Successful retailers will know that shop design ranks among the most important considerations for a high street retail venture. Brick and mortar stores are not solely an outlet for selling products but are, instead, at their best when promoting brand messages and offering an appealing space for customers to browse. This distinction is one that ensures retailers are, beyond their products’ success, reaching shoppers and increasing the likelihood that they will return.
We’re sharing three key reasons as to why many successful retailers are motivated to prioritise their shop design, along with their intended effect, to show you why, as a high street retailer it’s not only an important consideration but an essential one.
Brand Identity
In the short term, a retailer is generally motivated to sell products. While this is certainly at the core of generating profit, it does not take into account the shop’s success in the long term. Interior design is a prime example of this quandary. A retailer may, for example, strike a brilliantly appealing design in their shop space, drawing in customers and enticing them to purchase products. If this design is not changed over time, however, it will soon become stagnant and overly familiar, meaning that, in the long term, it becomes a disadvantage to the retailer.
As such, a retailer should ensure their brand is consistently well-represented through their shop design. This may seem like a significant undertaking but refreshing an interior design doesn’t mean drastically changing a shop space. In fact, it can be as simple as rearranging shelves, upgrading slatwall panel inserts, or redressing a window display.
Seasonal Custom
Successful retailers know that, just as products are changed to meet seasonal demands, so should interior designs. This does not mean changing the decor to suit the season or complement festivities (though this is also a good idea) but actually pertains to changing shelving for shops and their floorplan to account for varying levels of custom too.
By making such changes, retailers can make their stores more spacious during busier periods, allowing customers to be more comfortable when browsing. Alternatively, during quieter times, retailers can rearrange their shop to include more displays and branding, helping a space to feel full and promote more products.
Social Media
Retailers must no longer solely consider the customers who walk across the high street but also those who might see their shop space online. With the advent of social media, customers are more likely to phonograph shop spaces and share them on their personal feeds. This is a form of passive advertising and one that should be considered by retailers.
With the right designs, retailers can impress customers and encourage them to share more photographs of products and displays, leading to a broader reach online. This type of marketing has great potential, allowing high street retailers to create an online following that ultimately becomes in-person custom, and is entirely reliant on the quality of visual merchandising and interior design in a retail space.