Engaging the senses and creating an experience can help you capitalize on millennial shoppers

You’ve heard a lot about millennials, but do you know what kind of shopping experience they are looking for in your showroom?

Millennials consider shopping to be entertainment, and are more likely than any other generation to make impulse purchases.

Because they are so technologically savvy, incorporating touch screens into your showroom is incredibly attractive to them. Allow these clients the opportunity to post likes and dislikes of jewelry and share their opinions digitally with their friends.

Millennials make assumptions about your business even before they step foot in your showroom, but like all shoppers, the first impression is still important. Appeal to their senses to engage them. Here are a few tips to providing a positive showroom experience:

1 Make your entrance count. It should provide a glimpse of the style of your showroom. Always include signage and your logo at your entrance. This will allow the millennial to remember the experience, even subconsciously, whenever they see your business name or logo on your advertising.

2 A planter of colorful flowers at your entrance looks amazing and smells delicious.

3 The interior of your entrance should provide at minimum a 5-foot by 8-foot open space to allow customers to take in your showroom as they adjust from a busy lifestyle to a slower pace in your shopping environment.

4 Utilize wall colors, overall design scheme, and soft music to calm and slow your customers from their hectic pace. Take an “adult playground” approach to designing your showroom.

5 Provide a journey throughout your showroom by placing your jewelry showcases either in a zigzag or figure-8 pattern. This allows the millennial a longer experience and creates a sensation of moving from one area to the next.

6 Provide a seating area that includes both a complimentary beverage station (coffee, tea, water), and high speed wi-fi. Allow the millennial a comfortable place to sit and relax while enjoying a beverage and connecting on social media sites to gain their peers’ opinions and approval.

After a positive shopping experience, millennials will often make a purchase they didn’t plan on when they entered your showroom. But it all starts with creating an environment that entertains them as they browse. 

Michelle Bailey is an interior designer and owner of Atmospheres LLC in Michigan.

This article originally appeared in the March 2017 edition of INSTORE.