The perfect design of your own retail store
Different sales methods require different shop designs
If you’re thinking about creating your own retail store, you’ve probably already got some ideas in mind about what you want your clients to see when they enter your shop. Most likely, you’ve got certain plans for the product placement and the decoration.
But the perfect interieur design of a retail shop doesn’t only aim at the attraction of customers and at making them feel comfortable during their shopping trip, but as well at influencing them psychologically through various aspects.
The creation of a retail enterprise doesn’t only consist in the construction of the sales area, but as well in the application of other sales methods as online shops or pop-up stores, that can be set up as special marketing measures in order to further increase the revenue and the store’s degree of popularity.
Obviously, each of the different sales concepts requires it’s own, special design to guarantee the best retail customer experience.
Design of conventional retail establishments
It’s most likely that a retail enterprise’s main point of sale (POS) is the physical store, where most of the interaction with clients takes place. When it comes to the construction of those physical points of sale, it’s necessary to consider some factors that might result useful in the targeted subconscious influence of the buyers.
Just imagine yourself cleaving your way through the main shopping street on a Saturday afternoon, trying to sidestep millions of other pedestrians. What’s your first impulse?
Probably most of us would try to enter the first store they see to escape the crowded street as soon as possible, which is why our walking speed increases to a maximum.
Therefore, the people that are entering the retail store need some time until they adapt their speed to the environment. To make this “barking distance” as short as possible, the owner of the retail shop could create a small reception area, consisting of displays or other objects that bar the costumer’s way, in order to slow him.
Another way to make the buyers perceive all of the exhibited products are simple tricks concerning the shop design, as for example to put the shelves at an angle of 45°. This way especially in large cities, where rental prices tend to be high, the optimal use of every square meter is guaranteed.
Furthermore, apart from the previous explained decisions to be taken before the construction of the retail establishment, there exist other factors of retail interior design to influence the visitors: The most basic ones consist in playing with the customer’s senses. Market research shows that the light, the music and even the flavor of a retail store have got great effects on the behaviour of the target group.
The importance of pop-up stores in the B2C marketing
Another way to gain brand awareness and to increase the revenues are pop-up stores. The short term existence of this new retail marketing trend fits perfectly with our inconstant lifestyle and our wish for flexibility.
As a marketing tool this special sales establishments can easily capture attention and result in new possibilities for creative designs.
In order to create the best customer experience as possible, the pop-up strategy needs to be perfectly adapted to the brand values that differ the own retail business from the competition.
This is why characteristics as the size and type of the retail business define the basic decisions:
While the pop-up stores of smaller enterprises are to be seen as an important marketing tool to increase the brand awareness that has to be promoted, it’s recommended for well-known brands to build their pop-ups secretly with the aim of making the visitor feel special.
The same principle might be applied to the choice of the location, when well established brands can easily build their stores in unknown, special places to increase the retail customer experience, whereas smaller brands should focus on well-known, public spaces.
Those examples show that the adaption of the marketing strategy to the specific stores has to be seen as an essential step towards the success in the pop-up marketing.
Omnichannel: Sometimes you have to connect the different concepts to create something even greater
Even though, all the sales channels have different strategies and necessities, their connection can result in an even major effect. You’ve probably already heard people talking about “Omnichannel”. But as with all of the successful concepts, the idea of connecting different channels keeps on developing to find even more comfortable ways for the customers to do their shopping.
One of the latest possibilities for clients to benefit from the omnichannel concept is the option to easily search for garments in their sizes inside the real stores via tablets. This retail innovation saves time, because the buyer doesn’t have to riffle through piles of clothes until eventually finding the desired size.
Another innovation in the domain of retail are virtual fitting rooms that enable the customer to “try on” their selection before buying it, which extends the usual online shop options by some of the advantages of real shops.
The previously mentioned options to choose by creating an own retail store show that each type of business model requires a different agenda to succeed and convince the customer.
