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In-store music
can get customers into the groove of spending. A store at Ion
Orchard even boasts a DJ console. Other retailers are customising
their own playlist
Like it or loathe it, when you shop in fashion stores there is
more often than not an incessant beat pounding out as you rifle
through the racks.
There is a good reason for this ubiquitous shopping soundtrack It
makes you more likely to buy, buy, buy, that's why, why, why.
Anna Leong, 35, marketing manager for fashion labels Camper,
Promod and Springfield, says: "Music creates the right mood and
adds excitement to the shopping experience."
The dose relationship between sales and tunes is exactly why
Spanish label Bershka's new 4,000 sq ft store at Ion Orchard
boasts a DJ console where aspiring deejays spin each Saturday
afternoon, filling the premises with thumping dub and house music.
The label has also started the Bershka DJ Academy, where music
enthusiasts learn deejaying from local DJs such as Hasnor and
KoFlow.
This musical strategy is striking a sweet note so far. Says Jullie
Tay, 39, general manager for the fashion division of apparel house
RSH, which represents Bershka in Singapore: "Sometimes, when we
have to turn off the music to fine-tune the sound system, the flow
of shoppers into Bershka slows down."
According to Simon Faure-Field, 39, chief executive of Equal
Strategy, a customer experience consultancy based in Singapore,
there has been a lot of research showing that music can influence
shopping behaviour.
"As humans, we have our five senses working simultaneously,
sending messages to our brain on a subconscious level. If you can
engage all five senses to send a consistent feel-good message,
then you've got a winning combination," he says.
As Tay puts it: "Happy customers are more likely to keep the cash
registers ringing."
Indeed, in a British survey of 2,000 shoppers by Entertainment
Media Research (EMR), a European entertainment research
consultancy, 72 per cent said that a store that plays good music
is more inviting. Given the choices of a high-street store with
music and one without, a whopping 90 per cent said that they would
opt to shop in the former.
No wonder that, according to Faure-Field, retailers that used to
be content with piping in music from radio stations are now more
willing to invest money in customising in-store music.
EFFECT OF TEMPO
The key musical elements making you want to shop 'n bop till you
drop are tempo, genre and volume.
Faure-Field, who also has a background in deejaying, says that
tempo affects the speed at which customers move around in the
store.
In one reported experiment, a slower tempo resulted in consumers
spending more money as they became more relaxed, he said.
As for genre, retailers choose soundtracks to reflert the tastes
of their target customers, as well as their stores' brand identity
and interior design.
British fast fashion label New Look's store at Ion Orchard spins
Top 40 pop songs because these are the radio hits that most appeal
to its target teen customers, says Clara Lim, 32, the brand's
advertising and promotions manager.
French label Promod, which has four outlets here, spins French
soundtracks that sometimes get Singapore customers asking store
staff for the names of the tracks or singers.
The in-store music at luxury French footwear label Christian
Louboutin's Takashimaya boutique here is linked to the store's
latest collections.
Says Simon Pung, from Hong Kong-based Stattus music consultancy
firm, who designs the store soundtrack for Christian Louboutin:
"For example, when American film-maker David Lynch photographed
Christian Louboutin shoes for the Fetish Art Projert (a
collaboration between Lynch and Louboutin), we selected tracks
inspired by Lynch's movies."
VOLUME MATTERS
Loud music is a turn-off when it comes to getting shoppers to stay
and pay.
As a result, volume control has become an important consideration
for in-store audio design, says Faure-Field.
Speakers are placed at strategic positions, playing at different
volumes. For example, at the cashier, there is a lower
concentration of speakers and music plays more softly.
And forget CD players or MP3 devices. Things are more
sophisticated now, with major retailers here using computerised
systems for in-store music.
The River Island stores at Raffles City and VivoCity use a
computer software called Download Player from British in-store
music provider, Imagesound.
It automatically downloads the latest River Island playlist from
Imagesound's music library.
This kind of computerised technology also prevents errant staff
from changing the music, ensuring what retailers describe as
"branding consistency". River Island stores all over the world,
for instance, play the same music.
One of the good things about paying all this attention to beats,
notes and rhythms: You can often see the impart on shoppers
straightaway.
Says Lim of New Look's store soundtracks: "We definitely see
customers enjoying the songs as they shop, bobbing their heads and
mouthing the lyrics."
When that happens, it is a sure sign that shoppers are getting
into the groove of spending and the sweet music of ringing cash
registers will not be far away.
nfarhain@sph.com.sg
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