How Retail Store Merchandising Tricks Make You Buy.
The design of a technology retail store contributes absolutely to its success.
There is a real science in the way merchandise is displayed and the way that you are directed around a store to and past that very merchandise, without you even realizing it. A good store is designed around the senses, with technology based products the senses that you will experience will make the use of sight, sound and touch. The sense of smell and taste only really applies to food based items. Although I sometimes really wonder what a plasma TV tastes like :)
When you first enter the store you will enter what is called the transition zone or the dwell zone. It is an immediate area which should fill your senses, your sight with displays and colors, your hearing with the right type and style of music that suits the store perfectly.
You will then follow the retail stores floor plan design. A clear and defined pathway is always evident using generally the lines between vinyl flooring and carpeting so that they can guide you exactly where they want. (You may have never noticed this path before so next time you visit a retail store simply have a look for yourself.)
As you walk around you will soon get to use your sense of touch on all of the product items on display. (This is why it is important to think carefully before you may purchase items which have been on public display. My advice is that if you choose to buy a display item make sure you get a more than good discount.)
It is also very interesting to note:
- It is a proven fact that most people will always head to the right after first entering a store. This is known as the “invariant right.” It happens unconsciously simply because most people are right-handed. And this will always be the place smart retailers will have placed there best bargains to entice you to start to spend. It has been recommended that customers should head left when they enter the store so that they may see the more expensive items in the store first. This way the customer will be less likely to make any impulse buying decisions. (Once you first buy something chances are high that you will also buy something else. This is how retailers make money from people who enter a store with no primary buying purpose in mind.)
- Good retail stores will always have baskets in which you can carry your purchases and these baskets will always be located in the 'Transition Zone' on your right as you enter the store to take advantage of the 'Invariant Right' principle. It is also a fact that customers who pick up a basket will always fill the basket unconsciously. Some groceries stores in the US are putting bigger trolleys in there stores to take advantage of this subliminal fact. The larger the basket the bigger the profit.
- A smart and valuable use of the pathway system is to block access with stock displays. This access block will always contain items which are cheap and will entice you to stop, look and more than likely buy. (Remember once you start buying you will generally always buy more.)
- It is also interesting to note that shoppers tend to think that the end of aisle displays contain items on sale. Generally this is where smart retailers stock there high margin goods, to take advantage of this fact.
- Cross-merchandising A sales technique that is used with really great effect. It is just simply the matching of products that complement each other. And it works everytime.
- Have you ever walked into a retail store which lacks natural lighting and relies solely on air conditioning? Sure all major retailers create these conditions. And these conditions are created for a reason. They want to remove you completely with contact from the outside world and any constraints of time, so you will stay longer and spend more.
And as you walk around the store and encounter just about all of the above points you are certain to become the focus of a salesman. You can read more about this skill area by clicking here: How Salesman Sell
Have you noticed this before.
- Retail sales counters as in supermarkets have all those last minute small items displayed. In technology retail stores you will see batteries, DVD's, cd's, etc all those little items that will tempt you just to spend a little bit more. Most people do. If you don't believe me stand and watch a sales counter and just watch how many people buy that little something extra. It will certainly surprise you.
If you want to find out even more about this very interesting area of Retail Merchandising Tricks then simply use the following article links.
Further Retail Store Merchandising Articles. (From a business perspective.)
