To display a product as effectively as possible is the primary goal of retail store design, accomplished by combining atmosphere, usability, and a welcoming design. Depending on the product, each store is unique. For example, a supermarket is more focused on functionality, but a retailer of luxury items would be more centric towards setting the perfect mood. Good retail design leads to high sales. Following are the seven essential principles of retail store design.
1. Visual Merchandising | Retail Store Design
The goal of visual merchandising is to boost sales by drawing customers into the store first through the persuasiveness of window displays as well as through in-store display and layout, which entice them to stay in the store, make purchases, and have a positive shopping experience so that they will come back. Make sure to value the impact that a well-designed storefront window can have. Shoppers are drawn in by an eye-catching piece of graphic marketing. The first thing a customer sees when entering a store is the window displays, which frequently determine whether the customer stays or leaves. After all, a shop or retail establishment’s windows serve as its windows. They ought to convey a narrative that subsequently translated into a physical setting. The secret is experimenting with different creative approaches while always keeping the product at the centre of the presentation. This should be eye-catching while also conveying a message and a story.
2. Store Layout
The term “retail store layout” refers to how retailers arrange their inventory, product displays, and store fixtures. A retail store design layout requires carefully utilising the available space to impact the customer experience since how customers interact with merchandise influences their purchase behaviours.
The two key elements of retail store layouts that are employed to turn viewers into consumers are:
Design of the store: includes the sensible use of floor plans, displays, furniture, fixtures, signs, and lighting. The layout of the store’s design has a big impact on how customers are treated.
Customer flow refers to how a customer moves through a store’s aisles. Another integral component of retail management strategy is comprehending customer flow and the typical consumer behaviour patterns connected to how customers engage with goods.
Due to their great busyness, modern shoppers frequently rush through their shopping. Retail interior design’s task is to lengthen dwell time within the store and slow down this process, enticing clients to linger, browse, and perhaps learn something new.
3. Five Senses | Retail Store Design
A customer can be converted into a devoted repeat customer through sensory marketing. Retailers can establish their location as a must-visit destination for customers by focusing on all five senses and offering an incomparable experience in-store design.
Sight
For designers, sight visualisation is the sense that needs to be mastered most. A store’s appearance and layout tell prospective customers more about it than just its product selection. The store outside or front should be warm and pleasant because it will be the first thing the consumers see. The interior of a successful retail establishment should be well-lit and feature striking exhibits.
Smell
One of our most vital senses, smell, impacts our emotions, memory, and creativity. If appropriately used, the fragrance’s ability to link with a person’s long-term memory gives businesses great power to influence the retail experience favourably. Brands like Starbucks, Hollister, and Aesop give their stores a distinctive, unique aroma that draws customers in and constantly reminds them of the company even when they are not there. It may be tempting to “pump” the aroma out the doors.
Taste
Designers can make a more memorable shopping experience by providing customers with small refreshments like coffee, tea, soft drinks, or pastries to generate a feeling of comfort and pampering. Engaging people’s taste buds aren’t just for restaurants. When a customer interacts with a sales representative, certain high-end stores, like Tiffany’s and Cartier, even provide champagne for an upscale “luxury” impression.
Touch
Many shoppers prefer to make in-person purchases because they value the tactile experience. Before making a purchase, they want to see and feel the thing in person. Retailers can capitalise on this urge by designing their store layout to encourage contact between products. One might even think about putting up signs that show customers are welcome to test out products in-store.
Sound
When it comes to using sound to enhance the in-store shopping experience, many retailers opt for ambient sounds (low-key music with few elements), music and sound that sets the mood in the background, or music and sound that is played at a volume that can serve as an “aural cue” without being an intrusive example, at ULTA beauty, there’s an excitement that may emerge when one hear stylists chat with clients and hear the sound of blow dryers whirring.
4. Material Selection
For decades, the idea of materiality has been essential to retail design. The material used in a store design would affect its usefulness, suitability, and ability to sell goods and draw consumers; for instance, Aesop always applies sustainable material to their store to reflect its brand image. For retail design, the elements you employ may be considered an expression of your brand identity and should correspond to the emotions and behaviours one wants clients to have when they enter and explore the establishment. Materials like stainless steel, wood, laminates, and terracotta tiles are used widely nowadays.
5. Direct Customer in the Right Direction | Retail Store Design
According to research into retail store design, customers tend to gravitate automatically to the right when they enter a store location. It makes perfect sense, given that most people on earth are right-handed. This can be based on the supposition that most people are more substantial on their right, tend to reach with their right hand, and—most importantly—tend to gravitate toward the right side of any space. Retailers could position eye-catching signs and Point of Sale displays on the right side of a store to take advantage of this. This will automatically direct customers toward an anticlockwise direction, a preferred path, around a space. Brands can improve their shop area and increase sales by including this in the previously described roadmap.
6. Center of attraction
The centre of attention or the focal point should be the first thing one notices when entering the store. It might be anything, from a large object to objects with striking colours. Keep attention on the clients’ lines of sight. The “star of the store” should be positioned precisely at the exact location. Mannequins with the latest apparel collection or installations serve as the centre of attraction for in-store designs.
7. Good lighting | Retail Store Design
Consider lighting; poor lighting strains eyes, impaired sight, and occasionally even changes the colour of objects on exhibit. Ambient lighting provides overall illumination to the store, while spotlights use at the focal points like window display or used to emphasise products that the store offers to sell. Task light focused on areas that need more attention on them. Areas such as the tills and changing rooms require more light so that customers can accurately see how the clothes fit them and that staff can see the money and cards they are handling. A more affable mood and a finer shopping experience are produced by good lighting. Additionally, it aids in presenting the products in a healthier light. A good store design can direct a customer’s attention to the store’s focal point.
References:
(2021). Types of Retail store layouts. www.creativedisplaysnow.com. https://www.creativedisplaysnow.com/types-retail-store-layouts/
Casarella, D. (2022). Five senses retail experience. www.uschamber.com. https://www.uschamber.com/co/grow/marketing/five-senses-retail-experience
(2021). 7 Retail interior design principles. greenroomdesign.com. https://greenroomdesign.com/blog/7-retail-interior-design-principles/
(2019). Important principles of retail store design. designwud.com. https://designwud.com/blogs/retail-design-blog/important-principles-retail-store-design/
