What are your shopping carts and baskets good for? The obvious answer, of course, is that these tools make it easier for your customers to pick up more items as they shop, boosting your sales and enhancing the customer experience. But your carts and baskets can do even more for your business. If you shift your perspective, you can see that your shopping vehicles are prime real estate for branding and marketing.

Now, you might wonder why it would be necessary to do this. After all, anyone using your carts and baskets are, presumably, already in your store. They already know a thing or two about your business, and they’re willing to spend their time and money there. Regardless, you want to keep your brand present in your customers’ minds before, during, and after they visit. Using your carts and baskets to boost your branding is a powerful way to make the customer experience cohesive and memorable.

How can a business go about this? Here are 6 ways to customize your shopping baskets and carts for better branding and marketing.

How to Customize Shopping Baskets

1. Print Your Name on Them

A brand is more than a name, but your name is a major part of your brand. Your name is what tethers everything about your business back to a single idea. Plus, printing your name on your carts and baskets helps you, your employees, and your customers identify your company’s property. If a nearby competitor uses similar objects, your name will act as a separating factor. But more importantly, printing your name on your baskets and carts unifies your business, your store, and the customer experience. It’s a way of making a statement, a reminder of where you are and why it matters.

2. Better Yet, Print Your Logo

Logos sometimes contain the company name, but not always (think about Apple or the Nike “swoosh”). For the most part, smaller businesses include their name within their logo for easier brand recognition. Giant, well-known corporations, on the other hand, can get away with relying solely on a symbol. In any case, consider printing your logo on your custom shopping baskets and carts instead of just your name. A good logo often leaves a stronger impression on the customer than just a name is a standard font. But again, include your name, too, if it isn’t already part of your logo. Make sure your customers can clearly see it every time they come in.

3. Color is Crucial

Another major part of branding is color. Some of the biggest brands are identifiable by their color schemes alone. Of course, there are only so many colors on the spectrum, and every one of them has been used by a business at some point, big or small. Don’t let this discourage you, though. If your business has a strong color scheme, use this to your advantage. Customize your carts and baskets to match or at least complement these colors.

For instance, if your company’s logo is mainly royal blue, consider purchasing baskets and carts of that same royal blue color. Or, if your logo contains a main color and an accent color, consider utilizing one or both of these colors for your unique shopping carts and baskets. Just like printing your name and/or logo on these objects, painting them a specific color will make for a more cohesive, aesthetically pleasing experience.

4. Make them Kid-Friendly!

So far, we’ve gone over some of the superficial aspects of branding and marketing. But your brand is also its reputation, or how it’s received by your customer base. So, not only should your carts and baskets look the part – they should act it, too. Think about who your customers are. Many of them probably have children, whom they bring along for the trip. If you want to build brand loyalty, offer accommodations like kid-friendly shopping carts and/or mini shopping baskets that young children can hold onto just for fun, or to fill with little treats their parents might buy for them. All of this contributes to a positive, memorable customer experience.

5. Choose Your Shapes and Sizes

On that note of customer experience, you should also invest in carts and baskets that make sense for your store’s offerings. In other words, you should consider the shapes and sizes of the carts and baskets you provide your customers to optimize their experience. For instance, if your store sells mostly small items, providing only large baskets wouldn’t make a lot of sense, and might serve to irritate your customers. The same would apply vice versa.

6. Think About Placement

Where you place your carts and baskets, and how you display them matters, too. In fact, the corrals and holders for these objects can serve as branding tools themselves. You might print a sign on these locations that contain your logo and/or name, with a message saying “take a basket!” or something along those lines. Your customers will appreciate the friendly communication.

As it turns out, your shopping baskets and carts are good for much more than helping your customers get their shopping done. By investing in unique shopping baskets and carts, you can also increase brand recognition, improve your reputation, and further optimize the shopping experience for your consumers.

Good L Corporation delivers innovative shopping cart and basket solutions for retailers on a global scale. From a fleet of new custom carts to launch your store opening to replacement baskets that supplement your existing shop supply, Good L Corp can configure the right carryall strategy to boost your retail business. Let’s get started! Contact us today for a no-pressure sales quote.