Foot in the shop door

As soon as you step into a shop, you’re bombarded with tactics to get you to buy more. Over the Christmas holidays, I worked in a clothes shop. Whilst working there, my boss would always tell me ways to try and get people to buy more. I didn’t often encourage customers to do any of these, because I thought: ‘who would fall for that?’ Most of these use the ‘foot in the door’ strategy (Freedman & Fraser, 1966):

·      ‘Say hi to every customer’.

By being friendly to customers, they may feel some sort of loyalty to you and be more inclined to buy something. People always want to please others, so buying something they want will please them and also the shop workers which makes them feel good.

·      ‘If they’re buying a bag, tell them about some shoes that will go perfectly.’

If the customer commits to buying one item, they will be more likely to buy another one. If they’re buying an outfit for a certain occasion, tempting them by something that goes well is hard to resist.

·         Gift cards

When you get to the checkout, especially at Christmas time, you’re always asked whether you’d like a gift card as well. They’re an easy present choice and when you’re already at the checkout, there’s bound to be someone you haven’t bought a present for.

References

Freedman, J. L., & Fraser, S. C. (1966). Compliance without pressure: the foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of personality and social psychology, 4(2), 195.