5 More reasons why you should play music at your Business.

This is a continuation of the 5 Reasons article we published earlier. Here, we give you 5 more reasons why playing music at your business is good for you, your business, your customers and your employees.

By masking the sounds of voices and movements, background music helps create a personal space for customers, giving them privacy as they walk around the store, browse the products and make comments to friends or family. This considered, it is perhaps unsurprising that a whopping 99% of staff who work in stores without music think that shops that play music are more modern and appealing places to shop. Ouch!

Studies show that the speed, rhythm and volume of in-store music affects the pace of customer flow through the store. When calm music is playing at a low volume, people tend to wander around the aisles slowly; on the other hand, when energetic, loud songs are playing, people tend to accelerate their pace through the store. Interestingly, the pace of customer flow doesn’t appear to affect sales.A smart in-store music strategy will take into account these effects, and play different styles based on the time of the day and desired goals. For example, a retailer may decide to play fast tempo, louder music when it’s close to closing time, to encourage customers to speed through the store; conversely, slow music could be played during off-peak times, to inspire shoppers to wander around and browse the merchandise for longer.

Music can affect people’s perception of time. A long queue will feel shorter if there is good music playing in the background. It’s the same principle behind the melodies played while callers are put on hold. When people are entertained, they are less likely to get bored or annoyed — and likelier to return.

Research shows that music can influence what shoppers choose and how much they buy. A 2005 study revealed that people tend to spend more on impulse buys when pleasant music is playing. The effect was present even when people did not notice the music playing in the store, showing that music has a subconscious (yet very real!) effect on shopping habits. More interestingly, the type of music played can act as a trigger for specific purchases.Classical music, for example, has been found to influence shoppers to buy more expensive items. Scientists believe that it may be because classical music evokes feelings of high quality and elegance, and thus influences shopping decisions in that direction. If you run a high-class store, you may want to consider playing classical tunes as a backdrop to your customers’ browsing.In an often-quoted research published in Nature in 1997, researcher played various types of music in a wine store. They found that when French music was playing, people would buy more French wines; when German music was playing instead, people bought more German wines. Amazingly, the shoppers themselves were not aware that the music had had any influence on their wine choices.Is your music strategy designed to support your specific sales goals?

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