Creating a new look and feel for your store is a great way of enticing people back inside, especially after the pandemic. There are plenty of things to consider when recreating your retail space from decorating to a complete renovation. Whether you’re reopening your doors or are just looking to rejuvenate, follow our guide for some tips on how to spruce up your store.
Store Restructure
With a heavy focus on social distancing, many places, not just around the USA but around the world, are restructuring their stores to accommodate customers safely. Distancing rules reduce the chance for certain viruses to spread, but unfortunately, not everyone cares about following those rules or guidelines.
To pre-empt the problem customers, giving everyone plenty of room to maneuver in your store will help people keep their distance from others that aren’t bothered about encroaching on personal space. Move shelves further apart to widen pathways and avoid too many island counters so you don’t risk obstructing anyone’s route. You can also use this opportunity to plan out your store to better encourage sales.
A comfortable layout in which your customers can see everything you have on offer is not only safer but will also help to increase footfall and the chance that a customer will spot something they want. You can also create a more welcoming entrance and decide on what types of products you want to be seen first by visitors.
Frontages And Window Displays
This is one of the most important areas for encouraging people to step foot inside your store. So many people neglect this aspect of design and will often forget to revamp the front of their shop. Eye-catching items, deals, and designs are key to converting a passer-by into a potential customer. The likelihood is, you’re competing with other stores in the area, so you’ll want to be the one that is the most appealing, especially if you have direct competitors around.
Light And Sound
These two will determine the overall atmosphere that you’re trying to create for the space. Using bright, fluorescent lighting can be a safe bet, but don’t forget that you eradicate any level of coziness here. On the flip side of that, if you make the place too dark and gloomy you can both negatively impact the mood of the place as well as reduce the ability for customers to properly see what they want to buy and miss potential sales altogether.
Strike a good balance and consider using some fun and appealing light fittings. Customize your neon signs to both stand out from other generic stores and add your own signature spin to the place. Echo Neon supplies fully customizable neon signs where you can switch up the font, color and size, and they also have some stunning ready-made designs too. Choosing the right sound is very important too. Perhaps you’re going for an upbeat, energetic vibe? Put some popular tunes on to get everyone amped up. Or, if you’re aiming for that chill, relaxed feel, you could even go for some ambient soundscapes like birdsong or some instrumentals.
Color And Soul
The entire appearance of your store can have a dramatic subconscious impact on guests. Color itself has been shown to change our shopping habits along with our moods. Of course, you don’t want to stray your store’s color scheme too far away from your brand. So, if you decide on a theme for your walls and furniture, it may be a good chance for you to rebrand your logo and official colors too. Blue is well known to have a calming effect, but it can also be seen as a sad color, so be mindful about which shade you choose for your store. Whereas black is often used to portray luxury or elite items. A black backdrop behind a cheap handbag could give the item the appearance of excellence compared to if it had a yellow backdrop, for example.
Plant Life
Another good idea for your newly renovated store is to display a selection of plants either for decoration or to sell. Adding greenery to your store is proven to drastically boost happiness and helps with air quality among other things. Having plenty of plants around the place will provide customers with a calming atmosphere and can add some amazing natural color too. Different types of plants can also give the place an energetic feel and some can be used to shut out the outside world for added privacy.
Quirky plants will draw people’s attention including rare succulents like the string of pearls, and brightly colored flowers such as the African violet. Some can also have a practical use too, like repelling flies and other insects. Strong smelling plants such as lemon balm and lavender will deter these pests whilst also adding a pleasant scent to the area for customers and staff alike.