#8: Elongate Shopping Experience

Although one would think that a bookstore should smell like books, unfortunately that paper and ink smell does little for sales. Apparently, a chocolate scent does a better job at selling books.

A study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology details a Belgian project where researchers monitored customers in bookstores with and without a chocolate scent and found that when the scent was present customers were twice as likely to examine multiple items; twice as likely to ready synopses for multiple books; nearly three times as likely to interact with store staff; and less than half as likely to seek out one item and go directly to the register.

Perhaps bookstores should considering hiring a chocolatier rather than a barrista.