Stores

Certain conditions in stores make it more likely that we’ll make purchases and enjoy doing so.  Research also indicates that most of the conditions that boost sales in physical stores also do so online, with the obvious changes required when experiences become electronic.

Restaurants are retail settings where we eat and we’ll probe their design in a future issue.  We discussed how design can support healthy eating here.

There are two primary sorts of shoppers, those who are shopping for fun and those that have to zip into a store, make a purchase and leave quickly.  This second group are known in the research biz as utility shoppers.  There are clear differences in the optimal design of stores based on their probable shopper goals (and some stores need to balance different likely sorts of shopping on different days of the week or times of day or in different parts of the same building). Utility shoppers want straight aisles with prominent signage that help them find what they’re looking for fast and leave.  Pleasure shoppers want to wander and explore, they love curving aisles and are not as interested much in signage or predictability of layout.  In general, it’s best to create more relaxing experiences for utilitarian shoppers, via colours, etc., as discussed here and more energizing ones for people shopping for pleasure, via music, for example, as reviewed here.  Utilitarian shoppers prefer to be in more spacious environments, and research makes it clear (as discussed here) how colour, etc., can be used to create an area that seems spacious.

• In stores and elsewhere we walk towards warm colours, so surface colours can be used to encourage people to visit different areas in a store. When we’re around more relaxing colours we are likely to spend more time browsing through goods, so these shades are often used in areas for more considered, non-impulse sales. More energizing shades are best for areas displaying impulse purchase goods and people are unlikely to purchase anything whose features they need to ponder (a non-impulse item) in a space featuring energizing colours, etc. We also think that time is passing more quickly when we’re looking at cooler colours, so they’re good choices for areas where people will stand in line to make purchases.
• We also travel toward more brightly lit displays and are more apt to touch items when they are well lit; after we touch something, the odds that we will purchase it increase dramatically (more on this later).
• Sales are higher in stores with more natural light, which is one of the reasons that so many stores have large windows and skylights. Another reason: daylight is free.
• When we can see ourselves in a mirror, we’re more likely to make a purchase decision for emotional reasons, and that can work better in some circumstances and for some products than others.
• With more sophisticated products, more symmetrical logos, product arrangements are best and will encourage sales, while products that are more exciting will sell better when design elements, etc., they’re linked to are asymmetrical.
• Carefully managing visual complexity is particularly important in stores, where the drive to add just one more thing, one more display, can be strong. We are most likely to find stores attractive when they have moderate visual complexity (described in more detail in this article).  LINK Things look larger in front of less complex backgrounds and smaller in front of more complex ones, which people selecting wall treatments for dressing rooms in clothing stores are likely to know.  We’re more apt to follow the rules society proscribes (ones that relate to ethics, for example) in more orderly, cleaner stores, so it’s important to retailers that their stores look tidy.
• There’s a reason that you can’t seem to move through some parts of stores without touching the merchandise (for example, the area with the wonderfully soft sweaters has display tables flowing into the walkways: after you touch something you are much more likely to purchase it, and be willing to pay a higher price while you’re at it (as long as what you touch feels “good”).
• As noted earlier, we’re also less likely to not drive as hard a bargain when negotiating when we’re sitting on even a slight cushion, compared to when we’re sitting on an un-cushioned surface, which is another situation that can be a plus or a minus (at least for our pocketbooks) in a retail situation.
• When we’ve had to think about how stable we feel, for example, if we’ve just walked over a cobblestone type surface wearing shoes with heals, we’re more likely to purchase a product in the middle of a continuum (think: price) than at the high or low end.
• Many stores have developed signature scents to encourage purchases, using the research on our psychological responses to particular smells discussed in this article.  As we smell a pleasant scent, we think we’ve spent less time in an area than we actually have, which can encourage browsing through products.  When scents are so strong that shoppers notice them, however, the whole effort to scent-for-sales falls apart as we hate to feel like we’re being manipulated as we consider different options. Also, to be useful scents introduced need to blend with the merchandise being sold—adding the smell of pine trees in a couture clothing store is not a good idea.  The smell of foods we find delicious (for example, chocolate chip cookies) can spur us to an impulse purchase, of a smaller sooner reward (as opposed to postponing purchase and getting a larger later one), even if we do not buy, eat or see that cookie.  When we smell warm scents (for example cinnamon), we’re more likely to purchase premium products and when we sniff cooler ones (for instance eucalyptus), we’re less likely to do so.
• When there are plants in shopping areas, we’re apt to be more friendly. When plants are present in a space where a service is provided, say, one where we get a haircut, we believe that service quality has been higher than when plants are not present.
• When we feel more relaxed, we put higher monetary valuations on potential purchases, we inflate their values and are willing to pay more for them. Design can make it more likely we’ll feel more relaxed. So, it’s no wonder that as you shop you often encounter soothing music, calming colours, etc.