What comes to mind when you think of the typical shopping cart? If you’re like most shoppers, you’re mostly concerned with the cart’s functionality and size. Cosmetic features like colors or designs are secondary concerns for most customers. That being said, grocery and retail stores shouldn’t overlook these aesthetic aspects. Even if the average customer doesn’t prioritize carts based on their appearance, the look of your carts leaves a bigger mark on your bottom line than you might realize. These vessels offer prime real estate for advertising your brand, product offerings, or other businesses. 

According to Statista (2019), primary grocery shoppers make about 1.6 trips to the store each week. When you consider just how many shoppers visit your store and how long they spend there during each trip, shopping cart advertisements reach a significant portion of the local population. Knowing this, failing to feature your brand on your carts is a major missed opportunity. Let’s go over what shopping cart advertising frames can do for your brand awareness.

Benefits of Shopping Cart Advertising Frames for Brand Awareness

Set Your Store Apart

Unless you’re located in a tiny region with little competition, you won’t be the only grocery store or retailer in town. Competition in these industries can be fierce, so it’s imperative to find ways to stick out from the crowd. Customizing your plastic shopping carts might not be at the top of your list of things to do, but providing unique carts for your customers can give you a leg up. Generic carts don’t make much of an impression, but colorful carts splashed with your business’ logo make themselves known. Without naming names, most of us know which brands are associated with red carts, orange carts, etc. If these major brands switched out these colorful carts with bland alternatives, they would lose some of their sway – the same applies to cart-plastered ads and logos. Simply including your name and logo on your carts subtly reinforces your brand and reminds every customer where they are. Any effort to stand out like this is worth your while.

Keep Shoppers Invested in the Experience

You don’t just want shoppers to notice your brand – you want them to feel surrounded by it whenever they enter your establishment. This brand cohesion is key for any business that wishes to retain its customers and reputation. Your shopping carts play a significant role in promoting this brand cohesion. As mentioned above, certain colors are associated with certain brands, so incorporating said colors into your cart design can go a long way toward unifying the shopping experience. Plastic cart advertising frames also provide the perfect avenues for showing off your name and logo. While it’s true that just about everyone shopping at your store will already be aware of your name, presenting it over and over again on each and every shopping cart keeps every customer enmeshed in the experience, even if subconsciously.

Reduce Cart Theft

Most of us have seen shopping carts in places they don’t belong. According to The Food Marketing Institute, approximately 2 million carts are stolen or lost each year, costing individual stores thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars annually. Even with strong enforcement, these losses will continue year after year. Still, businesses can do several things to reduce and discourage shopping cart theft. Customizing your carts with unique colors and branding may make a difference in this regard. For one thing, some would-be thieves might be less inclined to snatch one of your carts if it’s clearly attached to your business (as opposed to donned in a generic silver with no identifiers). And even if these shopping cart features aren’t enough to prevent a theft from occurring, they may be enough to result in their safe return later on. Most stolen carts won’t wind up too far from their point of origin, so a small amount of sleuthing can uncover some of these lost assets. And when your carts are clearly identifiable by color, logo, and name, they’re that much easier to retrieve.

Team Up with Local Businesses

Though many businesses use the space provided by their shopping cart advertising frames to promote their own brand, these slots can also be used for sponsorship opportunities. Grocery and retail stores stand to earn additional revenue by allowing other businesses to advertise their goods and services on these shopping vessels. Indeed, businesses would be wise to jump at this promotional opportunity as they’re more affordable than many other marketing methods and reach a large targeted audience every single day. Of course, the viability of this arrangement depends on whether or not the cart’s advertising materials can be easily switched out. Some stores will opt for permanent branding, in which case these opportunities will not be available.

Advertise Your Brand with Brand New Shopping Carts

A shopping cart is more than merely a vessel for hauling products from point A to point B – it is also a mobile advertisement that reinforces your (or someone else’s) brand, reaching countless customers each week. Take advantage of this important functionality by investing in carts with advertising frames built in. At Good L Corp., we offer a wide variety of shopping carts and baskets to suit all types of stores and their unique needs.

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!