I have been researching how different types of music can
affect purchasing behavior in retail stores but so far, my research has been
inconclusive. What I have discovered though is that retail audio should be tied
into the brand and perhaps more importantly, the customers. I think that this
is pretty basic approach.
One of the ideas I have been thinking over is that small
stores or departments have the ability to tune their music inline with a much
smaller customer base. Most often is that case that in a bike store, there are
one, two or maybe three customers in the store at any one time. This allows the
audio to be tuned specifically with these people in mind.
But how can you
direct your playlist towards these people?
Often, customers are middle aged, so may have grown up in a
similar period i.e. 1970s. Calling upon audio from when people are growing up
could bring back memories of their first bike. Perhaps a subtle question by the
sales staff about their first bike would piece this jigsaw together and inspire
them to make a purchase decision.
Perhaps more generally, the audio should make people feel
comfortable, familiar, inspire confidence and empowerment. The next step for me
is to compile a playlist to be directed towards these different generations as
I begin to scratch the surface in looking into this fascinating method of
boosting sales.
