Impede Hangovers from Impulse Buying

We’d like people to feel good afterwards about purchases they’ve made from us, including those purchases completed on impulse. Customers also prefer to avoid regrets. There are three effective ways in which they accomplish this, according to studies at Coventry University. By facilitating our shoppers use of these tactics, we avoid headaches for the shoppers and for ourselves hanging over afterwards from impulse purchases.

• The shopper considers the item a justified indulgence. Facilitate this by telling the customer post-purchase why the item selection was wise and by delivering general praise to build a sense of deservedness. 
• The shopper returns the item. Maintain liberal return and exchange policies. 
• The shopper buries memories of the purchase. In general, it’s wise to ask regular customers what they thought about specific prior purchases we recall them having made. But if the shopper indicates in words, posture, or gestures that they don’t want to remember, stop asking. 

     A customer’s emotional reactions might change significantly in the minutes, hours, and days after an impulse purchase. The immediate reaction is often a sense of joy about the new acquisition. Later there can be doubt that the purchase decision was wise or shame that self-control was abandoned. This is more likely when product performance disappoints or the item has laid unused for a long time. The three tactics are set off by the doubt and shame so can occur well after the purchase itself.
     Changes over briefer time spans apply to how shoppers make impulse purchases. People on a tight budget who make an unplanned purchase immediately become less likely to make another unplanned purchase. That finding in studies at University of Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh, and Market Rise Consulting isn’t at all surprising. But the researchers hung in there and did find something retailers might not expect: After a while, the resistance fades. The tight-budget shopper who made an impulse purchase earlier becomes more likely to make another one than does the tight-budget shopper who hadn’t already made an impulse purchase.
     In the spirit of those researchers, you should hang in there, too. Encourage shoppers to make an unplanned purchase early in their store visit, create a store experience which tempts shoppers to stay for a while, and then, later, encourage another unplanned purchase.
     To encourage impulse sales, stimulate quick thinking. Bright colors. Animation. Uniform sizes and prices. Easy access to the items. Short waits.

Successfully influence the most prosperous & most loyal consumer age group. For the specific strategies & tactics you need, click here.

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Have Post-Sale Product Literature
Return to Reconsider Your Return Policy
Ask for Item Opinions Post-Purchase
Hang In There for Impulse Buying on Budget
Stimulate Quick Thinking for Impulse Sales