How to Harness the Power of Touch to Enhance Sales

Humans are tactile creatures who instinctively understand the power of touch. Petting your golden retriever. Hugging your child. Even shaking your boss' hand. They're visceral experiences that can foster strong, emotional connections. Brands can harness this power via touch technology, using it to promote their products in retail stores, at trade shows or in other environments where the ability to manipulate information deepens engagement.

Retail

Shoppers are compelled to touch store merchandise. Even when they’re not looking to buy a specific item, they still like to run their hands over it. The behavior seems almost instinctual. Researchers agree, as they’ve found that touchable merchandise displays typically lead to increased sales. Even interacting with merchandise virtually using a touchscreen — say, an in-store product kiosk — can boost sales.

Struggling brick-and-mortar retailers should take note because providing the opportunity to touch merchandise is something their online competitors can’t offer. Read more about the benefit of in-store touchscreen kiosks as a way to enhance the customer experience in Why the Retail Customer Experience Matters More than Ever.

Trade Shows

The situation is much the same at trade shows. According to 2016 data from scores of touchscreen presentations deployed in trade shows in the U.S. and in Europe, ViewPoint Interactive Solutions has found that the ability to interact with a brand via touchscreen can drive nearly 40% more foot traffic to a particular booth, and keep prospects engaged for 50% longer than exhibits without touchscreen experiences.

According to a recent study, 91% of respondents said they wished they could better interact with business materials. Most cited the ability to touch or manipulate content as their top desire.

If you’re looking to more effectively engage potential customers in a trade show environment, check out 4 Tech Trends That Raise the Stakes for Your Next Trade Show Booth

Corporate Lobbies and Other Environments

The same benefits of touch — greater engagement, more time interacting with content, strong emotional connections with a brand — apply beyond the trade show world. For instance, in a corporate lobby. In our information age people are bombarded with data practically every waking moment. There’s no way we can absorb it all. But, the ability to touch and manipulate information has been proven to vastly increase memory retention and deepen engagement. Check out some of the non-traditional places you can use touch to raise the profile of your brand in 4 Surprising Ways to Use Touch Technology You May Not Have Considered.

Touch is so powerful, it can unconsciously influence how people make decisions. If you’d like to learn more about how touch, in the form of compelling touchscreen experiences, can help you promote your brand or move more merchandise, call us at 800.704.6819 or visit www.viewpointtouch.com

Reference: Brainfodder