Who hasn’t gone to the mall planning to just stroll around and take a quick look at the stores, without buying anything, only to give in to the temptation of the window displays and walk out with several items? Well, you’re not alone! A large share of people have this habit and behave exactly the same way.
Impulse buying is a behavior that consumers need to keep an eye on. For businesses, on the other hand, tapping into this tendency is one of the best sales strategies out there. So why not use it to your advantage to boost your business results?
Adopting effective marketing actions is a great way to stimulate the senses and spark that urge to buy, getting your target audience to consume more of your products. Interested? Keep reading to see how you can study consumer behavior to build an effective plan and make the most of impulse purchases!
What factors trigger impulse purchases?
There are basically two types of impulse purchases. One happens when you decide to buy something you actually wanted, but weren’t planning to buy at that exact moment. In the other, you buy something you didn’t want simply because a salesperson manipulated you by presenting the merchandise as a can’t-miss deal. The latter should be avoided, since it can leave the consumer with negative feelings.
In general, a few factors can act as triggers, such as:
- merchandise priced below average or on clearance;
- the consumer’s emotional issues;
- the salespeople’s own skill at manipulating the customer;
- attractive products — eye-catching packaging, for example;
- the consumer’s desire to own a product simply because someone else bought it and liked it, among others.
How can you boost these purchases in retail?
Today there are more modern strategies that study consumer behavior and, based on that, encourage shoppers to buy more and better. Let’s look at some of them.
Use promotional strategies
Get to know your customer profile well, along with the promotional strategies that work for them. There’s no denying, for example, that consumers are drawn to low prices. They create the feeling of getting a good deal — even if the shopper doesn’t need that product right away. So hold sales in your store often!
Take advantage of inventory turnover to run promotions. On top of that, special dates (like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc.) and the change of seasons (spring/summer, fall/winter) are another great opportunity to invest in this kind of strategy.
Offer products that are easy to grab and carry
Another well-known approach in the marketing world is mapping a store’s hot and cold zones — a strategy that can attract shoppers’ attention and increase turnover of the products you want to move. Here’s what that means:
- hot zones — areas of the store with the highest customer traffic. The most profitable products are usually displayed here, where they’re seen more often and have a better chance of selling;
- cold zones — areas that get fewer customers. They’re usually toward the back of the store and hold less profitable products, which as a result are seen and sold less.
So how can these zones help you drive more impulse purchases? It’s simple: the areas that get the most shoppers should be set up to display the products you want to sell fastest, or the ones that are most profitable. That way, the chances of a customer falling for one of them and buying on impulse are much higher.
Create a sense of urgency
A sense of urgency goes a long way toward boosting promotions. You’ve surely heard something like “Today only sale!”, right? Phrases like this carry the feeling that it’s a can’t-miss event and that you simply can’t pass up this great opportunity.
And that’s exactly what happens: customers end up feeling they need to buy for fear of missing out on the deal and regretting it later. So make the most of it! Create calls to action with compelling phrases that make an impact on your audience’s minds and spark a sense of urgency.
Use mental triggers
Impulse purchases always involve psychological factors. That’s why studying human behavior and mental reactions can give you very useful insights into specific tools and strategies to adopt to prompt customers to act.
Our bodies basically have five senses: touch, smell, sight, hearing and taste. Engaging each of them can be key to increasing sales or engagement with certain products. Here are some examples that help keep customers in the store to better illustrate this strategy:
- hearing — choose background music that matches your persona, at a volume that makes customers feel at ease in your store;
- sight — keep all your products organized and the space open and airy, with proper lighting, and invest in an attractive design. These measures will convey a positive image to the customers who visit;
- taste — if your business involves food, offering free samples is a good idea. If not, leave some candy, coffee and tea near the front desk. That way you’ll offer them a distinctive experience;
- touch — let customers handle the products and have direct contact with the merchandise. If you sell clothing, for example, provide fitting rooms so they can try on the outfits;
- smell — you can invest in scents that reflect the brand image and evoke positive thoughts and memories in customers. Women’s stores, for example, tend to use a sweeter fragrance.
As we’ve seen, impulse purchases play a major role in a company’s sales results and can increase its profits. With this phenomenon in mind, business owners should look to combine business with pleasure and invest in this trend. And now that you’ve read this article, you’re ready to create your own strategies for it!
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