The BIG Question:
How do you design the buying mood?
The SHORT Answer:
You create the need to buy, by crafting an environment that aligns the customers natural desires with your ability to meet those needs.
When the mood matches, buying feels natural.
The LONG Answer:
5 ways to consistently
create the buying mood
Designing the buying mood is as much an art as a science. It must start with understanding your customers true motivations for their visit to your store. Using this insight, the buying mood designed into every touch point before the customer is consciously aware.
When the signals align, customers feel they can’t leave empty handed.
“Is this place for me?”
Every customer instantly reads the space, to understand if they ‘belong’. This combination of light, layout, materials and messaging create an instant emotional judgement. When the mood feels right, concerns are removed and buying becomes easy.
→ Gusto Shop&Go by Mega Image: leading with fresh food to reset expectations of convenience.
Open the wallet before entering the store
Customers do not buy when rushing. By positioning an offer at the entrance of the store, the customers focus on buying starts earlier in the journey.
→ One Albania: the store starts the conversation in the street, mentally preparing customers before they enter.
See. Try. Buy.
Purchases decisions are never instant. Engaging the customer in a journey from sight, to touch, to trial, to buying gives a natural buying journey. The body often decides before the mind explains.
→ Osprey London: embedding see, try, buy into the store journey.
Tell the right story
Consider what the real selling point is. Does the customer want a washing machine, or to solve the problem of their last washing machine breaking. Sometimes you are not selling the product, you are selling peace of mind.
→ Public + Home: Promoting the immediate availability of stock, instead of technical features.
Remove the concerns before adding complexity
Before trying to sell features, start by removing any concerns the customer may have. By starting with reassurance, we remove the risk-adverse psychology that many customers start with.
→Stiltz Lift: turning a technical product into an easy solution.
”“Everyone knows the feeling of wanting to buy. Designing that feeling deliberately is what separates strong retail from average retail.”
Kevin BeardFounder & Creative Director, KVB Design
Creating a need to buy in practice:
Gusto Shop&Go by Mega Image
Gusto Shop&Go changed the tone of convenience retail in Romania.
Working alongside the Mega Image team, we placed fresh, ready-to-go food at the front of the experience. The counter became the centre of gravity. Coffee and hot food set a new tone, balance with a volume of product to maintain the heritage of the brand as a convenience destination.
The journey blurs the line between grocery and food-to-go, to create a single destination for customers daily needs.
Materials and colours were designed to keep the tone grounded and accessible – a place to visit every day of the week.
The combination of materials, layout and offer creates the mood to buy.
Tip of the Month
Start from the point of purchase in your store, work backwards to identify every point that should be working hard to create the mood to buy. This is a list of opportunities to improve the performance of your store.
Your store it not passive. It either invites purchase or it does not.
The need to buy rarely begins with promotion or rational choices. It begins with atmosphere and feeling like you are in the right place at the right time.
Design the mood properly and customers respond.
What’s Next?
Thinking about how to improve the desire to buy in your store? We’re always unlock every retailers potential.
