Cycle Through Advantages of Touching

Earlier this week, I had the joy of conducting a “Retail Profitability Tactics” seminar for a group of retailers in my own hometown of Vacaville, California. The session was sponsored by the Solano College Small Business Development Center with a Wells Fargo Foundation matching funds grant.
     As I often do in the “Retail Profitability Tactics” sessions, I talked about the power in making a sale of having the shopper feel the merchandise. One of our seminar participants, Ann Blum of MotoXotica, added an example: When she wheels a motorcycle out of the store and invites the cautious-looking shopper to actually sit on the cycle, a gleam bursts out of the shopper’s eyes and a smile unfolds onto their face.
     Years ago, researchers at University of California-Los Angeles and University of Wisconsin-Madison found that having an undecided customer hold a product makes the customer much more likely to complete the purchase. Not only that, but the customer becomes willing to pay a higher price for the product.
     Why is that? Three reasons:

• Touching the product gives the customer a sense of ownership. They can more easily imagine the benefits of using the item. Once in touch, there may be no way they’ll want to let go. 
• Touching gives the shopper a sense of mastery from evaluating the product. Consumers poke the melons or rub the sweater, then put the item back and do the same to another, gathering information to make a choice. 
• Touching gives pleasure in itself, and people experiencing pleasure are more likely to make purchases. It works even when they’re touching people instead of merchandise. Researchers at Tel Aviv University assessed the results of a retail employee touching customers in settings that included a supermarket, a restaurant, and a bookstore. They reported that a brief touch on the arm of a customer led to the customer feeling more positive about the retailer. 

     A problem with you encouraging shoppers to hug the merchandise is that onlookers may have little interest in that particular item when they’re thinking about who else has touched it. They feel disgusted at the idea the product could have been contaminated by other shoppers.
     With clothing, frequently refold, repackage, and re-shelve in order to remove cues of product contamination.
     Or you could carry a rag. Ann joked that she uses one on the cycles the shoppers have sat on. To wipe away the drool.

Click below for more: 
Reach Out for What Will Touch Your Shoppers 
Head Off Concerns About Touching Products 
Help Shoppers Use Their Imagination