Is in-store music helping or hurting sales? Depends on the day of the week

What kind of music should grocers play? When should they play it? Will it have an impact on the bottom line?

A Swedish grocer, who also works as a professor at University of Bath’s School of Management, said his research has some of the answers. 

Professor Jens Nordfält, who also serves as co-director of the school’s Retail Lab, said in a recent interview with Winsight Grocery Business that grocers can expect a roughly 11% boost in weekday sales revenue if they play light, lyric-free tunes. And while it might seem counterintuitive, playing music of any kind over the weekend could hurt business, according to Nordfält.

He and his research team reached their conclusions after interviewing supermarket executives and shoppers and analyzing approximately 150,000 visits from customers to an ICA supermarket Nordfält co-owns in Stockholm.

He said the research found no empirical evidence that shopping behavior changed based on whether music was played during the daytime or the evening. Same with the style of music played. Also, he and his researchers worked with an agency that specializes in providing music for the public but found no difference in shopping habits between background music versus popular music with lyrics.  

“On weekends, music does not affect sales or perhaps even has a directionally negative effect, compared with no music," the report noted. "For retail managers deciding whether and when to play music, the results consistently highlight that on weekdays, it is beneficial to play music, because it prompts a bump in sales."

Those results were unexpected, Nordfält said. “When we interviewed the retailers, they thought it would be the other way around—that they should play music on the weekends but not on the weekdays because that sort of benefits the idea of a weekend, that it’s when you want music. So it took us by surprise,” he said.  

It wasn’t clear whether playing music on the weekend has a negative effect or no effect at all, but Nordfält said it didn’t have a positive effect on sales.

While it’s uncertain why, Nordfält’s report speculates that it’s due to the mental state of shoppers during the week versus on the weekend. Shoppers are typically in more of a hurry on the weekdays and more stressed, so pleasant music can have a soothing effect on them and increase their spending, Nordfält said.  

Over the weekend, however, shoppers are typically in a more positive frame of mind and in less of a rush, so music has very little impact on how much they purchase, he said. Interviews with grocers revealed that impulse purchases also decline, and shoppers are more likely to follow a shopping list, the report noted.  

“During these shopping trips, shoppers buy 'everyday items,' often products that are part of simpler dishes that are quick and easy to prepare,” one anonymous grocer said in the report. "On the weekdays, you shop more to solve the everyday issues, more from a list, [and] there is a clearer connection to the weekly specials. And then toward the weekend, you come to the shop for 'the good stuff’ if I could say so. A bit more on impulse.”  

While there was little difference in shopper behavior based on the kind of music played, Nordfält said other studies have shown that easy-listening music can have the greatest effect on shoppers because it tends to be less distracting.

While more popular music might make shoppers happier and more likely to spend more, it could also have the effect of drawing their attention away, he said. “So, instead of paying attention to the surrounding products, you will be preoccupied by thinking about music,” he said.