Over the last few weeks we’ve had the opportunity to talk to many business owners and brand managers about putting music into their stores, branches or retail spaces. Today I wanted to share with you a few ideas for doing just that.

When adding music to your business operation it’s important to remember that keeping music consistent with the environment is vital. Many studies have shown that when music is congruent with what people expect from a place of business that they then show a higher tendency to approach staff and purchase more. So, what this means is that if you are a high-end retailer you should be playing classical music.

Another thing to look at is music tempo. Music tempo is the speed of which music is played and is measured in beats per minute. In practice people have a tendency to move faster when fast music is played and when slow music is played they tend to move slower. For you as a business owner you need decide what you want the music or sound to accomplish. Once you have that in mind then picking a tempo becomes easier. For example, if you own a restaurant you want to decide if table turnover is more important or if ambiance and experience is what you are after.

One option you have with music in a retail space is to create zones. Each zone in the store can have a specific purpose. If you manage a hotel for example you could have one music set for concierge, another for the dinning room and another for the elevator. This works well because each zone has a different goal and desired action.

Lastly, you must consider whether you want a fully customized sound library or if pre-composed music would be better. With fully customized music you’ll have your own branded sound that can also be carried over into your other advertising channels. Also, with fully customized music you get to own the music. What that means is that no one else can use that music and therefore you end up with your own sound ID. If you are more budget minded pre-composed music will work just as well. The only caveat here is that you cannot own the music and you will need to pay extra in order to use the music in other advertising media.

In many cases the best way to reduce waiting time to deliver a service is to adjust the delivery system. That said you can only go so far with this method before quality starts to drop. In this brief article I want to share with you a few ways music can help create a better retail environment.

Music is a powerful mechanism for improving mood. Many of you have seen the recent viral video of a retired man hearing music from an earlier part of life and when he does you can see the joy come right back to him as if he was 16 again. In a similar fashion you can use music to improve the environment of your store or on hold system.

The key to success in using music to influence mood is to make it congruent with the environment or what is expected of the environment. That means if you run a fitness club you can choose energizing music but if you are a classy upscale restaurant then you should try some jazz or classical music.

Music tempo, the speed of music, is an influencer in how fast or slow we do things. For example, if you are a restaurant and you want to turn tables over a little quicker during a dinner service without upsetting customers then a faster tempo music can be used to aid in speeding up eating habits. When this happens your staff will be able to move quicker without jarring the customer.

Volume also has an impact. In this case you want the volume level to match your target demographic. Loud music typically would attract a younger audience where is softer music would be great for your parents.

All of these things help to improve mood and in some cases help to change the perception of wait time. Again, the one thing to remember is that music played in your store is a piece of your brand so it must be congruent or it will fail to attract your target audience.

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