The Effect of Storefront Appearance on Shopper Behavior

Before I report my results, I must explain how I conducted my observation, or my research methods. To say that I only walked a lap around the Walmart store and left would be far from the truth. I dressed like an average shopper even making sure to grab a buggy. I started my observation in the grocery department, making the transition to the electronics,

In “Enclosed. Encyclopedic. Endured: The Mall of America,” David Guterson’s description concerning the Mall of America researches into numerous surfaces that are entrenched throughout the mall both physically and psychologically. David Guterson claims that the Mall is a psychological impact on the applicants inside. He makes this claim through his portrayals of the shopping mall’s: exterior and interior environment, the people he interviews, and the malls many titles.

The North Hanover Mall is an average shopping center with various stores and small attractions. Typically, the mall is not over-crowded; however, during the evenings and weekends it is well-traveled. There are the average chain stores such as JCPenny’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Hallmark, and Bath and Body Works. Likewise, there are some smaller, lesser known stores, for example, a few nail and hair salons, cafes, a pizza shop, and a sports apparel store. In general, there is a diverse mix of people shopping, from ethnicity to ages and group sizes. The night I choose to do my social observation the mall was much busier than I had anticipated. There was a Halloween event and an antique car show; both circumstances brought more individuals than usual into the shopping complex.

Stores that operate stand alone locations that are separate from large malls and other shopping outlets can make their stores more inviting with bright exterior LED lighting. A shopper will

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Task 4 (P2.3) - Explain what the different forms of customer traffic flows are, with examples

Shopping has become a daily activity which happens a billion times in America and around the world. We cannot imagine how our lives would be affected if shopping was suddenly stopped. Malcolm Gladwell and Anne Norton both write articles about two sides of modern day shopping: how consumers have impacted the retail industry and how the industry influences consumers. In the article " The Science of Shopping," Malcolm Gladwell, a well-known writer and journalist, analyzes the shopping behaviors of customers and how retailers can lure customers; while Anne Norton, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, in

Everyday thousands of retail stores throughout the United States open up their stores in the morning for the sole purpose of attracting customers and selling them merchandise. For this assignment I decided to do a store analysis of the retail giant Wal-Mart. To begin with I will evaluate the store layout and design. Next I will explain the visual merchandising techniques used that Wal-Mart uses. Finally I will discuss the problems and recommendations that I have for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has continually been a leader in the retail industry, and it all starts with the layout of the store.

For example, more stores in San Diego are stocked with tourism in mind, not all items are practical for daily living. When Daniel stops at the convenience store on his way home from work he typically does not see a full range of products. Usually, Daniel purchases candles to make his home smell good. Candles make up more than half of the air care sales, so this is common consumer behavior (Kraushaar, 2015). Being in a metro mix area controls the store size and contributes to the higher price ranges. This affects how and where Daniel purchases products.

For generations, Americans has been brainwashed by the media to believe that what is displayed on television is the ideal perception of what real beauty have manipulated American citizens of what style looks like. Furthermore, with their many brainwashing strategies, that means more and more consumers spending beyond their budget. Our perspectives have been heavily influenced by what they believe is nice, but can we afford it all? With unrealistic combination of goods in store, plazas, and mall, consuming has become a bad behavior of some. In support of my argument of the “Overspending”, author Gladwell’s article “The Science of Shopping” also argues that stores adjust to fit the needs and wants of the shopper are evidently presented. With that being said, we have no idea when we are being manipulated into unrealistic shopping behavior that is influenced by the way the advertisement is presented in visual sight. Author Gladwell gets a “retail anthropologist” and “urban geographer” named Paco Underhill to give breakdown points of how he helps brand name stores influence consumers into persuasion of buying more. However, most of us fall short of that discipline, while being persuaded to overspend during our store visits.

In order to conduct the search for relevant articles, the Pro Quest was searched. As the research is about impact of retail environment elements on consumers shopping behavior the combinations of the following key words were used (buying behavior or shopping behavior or Spending behavior) and (consumers or shoppers) and (mall environment or mall atmosphere or mall attributes) The following limits were applied to the search results: studies published between 2000 and 2015, and written in the English language. As a result of this search, ten studies were identified. Additionally, the titles and

Consumers have certain behavioral tendencies when faced in certain situations. In Why We Buy, the author Paco Underhill details certain behavioral characteristics people tend to have in different types of retail stores. Many consumers don’t think about what their actions mean when checking out or buying products. But to Mr. Underhill, the gender of the person, the people they’re with, the amount of times the person touches an object, the amount of time spent on checking a particular product, the time they came in, and the time they leave, all factor into a database to determine different behavioral trend consumers have. It is these trends that they find in order to correct a problem a store or retailer didn’t know they have to increase sales and create a better flow in the store environment.

Consumers must feel that they are making the right decision. Physical stores can not only offer a beautiful place filled with all sorts of aesthetically appealing items, but also they offer a social experience. For many, “going food shopping” has become a ritualistic outing. Thus, online suppliers must counter-act this. In order to do so, not only must they somehow lure the consumer in in the first place, but also they must be mindful that the consumers’ experiences must be perfect. This means that they must first engage the clients without having a location and then be sure that inventory and offerings are totally accurate and that no products are damaged in the process. Online suppliers have tried to differentiate themselves and find a niche in offering something that is more “green” and environmentally friendly. Whilst supermarkets can only tell customers to bring their own bags, online retailers not only can say that they are more ecologically friendly, but also offer even more “green” options at a higher cost. Operationally this translates into a massive online experience that needs qualified programmers, designers, product development experts, able to discern the right online configuration needed to convince

The purpose of this paper was to observe the consumers of a retail store of my choice; I chose to observe Victoria’s Secret and Targets consumers, because I myself am consumers of those stores quite often, then to analyze the behavior of the consumers of Victoria’s Secret and Target. Victoria’s Secret and Target consumers differ because of the difference in type of retail they offer and sell. Victoria’s Secret consumers know what they are going to be shopping for women and certain needs or wants they are looking to satisfy. Target consumers shop for any age and any gender,

The behavior was observed from a large sample of people. This included twenty people shopping alone and twenty people shopping in a group, for a total of forty subjects, each ranging in ages from approximately 19 to 40 years old. The subjects were observed from the time they entered the store until the time they left. The reasoning behind this was to see the buying behavior differences for the whole experience and figure out which areas of the store could be improved in order to appeal to groups of people shopping. The behaviors observed included the amount of time spent inside the store, the amount of money spent, the interactions with associates, and the areas of the stores that were navigated.

Store environment could affect shoppers’ behaviors in several ways. Store environment also influences various stages of shoppers’ cognitive process inside a store, including attention, perception, categorization and information processing. For example, it has been shown that perceived waiting time varies with the valence of music and consumers’ categorization of a restaurant as a fast food outlet depends largely on the external appearance of the store .While the foregoing discussion is mainly concerned about the immediate effects of store environment, store environment may also have lagged or carryover effects on