Retail: 5 Emotional Triggers to Help Increase Sales

There’s no denying that online shopping looms large, but it can be easy to forget that brick and mortar stores still dominate. In fact, despite internet shopping accounting for 15% of all retail sales in the UK, the value of physical stores has not diminished. So, how do you make sure both are working in harmony?

Recent research gives some compelling insights into both online and offline retail spaces today. We’ve broken down the facts and stats to help you navigate the sometimes complex emotional triggers and thought processes involved in the buying decision so you can keep customers on board all the way to the tills.

1) Convenience

Your customers may be loyal to your brand, but convenience is a huge consumer pull factor. The location of your physical shop is important not only to keep your offline purchases soaring, but also to entice customers when buying online. Click and collect options for delivery are commonplace, so maintaining your presence in urban areas, close to offices and transport hubs, continues to be key.

92% of urban shoppers will only travel 15 minutes or less to a physical store, and while consumers in rural areas are happy to travel further, they spend less on average. Time-poor customers like parents spend more time shopping online, which means when they do choose to shop offline, it must be easy and convenient.

2) Colours

Did you know that consumers only spend 90 seconds forming an opinion about your product, and a large part of that decision is based on colour? The emotional triggers of different colours have been researched time and time again for retail marketing. It has found that 93% of purchasing decisions are based on visual appearance, with 85% of consumers citing colour as the primary reason for choosing a product.

Blue resonates most with men and women and is a colour customers associate with the integrity of a brand. Using the different perceptions consumers have of colour, it’s important to create consistent and positive visual stories for products, websites and physical retail spaces

3) Consistency

If you want to increase return visits and create brand ambassadors, your consumers need to be clear about who you are online and off. Once you’ve created a synergy between your brick and mortar shops and online presence, you can start to think more creatively about how your customers will respond to brand consistency. Using video is one way that retailers are building a more consistent user experience. Tutorials, sneak peeks, product details and even video chat customer support all have an important part to play.

4) Calls-to-action

Just as you need store guides and ‘pay here’ signs in your physical shop, calls-to-action on your website must be focused and clear. The different elements and decisions involved in an online shopping experience are greater than the equivalent offline. To reduce cart abandonment, make sure your website is not only fast and beautifully designed, but also answers all the customers’ potential questions by providing delivery options, product images and descriptions, easy checkout options, store location, contact details and more.

5) Competition

Consumers respond strongly to triggers of scarcity and exclusivity. That’s why more than two-thirds of shoppers of all ages use their smartphones while shopping in physical retail spaces. Seeing that a product is trending, limited edition or even just the best price compared to the competition will create positive reactions for customers. Pairing this online detective work with the benefits of being able to test or try your products in-store will help to increase your sales.

Vincent Naigeon is the Managing Director at online to offline marketing platform Bridge. The French company is the leading online to offline marketing platform that helps brands and retail networks capture local web traffic and convert it into in-store traffic. Clients include L'Oreal, Dior, DHL and Toys R Us.