How Does Background Music Affect Customer Buying Behaviors?
Strategic Use of Your Building Sound System Can Impact Sales in Restaurants and Retail
Customers aren’t always paying attention to the music playing overhead while they dine at your restaurant or shop at your retail store, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect them. In fact, the music you play greatly impacts perception and can influence what your customers buy and how long they stay.
Strategic use of your building sound system can offer a notable return on investment if you pay attention to how music enhances feeling and brand messaging. Plus, having the tools to effortlessly change songs and adjust volume in various zones from a single controller means less time operating your audio and more time tending to customers.
Are you using music to your advantage in your Clearwater, FL business? Read below to learn how to harness its powerful effects, as well as how a Crestron multizone audio system can help you manage your music.
SEE ALSO: How to Improve Noise Levels in Open Concept Business Spaces
Music in Restaurants
Several studies have shown that restaurants see customer behavior change according to music genre. For example, one consumer research study found that a wine shop increased their sales after switching from a Top 40 playlist to classical music. Interestingly, the customers didn’t buy more wine but purchased more expensive bottles.
Music tempo also impacts how your customers behave inside your restaurant. According to the National Restaurant Association, customers chew food 30 percent faster when they listen to up-tempo music, which decreases eating time and increases turnover. Likewise, customers stick around and increase the average ticket size of their bill by 23 percent while listening to slower music.
Knowing which music to play depends greatly on the feeling you wish to craft inside your restaurant. By carefully selecting songs that are fitting to your brand, you could increase sales by 9 percent. Be sure to think about your target demographics, age, and income levels, and research the music your target audience enjoys.
Music in Retail Shops
Like restaurant owners, retail store owners should also consider music genre and brand messaging to change perception and increase sales. If you’re selling apparel for teens, consider playing the latest pop hits. If you’re selling luxury kitchen and dining ware, consider classical or smooth jazz, which emotes sophistication and can encourage customers to choose more expensive items.
Rhythm and tempo also influence your shoppers. Scientific findings generally agree that slower music causes shoppers to spend more time thinking over their purchases and enjoying the atmosphere. It also leads to increased sales. Up-tempo music encourages quicker shopping and fewer purchases.
Adjusting the volume of your music can also influence customer behavior. Studies show that loud music leads to less total time spent shopping when compared to softer music, but sales typically stay the same. If you run a small store, consider turning music up when the store gets busy to help manage traffic flow. When traffic is slow, soften the background music to lower stress levels and keep customers around.
How to Effortlessly Control Your Music
Implementing an intuitive and high-performance commercial sound system within your business is just as important as choosing the right genre, tempo, and volume of your background music. If your music is hard to manage, or your speaker placement is poor, you may risk losing customers and sales.
A Crestron multizone audio system installed by our team at AV Specialists features simple source control and distribution of your music to every zone of your restaurant or retail store. High-definition wired or wireless speakers placed strategically throughout your establishment deliver an evenly dispersed audio experience from corner to corner.
Pump high-quality audio through concealed speakers that stay out of your customers’ way, and even create an audio gradient in which music gets louder or softer throughout various zones of your building. By controlling everything from song selection to volume and more from one easy-to-use interface, you and your staff will spend less time tending to your music and more time tending to customers. Crestron makes it easy.
Transform the way you use your building sound system to impact customer behavior and boost sales. Our team can equip you with the latest audio solutions that feature crystal-clear sound and intuitive control so commanding your music is a piece of cake.
Find out more about our advanced audio solutions today by calling (727) 441-9292, filling out our online contact form, or sending us a live chat below.