Temper Shoppers’ Pressing Need to Buy

When your customers feel they’ve had the time in which to comfortably choose a product, they’ll enjoy the product more. They’ll also enjoy the shopping experience more. The motivation to return to your store soon and often will blossom.
     The other side of this is that you shouldn’t expect customers to express as much enjoyment of products they’ve selected from habit, and they’re less likely to brag about what transpired when they shopped at your store for those choices. To increase the consumer’s enjoyment of those purchases and the accompanying purchase experiences, look for opportunities to make it a choice.
     In many cases, you won’t be able to do this, since the shopper wants to finish as quickly as possible. In other cases, though, you can discuss with the customer the product attributes important to them in that product category and then describe how a few of the items weigh in on those attributes.
     Researchers at University of Chicago and Korea University had consumers make selections in seven product categories—coffee blends, novels, music CDs, video games, magazines, DVD titles, and calendar designs. Some of the study participants were asked to choose from each category the one item which best expressed their tastes. The other study participants were asked to choose for each category one alternative to satisfy a need to have an item in that category. As each participant went through the succession of choices, they were periodically asked to report how tired or energized they felt and how interested they were in the product they selected.
     The researchers found that as participants went through the series of seven choices, the “express your tastes” ones reported becoming more energized, while those in the “satisfy a need” group reported becoming more tired. In addition, the people in the first group reported higher interest in choices than did those in the second group.
     These results are what you might expect as an experienced retailer, but one of the implications might have missed your attention: By decreasing a shopper’s driving need to buy a product in a certain category, you’ll increase interest in the product. Sure, people are more likely to buy an umbrella when it’s raining. But they’ll enjoy the umbrella and the shopping trip more if they believe they don’t have to buy the umbrella immediately and can take the time to choose an umbrella which fits their tastes.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

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Discuss Attributes to Guide Choices 
Sell Benefits to Fit Shoppers' Values