In an article published in the mid-1990's, a pair of researchers at Texas Tech University reported that shoppers became more likely to handle the bottles in a wine store when the brightness of the interior lighting was increased. Three subsequent events aroused interest in that finding among retailers who want to use consumer psychology research to build their profits:
First, other researchers have been finding that when customers handle a product, they're more likely to buy it. Retailers might think things work like this because products such as clothing and linens feel so good that once we get our hands on them, we don't want to let them go. But do wine bottles feel so good to the touch? Well, yes, if getting the right bottle into our hands builds our associations with the sensual pleasures of drinking the wine. If brighter lights cause customers to handle the product—all sorts of products—we've another promising tactic to build sales.
For many retailers, a second event was recognition that the age of their customer base is increasing, and older shoppers feel welcomed by brighter lighting.
The third event was the arrival of the first outrageous invoice from the power company. If we're going to jack up the wattage of the lighting system, at least some of the profits from added sales could be consumed by the utility bills.
The answer is to use accent lighting. You don't need to up the wattage of the whole place. In fact, accent lighting will work best to direct attention to particular areas and items if you pull back on the overall brightness of the store lighting. You could actually lower your costs.
What steps will you be taking in your store today to start discovering which accent lighting configurations boost sales for you?
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