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Now listen carefully and answer Questions 31 to 40.
An understanding of customer psychology is an invaluable aid for retailers looking for ways to increase sales. Much can be done to the store environment to encourage shoppers to linger longer and spend more money. The first aspect to consider is the physical organisation of the store. Placement of merchandise has a great deal of influence on what customers buy. For example, a common practice among retailers is to place the store’s best-selling merchandise near the back of the store. In order to get to these popular items from the front entrance, customers have to walk down aisles filled with merchandise that they might not see otherwise.
Carpets are also used to direct customers through particular areas of the store. Retailers choose carpets not only for their decorative or comfort value, but also because lines or other types of patterns in the carpets can subtly guide shoppers in certain directions. Besides encouraging shoppers to go to certain areas of the store, retailers also want to keep them in the store longer. One way to do this is to provide comfortable seating throughout the store, but not too close to the doors. This gives customers a chance to rest and then continue shopping.
Retailers can do a number of things to create a pleasant atmosphere in the store, thereby encouraging more purchases. Music is commonly used, not as entertainment, but as a calming influence. It can slow the customers’ pace through the store, making them spend more time shopping and, consequentially, making more purchases. Scents are also used in various ways.
Everyone has had the experience of being drawn into a bakery by the smell of fresh bread. Experiments have been done with other types of scents, as well. For example, the scent of vanilla has been used to increase sales in clothing stores.
Questions 36-40
Use of colour is another important aspect of store environment. Certain colours can affect behaviour as well as mood. Light purple, for example, has been found to have an interesting effect on customer behaviour. People shopping in an environment where light purple is the predominating colour seem to spend money more than shoppers in other environments. Orange is a colour that’s often used in fast-food restaurants. It encourages customers to leave faster, making room for the next group of diners. Blue, on the other hand, is a calming colour. It gives customers a sense of security, so it’s a good colour for any business to use. In addition to using colour to create mood and affect customer behaviour, colour can also be used to attract certain kinds of customers to a business. Stores that cater to a younger clientele should use bold, bright colours, which tend to be attractive to younger people. Stores that are interested in attracting an older clientele will have more success with soft, subtle colours, as older people find these colours more appealing.