The importance of sound in your mall

By 3rd May 2017 Blog

If there’s one thing our experience tells us, it’s that sound matters. To your shoppers, it matters because it can make them feel welcome. To retailers, it matters because it can help drive footfall to their shops. To staff, it can improve the atmosphere in the workplace. And to the centre as a whole, it can be used to establish a brand that is evident throughout the entire mall.

However, there are a number of common mistakes made on a daily basis that nullify the impact of what good sound can offer.

These are by far the most common:

1. Uneven distribution

Often when wanting to spread sound through the centre, people use one or two speakers and crank the volume up for maximum effect. In reality though, clear sound can only travel so far, and excess volume is likely to distort the quality of the sound from your speakers. As skilled PA Installers, we know that in order to get a message out in a way that is calm and effective, your speakers will ideally be situated at several key points throughout the venue.

2. A lack of understanding

Each retailer is likely to have slightly different needs. For example, the manager of a café may feel too much sound as a distraction for their customers, whereas other managers may view in-mall radio as a great way to drive traffic to their store. The good news is the right PA system will allow you to choose different sound levels for different areas of the mall, creating a win-win environment between centre staff.

3. Timing and delivery

Our technology allows full control of your music and messaging, meaning you can schedule important announcements to go out at the right time. If centre staff are expected to make announcements manually, there’s no guarantee they won’t be busy or distracted when the moment comes. Also, manual messages often suffer from sound interference, meaning your shoppers don’t take in the full message anyway – all of which can be avoided with our professionally recorded messages.

4. Don’t switch off

Every now and then, we hear of centre management switching off their sound altogether. However, it is a legal requirement to have your PA System set up and ready should you need to make a health and safety announcement. And as you need to have the system installed, it really makes sense to make the most of it.

5. Understanding music

We’ve done a great deal of research into how music influences behavior, and the pace of the track can have a huge influence on how people move through your centre. On a quiet day, you might want to play something calm to slow shoppers down and increase dwell time, keeping your mall as full as possible. Likewise, when you get busy on a weekend, a nice quick beat can keep customers moving and improve the flow throughout the mall. This is a simple example of how music gets misused all the time.

Want to know more about how our knowledge of music, messaging or PA Systems can help send great vibes through your centre? Simply [email protected].

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