The Sound of the Stores 24 report

The amount of stores rated as “poor” is on the rise. Last year, 38% of stores rated “poor” for their music experience, in 2024, 48% have achieved a “poor” rating. The main reasons of these poor ratings are music that doesn’t reflect the brand and audio equipment that’s not up to the job.

Fashion leads the way

Fashion retailers once again set the standard – clothes and shoe retailers seem to have a knack for matching their music experience to their customers and stores.

Supermarkets lag behind

Meanwhile, general retailers (including supermarkets) are most likely to be marked as “poor”. The main reason for this is dated music and audio which is hard to hear in these, often larger, stores.

Cut costs, cut effectiveness

We’ve spotted a new trend which seems to be caused by stores cutting music costs and getting it very wrong for their customers. An elite few are doing this well, but the majority could be causing more damage to their sales than they are saving.