A little goes a long way in the world of business. Your customers pick up on small changes to your business for better or for worse. Even if they don’t realize it, your business model changes user behavior and affects how people shop.
One example of a small change making a big impact is in-store radio. Dozens of our customers have shared their stories of how adding music has changed their customer behavior and improved their sales. Something that seems like it wouldn’t have a big impact changed their business.
Check out these six ways music can improve your business and why you should consider in-store radio as your top sound choice.
Increase Sales and the Average Ticket
Music as a whole has the power to increase your average sales. According to one study by HUI Research, playing a carefully curated soundtrack of songs can increase sales by nine percent in some cases. When music is curated carefully and ties into your brand, environment, and overall vision, your customers respond. They react more positively and take action with their wallets.
Interestingly, curation plays an integral role in the music process. Companies that blasted random pop music actually noticed a four percent decrease in sales than if they just chose silence.
Random music (like just turning on the radio to a popular station) is perceived as noise by customers, driving them away to reach a place without sound pollution. However, curated music falls in-line with your brand. It’s just as valuable to the experience the the products you sell or the staff you hire. This creates ambiance that customers appreciate.
If you want more customers to buy from you — and you want them to spend more — curate your music to match your brand.
Influence Customer Behavior
Your atmosphere does more than just influence customer buying behavior. Music also affects shoppers and how interact with your brand. In one instance, a bookstore realized sales increased 40% when the scent of chocolate wafted through the building. Furthermore, customers looked at more books and were more likely to ask employees questions.
You can see why the scent of lattes and pastries greet you in most bookstores now, as many locations have installed cafes to create a comfortable setting for customers.
In-store radio is no different. You can make customers linger, ask questions, and consider different products with your sound choices.
It’s important to take your music choices just as seriously as other elements of your branding, or else you could miss out on growing customer loyalty and increasing your sales.
Reduce Perceived Wait Times
Another benefit of incorporating in-store radio is the decreased perceived wait times that people experience when they listen to music. We’ve explored how time seems to slow down or speed up depending on various situations, and music can help with that. One study found that the type of music you play has an impact on how long your customers are willing to wait.
Companies that play fast, upbeat music noticed that customers would wait longer. Meanwhile, companies that played slow music had more impatient customers than if they had played no music at all.
If you want your customers to wait patiently until you’re able to help them, your best bet is to play cheerful, fast-paced music to make them think they haven’t been waiting as long as they have.
Increase Average Time Spent in Store
Interestingly, this doesn’t mean that you want to blast fast music from the second your customers walk inside. While some businesses certainly want to reduce perceived wait times (like dentist offices or auto repair shops), other companies want to keep customers lingering, shopping, and enjoying their products. In this case, slower music is better for the brand.
Slower music makes people move slowly through a store. They take their time browsing through different items and departments looking for items to buy.
In one study, a supermarket noticed a 38 percent increase in sales when it played slow music for shoppers.
As you choose your music, look at your goals. What do you want from your customers? This will guide the playlists you create for your in-store radio.
Reduce Stress on Your Workforce
Music doesn’t just benefit your customers, it also helps your staff. First, if your customers are calmer and happier because of the music choices, then they’re less likely to be rude or aggressive to your staff — creating a better work environment.
However, there’s are additional benefits to opting for in-store radio. Studies show that 61 percent of employees listen to music to feel happier and more productive at work. The crazy thing: it works.
Ninety percent of employees perform better when listening to music, and 88 percent of employees are more accurate when they complete tasks to music.
Your employees will likely think faster, come up with better solutions, and make fewer mistakes just because they’re more alert and happier with the overhead music playing above.
Avoid Legal Trouble with In-Store Radio
While there are plenty of psychological benefits to playing music in the workplace, there’s on concrete reason for investing in in-store radio as opposed to throwing on a few CDs from your own collection.
Organizations legally cannot play music without covering the license fees. You can’t set up a CD player in the corner or hire a musician to cover various songs.
People are on the lookout for companies playing unlicensed music. In 2016, Tadpole’s in Tampa closed its doors because the owner couldn’t afford to pay $30,000 in fines for unlicensed music. This was just one company out of many that received harsh fines for music violations.
Opting for in-store radio through Spectrio allows you to play whatever songs you want — legally. Don’t take a risk and hope you will never get caught, because you could end up paying big bucks in the long run.
To learn more about in-store radio, check out this infographic that we recently created. You can also visit our overhead music page to learn more about this option to connect with customers and boost employee morale.