Attract Vs. Repel

Does your store have an "ick" factor?

By Linda Cahan

The dreaded “ick” factor is a silent killer of sales. Rarely will a person come into your home medical equipment (HME) showroom and exclaim, “Wow, this place is just awful!” However, what they will do is buy what they came in for and find another place to shop in the future. If you’re the only place for miles around and it’s a choice of shopping at your place or online, they may switch to online if it's more pleasant than coming into your store.

We humans are mammals; complicated ones, to be sure, but still just animals. As such, we have unconscious reactions to anything that doesn’t feel safe or comfortable. When an animal enters a space, their senses are on high alert. They internally asks questions, such as: Does it smell safe? Can I see what’s hiding in the corner? Is it safe to walk through this area? How do I get out without being trapped? Can I relax in here? Am I welcome?

We humans do exactly the same thing. It’s unconscious, but our reptilian brain—the part of our brain that is associated with self-preservation—immediately takes in everything related to our survival and our ability to thrive in a new environment.

Have you ever walked into a room and just stood there wondering what on earth you came in for? To remember, you must walk back out to where you were, and it may come back to you. This is not something that just happens to older people; it’s a common human experience. I taught visual merchandising at Parsons School of Design in New York and at The Art Institute in Portland, Oregon. My students were always considerably younger than me, but they often had the same experience. A study done by Gabriel Radvansky, a psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame, found that “entering or exiting through a doorway serves as an ‘event boundary’ in the mind, which separates episodes of activity and files them away.” Having a mental clean slate when we walk into a new space allows us to take in all the impressions of that space with our reptilian brains, such as "safe or unsafe?" Sadly, every time I walk into my kitchen and forget what I came for, I eat something.

I did a casual survey of friends to ask them what they considered to be repellent factors in a store. The demographics of my survey group consisted of white people from ages 50 to 73.

Interestingly, the first thing many mentioned was a greeting that feels phony. So much for all my fascination with animalistic behavior! But right on the heels of, “Hi, welcome to Whatever, how can I help you?” was the bombardment of the senses.

When asked what the first sense assaulted was, the answers ranged and included each of the senses. Loud music was a major issue for everyone. Next was a bad odor, such as mildew, chemicals, a backed-up sewer or someone microwaving a fish taco. A few people—myself included—hated fake floral scents. Personally, I can’t go into a Yankee Candle store or even near the candle itself. The light level was another irritation factor. If it felt too dark, people felt they couldn’t see the merchandise, the signage or the prices well. Messiness and overstocked fixtures came next, along with fixtures filled with cheap grab-and-buy items right in the entry area, which made it difficult to walk into the rest of the store. Lastly, was disgust with the feeling of grime, dirt and dust in the store.

Fortunately, most of these icky things are free to fix. While a few may a bit more expensive, all are the type of thing that you shouldn’t put off. Although you and your staff may be used to whatever is going on, a customer will not be and does not want to shop at a place they perceive as icky! Here’s how to tackle the worst offenders.

1. REWORK THE DREADED ROTE "WELCOME" SPEECH.

It always sounds phony. Customers know that whoever is welcoming them has been told exactly what to say by a team of lawyers, psychologists and managers; it’s always something safe and ostensibly warm-feeling. People just want to be acknowledged when they come into your showroom or repair operation. Saying, "Hi,” making eye contact and smiling works well. It makes someone feel seen. A smile is friendly and non-aggressive.

Cost to fix: Free.

2. FACE & CHANGE THE MUSIC.

What is right for your sales staff can be horribly wrong for your customers. Years ago, a close friend of mine had a successful crystal store in Westport, Connecticut. Once a week, her 16-year-old son worked the store in the afternoons, and once a week, she had zero sales. I did some investigation and found that the bass from the store's music was so intense, I could feel it in the soles of my feet while I was 20 feet from the store. Metallica and crystals are not a match. No customers ventured into the store when that music was playing, because the music just didn’t work with the products. Similarly, friends often complain about loud rap or techno-dance music in stores and restaurants. While it’s lovely to entertain your staff, they won’t have jobs if your customers are unhappy. Find a music that works for people of all ages, such as classic rock, classic country rock (for parts of the country that love it best), classic upbeat melodic jazz and classical music—but nothing atonal or dirge-like, please.

Cost to fix: Whatever you’re paying now for streaming music.

3. ADDRESS ANY ODOR.

Mildew is a killer, not just because it smells awful and sticks to everything you sell, but also because it can make anyone with mold or mildew allergies sick, either immediately or over time. Additionally, it can intensify asthma and bronchial conditions quickly. Mildew is created by moisture and humidity. If your store smells like mildew, figure out where it’s coming from, and use a mix of vinegar and baking soda to wipe down every surface you can to remove the odor. If you don’t smell it, ask customers you know well for their honest opinions.

Chemicals, bottled or boxed, often emit strong odors. It's difficult to remove chemical smells from the area where you store and sell them. Consider putting a fan in that area or a ceiling vent with a fan to suck up the scent and, hopefully, disperse it out of your roof.

Cost to fix: Varies from inexpensive natural remedies to more expensive electronic remedies, such as dehumidifiers.

4. DON'T FALL FOR FAKES.

Fake scents can be as annoying as mildew. For people who are scent-sensitive to fake florals, vanilla and patchouli (true ick), using these scents can be sales killers. Scents that work for most people are food-based—and we’re not talking about anything fishy. Popular scents include citrus, cookies and any other baked goods. However, if you’re scenting the store with cookies or baked goods, people will feel hungry. That’s great if you’re giving out free cookies, but if you aren’t, they will leave sooner in their desire for food. Citrusy scents are your best bet, but use all natural oils in diffusers around the store. This way, you can control how much is diffused into the air, so that it smells light and fresh. With any scent you decide to introduce into the store, please make sure it doesn’t repel any of your staff. No scent is better than a repellent one.

Cost to fix: Natural scent oils vary in price. You can usually find good quality oils in local health food stores. Diffusers come in many price points, but a great-smelling store is worth the money!

5. SHINE A LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT.

The light level of a store is very important for any human over the age of 40. Around then, our eyes start losing their ability to see well in low light. As we age, the muscles that control both the size of our pupils and their reaction to light lose some strength. This causes the pupil to become less responsive to changes in ambient lighting. Because of these changes, people in their sixties need three times more ambient light for comfortable reading than those in their twenties. For example, it’s as if a 60-year-old is wearing dark sunglasses in the same room as a person in their 20s or 30s.

You must light a store so that your older customers feel comfortable, welcome and can read the prices. Generally, younger customers aren’t going to complain about the store being too light, but older people will complain if it’s too dark—either in person or by simply shopping elsewhere.

One trick to make this fix more affordable is to light your walls and floor fixtures with attention to the signage. You don’t need a lot of light directed on the aisles unless you have level changes. However, level changes require a lot of light for safety.

If you have all fluorescents and the bulbs are more than eight months old, they should all be replaced, as they’ve faded significantly over that amount of time. Regular fluorescent bulbs will lose 20% to 25% of their lumen power after 4,000 hours of use. They usually die around 10,000 hours. Interestingly, the longer you keep them on, the better. Switching them on and off causes them to fade more quickly.

Cost to fix: Depends on how much lighting you need to add. If you only add LEDs, they will save you money.

6. KEEP THINGS CLEAN.

It's important to take care of clutter, dirt and other factors that can drag you down, including: Cardboard display fixtures near your front door: These semi-flimsy units usually hold seasonal “pick-up” merchandise. When they’re sitting in the decompression zone where customers walk in and scan the store to see where they want to go, these fixtures often block their view and prevent customers from entering the store comfortably. Cost to fix: Free! Move them out of the way so people can see your store and where they need to go.

Messiness: This is simple—there should never be boxes on the floor waiting to get stocked on the shelves, unless there is person actively emptying the boxes. Boxes waiting for postal services pick-up need their own area that is out of the customer’s view. Additionally, a messy sales desk looks disorganized, and a disorganized store cuts deeply into the customers perception of the quality of your work. These perceptions are unconscious and powerful. Cost to fix: Free. Do it now; it matters!

Dirt, dust, grime and grease: This is a no-brainer; there should never be any of these on your merchandise, fixtures, walls, floors, shelves, counters or your clothing—unless you’re repairing a wheelchair! Just imagine your mother or some very picky friend doing the white-glove test in your store. Men and women alike will be repulsed if your store is any of the above. Cost to fix: Free. Once again—do it now!

Each of these things matter to your customers. It pays to have someone neutral come to your store and let you know what they think. Even if you think it’s perfect, stay open-minded. It will pay off immediately when you make any of these improvements. Even non-picky people don’t want to feel icky!

Linda Cahan of Cahan & Co. has a proven track record of helping retailers of all stripes to look better to sell more. She consults with retailers of all sizes and categories to improve their bottom line through creative, affordable and appropriate visual merchandising, store design and retail renovations.