Shhhh… We’re Shopping
Instead of pumping music and turning up the lights, a handful of retailers are offering quiet hours for shoppers. Does it help or hurt sales?
Is there any store or coffee shop you can wander into today that isn’t piping in music or raising lights almost to the level of an arena stage? And does any of it actually help sales?
In a little-noticed but interesting tactic, two major retail chains are now offering so-called “quiet hours” for shoppers featuring minimal lighting and no music. The purpose is to help those who are neurodivergent, as well as those (stores are gambling that their numbers are growing) who are fed up with the loud, bright surroundings. “They’re going to go after any consumer they can get—and quiet is broadly popular to many consumers these days,” says retail expert Craig Rowley, senior client partner at Korn Ferry.
The question is, how popular? Experts have long felt that loud and exciting environments can motivate shoppers, particularly younger ones, into making purchases. Indeed, a foundational Journal of Marketing study in 1982 found that certain music caused shoppers to move more slowly and spend more. Over the years, research by retailers fine-tuned these findings. Firms learned that music could be used to nudge customers out the door (as overcrowded coffee shops do, for instance, by playing tunes with a fast tempo) or spur more spending during down times (as slower music has been shown to do). Thus, music and glaring lights became a norm at stores.
But many shoppers now find the din and glare of stores to be uncomfortable. And an estimated 10% of the population is both neurodivergent and highly sensitive to sound, lighting, or both. In Rowley’s view, quiet hours are good business. They often are scheduled during the first two hours of the morning, so “there’s already no one in the store,” he says, including the young people who favor louder, flashier environments. Lunchtime and after 4 PM are the busiest times for most stores, Rowley notes.
Experts advise firms to consider inclusive consumer offerings. “It’s a way to differentiate themselves in the market,” says Corey Matthiessen, principal in the Consumer Markets practice at Korn Ferry. Sure, only 1 in 10 shoppers actually need quiet hours, but their tens of millions parents and friends are likely to notice and appreciate the store’s efforts: Suddenly, the retailer has an edge over the competition, because the customer is coming to them. Matthiessen notes that quiet-hours efforts are a strong marketing strategy that is garnering national news coverage simply for turning dimmer switches. And unlike most corporate efforts, this one is just a matter of putting procedures in place and maintaining them.
Will quiet hours become a new norm in shopping? As with most retail efforts, one store tries it, while others watch and wait to see if they should follow suit. In an industry that has seemingly tried everything, “it’s interesting to see a retailer take a stance on something new and different,” says Matthiessen.
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