When people shop together in groups of friends or as a group of family members, the total of their purchases tends to be greater than when they shop as individuals. At the same time, their memory for what you tell them as a salesperson tends to be inferior. They forget what they are told more than do shoppers you address as individuals.
Repeat the information more often when selling to a group. You don't want to offend your shoppers, though, and repeating the same information word-for-word could offend—or at least bore—any shoppers in the group who did understand you the first time and remember what you said. To lessen the chances of offending, look at the different members of the group as you repeat the information. Catch the eye of each of those who appear to you to have not understood.
With some product information, you can repeat the message in different ways. Tell the group of shoppers verbally. Then show them written material that repeats the information. Next, demonstrate your points by showing the shoppers what you mean. And check for understanding by asking the shoppers their opinions about what you've said. Multi-channel teaching always helps improve learning. Because of the tendency of group shoppers to forget, it's especially valuable there.
There are purchase situations where the forgetting can turn out to be useful. Researchers from Indiana University found that when members of the group are presented brand information, it disrupts memory for the brand's competitors in that product category. The effect is strongest when the group is collaborating in making the purchase decision. If you've decided that a particular brand would best serve both the needs of the shopper and the profit potential for the retailer, repeat information about that brand, but not about the competitors.
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