Speciality Food January 2024

comes from everything else: from branding, packaging. All it takes is to stick a drink in a heavier bottle or can and immediately the consumer will say that it tastes better, no matter whether we are talking about a soft drink or a quality wine.” Just as product packaging influences how shoppers feel about a brand, the atmosphere of your store will shape customers’ opinions about your shop. “Behavioural science teaches us about the biases people rely on to make the decision-making process easier, and retailers have the opportunity to design their atmospheres in a way that utilises these biases to influence customer behaviour in their desired way,” explains Melanie Fulker, chief customer officer at Startle Music, which uses behavioural science to create music solutions for brands. “A very simple example of this is by influencing mood, since moods interfere with our opinions and are powerful drivers of action. Research has even shown that when people are in a positive mood, this increases how receptive they are to advertising and their ability to recall adverts,” Melanie says. “By building a retail atmosphere that therefore encourages positive moods 34 H ave you ever walked into a shop that feels stiff, uninviting and detached? You don’t need to be an expert in consumer psychology to spot when something’s off. In fine food retail, Andrew Busby, founder of Retail Reflections, tells Speciality Food , “It’s all about creating a truly memorable experience, and that means multisensory. When we’re shopping, we’re using our senses – but especially if it’s fine food.” Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford and author of Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating , agrees that if retailers are selling a higher-end product, they need to design a memorable shopping experience for consumers. “Ensuring a great multisensory experience is really important for all retailers, but especially for those at the premium/ luxury end of the market.” The power of sensory experiences is greater than you might think. “After all, in blind taste tests inmany categories, consumers are unable to discriminate products based on price, nor pick out their favourite brand,” Charles says. “What this tells you is just howmuch of the experience and emotions, we can improve the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.” How to create a sensory experience “The world of sensory marketing has really exploded in recent years,” Charles says. Farm shops and delis have a natural edge here thanks to their use of cheese and butchery counters, an area that many larger retailers have pulled out of. “These create an environment which goes beyond just a self-service experience and allow direct interaction between the customers and store staff which is vital for the experience,” Andrew adds. Not to mention the sights and smells emanating from display cases. At the deli counter and beyond, when you create displays or update the merchandising in your shop, remember to cater for all the senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Sight: Andrew recalls a recent visit to Kavanagh’s, an Irish- owned family business in Belsize Park, which utilises shelves that curve out towards the customer to display fresh produce. “Very simple, doesn’t require technology but very effective – a great example of visual merchandising that creates a very welcoming environment for the customer,” he says. Colours are another important visual element, and retailers can use PROFESSOR CHARLES SPENCE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD MELANIE FULKER STARTLE MUSIC COMMENTATORS ANDREW BUSBY RETAIL REFLECTIONS Creating a multisensory, experiential environment in your fine food store could be the key to driving up sales, Speciality Food discovers THEPSYCHOLOGY OF THE SELL one simple concept to make their products look better, according to Charles: contrast. “A product, no matter what it is, can be made to look muchmore vibrant by placing it against a background of a contrasting colour. You canmake your produce look so muchmore appealing by using contrasting colours, be it the greenery in the red meat counter, or the blue of Barilla pasta that makes the yellow pasta look oh so much more radiant.” Sound : Charles highlights another tried and tested trick. “Play classical music in store, as time and again this has been shown to lead people to spend more as it is associated with notions of class/quality/expense.” If that’s not your shop’s vibe, however, don’t fear. Melanie says there are a range of ways music can influence customer behaviour. “Studies have shown that everything from the speed of movement or time spent in a store, to the origin of wine purchased can be impacted through the songs played in the background,” she tells Speciality Food . “Of course, the change in behaviour is largely dictated by the type of music played. As an expert inmusic and behavioural science, Startle looks at numerous aspects of music to curate playlists with intention to elicit specific emotions or behaviours. This includes anything from the genre and tempo @specialityfood Play classical music in store, as time and again this has been shown to lead people to spendmore as it is associated with notions of class/quality/expense PROFESSOR CHARLES SPENCE