In-Store Environment of Retail Outlets for Building Un-Rivaled Store Image - Essay Example

?Introduction This paper would tend to study about the in-store environment of retail outlets for building un-rivaled store image while influencing consumer buying behavior. Therefore providing the customers with unmatched shopping experience through effective and eye-catching retail environment has become quite essential for organizations to compete in the local and international retail industry. The in-store retail environment would remain the highlight of this study. In addition, this paper would also tend to shed light upon the importance of such environment along with its impact of consumer behavior and brand image. The prominent concepts of consumer perception, buying behavior and loyalty would also be highlighted in this study. In-Store Environment Physical environment of the retail stores play a crucial role in influencing consumer behaviors and provide the retail stores with an ability to create un-rivaled image particularly in service businesses. Additionally, retailers rely heavily on store atmosphere as it prolongs the time consumer spend in the store and increases impulse buying of the consumer. More importantly, enhancing the store atmosphere is the last option for the retailers in terms of gaining competitive advantage (Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel, 2006). A store environment can be best defined as an external stimulus that attracts individuals on personal level. The in-store environment includes cues, messages and suggestions for the customers to gain their attention so that they can spend quality time at the store. Retailers are provided with variety of benefits through effective and breathtaking in-store environment due to which they tend to design store environment that significantly enhances consumer’s positive feelings and motivation to purchase or stay longer in the retail store (Yoh, 2000). On the other hand, physical environment can be distributed into three categories. The three categories are as follows (Desmond, 2003): Ambient Conditions The ambient conditions include the intangible background features that influence the consumers on personal level. The background music, noise, temperature, lighting and odor influence the people’s perception towards the retail organization and its outlet. Spatial Layout and Functionality The spatial layout indicates the layout of the furniture and other equipment. Providing the customers to move freely in the store significantly influences the customers to frequently visit the store to satisfy the personal needs and wants. Signs, Symbols and Artifacts Communication with the customers in the store is quite essential. Communication either through direct medium or indirect medium can motivate the customers to stay longer at the retail store. Moreover, decoration and design of the signboards creates a positive image in the mind of the customers. Another classification of environmental factors is as follow (Mowen and Minor, 1997): Ambient Cues The ambient cues have significant impacts on potential customers as it includes attributes such as temperature, music, noise and lighting. Design Cues The design cues give rise to aesthetic feelings of the customers as it includes style, layout and architecture of the retail store. Social Cues Such cues relate to factors such as employees and the customers. The ability to provide the customers with effective and interactive employees can significantly motivate the customers through high quality service. Nature and Importance of In-Store Environment In the 21st century, providing the customers with unique and special retail environment has become a necessity for organization to enhance its differentiation from other retailers. This significantly provides the retail outlets with an ability to bind customers through the un-rivaled experience. Indeed, the retail outlets are showing interest in the design of outlets so that the outlet can create an experience that would lead to consumer purchasing behavior. Moreover, the design and the environment of the retail outlets are the two most prominent factors for image building and creating store personality (East, Wright, and Vanhuele, 2008). The retail design and layout could be considered as the summary of the entire business architecture, interior decoration and advertisement. An effective design of the retail outlet is much similar to a salesperson as it provides the organization with an ability to engage the customers effectively and sell itself (Silvera and Lavack, 2008; Spears, 2006). Although, the in-store environment is taken non-seriously by many retail outlets but the fact is that the interior physical environment is the best available advertisement that draws customer’s attention towards quality products offered by the outlet. Moreover, it creates un-rivaled brand experience and help to differentiate the retail outlet from others in the marketplace (Wang, Chang, and Wysong, 2012). With good retail design and infrastructure, the organization is provided with variety of benefits. One of such benefits includes maximization of sales. Customers are constantly in search of retail outlets that provide them with enough space to move around freely and can easily find the products they are looking for. This eventually means that the retail outlet space should be clean, well-lit, free of clutter, easy to move through and clearly present the offered products and services in unique way (Evans, Jamal, and Foxall, 2009; Kinley, Josiam, and Lockett, 2010). Apple Inc. is one of the practical examples of outstanding and unique in-store environment. The customers not only fascinated by the products offered by Apple but are also fond of the unique in-store environment provided to them. Apple has the winning formula for retail success and that in particular is its retail ambiance and unique design. Tens and thousands of people wait for hours to be the first to acquire free t-shirts offered by the company. Moreover, the un-rival ambiance and design of Apple’s outlet has allowed the organization to gain customer’s undivided attention in the market (Wong, 2012). Impact of In-store Environment Environment/atmosphere is quite essential marketing tool for the retail outlets whereas less effective for wholesalers and manufacturers as they have quite little control over the atmosphere where the products are offered to the customers. On the other hand, retail outlets have much of the products to be offered to the customers, due to which most of the attention must be given to the atmosphere of the outlet (Dawson and Kim, 2010; Hulten and Vanyushyn, 2011). The rising number of competitors in the retail industry has made it quite essential for retail outlets to focus highly on atmosphere as the kind of products and services offered to the customers is quite similar in terms of quality and price. Furthermore, competitive markets where price is the least important factor, the differentiation between the retailers highly relies upon the ability to provide un-equaled in-store environment to the customers (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2009). The impact of outstanding and un-rivaled in-store environment on the mind of customers is as follows: Consumer Perception Creating a superior perception in the minds of consumer is quite essential for the success of the retail outlet. In order to create an un-rivaled perception such as Apple or Tesco, the retailers are focusing highly on in-store atmosphere as it identifies the brand and the retail store. Customers tend to frequently visit retail stores that provide them with superior shopping experience along with quality of products and services (Neal, Quester, & Hawkins, 2004). Store atmosphere attracts the consumer and influences them to change their attitude and perception towards the retail outlet. The overall quality of the products and services along with store atmosphere has remained the top element in gaining consumer’s attention in the market. Moreover, the in-store atmosphere of a retail outlet influences the consumer to change his/her perception and eventually motivates the consumer to spent more time at the retail store as compared to earlier visits (O’Dougherty, Haynes, Davies, & O’Connor, 2007). On the other hand, improper and ineffective retail atmosphere creates a negative perception towards the retail outlet. As a result, the consumer would tend to decrease the time spent at that particular retail store (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2010). Buying Behavior When the consumers are provided with un-matched in-store retail atmosphere, it generates two major emotional states in the minds’ of the consumer i.e. pleasure and arousal. This means that the consumer tend to spend more time at the retail store while enjoying and entertaining him/herself while shopping (Bitner, 1992). This eventually leads the consumers to spend more of the money to purchase goods and services offered by the retail store. Moreover, the in-store environment could lead to two contrasting form of behavior i.e. approach or avoidance. Approach behavior motivates the consumers to spend more time within the retail store and to experience and explore the environment provided to them whereas; avoidance behavior is quite opposite of approach behavior (Pachauri, 2002; Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, and Hogg, 2010). When provided with outstanding in-store environment, the consumers tend to generate positive behavior towards the retail outlet which encourages them to stay longer in the retail store and to find the desired product and services through interaction with the employees (Parsons, 2009). Moreover this positive behavior towards the atmosphere helps the customer to purchase more of a product and the customer develops positive store image while improving the products and services quality perceptions (Muruganatham and Bhakat, 2013). As a result, the positive buying behavior of the customer eventually leads to positive word-of-mouth behavioral that provides the organization with an opportunity to increase its sales and revenues with no or little costs associated with advertisement (Morrison, Gan, and Dubelaar, 2011). Conclusion In-store environment is one of the most considered factors to attract new customers while retaining old customers (Ballantine and Parsons, 2010). Tesco, Apple, Burberry and other retail giants have significantly attracted variety of customers through their outstanding and un-matched store design and layout. Due to such in-store atmosphere, tens and thousands of customer wait for hours to enter the shop so they can acquire their desired goods and services (Peter and Olson, 2008). Although, customer can be attracted within a store through simple interior but making them to stay longer requires attraction point which can only be gained through effective in-store environment (Schiffman, Kanuk, and Hansen, 2011). In-store environment encourages the customers to spend quality time in exploring the environment while looking for the products and services again and again within the same retail store. Positive perception and superior brand image motivates the customer to change their behavior towards the products and services offered by the company (Xue, 2008). LIST OF REFERENCES Ballantine, P., Jack, R., and Parsons A. (2010). 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