Merchandising Bouncy Things

7 things you need to know about merchandising balls

We’re all about things that bounce this summer! We know balls aren’t exactly the easiest of items to merchandise in your redemption area, so we’re here to set the record straight. Here are 7 tips to incorporating balls in your display:

Bouncing baskets

Balls work wonderfully on slat wall piled into our wire baskets. We have three sizes for you to choose from. These baskets are best for smaller-sized balls, like our Tie Dye Puffer Balls, Emoji Balls, or Flame Foam Footballs — to name a few. When using baskets on your wall, be sure all color options are included in the display.

Dump ‘em in

Dump bins work well for balls because of the amount of merchandise they can hold. This prevents staff from having to constantly restock them. They also allow for easy access to guests of all ages, which encourages ticket redeemers to try out their desired ball option before picking the one they want.

Redemption Plus offers a wire dump bin option that can easily be incorporated into any redemption area. We also offer custom dump bins (as seen in the left picture below) through our custom wall/room design programs.

Bouncing off the wall

An eye-catching option for merchandising balls is using wire ball holders, which attach directly to slat wall. This is a good option if you’re needing to break up your visual display a bit. As seen in the right picture below, ball holders can be used as merchandise section dividers. This can be done in vertical or horizontal lines.

Get creative!

Not only are balls fun to bounce and play with, but they also allow for creative merchandising options. Try merchandising balls along with other redemption items, like a wagon. This saves space, while still showing guests all the options they have to redeem their tickets on. In addition, it can provide for motivation to spend more money and keep playing games until they earn a higher ticket prize.

For example, a guest goes to redeem a Tie Dye Puffer Ball, but because they’re merchandised in a wagon he decides to save his tickets until he can earn the wagon. Since the wagon is classified in the Super Saver Redemption Range, this means he will likely visit your business multiple times before earning his wagon — meaning more $$$ in the bank for you.

Aim high

Similar to our ball holders, hanging large balls from the ceiling is another eye-catching way to show off these items to your guests. Being merchandised up high, it’s likely these balls can be seen from the game room. Thus, giving your guests motivation to spend money on playing games to earn prizes.

On display

Balls can also be merchandised on shelves on slat wall or in display cases. When merchandising them this way, keep in mind to put all colors and options on display. A best practice is “one to show, one to go.” Meaning, leave the merchandised item on display and redeem for guests from a back stock. This will make redeeming and merchandising processes quicker. Just be sure to keep your display items always looking clean and free from dust.

Think outside the box… er, sphere

Balls look well displayed in the game room and in crane games. By merchandising them in the game room, you give guests a taste of what they could earn by playing your games.

Balls are also a great motivator to play crane games. According to Pinnacle Entertainment Group, the Knobby Ball crane is one of the highest-performing crane games on the market.

Looking for more?

We know bouncy things aren’t the only tricky items to merchandise. That’s why we created a whole eCourse on merchandising: Merchandising 101. It’s a quick course that can be completed in just a couple hours.

It’s normal to invest roughly 10–20% of a new employee’s pay rate into training them. Merchandising 101 makes training new employees more efficient.

It’s also great for redemption staff members who need a refresher on merchandising.

Here’s a taste of what’s covered: merchandising best practices, how to merchandise by “story,” an introduction to the different types of players and how to manage a profitable crane and merchandising program.

This article is by @Tabatha Bender, Connection Crusader at Redemption Plus.

Insights Empower is a collection of thoughts & insights to inspire, educate and connect the Family Entertainment & Bowling Center industry. From the team at Redemption Plus, est. 2017 🎉

Visit us at RedemptionPlus.com for more ways to #win.

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