Happy Shoppers

Last night, I attended an RIT guest lecture delivered by Ben Disanti and Ken Hicks of Disanti Hicks + Partners out of Chicago. Their firm specializes in shopper marketing. It uses a variety of research methodologies to better understand consumers' reactions to different categories and brands within the shopping environment.

One of their more interesting findings is that people who enter stores in a happy mood spend 10% more in those stores. This has implications for what occurs just prior to entering the store. Was parking a hassle? Did they just get splashed by a passing car in the parking lot? Was the sidewalk in front of the store slippery? Were the shopping carts at the store's entrance dirty? Was there something on their approach to the store that made them smile? Were there flowers in bloom in front of the store? Did something they saw upon their approach to the store make them laugh?

As you can imagine, if the shopper's mood just prior to entering the store is important to their spending, so too is the design of the entire shopping experience, which can be based on thoughtful research.