A Guide to the Best Ambiance for a Brick-and-Mortar Business

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No ambiance is complete without curated music

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How Retailers Can Create Store Ambiance

Any business with patrons benefits from creating a unique atmosphere. Retail essentially involves the sale of merchandise from the point of production to those who want to use the product.

Here are some examples of businesses with storefronts that can be helped by considering their ambiance:

Department stores
Grocery stores
Supermarkets
Farmers’ markets
Warehouse retailers
Boutique or specialty retailers
Thrift stores
Clothing outlets
Mobile retailers
Discount sales

There are several advantages that these storefronts have over online shopping or mobile purchases. Here are some of them, which you can use as a starting point to manage your brand and create an ambiance for your store:

1. Local Attraction

By creating an attractive exterior in a location with significant foot traffic or the potential for lots of parking, you have the ability to draw shoppers into your store based on sight. One study found that 65% of shoppers preferred to purchase at a local retailer when an item was available both online and in-person.

While they may do price comparisons and feature comparisons online, finding this item in a brick-and-mortar store is usually more attractive. You just have to let your customers know you can give them that item.

2. The Showroom

Although most customers do price comparisons in their spare time online, they may benefit from having other options compared in a showroom. Demonstrations and interactive displays are increasingly important for all kinds of products, so offering these in your store can help customers make their final decision.

3. Knowledgeable Staff

There may be email, phone numbers, FAQ pages, and even chat programs on websites to help online customers, but most people still prefer to get in-person help with their product question. Having well-trained, friendly staff members means that your customers will be more likely to be satisfied with their purchases from your store.

4. Trust

The process of seeing and experiencing products, with friendly staff members who are trained in customer service, builds brand loyalty and trust with customers faster than any label or flashy promotion ever could.

Your brick-and-mortar store is well set up to provide these aspects of a good business. Creating ambiance means that you can ease anxiety or stress, bring up positive feelings or memories, and more closely associate your brand with a good shopping experience.

Things to Consider in Your Brick-and-Mortar Establishment

There are several approaches to creating ambiance for your brick-and-mortar location. Here are a few recommendations:

Maintain a clean and orderly store.

Of course, this means you have employees who keep surfaces clean, keep products in their proper order, and ensure that any food items that could expire do not stay out overnight. This extends beyond clean floors and cash register areas, though.

Interior design can create a feeling of cleanliness or lead to a sense of clutter and even claustrophobia. Think about how products relate to one another, how light enhances different areas, and how your customers might move through the store to find what they want.

Use colors and light.

‍Some people prefer muted colors, others want bright or shiny storefronts, and still others want a darker or dimmer atmosphere. What sort of demographic group are you trying to attract?

This can change everything from the color of your signs and advertising, to how products are lit inside your store.

Maintain a pleasant temperature.

‍Is it a warm summer day? Make sure your store is cooler than the outside. Is it the middle of winter and there’s snow on the ground? Make sure your store is warm and inviting.

The general concept of “room temperature” is between 65- and 75-degrees Fahrenheit, but you may offer heaters in certain areas near the door on cold days, or provide cool drinks in some parts of your store on hot days.

Communicate clearly.

‍Your customers need to easily find employees for help. They also need written communication about your products, but not too much because that can leave them feeling overwhelmed.

You may consider overhead announcements to provide information about sales or events, keep a message board, or even use an internet service attached to a smart TV so your customers can talk to each other through text. Aisles should be labeled properly.

Provide all the needed information, but make sure your customers do not feel cramped with too much information overwhelming their decision-making process.

Maintain connectivity.

Your business may be brick-and-mortar, but you should definitely have a website and a social media presence. This is often how customers find new places to shop – either in advance because they are looking for specific products, or in the moment while they are shopping other places.

Having a solid, well-crafted online presence builds trust with your customers, and it provides a way for them to interact with you. They can like your social profiles, post images of items they’ve bought, and even access promotions through your website or other pages.

These are all steps you can take to manage the look and feel of your business, but there are other tools that work more subconsciously. Light and color start to trigger emotions about your business, and sound is another amazing tool to soothe or energize your patrons.

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How Music Creates Atmosphere

Music has an incredible psychological power in humans. The harmony, tempo, and volume of songs can both positively and negatively impact listeners. Music has similar features to language, so the human brain interacts with it to create a sense of meaning or narrative. You can use this power to associate specific sensations or memories with your brand.

These are the key parts of music to consider when building your playlist to create a positive ambiance for your business.

Volume

‍Most studies on music consistently show that the volume of music greatly impacts shopping behavior. Music that is too loud is distracting, so shoppers tend to leave because they cannot manage the retail experience and the music at the same time. Loud music also makes shoppers feel like more time has passed, so they may rush through the store without buying much, if anything.

However, high-quality hardware like speakers and amplifiers can change the perception of volume by removing static or adjusting the quality of the sound from the player.

Genre

‍Shoppers’ preference for genre tended to reflect their age or demographic group more specifically than other aspects of music. Younger shoppers tend to prefer modern or pop songs while older shoppers prefer background, instrumental music.

Studies also show that themed music can improve the shopping experience in certain ways; for example, during the holidays, playing holiday-themed music can draw shoppers to your holiday promotions. A study of wine shoppers found that playing classical music led a group to purchase more expensive wine, although they did not purchase more wine overall.

Tempo

‍Studies in the early 1980s found that faster-tempo music caused shoppers to move more rapidly through grocery stores without causing them to buy less. Other kinds of retail stores may want to play slower music because they rely more on upsells, promotions, and browsing. Slower and less familiar music causes shoppers to slow down and relax.

In restaurants, faster music caused patrons to chew faster, which may be good for some restaurants, as they can turn over seating faster. Other restaurants may want patrons to slow down because they can sell more food and drink per group.

Even when some shoppers prefer foreground music, it may be to your benefit to start with background music. This can ease your business into the musical world as you determine exactly the type of music you want to play.

The Psychological Impact of Music

The music you play can have a deep impact on the way consumers behave inside your facility.

In fact, in 2015, researchers conducted an extensive study of the effects of music in retail environments. After looking at several pieces of data conducted by multiple researchers, they concluded that music can have a significant impact on how quickly people move, how much they spend, and how much they enjoy their time.

The type of music you choose matters. A widely quoted study completed in 1993 makes this point clear. In this study, researchers played different kinds of music while people shopped for wine. They found that when classical music was playing, people purchased more expensive wines than they bought when other types of music were playing.

In a secondary study in 2017, researchers found that pop music with a fast tempo encouraged more spending among consumers, especially when the store was crowded. Those customers bought more items, rather than high-cost items.

Studies like this show why it’s so important to pay attention to the type of music you play. If you want customers to spend up, classical music might be best. However, if you want them to buy more, pop might be better.

The Role of Light

When considering how to create ambiance for a brick-and-mortar business, don’t forget light. Your customers need to see where you’re going and what you have to offer. The right light can also impact your bottom line.

In a study conducted in 2016, researchers evaluated the color preferences of 144 people in retail environments. They found that spaces infused with warm tones and colorful lighting produced higher scores among their participants. The researchers concluded that retail environments should use warmer tones, rather than cooler ones, to spur purchases.

In a case study from a lighting contractor, published in 2016, the value of this approach was made clear. The company wanted lighting that treated each item like a masterpiece. Rather than suffusing the entire space with light, the designers chose multiple warm spotlights directed at the items for sale.

Case studies like this demonstrate why using warm colors and bright lights is so important for people running brick-and-mortar stores.

Pay Attention to the Layout

What do customers see when they come into your brick-and-mortar business for the first time? What will they encounter as they walk through it? Paying attention to your layout can have a deep impact.

In a study published in 1998, researchers said 60% of supermarket purchases and 53% of mass merchandise purchases were created by in-store cues, such as signage and displays. A secondary study in 2011 found that in-store displays had a distinct impact on a consumer’s intent to buy. These two data points were highlighted in a review study published in 2017. There, researchers reiterated the importance of layout on purchasing.

Put this research to use by ensuring that your sales are clearly highlighted with signs and posters. Use your shelving to encourage people to purchase. And make sure consumers can get from one place to another without running into one another.

Put Their Senses to Work

While music, lighting, and layout are critical for a brick-and-mortar business, they may not be enough. In a 2017 study, researchers asked consumers what might make them want to spend more money when they shopped. They found that people paid more attention to (and appreciated more) multi-sensory cues like smell.

Companies like Sketchers and Haagen-Dazs work with contractors to develop a store scent and display it to consumers. Typically, they do so by diffusing the scent from devices mounted on the ceiling. However, you don’t have to use this approach.

These are DIY methods you could use to add a scent to your store:

Light candles
Use countertop diffusers
Ask employees to spritz scents through the aisles

Ask your customers how they feel about the scents you deploy. You might find they appreciate your hard work.

Legality of Music in Retail Environments

There are legal aspects of using music in your business you must consider before you plug in your smartphone and play a special playlist. Performing rights organizations (PROs) hold copyrights to music on behalf of composers, musicians, artists, and music publishers. These organizations sell different types of licenses so businesses can access songs in different ways. The money from these licenses goes to the music creators in the form of royalties, ensuring that they are paid appropriately for their work.

To get access to music for your business, you either must buy a license from a PRO – likely purchasing multiple licenses from several PROs to get all the music you want – or you can work with a business-focused music streaming service. This is a very convenient way of legally playing music in your brick-and-mortar business. Call us today to learn more.