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In our April column, we wrote about the impact shoppers with coupons have on your sales. Customers with coupons save on various items, but the average ring at the register will be higher to the extent that customers arrive at the store fully-loaded — with coupons.

May is now here and, in honor of the month, MAY you keep your customers in the store longer and happier by turning your store into a more interesting shopping experience. This column deals directly with fun and easy ways to keep your customers shopping, smiling and spending (happily). After reading this column, we hope you decide to make excitement salient so that your store will be more like a shopping experience than a buying chore. After all, people tolerate buying. People love to shop.

Customers often want to walk in, buy what they need, and move on to their next activity. So, how can you encourage them to relax and stay a while? You need to stimulate senses strategically and create a shopping experience.

Start by stimulating a sense of belonging by having a greeter in what Harold often refers to as the “presto area” — the first three steps into your store where you really make an impression on your customer. The greeter need not be right at the door (although this is certainly nice). Use the cashier closest to the door or some other individual who can make eye contact and act genuinely interested that a guest has just entered your place of business.

Stimulate the sense of the hunt by having an unadvertised special hit customers between the eyes as they first visually address the store. A large container of mouth-watering strawberries that looks as much like artwork as it does fresh fruit for $2 as opposed to the usual $4?! Your customers will find themselves saying, “I have found a real value in the presto area of the store, and I just arrived. What other bargains might be behind Door 2 or Door 3?”

Also, try stimulating a sense of uniqueness by having, for example, imported pasta still in its cardboard carton with “Italy” stamped on the side. In addition, add tables with tablecloths and some imported pasta sauces merchandised in lined wicker baskets. Also, try a non-food tie-in such as a colander in which to drain the imported pasta as you encourage customers to voyage to Italy that evening with their meal preparation. Waking up the senses creates the mood to buy (especially if people are hungry, and many people shop while hungry).

Throughout the store, play some soothing music lightly over the store’s speakers. If the customer taps her foot or hums the tune, then you have created the relaxed state of mind necessary to help people think less about time and more about ways various foods can create comfort and positive moods. This state of mind leads to a consumer who is more apt to shop your store thoroughly.

As the consumer walks into any department, encourage your associates to inquire as to whether the shopper wants to sample an item. It is easier to buy a fresh, tasty and juicy cantaloupe, for example, if it is sliced and offered with a pretzel stick than if it is merely smelled and squeezed. Readers of our January 2007 column already know the effect of interacting with customers on sales (customers who have one interaction with an employee, not including the cashier, spend 23 percent more in the store). A future column will present our supermarket shopper traffic research findings on the effect of sampling on spending. A significant percentage of customers who sample an item, buy it.

In addition, recent interviews with food shoppers reveal that recessed lighting that is close to the food is preferred to create a soothing retreat-like atmosphere. Many food shoppers want to shop for food in a place that feels like a retreat from the rush and demands society places on them. If you have hardwood floors, lighter and darker zones create a mood of tranquility, and then excitement when the product is illuminated.

Increasing the amount of time spent shopping your store, via innovative merchandising, is an effective way to increase sales. Measure the before-and-after effects of these merchandising techniques to assess whether they are associated with longer periods of time spent shopping your store. Our research indicates that every minute a customer spends in your store is a dollar in your register drawer.

Our shopper traffic research will unveil some quick and manageable tactics that could have a profound impact on your customer’s satisfaction, loyalty and on your top line. For more information on how to purchase our traffic research or on how I can cater our traffic research to meet your specific needs, please e-mail me at Kenneth.Herbst@mason.wm.edu. Alternatively, feel free to visit my Web page at www.mason.wm.edu/Kenneth.Herbst. I can also be reached via phone at 757-345-1205. I look forward to speaking with you about the research in order to prepare a traffic study designed for your specific needs.
Dr. Kenneth C. Herbst is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in The Mason School of Business at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Dr. Herbst has a Masters and Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, he earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University. He has been interviewed about his food research and industry expertise by, among others, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Ottawa Citizen, the Montreal Gazette, the San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and Woman’s Day.

Harold Lloyd was the President and CEO of a 14-unit retail organization for 10 years. His practical, exciting ideas and dynamic presentation style have combined to earn him a highly regarded reputation reflected in his top ratings at numerous appearances at such prestigious events as the Food Marketing Institute convention and the IDDBA convention.

For almost two decades, Harold has worked very closely with small and large businesses to provide a “powerful push in the right direction!” His mission is to provide qualified, executive-level assistance to companies on a “temporary basis,” eliminating the need to add permanent top management overhead. To further assist his clients, Harold authored the book It’s About Time, focusing on time management.