Do you ever pay attention to the music playing in the background while you are shopping? Recent research shows that music played in shops has a significant effect on customers as well as employees.

The study revealed that background music can affect a customer's purchase decision by up to 40%. Customers who listen to music are more likely to feel they had a positive experience, even if they spent time waiting in line or waiting to speak to a customer service associate.

Around 60% of the customers say background music determines whether they want to spend time at a shop or not, while 78% of the employees say the music improves their performance.

The mood and atmosphere of a shop that music contributes to are essential in influencing customers. Specifically, it is the pace or tempo of ambient music that can have the most significant effect on shoppers.

In an experiment conducted at a U.S. supermarket, researchers played various pieces of background music with varying tempos

— some fast, others slow. It was discovered that when fast-paced music was played, shoppers walked more quickly through the shop. This gave them less time to make impulsive purchases and to absorb the range of items on the shelves.

Slow music, on the other hand, had the opposite effect, slowing customers down as they shopped and people purchased more during their visits.