Here’s an interesting Infographic about in-store marketing.   A couple of things jumped out at me–first, I can definitely vouch for the increasing use of smart phones in stores, as not only do I use mine a lot while shopping (either for my grocery list or to check reviews on a product I might buy) but it is a regular thing now to have a customer ask me for a product by showing it to me on their smartphone.  In many cases, they do not speak English well so it’s actually easier for both of us instead of having to decipher what they are trying to say. (Today I was asked for Mi-Tol, which I deciphered to Midol, and don’t even get me started about how many different pronunciations I’ve gotten for Imodium.)

The second thing is the in-store music.  If you’re shopping in a store, you probably don’t even notice the music, but there is a subliminal effect as the graphic shows, and having recently worked in a store where the music system has been down for months, I can tell you it’s actually very noticeable when there ISN’T music and it creates a very depressing environment over time.   If you’re working in a store, you may not consciously notice the music either, but it does tend to repeat a lot so after a while you will get sick of hearing certain songs.  And then there’s the commercials.  I guess marketing surveys must show that some people do actually respond to the commercials that play telling you how great Flonase is or how you can get a book of stamps at the register, but I have yet to have a customer actually say “Hey, do you have that Flonase stuff they just mentioned in that commercial that just played?”   Imagine watching television for 8 hours straight and seeing the same commercial about 24 times and you can understand why some retail workers look like they’re suffering brain damage.   I am forced to listen to Geico Insurance commercials all day and I can promise you I will NEVER buy insurance from them just for the misery it’s caused…