The weather here today in Melbourne, Australia, is hot. Hot and dry. The wind blows in from the desert, across the city, then out to the ocean....

Your throat feels parched, and it's like you just can't drink enough water. You go wherever you can to seek relief from the scorching heat.

The shopping centers do a roaring business on days like these. Those without air conditioning flood into the shopping centers, to take advantage of the cool environment.... Of course, while they're there, they tend to do some shopping too. The longer they stay there, the more they buy....

Here, giving people a comfortable environment translates into added business.

This was also a big difference I noticed between many bookstores in the USA and Australia....

In Australia, most bookstores tend to be small, austere places. Shelves full of books, and that's it.

In the US, however, the concept has gone far beyond that.... Bookstores are as large as department stores. While you're there, you can relax with your book on a comfortable lounge chair or sofa. Often there's a cafeteria too, where you can look through a book or magazine while you sip a refreshing drink.

Things are finally starting to improve here in Australia, as a couple of Borders book stores have sprung up in Sydney and Melbourne (with one in Brisbane coming soon). Already, I've noticed some of the other local bookstores are starting to change too, and some are adding a couple lounge chairs to their stores as well....

The environment can make a difference to sales.... The more comfortable the environment, the longer customers will stay and look around.... And the longer they stay, the more likely they are to find something they want to buy....

Studies have shown that if certain types of music is played, people tend to buy more. They found that slow music creates more sales than fast music does.... Shoppers stayed longer in the stores, and ended up purchasing more....

According to one study (mentioned here), the average gain in individual supermarkets was from $12,112.35 to $16,740.23 when slow music was played instead of fast music. That's a gain of 39.2%.

Some people claim that music helps on web pages too (though I haven't tried this myself yet)....

Color can also affect sales, since colors tend to be tied to our emotions. Red seems to be the universal attention-getting color.... Which color is best to use seems to depend on what you want to do. (I've linked to an interesting article on the use of color below....)

There are a lot of interesting factors that can directly affect our decision to buy.... Trying some of these things out could help make a business a success!

- Dien


The Wonderful World of Color