A shop’s design is not solely valued for its aesthetics. While visual and brand identities are undoubtedly important, especially in a period of social media and image sharing, the fundamentals of shop design, those that help customers to navigate aisles and browse products, remain crucial.
If you are a high street retailer looking to improve your shop’s operation, whether its ability to handle busier periods or to help shoppers feel better informed about your brand, then there are a few methods. Drawing from our own industry experience and the brands we collaborate with, we’re sharing four ways customer experience can be improved through shop design.
Customer Navigation
Good shop design can lead customers around a shop space without the development of stress. Aisles and essential directions can be distinguished with effective signage, those mounted on high-quality stand offs, as well as through curated displays and lighting. Spotlights, for example, can be used to highlight certain products, sections, and passages, drawing the attention of customers toward checkout areas and exits, as well as toward special offers.
The floor plan of a shop space should also be conducive to efficient browsing. While some traditional models of retail design suggest steering customers through as much product selection as possible, a premise often epitomised by placing milk at the back of the store, recent studies suggest that this may lead to a degree of frustration from customers who wish to obtain their products more quickly.
Examine Checkout Needs
Shops may often experience long queues, prompting customers to wait longer than they’d ideally like to resolve their checkout needs. Not all customer needs are the same and it can be advantageous to use this as a way to rethink your shop design.
Click and Collect services, for example, can be established elsewhere, allowing those customers who ordered ahead of time to complete their transactions effectively. Additionally, some stores are using technology to their advantage and employing mobile checkout options, allowing customers paying by card to be served anywhere in the store.
Creating Comfort
One of the most provenly effective ways to increase sales and improve the customer experience within a shop space is to create a comfortable environment within which shoppers can browse. Stress, be it from loud music or forced proximity to other shoppers, not only leads to discomfort but can actively encourage customers to leave.
Shoppers, for example, will not linger in areas where they might come into physical contact with others, an effect known as the ‘butt-brush effect’. This should encourage retailers to create spacious environments, those that are not only designed to display products but actively consider the comfort and needs of customers too.
Raise Quality
Customers will report a more positive shopping experience if the space they occupy and the products they browse are designed and presented to a higher quality. For retailers, this means seeking the best possible presentation from their store design, with all details being considered to represent their brand. Even shop shelving, if designed well, can elevate the positive impression a product has upon a customer, improving their experience and perceived value of the brand.
