Check Back for Complementary Add-Ons

An ad in the California Milk Processor Board’s highly successful “Got Milk?” campaign featured the protagonist eating a chocolate chip cookie and then afterwards yearning for some milk to go with it. Studies at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Italy’s Bocconi University verify that the delay built into the sequence makes sense: Our yearning for a complementary item grows after consumption of the partner item. Our thirst for milk is greater after eating the chocolate chip cookie than if the milk has been sitting there from the start.
     Is this only because the cookie is dry and sticky? No, the study results indicate. It’s because we associate the two items in our minds. Cookies go with milk, pizza goes with cola, crackers go with cheese. The partnering is to specific items. That this is true was shown in the studies when participants were asked to imagine consuming one of the items rather than actually consuming it. The imagining was enough to whet targeted appetite for a partner item. Other evidence was that, in this multinational study, the effect was found only for items considered to be partners in that consumer’s culture.
     So let’s use our own imagination to see ways to make use of these study findings. Imagine that a restaurant patron has ordered an item, but not the partner item. It could work well for the server to check back after the patron has started to consume the ordered item and suggest adding the partner item. The whetting effect would have increased interest in the second item.
     This works for a restaurant, where checking back with the diners is common. What about in a food truck, where the customer disappears after the order is delivered? In this situation, mobilize the customer’s imagination by suggesting a partner item at the time of order, using the format, “As you think about chomping down that pizza you just ordered, do you imagine you’ll want some cola to go with it?”
     The general principle of checking back for a partner item after a delay also applies to nonfood retailing. When there are optional add-ons to an item intended for imminent use, begin with the basic model and then build by suggesting the options, asking the shopper to think about the outcomes of using the purchase. And check in with customers after purchases to propose ways to enhance usage pleasure.

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

Click below for more: 
Give Just a Taste of the Product to Sweeten
Fancy How to Sell More Features
Counterbalance Embarrassing Purchases

Cut Out Trying Item Tryouts

Prune away for your shoppers any conditions which try their good will when they’re getting sample experiences with items they’re considering for purchase. Researchers at Iowa State University showed that doing this improves intentions for shopping with you during the present store visit and in anticipated future store visits.
     The particular issue those researchers explored was the frustrating experiences of older women while trying on clothes in dressing rooms. But the researchers’ suggestion applies more broadly to anyone with a physical challenge, such as the handicapped, to make it more likely they’ll persevere when shopping with you. Easing the sampling also improves satisfaction for every other visitor to your store.
     The methods assessed by the researchers constituted adherence to the Universal Design principles developed in a collaboration among interior designers, architects, product designers, and engineers. Here’s my version of highlights from that manifesto, some of which are also found in ADA Update: A Primer for Small Business:

• Ease access. Position tryout areas in convenient locations. 
• Ensure that shoppers feel free of vulnerability, such as by adequately protecting their privacy. Have adequate lighting. Point out places for shoppers to safely put aside packages and belongings so they can turn their attention to the prospective purchases. Some retailers use an ottoman and mirror arrangement for easy visibility. 
• Provide choices in how the shopper can accomplish tasks, such as by having illumination dimmers within easy reach for people with a limited range of motion. 
• Present important information in pictorial, verbal, and tactile formats. 
• Allow space for companion help, service animals, and assistive devices like walkers. Keep the dressing room uncluttered. Make it easy for the shopper to have staff do any re-shelving. Perhaps place a “Not for me” container by the dressing room exit. 

     Parallel guidelines apply when the items being tried out are not just being tried on. Researchers at SUNY-Buffalo and Indiana University verify our common sense notion that people master novel products best when given the opportunity to experiment with the product repeatedly. The measures of mastery included attraction to the product, a willingness to pay a premium price for it, and an ability to use the product’s capabilities in a variety of situations. By allowing the shopper to try out the product, you’re more likely to make the sale and have a happy purchaser. That’s best done for all shoppers in circumstances where they feel safe.

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

Click below for more: 
Dress Up Those Dressing Rooms
Ease Social Risk by Accommodating Shyness
Store Goodwill with Seniors
Accommodate Disabled Shoppers’ Psychology
Unpack Product Learning

Commit to Ads that Guide the Committed

You might sometimes be tempted to say to shoppers something like, “The choice I’m recommending is the only alternative which makes sense for you.” What keeps you from actually saying this could very well be concern that the shopper’s freedom of control would be threated and they’d push back. 
     The pushback is called “reactance.” Classic consumer behavior research finds that if you tell a shopper what to do, they’ll move away from your persuasion. If you put a whole bunch of sales pressure on a customer, they’ll rebel, becoming determined not to do what you’re trying to convince them to do. They start debating each idea you present and physically distance themselves from you.
     Yet there are instances in which directive language can rope in a sale instead of whipping the shopper away. It probably works better in an ad than in face-to-face selling. An ad maintains greater psychological distance from the consumer than does face-to-face interaction so the person would feel less trapped. Your shopper might tolerate more bossiness.
     Still, researchers at University of Central Florida, University of Alberta, and Duke University recommend caution when using highly assertive ad language with an audience committed to patronizing your store. For these consumers, the assertive language leads them to fear shame if they don’t comply, so even though they’ll feel pressured to go along with your recommendations, they’ll develop resentments toward you.
     Aim away from shaming your committed customers. Guilt’s okay, though. What’s the difference? With guilt, the people acknowledge they’ve done something wrong or failed to do something right. With shame, the added element is that the people believe others will hold them responsible.
     So how to explain the success of the “Just Do It” tag line for Nike, when so many consumers are committed to the brand? Researchers at MIT, Georgetown University and Ben-Gurion University find that highly directive language works best with items which bring happiness. The happiness might come from immediate sensual pleasure. The salesperson for the day spa says, “You belong on our massage table.” The candy shop advertises, “You must try our chocolates.” Or the happiness might come from an anticipated sense of accomplishment. Running the marathon in Nike shoes qualifies “Just Do It” under this prong.
     Unless what you want to sell your committed customers is clearly hedonic, be cautious using highly assertive language in ads and in face-to-face interactions. Guide instead of shaming.

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

Click below for more: 
Tell Shoppers to Be Happier
Aim Away from Shame
Demand to Know Characteristics of Bias

Mess Around with Merchandise Arrangement

When your shelves, racks, and showcases contain inventory that’s been systematically arranged, shoppers can more quickly find what they’re looking for. This speeds up each sales transaction and allows for more shopper self-service. It also pleases those of your customers who are Mission Shoppers—people who enter your store wanting to go directly for a particular item and, if the value is right, buy the item as soon as possible.
     But there’s also an advantage to having those who enter your store browse for a while, treating them as Possibilities Shoppers, who even if they have a specific item in mind, enjoy considering the alternatives. This is more likely to occur when the items are not so strictly organized.
     Moreover, researchers at San Diego State University, Arizona State University, and Washington University advocate retailers moving further—toward quite disorganized merchandise arrangements—in certain circumstances. They found that disorganized shelves which are not fully stocked increase sales of nonfood items. The disorganization and lack of full facing imply that the items are in demand, drawing extra interest from shoppers. In addition, when the merchandise is not packed in closely, the spacing around each item makes it more readily noticed by prospective purchasers.
     This was not true, however, for foods and beverages, where a scarcity of packages can imply old stock and disorganization can imply spoilage or lack of sanitation. Still, lack of a strict organization here can increase browsing, which would elevate sales so long as it doesn’t irritate the shoppers. 
     Long ago, I’d hear grocery store operators claim that shoppers buy more varieties of soup when the varieties are shelved in random order rather than alphabetically. The explanation went like this: The shopper’s interested in finding a particular variety. They look for that particular variety, but because there’s no order, the shopper’s eyes run over many varieties. As they do so, they start thinking, “Gee, maybe I could use that variety, too.”
     Researchers at University of Pennsylvania and University of Illinois confirmed that random arrangement of a product set can lead to more buying, but with a different explanation. The reason the random arrangement works, they said, is it gives shoppers a feeling of there being more to choose from. It takes time for the shopper to run their eyes over what’s there, and the increased time translates in the shopper’s mind to the impression of a larger assortment.

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

Click below for more: 
Charge for Entertaining Possibilities Shoppers
Randomly Arrange Limited Product Sets
Keep It Clean
Clear Up Clutter Ambiguities
Double Duty to Prevent Shoplifting
Scare Up Creativity with Scarcity

Shape Ads for Future Use Purchases

In your advertising, use relatively pale hues to depict what you’re selling for customers’ future or long-term use. The ultimate pale hues are black and white. Researchers at San Jose State University, The Ohio State University, and University of California-Davis say that color scheme might be the best of all for the situation.
     The rationale actually has as much to do with shapes as with colors. People considering purchase of an item are influenced by the shape and the color of depictions of the item in ads. The shape and color of illustrations of the product or of the box containing the product, of before-and-after pictures showing the benefits of product use, of text boxes in which the benefits of the service are described. When the people are thinking about use of the item in the future, the influence of shape is greater than the influence of color. Here, vibrant colors can interfere with the brain’s processing of shape, so it’s best to keep down the vibrancy.
     Once you’ve muted the hues, recognize how different shapes deliver different messages. For example, researchers at University of Miami and University of St. Gallen report that bold, solid, angular, and sharp characteristics enhance brand masculinity while airy, delicate, round, and smooth characteristics enhance brand femininity.
     In the ad itself, shoppers like balance, with elements of matching size on the left and right. But there also should be a few contrasting asymmetries with ratios which intrigue the shopper. University of British Columbia studies found that consumers in a culture that reads from left to right evaluated an antique more favorably when pictured on the left side of an ad than on the right side. With a modern art item, placement on the right side of the ad garnered more favorable ratings.
     Top and bottom matter, too. Research at University of Cincinnati and York University suggests that shoppers will prefer a brand or store they see as powerful in the marketplace when the logo is placed high rather than low in the ad, while a placement low in the ad is better received when the brand or store is seen as an underdog.
     The different shapes in the ad should be seen as fitting together to constitute a group. Shoppers find visual pleasure in the repetition of themes. And there’s bonus appeal when the group of shapes represent to the consumer a familiar story. The familiarity may come from a principle of design common in the consumers’ culture.

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

Click below for more: 
Sketch Item Aesthetics If Appreciated
Smooth It with Females, Angle for Males
Overachieve as the Underdog

Soften Customer Upset Using Friendship

An advantage available to smaller retail businesses is the enhanced opportunity to create perceptions of friendship with customers. Large retailers with headquarters at a geographical distance find it harder to maintain impressions of authentic closeness. Not all small retailers take advantage of this competitive advantage. Those who do can find that, when negatives occur, the customers are more likely to take responsibility themselves. The blame on the retailer is partially or wholly softened.
     This was seen in a University of Washington simulation of the reactions of a night club’s customers who had previously qualified for the premium level in the club’s loyalty rewards program. In the study scenario, participants were told that the required level of annual spending for premium benefits had been raised and that they were losing their premium benefits. In some cases, the customers would have fallen short even with the old limit. Their spending had gone down compared to the period in which they’d qualified. In the remainder of the cases, the expiration of benefits was because of the tighter standard. They would still have qualified under the old limit.
     Customers who felt no close relationship to the night club were more likely to blame the club than themselves for being dropped. It made no difference whether they would have qualified under the old standard. For the customers who felt a close relationship, it did make a difference. Yes, those who would have qualified under the old standard blamed the club. They felt that a friend had betrayed them. But those who would not have qualified blamed themselves.
     Still, being a friend isn’t enough. Clarify expectations. Researchers at Lingnan University in Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong presented study participants with a scenario: You’ve asked the owner of a restaurant with whom you have a close business attachment to hold an ocean-view table for your birthday bash. When you arrive, the owner explains, with a tone of regret, that all the ocean-view tables are taken.
     Many of the consumers empathized with the owner. However, for others, the reaction was anger. What made the difference was whether the study participant, taking on the role of a customer, had clarified in advance their own expectations and obligations and those of the retailer. With this clarification for transactions based on close business attachments, there was more likely to be customer acceptance of the owner’s needs.

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

Click below for more: 
Puff Down for Authenticity
Clarify Expectations with Friendship Customers