Sensory marketing helps attract customers to the store. Scents and music make sales increase by up to 30 percent.

During the holiday season there is a growing interest in sensory marketing services. Shops want to build an atmosphere, because appropriately selected colors, pleasant smells and music will attract customers and make them stay longer, as a result they will spend more. Two-thirds of the decisions made by consumers take place at a retail or service outlet. Proper application of sensory marketing makes sales increase by more than 30 percent.

- Sensory marketing consists in influencing the customers' senses and the environment in order to obtain the desired effect, evoke specific emotions so as to achieve higher sales levels, tie the customer to the place and identify with the brand. Client should want to come back to us and stay longer in a given location - explains in the interview with Newseria Biznes agency Aleksandra Potrykus-Wincza, country manager in Mood Poland and Baltics.

During holidays sensory marketing enjoys even greater interest. Especially that the right atmosphere translates into sales results. Research carried out by Mood in cooperation with ESOP shows that more than half of shoppers declare that they want to stay longer in a store whose atmosphere suits them.

- The Christmas period is a time when we can influence customers' senses in a double way. They are then sensitive to novelties, they look around for promotions. We have a lot of room for manoeuvre here, because people expect a festive atmosphere. It is introduced by means of specific music, scents, visualizations, thus creating a homely and festive atmosphere, which customers cannot resist - emphasizes Potrykus-Wincza.

Uncontrolled consumer decisions account for nearly 70% of all purchases. It is in the store that the customer makes 2/3 of all decisions. The percentage of impulsive purchases reaches 67% in supermarkets and petrol stations, in shopping centres it is 39%.

Manufacturers (70%) and retailers (85%) also believe that shopper marketing provides a significant return on investment.

- According to our research, sales increase by around 33 percent. Fluctuations range from 10 to 33 or even 40 percent, depending on the season and what is currently happening in the market. It is known that we cannot exclude external factors, but it is definitely a two-digit figure - Potrykus-Wincza estimates.

Already in the eighties, studies conducted by an American psychologist Ronald E. Millman confirmed that music increases or decreases turnover in points of sale. This is also confirmed by Mood Media research - calm songs contribute to a 38% increase in sales. However, as the expert emphasises, although music translates into higher sales, the use of appropriate fragrances can have a much better effect - e.g. cinnamon, clove and gingerbread during the holiday season.

- The latest research shows that the smell appeals to such deep layers of human memory that the consumer, recalling certain moments from the childhood only thanks to the smell, is able to relax more or to get more compressed, depending, of course, on the effect we expect - Potrykus-Wincza points out. - However, it is worth combining all elements because only comprehensive sensory marketing actions give the desired effects.

She argues that shops should invest in internal radio, i.e. a set of properly selected songs, a music track, which creates a certain whole. It should correspond with the brand and the consumer who visits the store. In the UK, 80% of leading retail organisations already use music management systems to enhance the in-store experience.

- Radio should not provide negative market information that could be unpleasant for the customer or cause them to abandon their purchase. In-store radio allows us to control what we want to communicate to the customer. We can play our own jingles, information or commercials, thus informing the consumer about promotions or what he might have missed while walking around the shop or service point - says Aleksandra Potrykus-Wincza.

Source: biznes.newseria.pl