ROMANIAN CUSTOMER-BASED EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON AMBIANCE IN RETAILING

A special role in increasing customer satisfaction and contentment with any retail store is played by ambiance or in-store management. Store ambiance is closely related to all decisions taken concerning the manner in which the management can organise the store, arrange gondolas and shelves, resort to lighting and specific scents (smells) or set temperature in different departments. For consumers, ambiance also means enjoying pleasant atmosphere during shopping, conveying a sense of adventure, arousing positive feelings which make the customer return to the store, increase the volume of purchase and even recommend the unit to other people. The present study attempts to highlight the methods whereby a retailer manages to influence the customer by means on in-store management tools with a view to creating a favourable image in his/her mind. The research conducted on about 1800 customers in the Romanian food and non-food retailing reveals, through pertinent interpretation, the management strategies and actions that the enterprises of different retail formats should adopt in order to approach customers with beneficial results.