In times of aggressive marketing, clever merchandisers are inventing more and more tricks to shape consumer behavior. But today’s shoppers don’t like manipulation. They are already tired of the abundance of promotional offers and rarely fall for price tags with ’99. And the good old trick of placing the most necessary goods (usually bread and milk) at the end of the hall is no longer so effective.
Today, there is almost a generation of new consumers who have little trust in marketing promotions and “super-profitable” offers. They go to the supermarket with a list of necessary products and are less likely to give in to impulsive impulses to buy something unnecessary. In addition, consumers begin to react negatively to really aggressive ways of selling goods. Therefore, marketers have to invent new ways to influence consumers.
KOLORO specialists are constantly monitoring new tools in the field of retailing and do not allow the use of outdated technologies. Contact us and we will take care of retail branding of your store using modern positive methods of shaping consumer behavior.
We’ve picked out some interesting tips for positively influencing consumers to cheer them up and encourage them to buy. In doing so, your supermarket will reinforce its reputation as a positive brand in the eyes of consumers.
Be comfortable
One of the factors that influence customer behavior is comfort. If a person is comfortable in a room, they are guaranteed to be in a better mood. In one experiment, it was proven that people who sit in soft chairs are much more compliant than those who sit in a hard chair. Creating a comfortable environment can have a significant impact on buying behavior without you having to spend a lot of extra money.
Making the store convenient can be done through a number of techniques.
1. Strengthen consumer autonomy. Even with plenty of signage, it can sometimes be difficult for consumers to find what they need without the help of a consultant. However, according to the analysis of purchasing behavior, people feel much more satisfied if they were able to find what they need on their own. Make your navigation convenient and understandable for all consumers, add interactive screens at the entrance and around the hall to help them find departments.
2. Place POS materials where consumers can easily spot them and find the brand they are looking for. However, don’t put too big stands – they can block the road during rush hour and children can easily knock them down.
3. provide a packing service. Even a child can neatly stack goods so that nothing breaks, but customers often do not have time for this, so they throw products as they please. As a result, many things lose their marketable appearance, which spoils the mood of the customer and the reputation of the store falls. Packaging of goods guarantees a good mood of your customers.
4. Place related products side by side. This applies not only to beer and chips. For example, it is appropriate to put some eggs next to flour for baking, next to milk – breakfast cereals, and waffle cakes to place next to condensed milk. This will encourage consumers to make new purchases, and it will help you sell the brands you need faster.
Encourage your shoppers to do the right thing…
In many supermarkets, loyalty programs work according to an overly complicated and confusing system. For example, you can pay with bonuses only if you have a certain amount of them on your card or for a specific category of goods. Such tricks, undoubtedly, work well when a person doesn’t keep track of his budget and doesn’t care what happens to his account. However, with a new category of consumers emerging, most of them are suspicious of such gimmicks. Many consumers feel that they are simply being fooled.
Don’t try to catch your customers off guard. Introduce a simple and straightforward discount system in your supermarket . Most people don’t chase substantial savings through loyalty programs, they just want a small bonus as a sign of good relationship with the brand. Treating consumers honestly is the way to gain their trust.
…and love them!
Most consumers are more loyal to companies that care about them. When collecting data for a loyalty program, consumers usually provide their phone number or mailing address and date of birth. Don’t forget to congratulate them with a brief message or letter in the mail. Plus, offer a nice bonus for that person.
Congratulations are best sent on behalf of a company executive or managing manager. Consumers are more trusting of personalized messages than faceless alerts from a company. The consumer’s bonus should match the holiday and not be watered down. For example, by receiving a -30% discount on cake or champagne, the consumer will already have a clear reference point. In this case, on the way home, a person will remember where you can buy a favorable cake for the holiday. And at the same time, he will grab champagne and something else for the festive table.
Goodness is answered with goodness
When you offer something to customers for free, you can count on their kindness in return. This works on a subconscious level, when a person decides that since he got something for free, he should give thanks in some way. This can be used profitably, given that by replying with kindness, a person will again hope for the same good treatment.
By organizing tastings and offering samples to customers, you not only promote brands, but also increase the number of grateful customers who will buy something else from you in return. For example, free sausage tastings increase the purchase rate of not only sausages but also cheese, and hand sanitizer dispensers increase the purchase of other hygiene products.
Another way to make them want to thank you is to provide free services. For example, along with packing your purchases, you can take them to the consumer’s car for free. Once consumers remember how convenient it was to shop at your supermarket, they will definitely come back to you.
And the turn again.
Only 15% of the population is left-handed, with less prevalence in European countries. So more than 90% of your shoppers are right-handed. According to research, right-handed shoppers are more comfortable turning left, i.e. moving counterclockwise through the store, and picking up products on their right.
When designing the corporate identity and store layout, don’t forget to place the entrance to the store on the right. In this way you will ensure ease of movement for your customers. In addition, you can place the most useful and necessary goods on the shelves on the right side of the store, so that consumers will be more willing to take them.
You can order the development of corporate identity for your store at KOLORO. Remember that everything from the logo to the color of price tags is the face of your brand.
Don’t forget to fill the shelves intelligently
There are many recommendations for filling shelves (horizontal, vertical, etc.), but that’s a whole other story. In this case, we will emphasize the fact that it is not necessary to fill the shelves perfectly even and beautiful. A beautiful harmony of products will appeal to the perfectionism of a person and cause internal discomfort: like, and need buckwheat, but if you take this packet, the whole harmony will be broken. In general, people do not tend to take goods among neatly arranged shelves.
Leave some space on the shelves and add a bit of “creative clutter”. First of all, empty shelves will cause people to think that the goods will soon run out and they need to stock up. Secondly, this order is not terrible to break and it will not cause a person any discomfort inside. The main thing is not to overdo the disorder.
Enhance the skills of your employees
Your employees should be distinguished not only by their branded uniforms, but also by their brand ethics. Every employee should know the brand’s mission and be aware of the rules of consumer behavior. This will help you make sure that no employee engages in inappropriate consumer behavior.
Send newcomers to at least a two-week course. They should never learn from their mistakes on the sales floor or at the cash register. Even a few missteps with consumers will lead to your losses and the loss of loyal customers.
Develop a brand book for easy employee training – it contains all the necessary information about the brand and will help your employees understand their role in the company faster.
Be modern
Using modern technology will allow you to get to know your consumers better, learn their preferences and develop a better strategy to meet their needs. Here are the must-have tools for shaping consumer behavior.
- Use the internet as your main tool for communicating with consumers. You can launch your group in social networks, as well as create your website. With the help of these tools, you will be able to inform consumers about your promotions or special offers just for them. Plus, they will be able to ask questions online, which will significantly increase their trust in the brand.
- Don’t forget to make a smartphone app – the number of mobile users is growing every year. Send special offers at the time when people are most likely to enter the store. For example, a few minutes before they leave work.
- Properly process the information you receive about consumers and constantly study them. Many consumers leave detailed data about themselves, the analysis of which will help you set up targeted advertising and create offers that will definitely appeal to a selected category of people. A mobile app will help you know when a person goes online and is interested in your promotions. This will allow you to send offers at a time when they are sure to be noticed.
- Electronic price tags are the ultimate dream for almost any supermarket. With them, you can significantly increase the efficiency of the store. For example, in some stores in Japan, prices change even depending on the number of people and the weather. Bad weather means higher prices, but a large number of people means lower prices.
Influencing customer behavior through the subconscious mind
Do not ignore the possibility of influencing the formation of consumer behavior through their subconscious mind. Fortunately, modern technology and marketing methods allow you to influence people’s sight, hearing and sense of smell at once
1. Lead the consumer through the store with the help of color. Different colors cause different associations, but we will write a separate article about this in detail soon, but now in brief. The human eye is not sensitive to violet and blue, but perceives colors from yellow-green to red perfectly.
Use colors correctly to communicate with consumers. For example, green is the most pleasing to our eyes – even overpriced prices seem more acceptable against this background. Red is associated with energy and movement, so it is used for promotions. The consumer feels the need to buy the product as soon as possible.
2. use music to set the mood. Every store plays music, but at best it’s tunes that the current shift likes, but more often than not it’s just the radio playing. This is all because supermarket owners often underestimate the impact of music on consumers.
If the layout of your store allows for good soundproofing in different departments, use appropriate music. For example, nostalgic tunes from the USSR will boost sales of Red October candies in the confectionery department; sounds of children’s games will encourage impulse purchases, etc. Pleasant music makes the mind more receptive to enticing offers. For example, romantic music on a Saturday morning will put the shopper in the mood to cook a French breakfast (and buy the ingredients needed to do so).
3. The next factor that influences consumer behavior is scents that induce hunger. These include the smell of baked goods, freshly ground coffee and chocolate. It is convenient to realize this if the supermarket has its own production. In this case, it is worth placing a small island with freshly baked bread at the beginning of the hall.
When using artificial flavors, make sure they are hypoallergenic and really match the expected flavor. But don’t forget to place an island inside the supermarket where consumers can have a snack and rest, otherwise they will try to leave the store quickly to eat at home.
How to bring the consumer where you want them to go
There are several other tricks that play on people’s weaknesses. Let us remind you of them.
- Place juicy fruits and vegetables at the entrance. After buying a lot of healthy items, consumers are sure to give themselves a few indulgences near the salty snacks or in the confectionery department.
- By lowering the prices of popular items, you automatically lower the average price of all items in the consumer’s mind. Once he sees that you have the cheapest milk of his favorite brand, he will not pay attention to how much your boxes of chocolates cost.
- Make your carts comfortable, with room for children and personal items. First, it will be good for people. Second, consumers will try to fill at least the entire bottom of the cart, which allows you to increase the average check by 20-30%.
- Use lighting and decorative elements to create an atmosphere in the supermarket. Decorations can be both thematic (Santa Claus on Christmas Eve) and seasonal (wildflowers in summer). In KOLORO company you can order the development of design of sales area and shop windows for any event.
- Make the store safe for children. It’s not uncommon to have large boxes on the bottom shelves that children can easily knock over. In addition, there are obviously many other obstacles for children in the store, which if they fall over, they will hurt themselves.
Sell a lifestyle
This is the very last, but probably also the most important recommendation. The goal of any brand is to become a brand religion. This is only possible if you are selling a lifestyle. Think about who consumers should feel like when they walk into your store. Given that a supermarket has very different consumers, the level of complexity is multiplied. For you, we’ve put together some of the best resources to help you sell lifestyle the right way. Here are some tips:
- Develop a differentiation strategy for your supermarket (we’ve gathered 8 of the best positioning strategies that will work for you);
- Create a brand legend (we’ve collected 7 successful examples here);
- Develop a brand book for the store – your employees should know the brand’s mission;
- Pay attention to fonts – this is one of the factors that influence consumer behavior;
- Analyze your reputation and develop a reputation management strategy;
- Use only modern tools to manage your brand(here you will find free services for marketers);
- retail branding tools can help you on your way to enhancing the role of the supermarket in consumers’ lives.
By contacting KOLORO branding agency, you can be sure that your brand now has a 100% chance of becoming a brand-religion!
