Did you know that there are ways to positively condition your customers to sales by harnessing the power of neural pathways.
Here's an example of a neural pathway. You drive to your destination and you don't know how you got there. Or me today, I typically wind up the laptop chord around my power chord brick when I move my PC. Distracted in thought I did this today when I unplugged my laptop. However, it was completely unconscious because I was only moving from one room to the next in my home.
Advertising is a form of positive conditioning too. People who do not recall seeing an advertisement can be more likely to buy the product advertised to them. We see this when people don't recall an ad, however, we know they watched a particular television show and they are statistically more likely to buy.
One area where restaurateurs and retail businesses fail to condition is once people arrive in their store. There should be signage in their store. A recent intercept performed by Research 13, suggests that as many as a third of Mall Customers may be from out of town on the weekends if your mall location is near an Interstate. So are you capturing these folks to condition them to come back or do online sales?
Measure it and Improve it! Find out what percent of folks visiting your store have made a purchase in store and through your other channels like online or catalog. Are you local customers a big percentage of your shoppers? If not, condition folks to come visit with coupons or mailers. But you have to get their address. Your best customers are typically also your competitors' best customers too. Get on it!