Aside from locking customers in your store (it’s called ‘kidnapping’!), there are numerous retail psychology techniques you can use to keep your customers browsing and (hopefully) purchasing, for longer. A glorious new refit courtesy of a respected company such as TU Projects will definitely help but so can the following tips. Read on to hold on to your customers for longer.
Gender
Controversy aside, a recent article in The Journal of Retailing (“Are Men Seduced by Red?”) highlighted a study which showed that women are far more likely than males to process retail information. Essentially (according to the study) females are less likely to be ‘tricked’ by the common use of red to denote a sale or marked down price in a retail setting. Your business may benefit from identifying which gender is more likely to frequent your store and tailoring your marketing accordingly.
Salespeople
Another study in the same Journal identified that salespeople who are able to ‘read’ the mood of potential customers assisted with customer retention – and the study advises that not all customers want a super happy, smiling salesperson either! If your sales clerks are able to correctly identify a customer’s mood and then act accordingly, there’s a greater chance of the customer staying in the store longer and making a purchase. Employing salespeople with strong emotional intelligence is highly recommended.
Store layout
There’s a reason why the milk is always at the back of the supermarket – it forces customers to pass through numerous aisles, thereby increasing the possibility of impulse purchases. It is, perhaps, a dirty trick but ‘all’s fair in retail’ as the saying goes. Other strategies include aisle order, line-of-sight and point of sale displays which also influence consumer decisions. Don’t make your store’s layout too confusing though, as this may put potential customers off.
Colour
The use of colour and its influence on consumers has been well documented. Red and yellow allegedly make you hungry while purple is supposed to encourage spending. If your business specialises in romantic or feminine products then pink will be your main choice of colour. Black is often used to symbolise luxury while blue suggests reliability and security. Spend some time researching the use of colour in the retail environment and reflect on your area of business – perhaps you need to redecorate accordingly?
Emotional Blackmail
Well, emotional tracking actually. More and more businesses are utilising ‘emotional tracking’ to identify consumers’ emotions from facial recognition data. In essence, a computer program is used to assess the faces (and corresponding emotional state) of customers. This data is then converted into actionable information for the retailer. If you have a display and your customers are expressing confusion or frustration, the software will advise that something needs to be done with the display to convert the negative emotions into positive ones, thus keeping customers in store for longer.
Kidnapping aside, how do you keep customers in store for longer? Leave your tips below!
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