Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy Generator website How businesses can drive impulse purchasing in-store - Emotional Logic Get in touch

How businesses can drive impulse purchasing in-store

As a business, encouraging customers to make an impulse purchase is a tried-and-true way to increase average purchase spend. It is an important chance for you to increase turnover, and according to invespcro.com, 8 out of 10 impulse purchases are made in a brick-and-mortar store.

With the growth of e-commerce, consumers have a 24/7 ease of access to impulse purchasing opportunities. However, this is not shifting impulse purchases. In fact, 79% of impulse purchases are still taking place in physical stores – but the question is, how do you keep them there?

Impulse purchasing is mostly unplanned and happens when a consumer reacts to an external trigger – such as seeing a chocolate bar on the shelf and having to have it. However, this is down to the consumers emotional response, most behaviour lives in the unconscious mind and Psychology Today states that, as humans we are programmed to feel good when we purchase/are given something new. So, don’t worry, impulse purchasing won’t be stopping anytime soon!

How to drive impulse purchasing through Consumer Emotional Response

When consumers going shopping, its highly likely that they will divert from their planned shopping list and be distracted by what is on the railings. Although it can be difficult to get a consumer to search each section of your store, there are a few marketing techniques that can be put in place to help encourage consumer purchasing.

Here are a few tactics that have successfully encouraged impulse purchasing:

  • Place lower-priced items near the checkouts

When your customer is finally ready to make a purchase and they head towards the checkout that usually means they are satisfied with the product in-hand. Therefore, to encourage them to make an impulse purchase, it has to be something that they would see as useful or an offer they couldn’t refuse. Take Primark, for example. You have to walk past an array of different products from Nutri-bars, face cloths to socks before make it to the checkout. These products are usually under £5 and before you know it, you’ve just remembered that you’re hungry. Point-of-purchase impulse buying can help increase sales dramatically.

Products must be reasonably priced; the average customer isn’t going to spend a fortune on a product without second thought.

  • Draw attention

If you have a product on offer, make sure its visible! Customers can’t be influenced by what they can’t see. Baring this in mind, there are a few key things that can be done around your store to grab shopper attention:

  1. Signs: Using signage can help to convey a message to your customers without you having to say anything at all. They are especially useful to grab attention, telling a consumer that its an offer and won’t be on for long can influence their decision. Most shoppers have a fear of missing out – you can use this to your advantage!
  2. Colour: In any situation we apply colour; think about traffic lights. Green means go, amber is telling you to slow down and red tells you to stop. Bold colours can have an effect if the sign is seen and ultimately, help to promote the product.
  3. Lighting: What would a jewellery store be without spotlights? Lighting sets the display apart from the rest of the store – it automatically grabs the attention of the consumer making the product appear to be different than the rest.
  • Guide your customers

Do you know that 90% of people turn right when they first enter a retail store?

Encouraging customers to follow a specific path is a much easier way for your product placement. From creating specific layouts, you can lead traffic through high demand items and encourage more consumers to see the products.

You can determine where consumers will look, where they will linger, and which displays they pass. This makes it much easier to map out the best place for impulse displays.

Using different factors to drive impulse purchasing and understanding how the unconscious mind of your shopper’s work can have major benefits for your business. Get in touch today and see how our Research Solutions can benefit you.

Previous: Next: