10 Retail Store Design Ideas to Increase Sales

Generations change, seasons change, people change, and lifestyles change, but one of the few things that do not change is how we shop. Online retailing and retail design store has indeed reduced shopping efforts, time, and cost. Yet, a large majority of the world population prefers brick & mortar stores over internet shopping.

Consequently, an impactful retail layout is a necessity for any store, first to stimulate customer satisfaction and even more to increase sales and profits. But knowing how to design and execute an impressive layout is hard for businesses without expertise. Here are ten critical retail store design ideas that could help you design/ revamp your store to look shipshape and elegant while also inducing shoppers to buy more. 

• The appeal begins outside your store.

The exteriors of a store, including the colors and window display, must be smartly planned to project the right amount of confidence and strength that your brand wishes to exude. The external appearance is, after all, the first line of impression. 

• Choose the most appropriate store layout for your business.

It is necessary to understand the kind of footfall, common movement patterns, and aesthetics that align with your brand to decide which store layout best suits your brand. There are about ten store layouts to choose from- grid, herringbone, loop or racetrack, free-flow, boutique, straight or spine, diagonal, angular, geometric, and multiple or mixed. Choose wisely!

• Focal points for the best products

Focal points are the product placement areas strategically placed at the entrance or high-traffic areas to garner the attention of most shoppers towards your best products, products you wish to highlight, or even high-margin products. Typically, effective focal points are brightly colored and well-lit areas; they utilize elevated positions and are more creative than the rest of the store.

• Incorporate speed bumps

Speed bumps are breaks or points to stop foot traffic to avoid merchandise getting skipped. Speed bumps are likely to be placed at the store entrance or amidst long lines of monotonous fixtures in the form of obstacle shelves or shelf stoppers. 

• Display the right quantity of product

Avoid displaying too many samples of your product at once, which will not only add clutter but also lower consumer attention and interest. High-end brands must primarily focus on elegantly displaying fewer products. On the contrary, too less on display might give a sense of professional lethargy. Hence, knowing the right amount for your store is critical. 

• Design buying paths

It is human nature to take shortcuts to the destination they’d like to reach, and shoppers are no exception. But that does no good to the variety of products on the store shelves. Buying paths are created, therefore, to control the movement of the shoppers, so they pass through most of the products within your store, increasing the chances of impulsive purchases.

• Keep the best stock at eye level. 

It is a human tendency to move the view from left to right; hence, arranging the most appealing product displays in that line of vision is best. Additionally, the high-margin products must be placed at eye level on the racks, neither too high nor too low. 

• Use smart lighting 

Lighting is a very crucial feature in any store. Good ambient light is a must to brighten every corner of the store. Additionally, accent lighting helps highlight a specific product/ range of products. The store can use task and decorative lighting based on the applicability and occasion. 

• Maintain good ambiance

Have lively colors spruce up the store, set a comfortable temperature, and use soothing mild scents. If need to be, for a fresh desirable fragrance within the store- all to make the shoppers stay in longer and happier.

• Offer an Experience

Shoppers nowadays expect to experience the offering and brand before making a buying decision. Offer a seating space where the shopper can try out the offerings, engage in an in-store activity, or look around in peace. In short, create a space that will encourage shoppers to stay longer. 

• Blending digital and physical means

Customers no longer follow a single path to purchase, their shopping journey might start with browsing on their smartphones and end up with an in-store pickup. Hence, retailers have now started using the digital-to-physical integration technique to draw tech-savvy shoppers and transform their brick-and-mortar experience.

A wisely planned retail layout, thus, can be a breakthrough initiative to increase corporate sales to the greatest extent. Oh, wait!… It can also help businesses incentivize consumers to engage further online, setting an extended relationship in motion.

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