Smart In-Store Strategies Impact Today’s Buying Habits
Marketers believe customers weigh costs and benefits of choices before making purchases. As it turns out, this assumption is wrong. While shopping, we don't think as much as marketers think we think. Recent research indicates that buyers seldom behave rationally, meaning that signage frameworks are not always useful for predicting customer behavior. This means marketers need to rethink how purchase decisions are made to develop better in-store POS and online strategies, to make the connection between mindset and buying behavior.
- Shift Mindsets
Store configuration and other nuances have an effect on the customer’s mindset. It’s estimated that up to 40% of consumers change their minds at the point of purchase because of something they see, learn or do.
Recent studies indicate environmental stimulus has a more impact on shifting shopping goals. You need to provide cues to shoppers whose goal is luxury, fashionable settings, attentive service, classical music and other sophisticated factors are targeted at putting buyers into a spending mindset as they shop. This kind of stimuli helps shift buyers mindsets so the same mindset carries over into additional purchase decisions.
- Build Shopping Momentum Online and Offline
Online mindset is more deliberate, especially when it comes to weighing costs versus benefits. An in-store shopper is much more process oriented -- having made the decision to purchase, her shopping "momentum" picks up. Marketers need to shift the customer's mindset from browser to buyer by increasing the shopping momentum with engaging front-of-store displays that offer "no-brainer" items with complementary products that don’t require debate or deliberation and increase shopping momentum.
With the right signage, these kinds of items can get customers on a shopping roll increasing momentum. Research indicates once buyers have decided to buy their first item, they will buy more items overall.
- Pay Attention to Psychological Distance
We know the buyers path to purchase begins long before the point of purchase. From the first moment customers are exposed to a brand, they are likely to be influenced. New research shows that how "far" a customer is from a purchase determines which kind of message will resonate most.
Distance makes the main message stronger. For example, when sitting at home and flipping through a magazine or watching TV, a customer is distant from a purchase. When buyers are physically closer to a purchase they are more influenced by peripheral marketing claims and added value messaging such as "no-drip haircolor” and "comes in economy size."
The bottom line is for maximum benefit and impact, let television and print ads carry main messaging and highlight peripheral benefits in your online search ads and in-store displays.
Small changes in things like environment or messaging can change buyers’ goals and mindsets and purchasing behavior. Smart marketers are learning to embrace this new model of buyer behavior.
Pedro Vasquez
www.jlvbusiness.com