Sell More Hookah Accessories During Each Purchase with This Simple Technique

Welcome back! We are going to look at ways to increase your sales of hookah accessories and hookahs with every purchase, and then leverage those sales to continue selling more and more product down the road. We speak with hookah retailers across the country every day, and the stores that are selling the most accessories and the bigger ticket items have been utilizing this strategy. 

Displaying Enhanced Hookah Floor Models

Let's start with a mental exercise.  Close your eyes.  Imagine walking into a car dealership showroom. You approach the main car on display in the middle of the showroom floor. It looks amazing, whether it's the car for you or not you appreciate it's beauty and presentation.  Now, are there "extras" on that car or is it plain Jane, factory specs? What kind of accessories are on this vehicle...Tinted windows? rear spoiler? upgraded alloy wheels? What else did you visualize?  Why is that?

The dealer knows that showing the car with all the upgrades may not be the right car for everyone, but most people will opt to purchase a few of the upgrades based on what they saw and liked. I look back fondly at my days selling new and used cars, because I realized that whether we are selling Hondas or hookahs, the same principles apply. So let's follow the lead of an industry that's been around over 100 years, and duplicate the successes they have had. 

Now let's apply this to our hookah displays. When displaying hookahs on the shelf, have you tried adding a few extras to really make these hookahs stand out? Some common accessory upgrades to work with are hookah diffusers, premium silicone hoses, velvet hose covers, phunnel or vortex bowls, hookah HMD devices like the Kaloud Lotus, and wind covers. It's one thing to have a pile of extra bowls and rack of loose hoses on the shelf, but the customer cannot easily visualize how these upgrades will look on their hookah. The power of seeing a hookah with a premium Firefly Bowl and Kaloud Lotus on top is 10X as powerful as having the same items loosely displayed on the shelf separated from the hookahs.

More Hookah Accessory Demos and Recommendations

The added benefit of displaying these accessories on hookah is the ability to do demonstrations and explain how they work. Your average customer doesn't know all the possible ways to get thicker smoke, longer lasting sessions and better flavors, so when you show them how these accessories work and why they want or need them, the customers' wallets open that much wider. 

For example, the customer asked what that metal top piece is on top of the hookah. You start telling them how the Kaloud Lotus distributes the heat more evenly, so they will get a better tasting and longer lasting session. The Lotus will trap the heat and extend the life of the charcoals, which will save the customer money over time, and the cloud output will be larger without scorching the bowl and ruining the flavors that they are spending their money on. They don't have to mess with hookah foil or punching holes, and it just looks great too! The Kaloud Lotus just went from an expensive gadget they didn't know anything about to necessary piece of equipment they need to buy to get the most out of their hookah investment.

Package Deal Pricing and Closing the Sale

Another benefit to selling extra accessories is the added profit margins you rake in with purchase.  Hookah accessories tend to have a higher mark up and better margins, so each dollar you collect has more weight when you get to the bottom line. This also gives you some wiggle room to price hookahs with the upgraded accessories as package deals. Add up the retail prices of each upgrade and hookah, then put a "package deal" discount price on the complete bundle.  You should still come out way ahead with a healthy profit, bigger ticket price and a happier customer who can't wait to get home with their premium rig.

So the customer wants the hookah but doesn't want to pay for the accessories, huh? The game isn't over. Keep the conversation going as you dismantle the hookah and remove the upgrades piece by piece. Subconsciously, we don't like to see the really nice hookah getting downgraded to the base model.  This is the perfect time to ask a few final questions. "Are you sure you don't want the washable Ripper silicone hose?" or "Do you want me to remove the diffuser too?" Just a few casual closes to for a last minute impulse buy will add a few extra bucks to your register almost every time!

Let us know if you have any strategies for selling hookah accessories and upgrades in your store. We would love to hear your tips and tricks and spread the knowledge to hookah retailers everywhere.