In additional to demographic and social influences, we also examine some of the situational factors that influence consumer decision making, such as the design and presentation of a retail environment. While many retailers seek to maximize sales and grow their customer base, “taking care” of the customer is something retailers are also becoming more focused on today. Creating comfortable, accessible, and pleasant retail environments that help customers achieve their shopping goals is a win-win for retailers and customers alike. And yes, the price-conscious consumer may be less concerned with the tidiness of a change room or the careful folding pattern of shirts, but nonetheless, it is still important for retailers to take care of their customers. Whether they are limited due to time (shopping on a lunch break) or patience (have you ever shopped with a toddler?), customers are influenced by nearly everything around them when they are immersed in the retail experience.

The science of consumer behavior describes and even defines how you shop and, more importantly, why you buy. Smart retailers study consumer behavior patterns and lay out their stores and merchandise accordingly. For example, did you know that 86 percent of women look at price tags when they shop, while only 72 percent of men do (Underhill, 1999)? And did you know that the average shopper doesn’t actually notice anything that’s in the entrance of a store?

Situational Influences on Consumer Decision Making

Shopping. It’s the national pastime for some but a detested necessity for others. Whether you love shopping (“Oh, that is sooooooo cute!”) or do everything to avoid it (“I’m not going to the mall, no matter what”), it is a major source of spending. But what makes you stop and pick up one sweater but not another? What makes you buy a pair of jeans you weren’t even looking for? What makes you walk out of the store spending more than you had planned?

Shopping experiences involve customers interacting with tangible and intangible aspects of a shopping environment. Some of the most significant influences on our decisions to buy are: atmospherics; crowding; location; layout; time; and, mood.

Atmospherics

The effects of store atmospherics on shopping behaviour have been explored since the 1960s (Turley & Millman, 2000). Kotler (1973) was the first to use and define the term atmospherics. He argues that consciously controlled and designed consumption space can influence the emotional state of the customers, which increase their likelihood of making purchases (Kotler, 1973). The set of controllable characteristics of environmental cues are “atmospherics”.

More recently, researchers have contextualized atmospheric cues such as music, lighting, colour and crowding in retail settings, and investigated how these various atmospheric variables contribute to shopping outcomes such as approach/avoidance, affective response, merchandise/retailer evaluations, shopping satisfaction, and intention to purchase (Plunkett, 2013).

Based on a review of empirical studies of atmospheric effects on shopping behaviour, Turley & Milliman (2000) created a comprehensive table that systematically categorizes the variables into five groups: external variables; general interior variables; layout and design variables; point of purchase (POP) and decoration variables; and, human variables. Please refer to the table below for more details.

Among the five groups of variables, external variables are those mostly determined when a store location is selected and are most challenging to change after the store opens. However, there are still aspects that are within the control of a retailer, but oftentimes overlooked. For example, exterior signage, entrances and exterior display windows are all important elements that can make positive first impressions on shoppers and entice them to enter the store. These variables are integral to a retailer’s brand image and should reflect a retailer’s overall business strategy.

General interior variables are within the control of a retailer, but they are unlikely to be changed regularly unless a remodeling project is done. The lifespan of a remodel is driven by market competition, but generally speaking, many retailers have programs which call for a minor renovation every five years and a full remodel every ten years (Avis, 2012). Among the general interior variables, music, scents, temperature and cleanliness should be carefully controlled and monitored on a regular basis. Retailers have full control over layout and design variables and point-of-purchase (POP) and decoration variables, all of which directly contribute to customers’ shopping experiences. Human variables should be included in retailers’ operation strategies.

Crowding

Crowding is another situational factor. Have you ever left a store and not purchased anything because it was just too crowded? Some studies have shown that consumers feel better about retailers who attempt to prevent overcrowding in their stores. However, other studies have shown that to a certain extent, crowding can have a positive impact on a person’s buying experience. The phenomenon is often referred to as “herd behavior” (Gaumer & Leif, 2005).

Location

Retailers have traditionally provided consumers with access to their goods and services through retail stores. Location decisions are critical to the ultimate success of the retail enterprise.

Good locations allow ready access, attract large numbers of customers and increase the potential sales of retail outlets… even slight differences in location can have significant effects on market share and profitability (ghosh & McLafferty, 1987).

While many elements of retail and service strategy are dynamic and fast-changing, location decisions are by contrast traditionally long-term and binding. For example, it is relatively straightforward for a retailer or service provider to change pricing, product/service assortment or advertising. However, the physical “bricks-and-mortar” of store locations are a form of grounded capital that cannot be easily altered or quickly changed. As such, there is an underlying inertia to retail location decisions; once made, the organization usually must live with the decision for many years to come.

Layout

Have you ever been in a department story and couldn’t find your way out? No, you aren’t necessarily directionally challenged. Marketing professionals take physical factors such as a store’s design and layout into account when they are designing their facilities. Presumably, the longer you wander around a facility, the more you will spend. Grocery stores frequently place bread and milk products on the opposite ends of the stores because people often need both types of products. To buy both, they have to walk around an entire store, which of course, is loaded with other items they might see and purchase.

Think about the last time you went into a grocery store or drug store; you might not have noticed anything until you were well inside the store, which means that the merchandise and signs that were displayed in the area before you got your bearings were virtually invisible to you (Underhill, 1999). Based on consumer research, there’s a high likelihood that you turned right when you entered the store. Take note the next time you go shopping; chances are, you’ll turn right after you walk in (Underhill, 1999).

According to Paco Underhill, famous marketer, CEO and founder of EnviroSell, and author of the book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, consumers don’t actually begin shopping until a certain point after they enter the store. That’s why smart retailers include a “transition zone” at the entry to their store; it allows customers to get their bearings and choose their shopping paths. In other words, products, signs, and displays that are in the very front of the store might not be seen if there is not a transition for the customers when they enter. In the case of Abercrombie & Fitch, the transition is the space just inside the entrance that includes the humongous photo of an Abercrombie model. When you go into Hollister, it’s the outside porch that serves the same purpose; it’s a transition that allows you to get your focus and plot your course in the store, even if you don’t consciously realize it.

Some retail environments have taken great care to design and support a comfortable and intuitive shopping experience for their customers: a smooth transition zone at the front of the store; a basket or bag located in the transition zone so customers can collect and hang on to their selections easily; wide aisles that allow for multi-directional traffic, but also wheelchairs and baby strollers; easy access to items that customers want to reach and examine closely in their hands; and, clean and tidy change rooms that make customers feel comfortable getting undressed in.

Research shows that customers shop in different types of stores with varying expectations for their shopping experiences. Based on empirical findings, Yoon (2013) reported that department store shoppers preferred affective experiences the most, whereas discount store and online shoppers preferred rational experiences. The author reasoned that department stores tend to draw customers with lifestyle products and pleasant store atmospherics, therefore, customers expect to derive a hedonic shopping experience, which involves pure enjoyment, excitement, captivation, escapism, and spontaneity beyond the purchase of product itself (Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994).

In contrast, customers shopping in discount stores and online usually are mostly value seekers who focus on price or functionality of products. Therefore, they expect utilitarian value when they shop. The customers may evaluate their shopping experience exclusively on the tangible attributes of goods and services acquired from their shopping trips (Holbrook, 1986), as well as on whether a purchase is made in a deliberate and efficient manner (Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994).

Store designs should aim to satisfy the types of shopping experience customers are looking for. Permanent stores, department stores, specialty stores and boutiques should strive to reflect more on customers’ need for sensory and experiential shopping attributes, while discount stores, dollar stores, hypermarkets, outlet stores, warehouse stores and thrift stores need to highlight the value proposition that customers are seeking.