new ways to increase store profit. Introducing licensed products into your inventory assortment is a great example of this and fortunately, you can welcome this easily by attending IGES from November 3-6 in Sevierville, TN. Register for IGES here.
By Nicole Leinbach Reyhle
