What do customers expect from your store? Neuromarketing explains it to you
Neuromarketing, a discipline born in the 2000s that studies what consumers feel and how they decide, can help retailers to attract the attention of their customers in a new way, better understand their behavior and their unexpressed needs and therefore, increase sales.
In this article we will talk about how to make the customer satisfied with his purchase and the mental mechanisms that influence their decisions while shopping in your store.
In previous blogs I have talked a lot about neuromarketing applied to packaging, eye tracking and small data.
Let’s see in detail what are the stages of the shopping journey (customer’s journey in the product’s purchase ).
And what is the role that the outer and inner spaces of your store play according to neuromarketing.
The entry phase
The first eye contact (exterior, window, entrance, interior space) is a crucial phase as it is the moment when your customer evaluates and judges in a few moments what he is observing.
With regard to the shop window, for example, in recent years, it has become increasingly fashionable to expose live the activity of the shop (for example, bakers who prepare bread in order to capture the attention of passers-by).
But there are other good neuromarketing techniques to adopt.
The entrance phase is important because it communicates the identity and atmosphere of the shop.
And the customer will perceive them mainly through the senses, capturing the colors, shapes, sizes and lighting.
The entrance shall be set up as a “decompression space“.
This is because the client has to give the brain time to analyze the new situation that appears in front of him once entered inside.
Remember: the products in the compression area sell less than those displayed in the other areas of the store.
The shop exploration
Once the customer has passed the entrance, he usually heads to the right, continuing to serpentine.
This “path” must therefore convey right geometric patterns, exhibition density, verticality, interruptions, adiacences, symmetries etc. to induce the purchase.
Place signboards and signs in precise locations and essential products on the corners.
The scent, the music in the background, but also the mirrors and mannequins are also elements that transmit emotions to the brain and that activate the senses of the clientele.
Seller-customer interaction to learn the perceptive features and "sell more"
Have you ever wondered if the approach with your client or a new potential one is right?
Are you really sure you know the best dynamics for optimal seller-client interaction?
It’s not just about smiling or giving perfect product advice.
According to a recent study, a bakery that donates a candy to its customers at the shop entrance increases sales by up to 45%.
Other studies have shown that human interaction sets in motion the so-called mirror neurons, important in social interactions of any kind .
The mirror neurons..."I want it too"
Mirror neurons are cells discovered in the brain by scientist Giacomo Rizzolatti in the 1990s.
It’s because of them that we instinctively raise our arms if our team wins, or if we’re sorry if someone tells us bad news.
These neurons guide human reactions and are the basis of imitation behavior.
Therefore, they are able to influence consumer purchases in a decisive way and contribute to the emergence of new trends. Mirror neurons, which act together with dopamine, arouse the desire to possess something that belongs to someone else.
That’s why a shopkeeper must be able to create a powerful image and identity of his product and get in tune with the customer to orient towards himself the desires of consumers.
The payment phase, compensation for the loss of money
When we get to payment, the same neuronal mechanisms of pain are activated.
The subsequent delivery of the bag with inside the product just purchased must take place through a ritual gesture, as this step must reward the loss of money.
How? The methods are varied. For example, you can store the product in a luxury package.
The client will perceive the act as a reward.
In addition, the payment is the moment that the customer remembers most of a certain purchase experience.
Another technique that teaches us neuromarketing, besides not making the customer wait too long in line, is to accompany him to the door and shake his hand (obviously this can be done in the post Covid period).
With this gesture the customer will “become attached” and will not feel abandoned to himself.
We have therefore seen how, in an era of great commercial change, both in terms of pandemic and digitization, shopkeepers are being called upon to learn new neuromarketing skills to foster a successful business, and as a result, to become real suppliers of experiences and entertainers.
If you want to learn more about this topic, email me at m.baldocchi@on-web.it and follow me on instagram and facebook.
Stay tuned, we will soon be discussing many other topics of neuromarketing for your business.