Music is more than just background

Music is more than just a background

Music affects our actions and can increase the customers focus on a product as well as the dwelling time in the store. For a better feeling customer and more revenue at the POS.

In Titanic, when Rose loses her love, we cry while „My Heat will go on“ plays. The National Anthem still sends shivers down our spine and if our children suffer from nightmares we sing „Twinkle twinkle little star“ to sing away the fear. A long car ride seems more bearable while listening to the right radio station and we will never forget the song that played during our first kiss. It seems music connects with our experiences and imaginations like There are only a few things that connect that easily with our experiences, our imagination and our emotions like music does.

Even in medicine the effect of music is being used

Doctors and therapists use this power music. It can ease pain and overcome obstacles in the human psyche. Even neuroscientists are interested in the effects rhythms and melodies. It turns out that music affects every part of our brain and our development, starting on the day we are able to hear. This powerful effect of music and sound was used by a well-known textile company – as one of the first companies in Germany – during the 1990s. Because of declining sales figures, the company was challenged to redefine the shopping experience for their customers. The customer does not just want to shop affordable clothes, he also wants to be in an environment that motivates him or her to buy more. Therefor management played music over their PA system, previously only used for offer calls and calling out lost children. Those measures were successful and the companies` sales went in the right direction. Nowadays it would be inconceivable for a company to have a store without any sonication.

Bild: Music strengthens corporate claim (identity?)

The author: Mark Sellmann of SoundExperts has longstanding experience in the domain of sonification.

Music has to satisfy the newest and most current challenges

The challenges of the 90s are more topical than ever. Today everyone has to provide a shopping experience so that the customer buys and stays in the actual store and not online. To get that the point of sale has to be as attractive and customer-friendly as possible. This is the distinct competitive advantage: The e-commerce can hardly attract any emotions. This segmentation is used by successful companies to increase flexibility, topicality and customer proximity in their stores. Music is an aid for those measures. For realigning or intensifying corporate claim, music carries the desired emotions. However, the times of ELA PA system sonification with 100 volts are over. Now streaming services are state of the art. In this domain experts develop and provide custom solutions with all requirements in mind.

Flexibility is a must

Complex reconstruction work are a thing of the past thanks to current technologies. Whereas in the past the store had to be closed for several weeks due to reconstructions, it now is possible to install new PA systems in several levels in less than an hour…during business. Sonification, especially today, has to meet certain expectations in design and sound. The PA system has to work at several different occasions, from a fashion show to a DJ event or a speech over a microphone, as well as at the daily sonification business. Another use for sonification is thematic sonification. The sound of chirping birds being played at a car dealer, for example, undermines the environmental aspect of the car and the company.

Quality is vital

This shows that using music at the POS to increase the revenue is no secret anymore. But there is one very important point that cannot be underestimated: the Quality of the music. Current premium sound systems are so precise that it is possible to hear the difference between 64 kbps and 256 kbps distinctly. To avoid this problem it is very important to use CD quality. Combined with the right music that serves the individual needs of every customer coming out of the right PA system, increasing the revenue is as easy as 123.