Get Your Customers To Relax, and They'll Spend More

BAM! There it is! No sooner had I walked into Bloomingdale's last weekend when their holiday setup smacked me in the face.

Ugh! Already? Well, I guess it is November, and that means I can't be tweaked by retailers' increasingly early foray into the holidays.

So there I was, casually perusing the store (not for holiday gifts but for myself), kind of oblivious to the manic environment around me. Perfume and cologne spritzers were spritzing, cosmetics artists were make-upping, sales staff were scurrying about, and customers were working the sales racks to take advantage of the carnage from the previous weekend sale.

And so it goes. The retail holiday shopping season is in full swing, and it's going to get even crazier with stores now opening the midnight after Thanksgiving Day (really, Target?). And customers will just get in line like lemmings, tongues wagging, salivating at the thought of those doors opening, with their stomachs barely settled after a full day of grazing and drinking.

Can We Dial Down the Crazy Factor?

Who needs all this craziness? Well, apparently not consumers. According to an article in Inc. Magazine, a recent study concluded that consumers who were more relaxed spent more and found more value in products.

Now I don't think the study applies directly to a retail store experience (it's more relevant to an online purchase), but I found the results interesting.

So how do you create a more relaxing environment for your customers and thus, hopefully, get them to buy more? Check out the study's suggestions and judge for yourself.

1. Drop the crazy down a couple notches. Crazy = frenzy, and frenzy is what you can control. Tone down the music (in volume and tempo), light a scented candle, serve up some hot apple cider. Imagine now that customers are walking into your store with some great mellow music and the scent of apple cider in one part of your store, and a deliciously intoxicating candle burning in another part of your store. Instant respite from holiday madness, right?

In essence, you're telling customers to slow down, take a break, relax, and enjoy the experience. And we all know a customer who lingers longer will always buy more.

2. Take care of the gifts. Pre-wrap your best sellers and display one "out of the box" item in front of the many boxed items. Instantly the customer thinks, "That's a perfect gift because it's one less gift that I have to wrap." I've been in stores like Gump's in San Francisco that might have 50 different wrapped gifts all displayed on tall etageres throughout the store.

3. Work the store. Successful retailers today don't work behind cash wraps. Models like Apple stores have their staff roaming with devices where they can check out a customer right on the spot. You should be doing the same (unless you're a wrapping or bagging-dependent retailer). Simple snap-ons from Square and other companies can turn an iPhone into a cash register.

So how are you going to help your customers relax this holiday season and garner more sales as a result? Sound off below and share your thoughts.

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