How to Grow Halloween Sales, Part I: Meet the Gift Giver

For the final post of this series, we examine “The Gift Givers,” the third and final group of Halloween shoppers who may be left in the lurch with the anticipated shortage of Halloween candy. Even if Halloween isn’t normally a big holiday for your business, consider how to capture sales by seizing the opportunity to meeting the unique needs of Halloween shoppers. Missed the first two posts? Click the following links to read about Shopper #1: “The Trick-or-Treat Treater” and Shopper #2: “The Party Shopper.”

The Gift Giver

Like many retail confectioners, this shopper is likely very familiar to you. If you cater to the Gift Giver for other holidays, you already know ways to appeal to this shopper. Just like you would for Christmas and Easter, for example, consider your customers’ needs for ready-to-gift options that play to this specific holiday. This may include pre-wrapped gift boxes, Halloween-themed containers or even the addition of a clever gift tag or Halloween card. 

Capitalize on local as your competitive advantage. Shoppers may be able to order unique Halloween gifts from anywhere online with the click of a button. By shopping local, gift givers (even last-minute ones) can get thoughtful gifts immediately from your local retail shop. They don’t have to worry about shipping delays or fees if they buy Halloween gifts from your store.

How to Reach The Gift Giver

Even the spookiest or frightfully cute Halloween gifts won’t go anywhere if consumers don’t know about them. With recent news from Hershey’s announcing they will not be able to fully meet consumer demand for Halloween candy already capturing media attention, consider appealing to your local media as the sweet fix for Halloween gifts in your community.

Submitting a press release to your local media is a great way to create awareness of both your products and your brand, as well as how your business can serve their audience. Lucky for you, your business likely checks a lot of the boxes that media professionals look for in a news-worthy story.

Leverage the visual appeal of your products (more specifically for television media) by making photos and videos of your Halloween offerings easily accessible. If emailing a press release, include a direct link to Halloween-related product photos on your website or a social media post instead of including photo attachments. Large attachments could bog down the recipient’s email inbox or could be avoided altogether if you are not already a trusted source.

People like “home grown” news more than news from far-reachin communities or regions. Make sure to communicate if your products are made locally by artisans/candy makers/chocolatiers in your community. A well-written press release can offer more return than even some paid advertisements. For tips on writing newsworthy press releases, click the following link to view RCI’s blog post: 5 Mistakes You Could Be Making When Writing a Press Release.

When opportunity knocks this Halloween, whether in the form of “Trick or Treat Treaters,” “Party Shoppers” or “Gift Givers,” we hope this series helps your business capture new sales and establish new relationships with consumers that continue to benefit your business long after the holiday.

Here’s wishing you a spooky sweet Halloween!

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How to Grow Halloween Sales, Part 2: Meet The Party Shopper

As part two of a three-week series, we continue to take a look at three Halloween shoppers who may be left in the lurch with the anticipated shortage of Halloween candy and how your business can capture sales by seizing the opportunity to meeting their unique needs. Missed last week? Click here to read it first.

The Party Shopper

Halloween parties are making a steady comeback as COVID-19 restrictions in many communities continue to diminish. This means hosts and guests of potluck parties will be looking to social media for fun and creative treats to WOW party goers!

To capture the attention of The Party Shopper, identify your products that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Visual appeal | Products with unique shapes and bright colors will appeal to shoppers looking to shock and delight! For Halloween, products can be cute and colorful or even “bloody” and downright disturbing. Think of how to transform a round chocolate piece into a bloodshot eyeball or chocolate-covered pretzel sticks into severed fingers. For more ideas, click the following link to view our blog post: 5 Tricks to Transform Your Existing Treats for Halloween.

• Creative flavors | Strange and unusual flavor applications can be a big draw for consumers—these may be a twist on a seasonal flavor like chocolate pumpkin pie or something as outrageous as a chocolate-covered onion (yep, that’s a thing)! Click here to read more about the RCI member whose chocolate-covered onion attracts customers from all over.

•  Interactive | There is something magical that happens when you offer people an experience with your products. Whether you give customers a hammer and invite them to bash a beautiful chocolate pumpkin or pour warm milk over a hot cocoa bomb, interactive treats continue to draw people in. Interactive products could also include take-home chocolate kits—consider a Halloween-themed gingerbread house made entirely of chocolate and candy. Reimagine ways to weave the interactive element into your product lineup and invite customers to incorporate it into their party plans.

How to Reach The Party Shopper

The Party Shopper is all about the experience! As mentioned in last week’s post, reaching out to existing customers who may not think of your store as a destination for Halloween candy is a great place to start! Capture party planners early and last-minute shoppers in October by sending out themed email blasts to your customer list letting them know of your Halloween selections.

Take advantage of visual media to communicate your Halloween offerings. If your business is not on Instagram or TikTok, now might be a good time to test one or more of these social media outlets. Try utilizing video to demonstrate your interactive products or how show how your products are made.

Next week, we will introduce Halloween Shopper #3: The Gift Giver. Stay tuned for tips and inspiration for how to target this Halloween shopper!

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

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How to Grow Halloween Sales, Part I: Meet the Trick-or-Treat Treater

With Halloween around the corner, now is a good time to consider ways to capture new customers.

Although this particular holiday is largely dominated by candy mega-brands, consumers’ seemingly insatiable craving for candy will cause unmet demand this Halloween. In recent news, Hershey’s announced they will not be able to fully meet consumer demand due to capacity constraints. For retail confectioners, this may present an opportunity to take on a bigger slice of the proverbial pie…pumpkin pie, that is!

Even if Halloween isn’t normally a big holiday for your business, consider how your business can serve consumers in ways competitors can’t. This season, that may be as simple as having candy in stock. But before you crank production into overtime, identify what products will appeal to Halloween shoppers and how you can get those items in front of interested buyers.

For the coming weeks, we’re identifying three Halloween shoppers who may be left in the lurch with the impending candy shortage and how your business can capture sales by seizing the opportunity to meeting their unique needs.

Halloween Shopper #1: The Trick-or-Treat Treater

Candy for trick-or-treaters represents a HUGE opportunity. Identify the products you sell that are individually wrapped and/or bite-sized and can be purchased in bulk.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but don’t think all Halloween candy must be confined to bite-sizes. There are always the houses known throughout their neighborhoods for handing out full-sized candy bars…if you do one thing this Halloween, think of ways to appeal to and reach those shoppers!

If you do not make products that apply to this niche, think of wholesalers who do. Click here to view RCI’s online Buyer’s Guide for a list of reliable wholesale supplier members (RCI members: Don’t forget to login to access direct contact information).

How to Reach Trick-or-Treat Treaters

Reaching out to existing customers who may not think of your store as a destination for Halloween candy is a great place to start! Capture party planners early and last-minute shoppers in October by sending out themed email blasts to your customer list letting them know of your Halloween selections.

If you don’t have a customer email list (start collecting emails now, so you have one for Christmas), consider reaching existing customers with in-store signage, themed retail displays and social media posts. To reach new potential customers, consider placing ads through social media or partner with a local grocery retailer who may be looking to fill a need for Halloween candy.

Keep in mind, most trick-or-treat shoppers have very specific needs that need to be met—products that are individually wrapped, for individual consumption, available in bulk and all for competitive prices. By no means are we suggesting you lower your prices or work around the clock to crank out individually wrapped treats. If it doesn’t make good business sense to serve these consumers—move on! Your products may be a better fit for the next Halloween shopper…

Next week: We will introduce Halloween Shopper #2, The Party Shopper. Stay tuned for tips and inspiration for how to target this Halloween shopper!

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

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5 Confections Made Better with Sea Salt

Just when you think rich and buttery caramel couldn’t get any better, a dash of sea salt can take it to the next level. Marked as a hot flavor trend in 2008, this sweet and salty power couple continues to prove its staying power.

Chocolate-covered sea salt caramels are a customer-favorite for many RCI members. If you’re looking for new avenues to apply the magic of sea salt, keep reading for five confections that are even better with sea salt.

Credit: Bruce’s Candy Kitchen

Caramel Apples
Elevate your caramel apples with a drizzle of chocolate and a sprinkle of sea salt. Not only does this application stimulate the taste buds, the addition of delicate sea salt crystals levels up the sophistication.

Credit: Bixby & Co.

Toffee
It just makes sense to pair buttery and nutty confections with a dash of high-quality sea salt. It’s no surprise toffee and sea salt are a winning combination.

Credit: Popped!

Caramel Popcorn
If you make caramel popcorn, a sprinkle of coarse sea salt crystals, like fleur de sel, can instantly elevate your product and add another variety to your product lineup. Invite customers to sample the new combo, touting “if you love our caramel popcorn, wait until you try it with sea salt!”

Salt Water Taffy
Aside from the flavor, coarse sea salt can add a welcome crunchy element to smooth and creamy confections like taffy. If you pull your own taffy, consider adding sea salt crystals towards the end of the production process so not to lose the texture of the sea salt.

Credit: Belmont Peanuts

Lemon Confections
Think twice before limiting lemon and sea salt to savory seafood dishes. This flavor combination is popular in Asian confections and can be seen in various applications in North America. If you’re looking for a more unexpected application, consider ways to incorporate sea salt with your lemon-flavored confections—such as a touch of sea salt to chocolate-covered lemon creams. Alternatively, we love this idea of lemon sea salt peanuts from Belmont Peanuts. Described as “a flavor match made in peanut paradise,” this pairing is worth a try!

Sea salt can instantly add value to confections, along with an undeniable punch of flavor and satisfying crunch. When adding a twist to any product, even if just a dash of salt, we highly recommend offering samples in-store and heavily promoting the new product (with photos, of course) on your website and social media outlets. Staging your salty, new products atop a generous mound of coarse sea salt crystals (think pink with pink Himalayan Sea salt, if you use it in your application) can both be visually appealing and reinforce the message even if the consumer doesn’t read the description.

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

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5 Brittle Blunders Resolved

Brittle is a great summer treat, because it can stand up to warm summer temps all while satisfying the need for sweet, salty and whole lot of crunch!

This week we’re sharing 5 quick tips from RCI members who are known for their brittles, among their other delightful treats, Joy Lyn’s Candies of Paradise, California. Keep reading as we troubleshoot common problems faced when making brittle and how to resolve them.

1. Crystallization can be caused by an incomplete wash-down of the kettle, mixing blade and other utensils used while making brittle. This means not all sugars have dissolved which will create a grainy texture.
2. Sticky brittle could be the result of undercooking the batch, creating higher than desired moisture content.
3. Alternatively, cooking brittle at too high of a temperature can lead to a scorched or bitter flavor.
4. Butter your table top before pouring the batch to prevent it from sticking to the table.
5. Brittle that is too hard and thick can happen if you use a fan to cool your mixture, allowing it to set too quickly. Avoid the use of a fan to cool mixture and work quickly to thin and spread brittle.
   

Joy Lyn's Glenn Hartley works quickly to create crisp, buttery peanut brittle.

Game Changing Tools for Working with Brittle 
Sometimes even perfect formulations can only get you so far, here’s a couple of Joy Lyn’s favorite tools for crafting drool-worthy brittles with consistency.

As seen in the series of photos above, Glenn Hartley uses Tucker BurnGuard safety gloves and a heavy-duty scraper fashioned from the lid of a food-grade bucket.

Finding the right heat-resistant gloves will not only protect your skin from burns, they allow you to spread hot brittle thinly and quickly. Joy Lyn’s wears high-temperature Tucker BurnGuard^® safety gloves over white cotton gloves to lessen the heat.

Sometimes a standard scraper is just not enough for confections, like brittle, that require a high-level of heat. Joy Lyn’s repurposes the lid of a food-grade corn syrup bucket to fashion their own heavy-duty scrapers, perfect for scraping the kettle and spread the hot brittle mixture after it’s poured. With the use of a bandsaw, they cut the bucket’s lid in half to achieve the desired shape. The result is a scraper that is thicker, larger and can better withstand high heat.

Hopefully these tips will not only help you to identify and correct problem areas with brittle, but also achieve thinner, flavorful brittle with just the right amount of crunch!

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

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5 Fresh, New Ways to Feature Strawberry

For many, vibrant, sweet and juicy strawberries are a welcome sign that summer is here!

Roll out the red carpet, welcoming summer’s official berry (we think…) with five fresh, new ways to feature strawberry in your summer product lineup.

Photo credit: California Strawberries

Strawberry Peanut Butter Cups
Put a fresh spin on the classic peanut butter cup with the addition of freshly slice strawberries. Click here for a recipe from California Strawberries.

Photo credit: California Strawberries

Matcha-Covered Strawberries
Perhaps an unexpected twist on chocolate-covered strawberries, the addition of matcha powder to the white chocolate is sure to pique customer interest.

Photo credit: Bridgewater Chocolate

Chocolate Strawberry Pearls
With the slight crunch of dried strawberry in the center of layers of white chocolate and strawberry-flavored chocolate, these delicate pearls made by Bridgewater Chocolate are an elegant way to showcase strawberries.

Photo credit: Taste of Home

Strawberry Pretzel Bark
Here’s a new take on the summertime classic, strawberry pretzel dessert. With its natural berry notes, ruby chocolate is a natural fit for pairing with strawberries.

Photo credit: Milk Bar

Strawberry Shortcake Truffles
Combining all the creamy, salty, buttery, fruity, unforgettably tasty flavors of strawberry shortcake in a single bite, Milk Bar’s strawberry shortcake cake truffles are made with strawberry-studded vanilla cake, soaked in strawberry milk and rolled in strawberry shortcake crumbs. Milk Bar’s founder and television personality, Christina Tosi, shares her recipe here.

With strawberries popping up in farmers markets across the country, now is the time to take advantage of your local harvest. Even if you don’t follow some of these recipes exactly, use them as inspiration to create a recipe that is totally unique to your brand!

Here’s wishing you a sweet, strawberry kind of summer!

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

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Retail Therapy: How to Create Merchandising Speed Bumps

In this five-week series, retail strategists and instructors at RCI’s Merchandising Boot Camp, Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, of KIZER & BENDER, share important areas of your retail space that can either set your business up for sales success or failure. As the last part of this series, we’re sharing how slowing shoppers down can increase sales.

In a previous post, we learned about the “decompression zone,” which is the space within a five-foot radius of the entrance. Just beyond this space, front and center on your sales floor, is where you should position your “speed bump” displays. Speed bumps are used to slow customers down and refocus them on shopping. These displays can also be used to set the stage for what shoppers can expect to see while browsing the rest of the store.

Use a single, small table or cluster a few together for a bigger impact. Add product from different departments to create fun-to-shop, “I have to have that!” displays. Change your speed bumps once a week, whether they need it or not. Remember, this display is a BIG part of your store’s ambiance.

Overall, it is important to keep your sales floor fresh. Get a blank calendar and preplan your merchandising moves. Check your 10-second impression daily, again, change your speed bumps at least once a week, tweak your lake-front property frequently and change your window displays on a monthly basis. Refresh your entire sales floor at least once every quarter, making changes to customer flow as necessary. And have fun!

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

Retail Therapy: Leverage This Store Layout to Capture More Sales

In this five-week series, retail strategists and instructors at RCI’s Merchandising Boot Camp, Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, of KIZER & BENDER, share important areas of your retail space that can either set your business up for sales success or failure. This week we’re covering another variation to the store layout which Kizer and Bender like to refer to as “Lake Front Property.” Learn if this approach applies to your store layout and what to display in this space to capture more sales.

Ninety percent of people enter a store and look or turn to the right. This space is prime real estate, otherwise known to as “Lake Front Property.” Too many retailers use this area as just another space to house merchandise, or worse, it’s where you find the checkout counter (ideally, the checkout belongs in the center or on the left side of the store, at the natural end of the shopping experience). If the front right does not work for your sales floor just reverse the flow, making the left side your lake front property.

Use your lake front property to feature new items; tell product stories and display high-demand, high-profit items. Kizer and Bender recommend changing this display frequently to keep your sales floor fresh.

Stay tuned for more retail therapy next week to learn about a sales tactic known as a “speed bump” and how it can set the tone of your whole store.

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

Retail Therapy: Maximize your Free-Flow Layout

In this five-week series, retail strategists and instructors at RCI’s Merchandising Boot Camp, Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, of KIZER & BENDER, share important areas of your retail space that can either set your business up for sales success or failure. This week we’re covering an important consideration for maximizing the free-flow store layout.

Once shoppers are on your sales floor, where they go is up to you. If you are like most independent retailers, you probably utilize a free-flow layout, because it offers you unlimited opportunities to highlight merchandise and create display vignettes.

A free-flow layout has no set aisles so shoppers roam the sales floor freely, guided by how you plan the fixtures. When arranging fixtures, avoid straight lines when you can. Instead angle your fixtures so shoppers are unconsciously directed through the store. The more they see, the more opportunity they have to buy.

Stay tuned for more retail therapy next week, when we’ll share KIZER & BENDER’s tips for maximizing a “lake front property” store layout.

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

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Retail Therapy: Clear the Decompression Zone

 

In this five-week series, retail strategists and instructors at RCI’s Merchandising Boot Camp, Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, of KIZER & BENDER, share important areas of your retail space that can either set your business up for sales success or failure.

Just inside your front door is a space called the decompression zone; an area customers breeze right through without stopping. You can expect they will miss everything you place in this zone of the store.

You may wonder why no one is reading that big sign just inside the door—it’s because people are not focused on shopping yet. In fact, they are unlikely to notice anything until they are at least five-feet inside the door. Anything in the decompression zone is essentially invisible, including shopping baskets.

The placement of your shopping baskets alone, may be costing you sales. There is a direct correlation between the percentage of shoppers using a basket/cart and the size of the average transaction. Want customers to spend more money? Make sure your shopping basket is at least five-feet away from the entrance.

Stay tuned for more retail therapy next week, when we’ll share KIZER & BENDER’s tips for maximizing a free-flow store layout.

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

Retail Therapy: 10 Seconds to Sell

Shopping today is all about experience. People can buy what you sell in any number of places, so a visit to your retail store has to entice them to make a purchase once they arrive. This requires constant reinvention, so shoppers are thrilled each time they visit. In the next five weeks, retail strategists and instructors at RCI’s Merchandising Boot Camp, Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, of KIZER & BENDER, share five important areas of your retail space that can either set your business up for sales success or failure.

Upon entering, shoppers make a value judgement about your store in 10 seconds or less. In those 10 seconds they are unconsciously determining whether it’s a good place to be. What does your store say to shoppers in the first 10 seconds? Is the sales floor interesting? Do your displays invite shoppers to touch the product? Stand inside your front door and take an objective look. Like the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

By taking a few seconds to observe your store from the lens of a new shopper, you just might identify quick fixes to make your space more inviting to shoppers. Although this week’s tip is intended for a physical store, it could also be applied to your website. In today’s retail environment, it’s important you put just as much effort into your website.

Stay tuned for more retail therapy next week, when we’ll address the decompression zone. For more information about KIZER & BENDER, contact them at info@kizerandbender.com or 630-513-8020.

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.