Boutique shops come in all shapes, sizes, and specialties, but they’re all in the business of selling premium products to local customers. Like any other type of store, boutiques must do their best to incentivize foot traffic and purchases — marketing may be the biggest part of this equation, but it’s not the only piece of the puzzle. Simply making your shop more accessible and convenient can go a long way toward increasing sales. In this way, even the shopping baskets you offer your customers as they browse your offerings can make a major difference. And yet, much like boutiques themselves, shopping baskets come in many varieties. With limited space, you can only supply so many baskets to your shoppers. So, what kind of baskets are best for boutique stores? Before we can provide a clear answer, you must make a number of considerations pertaining to your particular shop.

What to Know About Shopping Carts for Boutiques

Your Average Flow of Foot Traffic

Your shop’s activity should play a role in determining both the number and type(s) of baskets you install in your boutique. For most boutiques, foot traffic tends to spike on weekends, especially those in busy areas. Having enough baskets to accommodate your various customers is important for upholding your reputation and boosting sales. However, not all customers will bother picking up a basket, especially if they’re mainly in the mood to browse. Knowing this, you might not need to offer so many baskets at your store’s entrance. After all, your store only has so much space, and the more baskets you have, the less space there is to walk around and display products. Large baskets naturally take up more space, too, so you must factor this in as well. As a result, many boutiques will opt for a conservative number of standard-sized baskets to cover all their bases.

The Size of Items You Sell

The primary purpose of a shopping basket is to allow a customer to comfortably hold several items. If your boutique mostly sells larger products, then you’ll want to offer your shoppers larger baskets. Conversely, a store that sells smaller things should prioritize smaller baskets, as larger baskets won’t be necessary and will simply take up undue space. Since boutiques often sell goods that vary widely in size and shape, however, choosing one basket size that “fits all” can be a challenge. If space and budget allow, it might be best to invest in more than one basket size to suit everyone’s needs.

The Importance of Aesthetic

Many boutique shops take presentation seriously. Customers enjoy stepping into a carefully curated and thoughtfully designed shop that has its own identity. The baskets you include in your shop can coordinate or conflict with your store’s established image. Bland or out-of-place baskets can harm the customer experience and actually lead to a decrease in sales. Therefore, customization is key. If you’ve got a clear understanding of your boutique’s aesthetic, you’ll want to match it by purchasing custom shopping baskets that suit your brand’s color and feature its logo. In doing so, you’ll offer your shoppers a unique, cohesive experience from start to finish, encouraging them to pick up more stuff and come back in the future.

Material Matters

What your baskets are made of also contributes to their appearance, not to mention their durability. Most baskets are either built from plastic, metal, or some combination of the two. Wire baskets are sturdy and often light, but they’re susceptible to rust, dents, and other forms of damage. Moreover, metal baskets may not gel with your boutique’s brand image. Plastic shopping baskets can be even more durable than metal options when constructed from high-quality plastics — they can also get beaten up over time, but you won’t have to worry about oxidation or severe bending/denting with plastic baskets. Your main concern here will be with scratches, missing pieces, and fading color. Plastic baskets are also more easily customizable than their wire counterparts. While there are advantages to both types of baskets, boutiques may be better off leaning toward plastic vessels.

Keeping a Pulse on Impulse Purchases

Many stores stand to benefit greatly from impulse purchases, those last-minute decisions made by indecisive and/or pleased customers. Boutique shops are no exception. While baskets of all sizes aid in the increase of impulse sales, mini shopping baskets tend to reign supreme here. These diminutive baskets are perfect for boutiques that not only specialize in smaller objects (i.e., jewelry, pins, buttons, knobs, etc.) but also wish to give shoppers an extra push to pick up some additional items before checking out.

The Best Baskets for Boutiques

So, what kind of baskets are right for boutiques? By now, it should be clear that there is no clear answer to this question. Rather, the baskets you select for your boutique should be optimized for your store’s size, activity, products, aesthetic, and particular needs/goals. Fortunately, you can select from a wide range of customizable shopping baskets from Good L Corp. No matter the size, shape, color, material, or type of basket you’re looking for, we’ll make sure you get the baskets that are perfect for your boutique store.

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