Carol Spieckerman

Grocery Theatricals Put Under the Spotlight

July 28, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Enticing smells will increase spend and build loyalty. What you see, however, isn't always what it appears to be. Do you buy the argument that supermarket theatricals are a means of misleading the consumer or do you see them as an essential element of improving the shopping experience?      [more...]

Just yesterday, a UK client was chatting with me about how the UK market is much more open to retail theater and I shared my belief that the US market is theatrically challenged. The model here still hinges on ensuring that the senses are not negatively drawn vs. leveraging the positive possibilities. Cutting clutter, clearing aisles, turning down the volume, extracting that tire smell (how did Sam's accomplish that, anyway?), etc. I'll take a good old-fashioned bread fake any day.