Show Impulse Purchase Items for Groups

Hold special events in your store to encourage people to shop with you by bringing along friends or family. But recognize that whether they come as friends or as family can affect the types of items you’ll want to feature for them.
     When people shop in groups, each shopper’s cart tends to ring up a higher total than if those same people had shopped alone. They are more likely to make what we think of as impulse purchases. A major reason this happens is that consumers in groups become more willing to take on risks, and it is the fear of risks behind much of any resistances to buying.
     There are different types of risk avoidance. When shoppers come as a group of friends, they can test out what friends would think, since a collection of their friends is right there. As soon as one shopper in the group makes a purchase decision, there can be a bandwagon effect, with the rest joining in by buying the same sort of item.
     It might not be the same precise item, though. Research from Sorbonne-Assas in France and University of Adelaide in Australia suggests that when about 80% of the group select the same item, those remaining will aim for something else. So merchandise in preparation for both conformists and variety seekers.
     When shoppers come as a family group, they stay concerned with what the rest will think of them, according to research at University of Texas-Arlington. But at the same time, when all the family members are adults, fears of both financial risk and physical risk fade. There certainly are exceptions to this rule, but the rule seems to be that family groups of adults get more impulsive when considering purchase of expensive items and items requiring physical skills to use.