Cracking the Code on Impulse Buying
Impulse shopping is a seemingly elusive phenomenon characterized by fads and trends, often chalked up to lightning in a bottle. But impulse poses a real opportunity – both in e-commerce and brick and mortar alike. Unfortunately, “lightning in a bottle” is more of a hope than a strategy. In 2022, the average person spent $314 per month on impulse shopping. How can retailers develop strategic thinking in regard to capturing their fair share of impulse shopping?
As both a distribution and sourcing partner for CPG brands & retailers, accelerate360 conducted a research study called The Impulse Equation using proprietary sales, merchandising and proximity data. The study found the key drivers of impulse to be more esoteric than typical retail segments. The psychology of impulse lives deep within the consumer subconscious — meaning, category managers must factor in emotions as powerful purchase drivers. Regarding decision-making, emotional reactions are processed 3,000 times faster than rational thought and are 24 times more persuasive.
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To tap into impulse shopping, retailers need to lean into the psycho-emotional motivators that drive buying decisions. Joy is one of the biggest emotional drivers and strategic concepts influencing impulse shopping. Joshua Hicks, a psychologist at Texas A&M University’s Existential Psychology Collaboratory, notes that when it comes to joy, “It’s not these big things that we sort of create in our heads, but these smaller day-to-day experiences that bring us meaning.”
This concept, coined “joy snacking” by The Washington Post’s Richard Sima, is about finding small, simple pleasures to feel happier. In times of economic stress, small doses of joy can go a long way. There’s a reason we call it “retail therapy.” Shopping can increase dopamine and provide a simple pop of joy – especially when purchasing unplanned items.
How can retailers effectively merchandise impulse products to create more joy? Our research explored the trip mission. Knowing that every shopping visit originates from a different mission makes creating spontaneous joy challenging. However, we found a common theme among our national dataset: top-performing stores acknowledge the emotion behind shopping occasions and evenly distribute impulse items in both Complement-based and Traffic-based locations within the store.
Here are examples of these merchandising techniques:
- Complement-Based Merchandising includes arranging like items with like accessories and plays to the function of the adjacent product. For example, placing coffee stirrers in the coffee aisle or a wine opener in the beverage aisle creates a joyful moment for the shopper. While the purchase may be unexpected, it’s adjacent and therefore convenient – sparking the joy of efficiency.
- Traffic-Based Merchandising creates inspiration and brings joy by playing into the trip mission or occasion. Imagine toothpicks in the wine aisle or a wine opener in the cheese bunker. Both of these placements can inspire ideas of hosting a wine and cheese event – thus bringing joy through an inspired consumption occasion.
With these impulse programs in mind, merchants can win by deploying a dual strategy that connects multiple trip missions and consumer emotion, whatever it may be in the moment.
