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Retail Top 100 2012, No. 88: Cafes and other amenities

May 15, 2012

Black Friday marketers and gamification advocates please take note: There is strong evidence that shoppers will actually buy more — and even pay more — when they are relaxed. A new study in the Journal of Marketing Research finds that a calm shopper might spend up to 15 percent more than a stressed shopper would for the same item. So how do retailers help their customers relax? Some are offering soothing amenities and pampering services such as trays of complimentary cocktails and finger food, private events before and after regular store hours, and cushy lounge areas with free Wi-Fi and flat screens that encourage shoppers to linger. Department stores and boutiques are adding in-store cafés, or breaking up a large store into small rooms, says Jim Bieri, principal at retail real estate-consulting firm Stokas Bieri Real Estate in Detroit. “They engineer it so that some are almost empty, on purpose.”

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