In this article, we talk about Christmas music and how to organize your in-store radio schedule for the holiday shopping season.
Christmas music is an essential element to create the right atmosphere in your store during the holidays. But how do you choose the most suitable music for your audience, your brand, and your budget?
We’ll try to explain the benefits of Christmas music for stores, the criteria for selecting the ideal playlist, and the advantages of using MoosBox, the music service with all rights included, which allows you to personalize your soundtrack in a simple and convenient way.
The benefits of Christmas music for stores
Christmas music has a positive effect on both customers and store employees, but only if the mood is carefully planned. According to some studies, Christmas music:
- Stimulates positive emotions and a sense of belonging
- Increases the willingness to buy and the time spent in the store
- Improves the work environment and employee productivity
However, simply looping the usual Christmas songs is not enough to achieve these benefits; in fact, it can often be counterproductive, causing stress for both customers and staff.
Christmas comes too early for those working in retail, much sooner than when people start thinking about gifts.
Marketing professionals must start thinking about Christmas while it’s still warm outside. During these months, the holiday theme dominates most of the scheduled activities; only the November Black Friday breaks the routine, but just for a short time.
Christmas ads, decorated shop windows, special offers—all retail marketing adapts to the end-of-year atmosphere.
But choosing all-Christmas music too early can have negative effects on staff, just when more effort is required. This thematic uniformity, even though it lasts less than other seasons, has a very strong impact on both sellers and customers.
The effect of Christmas music on sales
Ron Friedman is a psychologist who founded a consulting firm offering marketing strategies based on research into factors that influence people’s choices.
In 2005, he conducted a study that showed surprising results for many marketing experts.
In the study, 10 people viewed an album of photos of a store with Christmas items while listening to Christmas music. Another 10 viewed the same album while listening to non-Christmas music. From the participants’ responses, at the end of the experiment, it was found that, with Christmas music in the background, the desire to buy decreased by 20%.
But let’s go further: as we continue, we’ll explain more about what is important to do to get the most out of your Christmas soundtrack.
Christmas music not only decreased the impulse to buy, but also the perceived quality of the photographed merchandise.
These results were confirmed in 2017 by clinical psychologist Linda Blair, who highlighted that, if customers hear typical Christmas music, they feel compelled to buy and then leave.
Christmas music and sales staff
A study conducted in 2016 by the Bocconi University of Milan showed that music improves the mood and productivity of staff. These findings align with those of the research center Music Works for You, published by the Harvard Business Review, revealing that music increases the focus of employees (88%) and helps them work faster and with more team spirit (75%).
But the type of music the staff listens to is very important.
Imagine listening to a limited playlist of songs, several times a day, knowing this situation will last for at least a month and a half, for about 8 hours a day. Without being able to stop the music. Even if it were your favorite playlist of all time, don’t you think it would eventually stress you out?
When combined with the stress caused by the holiday season, it’s easy to see why sales staff are at risk in terms of their performance.
And every retailer knows that a significant portion of their sales depends on their staff’s performance.
So, are we sure that playing classic Christmas songs by Wham (“Last Christmas”), Mariah Carey (“All I Want For Christmas Is You”), or John Lennon (“Happy Xmas – War Is Over”) is the best choice to get the most out of such a critical shopping period?
The answer is no. Christmas music must be carefully chosen, taking into account various factors.
How to choose music for Christmas shopping
Music for Christmas shopping must align with your target audience, your style, and your message. Additionally, it should be varied and original, so as not to bore or irritate your customers and employees. Here are some criteria to follow when selecting your Christmas playlist:
- Choose Christmas-themed songs that are not famous: you’ll immediately stand out from the rest.
- Alternate Christmas songs with non-Christmas songs, to create a balanced mix.
- Add sound effects and jingles that evoke the Christmas atmosphere.
- Add personalized commercial messages and alternate them with greeting messages for your staff and customers to make your soundtrack unique and recognizable.
- Adapt the music to the rhythm and tone of the day. You can use more cheerful and lively music during peak hours to stimulate energy and enthusiasm, and more calm and relaxing music during quieter hours to foster concentration and trust.
Why use MoosBox for your Christmas store music
MoosBox is the music service with all rights included that offers you a simple and convenient solution for your Christmas store music. With MoosBox, you can:
- Choose from thousands of high-quality songs, selected by music experts (listen to some demos or get an idea by listening to FriBit: a radio created with MoosBox).
- Use Christmas sounds and effects.
- Create your own personalized playlists.
- Use jingles or personalized messages.
- Save on license fees for any other copyright management company, paying only a fixed monthly fee.
- Easily manage your soundtrack from an app or website.
MoosBox is the ideal solution to make your Christmas store music perfect and engaging.
If you want to stay updated on MoosBox news, follow us on LinkedIn or on our Telegram channel.
