Modular design has a well-celebrated history among many high street retailers. In addition to the modern style and chic aesthetic, it can offer to brands, modular retail furniture and shop shelving also has extensive practical benefits too, leaving behind the rigidity of fixed product displays and bringing fluidity into a retail space.
Some retailers have used modular displays to transform a high street brand, refreshing tired designs. George Davies, for example, utilised modular design as a part of his Next development, moving away from more typically clothing store designs, those that relied upon product saturation, and used refreshed, simplistic displays to highlight products and to create a pleasant, inspiring shopping experience.
Other retail spaces, particularly those with a regular rotation of stock, have found that modular shelving options allow them to maintain a suitable store layout regardless of the products they need to display. London’s Tate Modern gift shop, which swaps many of its products to match the gallery’s changing exhibition schedule, has found modular design meets its needs perfectly, with stackable shelves and modular components adapting to a new season of stock without compromising the store’s understated design.
What Is Modular Design?
Modular design within a retail space is the utilisation of multipurpose and adaptable shop shelving. Retail furniture assets will be made of multiple components, such as stackable shelves, allowing for their individual adjustment and removal. This, when compared with inflexible and static shelving options, gives retailers the flexibility to change contained sections of their retail layout instead of being more generally limited to the fixed design of larger units. On a larger scale, some stores can be entirely modular, with assets such as slatwall panelling and even service counters being moveable to enable total layout changes to be made.
Why Is It Becoming More Popular?
Among many modern high street retail trends is the popularity of pop-up stores. These temporary spaces are utilised by retailers to host events and experiences, often celebrating new products or extending the reach of a high street brand. During, and now following, the various lockdowns, retailers have had to become responsive with their store spaces, encouraging them to pursue experience-focused retail design and, as follows, retail pop-ups. Retailers of all sizes have also found success in smaller high street spaces too, saving costs and refining their store’s shopping experience.
Modular design excels in each of these circumstances. Retail spaces dedicated to hosting temporary brand experiences benefit greatly from modular furniture, enabling retailers to adapt the furniture and shelving to their design. Those retailers equipped with their own modular furniture also do well by being able to simply adapt to a new retail venue without difficulty or compromise of quality.
How To Get Started
At Crown Display, we are dedicated to supporting the success of retailers, meeting the needs of their shop designs. For more information about our retail furniture catalogue or to seek a quote regarding bespoke handmade retail furniture designs, please email sales@crowndisplay.co.uk or, alternatively, call a member of our team at 0800 587 5880.
