I am planning to open a retail outlet for clothing. Are there any design tips I need to keep in mind, to ensure that my products sell?
With retail stores, you need to focus on the customer experience. And customer experience depends a lot on how your store is designed, in terms of functionality and aesthetics.
For one, the store plan or layout has to be right. A solid floor plan is the perfect balance of ultimate customer experience and maximized revenue per square foot. Here are a few common store layouts:
Straight Floor Plan: This floor plan makes use of the walls and fixtures to create small spaces within the store, and is also one of the most economical store designs. However, the sight lines in this plan may be a problem. Depending on the front entrance, it may be difficult for a customer to see the variety of merchandise or find a location quickly.
Diagonal Floor Plan: This plan works best for self-service types of retail stores. It offers excellent visibility for cashiers and customers. It invites movement and traffic flow into the store. Contrary to the maze-like structure of the straight floor plan, the customer has a more open traffic pattern in this plan.
Angular Floor Plan: This plan suits high-end specialty stores. Since this design has the lowest amount of available display place, it is best suited to specialty stores that display edited inventory. The curves and angles create better traffic flow throughout the store.
Geometric Floor Plan: This plan makes use of racks and fixtures to create an interesting and out-of-the-ordinary store design without a high cost. Clothing and apparel shops should use this floor plan.
Mixed Floor Plan: This plan combined the straight, diagonal and angular floor plans, and appeals to a larger audience. The layout moves traffic towards the walls and the back of the store. It is considered to be the most functional store design.
Next, pay attention to the ‘threshold’ - he space where your customers make the transition from the outside world and first experience what you have to offer. To make the transition between the environment outside and within the store more noticeable, it is ideal to display only a few key items and use lighting and flooring that contrast with the outside environment. The shift in colors and textures will alert customers to slow down and notice what’s around them.
Research into retail interior design has shown that customers naturally veer towards the right when they enter a retail space. It would be ideal to have new or seasonal items, high profit or high demand products displayed here.
A well-defined path can be a great way to strategically control the ebb and flow of the traffic in your store, and also increase chances of making a sale. Ideally, brands should lead customers on a path that increases dwell time and leverages sales.
Another point to consider is the ‘butt-brush’ factor - it is observed that customers are less likely to buy merchandise from an aisle where there’s a possibility of brushing another customer’s backside or having their own backsides brushed. To avoid such congestion, it is ideal to place merchandise that customers spend a long time examining in a more remote area of the store.
Since colours increase brand recognition, finding a way to work the company logo colours into the store design will help customers associate the colours with the company and its products. Bold colours like red and yellow, used sparingly, can be used to highlight certain products and catch a customer’s attention.
Lighting highlights architectural elements, product qualities and creates virtual spaces - impacting how a customer feels, what customers think of a product, and ultimately the choice of whether to purchase or not. There are several types of lighting, some of which are mentioned below:
Ambient lighting: This refers to your store’s overall lighting concept. Ambient lighting creates the overall atmosphere in your store and has the largest impact. For example, if you have a large light fixture in the center of your store, this would create the ambient lighting in the space.
Accent lighting: This “spotlight” type lighting allows storefronts to draw attention to a few products. This technique is common in luxury stores.
High-activity lighting: Traditional lighting concepts often leave stores with dark corners and shadowy spots. But high-activity lighting focuses on covering the entire space with bright lights to eliminate the possibility that customers will miss any of your products.
If the threshold is where the customer forms the first impression of the store, the checkout counter experience is what the customer will leave the store with. The checkout counter should ideally be located at a natural stopping point in the shopping experience or at the end of a path a retailer has purposefully designed.
It is necessary to ensure that the checkout is not claustrophobic for the customers. The quality of the checkout countertops and fixtures should not be compromised upon. Also, there should be enough room behind the counter for the staff, as well as sufficient storage space.