Trade, for the most part, is developing not due to high demand for a certain range of products, but due to a very interesting phenomenon, which marketers are still researching. Spontaneous purchase. What is it?

Impulse buying - how to increase sales

You put a lot of effort and time to attract customers? They came, bought bread, milk and sugar and left? Something in your store is planned wrong. Most of today's consumers are eager to plan their expenses sparingly, so getting to fill their cart to capacity is not so simple. People tend to make spontaneous purchases if the atmosphere contributes to this.

Display of goods

Proper display will increase sales. You should clearly think over the planogram of the arrangement of goods, brands, and trade units. “Tasty” display attracts attention and makes you buy additional products. Shelves should be complete and accurate, affordable and objective prices. Teach sellers to organize the calculation correctly, demand timely replacement of price tags to avoid unpleasant situations at the checkout. Use decorations for holidays, banners when designating promotional products, social positions and other units to which you want to attract attention.

In pursuit of maximum sales, all possible methods and knowledge should be used. Among them, we highlight the color effect and the effect on olfactory receptors.

Color

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Scientists in the last century studied the phenomenon of the influence of color on human behavior. Yellow color excites appetite, red irritates, green calms, pastel tones have, and saturated colors intensify the atmosphere. Using such knowledge is easy in the store. Where food is sold, you need to use colors that whet your appetite, red colors will draw attention to promotions, new products. Do not turn the store into a “Christmas tree”, arrange your colors very intelligently and clearly, develop your own style, recognizable and effective.

Smells

Vanilla, coffee, the smell of fresh pastries are the favorite smells of not only store owners, all customers, having noticed such pleasant smells, will go looking for where this pleasant aroma comes from. Hot brewed coffee and the aforementioned aromas kindle the appetite, and the colors in which the decor is framed make the visitor even more thirsty to buy something tasty. Many other odors can help increase sales, not just in the grocery area.

Music

Soothing music does not play in vain in the trading floor. To lull the vigilance and attentiveness of visitors means significantly increasing the percentage of spontaneous purchases. Choose interesting and correct music that everyone will like, and make you profit.

Direction of travel

Oddly enough, but placing the shelves in such a way that customers move counterclockwise, very effectively contributes to an increase in spontaneous purchases. If even the most purchased daily consumption goods are placed next to various products that should be sold faster, their sales will also increase.

Want to sell more? Do not like it when the buyer returns the goods to the shelf? Use invisible techniques to influence visitors and increase your sales.

(№31-32, 2009)

How often do customers who find themselves in the store change their plans and buy what they did not plan, or, thinking about your brand, take another from the shelf? OgilvyAction conducted a study of impulsive purchases and exclusively shared the results with “&”.

The heads of consumers were once very accurately called "black boxes", which are extremely difficult to understand the contents of. But their owners daily provide companies with a turn and allow the business to live and prosper. However, this only happens if people buy your product or service.

Marketers have long known that 70% of purchase decisions are made at the store. Like any generalization (and even obtained from a study in the USA), the figure of 70% is very conditional, and on its basis you cannot make any decisions on the withdrawal or promotion of the brand. Therefore, recently OgilvyAction (a research unit of the Ogilvy Group, part of the WPP network) conducted a global study of consumer behavior in retail outlets.

These findings of the study are especially relevant at the present time, when manufacturers prefer to intensify their marketing work in stores. That is, right where the person makes the final purchase decision, looks at the product, holds it in his hands, then looks at a similar product and ... for some reason changes his mind and buys something else. As noted in a 2008 Deloitte and Grocery Manufacturers Associations (GMA) report, manufacturers and retailers plan to increase promotion costs (advertising, POS, etc.) within stores within three years. Moreover, 19% of manufacturers and 50% of retailers consider in-store activity the best way to return on investment.

“The store is where the moment of truth comes for brands,” said Steve Harding, CEO of OgilvyAction in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). - In order for companies to be able to overtake competitors at the “last mile”, you need to know what drives customers. After all, the task of increasing ROI and sales levels prevents directors from sleeping at night. ”

Spontaneous China and Romania

About 30% of all buyers in the world do not plan in advance exactly which brands they will purchase. They make their choice directly in the store. On average, every tenth person changes his mind near the shelf with the goods and chooses the wrong brand, which he thought about at the beginning.

Many people take the product in their hands, but, upon reflection, leave it on the shelf. In general, there are about 10% of these (although the figure can vary greatly, for example, in the United States there are about 20%).

In different countries, there is a different degree of spontaneity of customer behavior in the store. The aforementioned 70% has changed little in the USA: according to the SDMIS (Shopper Decisions Made In Store) study, 72% of consumers make purchasing decisions when they are already in the store. The highest spontaneity rate in Romania is 94%. Very high in China - 88%. Residents of Germany are extremely conservative, only 38% of them make decisions on the spot.

These figures indicate that consumers are internally ready to make a decision in the store. This applies to the selection of not only brands, but also categories. So, all over the world 20% of people buy goods in those categories that they did not think about before coming to the store.

Price reduction - simple but ineffective

Sales are highly dependent on marketing activity at the point of sale. Researchers at OgilvyAction found out which promotions most effectively affect people. The general conclusions are as follows:

• special calculations best promote the product category (although they are also effective for selling certain brands in the prescribed amount);
• lower prices help to sell more, and the involvement of buyers - to move forward to a particular brand (for this practice sampling, recommendations, communication of the brand with consumers outside retail outlets, etc.).

Consumers are important help in choosing a brand - whether it be visual accompanying materials or something else. Strongly affects his choice of the recommendation of the employees of the trading floor. Therefore, manufacturers should not lose sight of such a channel of influence. The main thing is that the store staff is well identified with all categories of goods.

From the foregoing, we can conclude: the least effective way to promote at the point of sale is price stimulation. All over the world, consumers are more influenced by special product calculations (for example, at the end of the trading row) than a temporary price reduction.

About a third of Americans (29%) buy in categories in which they did not plan purchases before coming to the store. Many of them (24%) were affected by product calculations that were far from the specialized trading rows, and only 17% made purchases on price shares. However, most consumers say that the calculation attracts their attention, and they make a purchase if the price suits them.

Jeff Frod, OgilvyAction's chief strategic planner, commenting on the data, noted that price promotions will always be important for buyers who do not want to be ripped off by manufacturers. It is important to remember that the layout, POS materials and other methods of promotion inside the store work well on their own, without an accompanying price reduction.

Ukrainians love their beer

“In Ukraine, we studied the behavior of customers in eight categories: confectionery, coffee, beer, hot snacks, soft drinks, skin and hair care products, tobacco products,” says Svetlana Polyakova, Director of OgilvyAction Ukraine.

Here are some important indicators that characterize Ukrainians as buyers:

• 78% make one or more impulsive purchases;
• 79%, when planning purchases, do not indicate the brand name in the list;
• 41% make impulsive purchases in the product category;
• ukraine has long talked a lot about loyalty. Probably, great successes have not yet been achieved, because 46% of our compatriots make the final choice between the brands directly in the store. Of these, a third change their initial decision;
• 35% in the store decide how much to buy.

(For comparison: in Russia, 30% of buyers choose a category in the store and 41% make decisions about the quantity.)

There is a general law: each product category has a different significance for people, so they make decisions in these categories in different ways. But there are exceptions. So, all over the world, consumers are more spontaneous in their choice of thirst quenching drinks. Global indicator: 60% of customers decide, already in the store, which brand to choose and how much to buy.

In Ukraine, consumers are loyal to beer. They choose between brands only in 10% of cases. And 70% of decisions in the beer category relate to the amount of drink purchased. 15% of the total number of buyers buy beer spontaneously.

The maximum number of impulsive purchases (Ukraine is no exception) are made by people in hypermarkets or other stores of a similar format. This is due to the great depth and breadth of their range.

Women have different attitudes towards shopping - someone relieves stress in this way, others have fun, and still others kill time. I can’t attribute myself to avid shopaholics, but I won’t conceal that I love both new clothes and new shoes.

I noticed that with age, my actions become more rational, and purchases are calculated and planned. This applies not only to clothing, but even food!

Functionality

With a smile I recall the days of office everyday life, when at lunchtime I walked around the city center and often stopped at the shop windows. Sometimes such walks ended with another blouse / skirt, without which life was not sweet to me.

As often happens, the new thing was worn on the strength of one or two times. Then it turned out that there was nothing to combine it with, the buttons were ugly and the seams were uneven.

I really love universal things, and when buying them, there is no talk of spontaneity - it often takes a lot of time to search. It would seem that an ordinary black turtleneck or classic jeans is easy to buy. Either I'm picky, but it's not like that with me. For a year now I can’t get myself good jeans that would suit me in every way.

Planning

The time has long passed when I was heading to the shopping center with the thought “buy some dress”. Now I clearly know which particular dress I need - from cut to material and color. Due to such preliminary planning, the number of purchases, and even more so spontaneous ones, has sharply decreased.

I do the same with my daughter’s wardrobe - I think over in advance what we need and then make purchases. I haven’t had situations “go buy something” for a long time.

Causes

Spontaneous acquisitions are helpfully encouraged by sellers. These are attractive promotional offers “three things for the price of two”, and crazy discounts (“well, when will I still buy stole in sequins with a 50% discount?”), And the notorious state “I want something new”.

Probably, you need to reach this conclusion yourself. By the age of thirty, I am pleased only with successful purchases, and not with the help of which I was able to quench the obsession with "buy something."

How to fight?

Go through the cabinets.  When you see with your own eyes how much clothes and shoes are idle, and then you also remember how much money was spent on all this, the desire to spend money in vain disappears.

Let the desire to spend money on things in a different direction.  If it’s completely impossible without it, spend on cheaper things. So, at one time I came off on children's panties and socks, then I switched to elastic hairpins. Still, it’s cheaper than buying regular sandals.

Set specific goals.  For example, at one time I really wanted ordinary black wedge shoes. You won’t believe it, but I didn’t look at either clothes or other shoes until I found them, the shoes of my dreams. The savings were huge, even my husband noticed, because for six months I have not made a single purchase.

Pay attention to the quality of clothes and shoes.  In most cases, sellers try to “match” an imperfect thing. Just because 90% of the discount is not done, agree. I like clothes and shoes to serve me more than one season. Especially, given the joyful fact that my sizes do not change. And the joy of a spontaneous purchase is replaced by sadness after the first wash.

In general, I am in favor of preliminary planning. And if you really want spontaneity, then I’m buying something inexpensive - nail polish or something tasty.

And how do you feel about spontaneous purchases? Do you often have such situations?

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In our crazy, crazy world, we often spend nth amounts of money on various things. But people thought about saving, probably, since the time when for three leopard fangs they gave two bison skins. So far, we have not figured out how to change this fang-skinning course, but I will try to tell you how to spend less fangs for the same skins.

Let's say that we need to purchase a gadget for which we have twenty thousand rubles.

The most stupid thing you can do, wanting to buy a certain thing and intending to save money at the same time, is to get it right now. The fact is that you already mentally possess the gadget, carry the box home with it, unfold the layers of soft bubbled polyethylene, smell the new electronics with an incomparable smell, gently, gently press the Power button ... Wake up! The button and polyethylene with pimples will not go anywhere, but a few thousand rubles is easy. Arriving at the store in a state of such euphoria, you will not only buy anything (even a car without wheels), but also spend any amount (if, for example, they tell you that there is no gadget for 20,000, but there is a better version for 23,000). In order to save money, postpone the purchase of things for exactly a week - that’s the point. This week we will spend fruitfully and learn how to buy correctly (and what did you think, saving money is no less work than earning it).

To begin, let's determine if you really need a new thing. As British scientists say, a person buys new things for two reasons. Firstly, he may really feel the need for a new thing (“my old MacBook is broken and you can’t fix it anymore”), or he buys a thing guided by the image principle (“my MacBook seems to be nothing, but the new MacBook Air came out, he cooler "). So - the best way to save money is not to buy things on the image principle. There is nothing wrong or shameful about it. For example, the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, whose fortune is estimated at $ 23 billion, still drives a car bought 15 years ago and sits in a chair that is 23 years old. And nothing, he is not ashamed!

It seems to you that you can’t do without a new gadget - good. Now sit down and calmly imagine yourself with a new thing (yes, yes, you've often been doing these recently). Imagine how you use the gadget, how often and so comfortable you feel. Perhaps this will help you understand that you do not need a new thing (for example, you are going to buy a new electronic reader, but in fact you prefer paper books or you don’t have time to read at all).

When deciding to buy a new thing, try to find someone who already has it and use it in a relaxed atmosphere (in the store you can hardly think soberly). How convenient is the camera in your hands, do you like the feeling of working behind a laptop keyboard? You do not pay attention to all this when buying, but this can be a decisive factor in the end.

Read all the reviews and forum posts, both good and bad. Do not read reviews and reviews on store sites, we know who writes them (I will tell you a secret - I). Try to reach out to all the reviews, if the item is expensive, talk to the owners live. Study the information on the forums with a piece of paper, on which in one column write out all the shortcomings that the gadget owners refer to, and in the second - all its competitors. Pay special attention to shortcomings that are repeated repeatedly (for example, if users constantly write that the laptop often heats up). Reread the first list (list of flaws). Perhaps something is a critical flaw for you? That's it (and then they could write such critical posts on the forums themselves)!
  As we already said, we have 20,000 rubles to buy a new gadget. Now we take and subtract 10% from this amount - we have 18,000 rubles left. Calmly, I do it for your own good (predicting the questions about the origin of the number 10 I say - I did not think up 10%, but the founder of the popular Zen Habits minimalism blog, Leo Babuta). And this number is taken away for a reason. The thing is that in every thing there is an image factor (and these 10% are just about this factor and characterize). Let someone else pay for the brand and a beautiful nameplate, but you and I are not like that, right? Moreover, the 2,000 taken away will not disappear anywhere - they will be overhead. Your new laptop will need a bag, a phone - a case and a headset, a camera - a memory card and so on. As a result, you will spend just 20,000 (and not 22,000 - 23,000, as it could be).

Carefully study the list of competitors that appeared after analyzing reviews and reviews. Which ones cost 18,000? Emphasize them and start exploring reviews on these models. Soon enough, you will notice that some of the competitors are no worse than what you originally wanted to buy (or maybe even better).

Carefully study all available sources of acquisition of goods - all physical and electronic stores. Pay special attention to buying abroad, electronics are cheaper there. Know everything about discounts (in November and December, electronics are usually cheaper - stores are preparing for New Year's hype and lower prices). Feel free to ask about discounts and special offers, as a rule, most stores are ready to make a small concession.

Going to a physical store, take one or two people with you (they can be friends or relatives). Pre-instill them - those accompanying them should sparkle with skepticism and pour over bile. With such partners you will not have a chance to break and buy not what you need. It’s also good to have exactly 18,000 rubles in your pocket and forget the credit card at home.

Help save other people - suggest, advise, learn, take 10% of the amount and take money out of your hands, prepared for depositing into the cashier for an actually unnecessary gadget.
  Do not do all of the above immediately (so you get out of work and lose more money than you could earn). You and I have a week, right? Spend on analysis and searches for half an hour a day, in the evening, when according to a famous proverb, there is nothing to do. Many will say, "Is it worth the time to save a miserable two thousand." Firstly, 20,000 is the amount taken as an example (the method works well for both 200,000 and 2,000,000). And secondly, if you can easily spend any amount of money without batting without thinking to save at least a little bit, then forget everything that is written here and sail on your yacht.

These are my friends, I have some advice. I will say one more thing: in order to have enough money you do not need to earn more than you spend, but spend less than you earn. Healthy minimalism and connecting the head have never hurt anyone else. Good luck on the battlefield with price tags!

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Deceive the brain and not regret the consequences

When I see a new ultra-thin smartphone with rounded edges, my knees tremble. If it looks beautiful, it has a screen and a processor, I want to buy it.

Maxim Ilyakhov

Two years ago I had a debt of 150 thousand for a bunch of electronics bought in such unconsciousness. I bought smartphones and players, smart headphones and batteries, charging stations and cards of all shapes and sizes. When I paid off my debts, it became clear that something had to be done. I read books about neurobiology and developed my own method of protection against spontaneous purchases.

Here is the method. Perhaps it will be useful to you. His task is to reduce the number of rash, spontaneous purchases and make himself more rational about money on a credit card.

“Set aside, please.”

Part of the buzz from the purchase is in anticipation. Therefore, the first step is to enjoy the anticipation and delay the purchase itself as far as possible.

When I see the desired device in the store, I allow myself to study it from all sides. I ask the seller, please unpack, choose the color, accessories - a complete kit. I enjoy the attention the consultant gives me, since he has nothing more to do. Find out the price. I learn all about the guarantee. I ask about discounts, draw up a discount card. In general, a relish looming purchase.

When I feel that I am about to buy it, I say to the seller like this: “Great, it remains to go get a card. Please put aside soon. "

And I'm leaving the store in the direction of the nearest coffee shop.

What's happening.  When the brain wants to urgently buy something, it is possible that external factors act on it: the store, the seller, the bright light, the music. Maybe it’s just that the body is tired and the cerebral cortex is hard to manage the rest of the departments - hence the desire to buy something more quickly. Psychologists in the early 2000s called it Ego Depletion - ego depletion. To reduce this effect, you just need to remove the brain from the environment in which he wants impulsive shopping.

I must say that the phenomenon of ego depletion is now a big question and needs to be double-checked because methodological problems were found in the initial experiments. It is possible that all this bullshit.

Eat sweets

Sometimes the brain wants not just a smartphone for forty thousand, but simply "well, at least something." You need to check it out. While we will check this, the brain will switch to another mode and will be able to calmly assess the situation.

At the coffee shop, I order a cake and a hot drink. The task is to quickly pump sugar. An alternative to a cake is a glass of sweet soda. But it is important for the time of admission to be in new circumstances, to sit down and isolate oneself from the outside world. For this, a coffee shop, food court, restaurant, any eatery with seating is suitable.

I eat sweets, drink them unsweetened, wait half an hour. During this time, blood sugar levels will begin to rise. As it rises, I proceed to the next step.

What's happening.  If impulsive buying is related to brain fatigue, a simple way to revive it is to pump it with glucose. Glucose is the main source of brain energy. After training, a long working day or difficult negotiations, there is little glucose, so little self-control. A person is more prone to impulsive actions.

If it turns out that the phenomenon of ego depletion is a hoax, then glucose is a big question. Already, there is evidence that sugar itself does not affect: just create the impression that you eat sweets. One way or another, this method helps me.

Surf the internet

The next half hour should be spent studying your future purchase on the Internet. The main emphasis is on flaws and criticism.

I look at reviews and unboxes, read articles and reviews. I look at the prices. As sugar rises, the brain begins to look more critically at what awaits me in the store. I begin to see flaws, more sensitively listen to criticism of other people.

It is very important to watch live reviews on YouTube: herd mechanisms work. If my future purchase has flaws, within half an hour I should learn about them from those who have already used it.

It is useful to compare prices on the Internet with the prices that I just saw in the store. Often at this moment greed turns on: instead of buying a smartphone in a brightly lit salon for 40 thousand, I want to go to the radio market and buy the same for 32 thousand.

The last thing to do is find a future purchase on Avito. How much can I sell it for if I get disappointed? Maybe it makes sense to immediately buy it from hand? Usually the first two screens on Avito are enough to represent the order of prices for a future purchase. And here greed begins to torment even more: all the same can be bought in almost perfect condition for 25 thousand, or even 20.

What's happening.  The brain works again at full strength and is able to think critically. “Yes, this is a beautiful smartphone, but everyone swears on the battery and the lack of a memory card. Over forty thousand is nonsense. In general, I’ll buy the same almost new one for fifteen thousand cheaper. ” Cora again owns the process.

Result

Forty minutes later, while I was sitting in a cafe, the following happened:

1. The brain rested and gained strength, now it is again able to make rational, not impulsive decisions.
2. I found out about hidden defects of my future purchase. Now she does not look so attractive.
3. It hurt me to pay so much when I saw almost the same one and a half times cheaper.

After this little exercise, I myself do not want to buy it. I turn around and go on about my business.

What else helps

On the way, I found some more useful recipes that protect against impulsive shopping.

Keep a credit card at home.  Just do not take her away from sin.

Hide money on deposit.  If at the end of the month something remains on the card, I transfer everything to a replenished deposit. And it’s a pity to get money from the deposit, I just want to accumulate.

Trade In  If you want something new before the horror, I first see what I can sell from the old. For example, to buy a new smart watch, I sold an old smart watch and an old smartphone. Both took less than a day, and with the money I immediately bought a new watch. The amount of trash in the house decreased, but the amount of money did not change.

To make gifts.  If the brain urgently wants to buy something - let it be a gift to his wife. I strengthen relations, do pleasant things, and it seems not as harmful as myself.

Put aside a little  every week for bullshit. I set up a savings account in the Internet bank and set up auto payment: each week, 500 rubles are transferred from the main account. The rules are as follows: I can spend the amount from this account on anything at any time completely without a twinge of conscience.

Do not buy drunk.  I have the lowest level of self-control after a liter glass of beer drunk before dinner. It is already enough to know about it so that in this state you won’t be allowed into stores. Writing articles is a pleasure. Call ex - please. In no case to an electronics store.

To learn more about the brain and decision making, go through these three books. There are many others, of course, but I liked these:

• John Lehrer. How we make decisions. Corpus, 2010
• Asya Kazantseva. Who would have thought? Corpus, 2014
• Charles Dahigg. Strength of habit. Career Press, 2015

The effect of ego depletion may turn out to be fiction. Perhaps my impulsive purchases are just a weak character, not a biologically sound effect. Recent experiments have not revealed a clear link between sugar intake and a person’s ability to make informed decisions.

Quite often, according to recent data, a placebo effect took place: a person was told about ego depletion and was given a glass of soda, but instead of sugar, it had an artificial sweetener. A man drank soda and thought that now he would make better decisions. Indeed, he made better decisions, although sugar levels have not changed.

But even if the placebo effect is in effect, it is still useful to give the brain the ability to soberly assess the situation. Better not to buy than to buy and regret.