On The Psychology Of Retail Spending

Posted by: : Paul EbelingPosted on: December 4, 2014

On The Psychology Of Retail Spending


On The Psychology Of Retail Spending

A look at retail trickery and the power of light to seduce shoppers’ spending.    

It it that time of year, from Black Friday to the January sales, when consumers indulge in a retail spending frenzy. But not is all that it may seem to be in the world of retail spending.

Leonard Lauder, Chairman of Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL), says that he can tell the state of the economy by sales of Red lipstick. When times are tough, he says, women will buy Red lipstick rather than spending money on something more expensive.

That is the retailer’s problem: how to encourage the consumer to part with money they do not have to buy things that we do not want. That is the Key  premise of the new science of neuromarketing, and how to better understand the factors influencing spending decisions that is below consciousness, aka subliminal registration.

Studies suggest that shoppers in a bookstore linger longer if there is an undetectable smell of Chocolate in the air. Similar studies have been carried out for product lines aimed at both men and women.

Then there is the branch of scientific observation that has a name: environmental psychology.

A New York retail consultancy finds that consumers walk around shops in the same way as they drive a car. If one drives on the right, we tend to keep to the right when walking down sidewalks or supermarket aisles. Conversely, the British and Australians tend to turn left when entering a store.

Putting the axiom into practice means that in a well-designed airport travellers walking to their gates should find fast-food outlets on their left and gift shops on their right.

So, if a traveller is hungry, he or she is happier to cross a lane of pedestrian traffic to buy something to eat. However, they will rarely do that to make an impulse gift purchase.

Most retail psychology focuses on the design of retail space.

Including, but not limited to aisle widths to the use of color, from ambient and artificial lighting to the configuration of product displays. Getting all that right, and bringing the store’s brand to life, has always been the Key to maximising retails sales

By recognising how the science of color influences consumers, retailers are better able to induce feelings of warmth, intimacy or serenity or, by using more vibrant palettes, to excite or stimulate. It is about knowing that shoppers will spend longer on a Red carpet than a Blue one.

People react fundamentally to colors because they help us make sense of our surroundings.

Some 80% of information reaches the human brains through the eyes. That means that people are instinctively more comfortable when colors remind us of something familiar, for example, a soft shade of Blue triggers associations with the sky and a psychological sense of calm.

All of us share similar responses to color, although cultural variations exist.

For example, White is the color of marriage in western societies but is the color of death in China. In Brazil, Purple is the color of death. Yellow is sacred to the Chinese, but signifies sadness in Greece and jealousy in France.

One retail trend that all can understand is the much greater use of ambient light, particularly in shopping centes that were once closed in and claustrophobic.

Studies back up the fact.

Increased natural light equals increased spending, more sales. In an environment of natural light, seemingly connected to the outside world, consumers are  more relaxed and prepared to linger, and lingering means buying things

Bringing in light is Key, creating interior spaces that connect to the world outside, creating a leisure and retail destination that, in turn, helps to transform the enviorment within.

So by letting the outside in, people are encourage people to spend, spend, and spend some more…

Stay tuned…

HeffX-LTN

Paul Ebeling

 

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