Retailers understand that customers who stay in a store longer will spend more. But, as a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report points out, the key for retailers is how to get customers to want to stay in the store rather than have them feel as though they can't get out.
For OfficeMax, achieving that goal includes a new prototype that has lower shelves to give shoppers greater visual access to the interior of the store from a main aisle that circles around the perimeter. The thought is that opening up the interior aisles will lead more shoppers to choose another, longer route.
The office supply chain has also created an area where it makes no attempt to sell shoppers anything. The area is located near the printing center and it offers free Wi-Fi access and coffee to shoppers. The theory is simple. If customers have to wait on a printing job, make it more enjoyable to wait. Take the drudgery out and shoppers will return more often.
Stein Mart has taken another approach to making customers feel at home in its stores. The chain hires women to work one day a week serving iced tea and cookies while handing out fashion advice in its boutique clothing department.
Macy's has expanded its dressing room and adjacent waiting areas to put shoppers at ease. The chain recently announced it was testing restaurants operated by famous chefs such as Wolfgang Puck and Todd English in its stores.
"We're creating a place for shoppers to rest and refresh, and another point of differentiation for us," said Tom Cole, vice chairman of Federated Department Stores told the St. Petersburg Times. "We have to keep changing to make department stores more interesting."
Discussion Questions: Should retailers be thinking in terms of forcing traffic patterns or other strategies to extend the length of the shopping trip? What stores do the best job of keeping customers shopping without making them feel as if they are being detained? Are there commonalities shared by these businesses?