Despite the increasing popularity of online shopping, brick and mortar retail stores still – and will always – be the preferred shopping method for many consumers. Physical stores allow customers to see, feel and try items on, to be assisted by sales associates, and to simply have the shopping experience. So the opportunity remains for retailers to attract, retain and convert customers through product offerings, attentive service, and smart store design.
Store design can have a huge impact on sales and customer satisfaction. Design educates and inspires, tells the brand story, and guides customers to make a purchase or buy additional items. There are a few key tactics for leveraging store design for engagement and sales, as discussed by Total Retail.
Get Familiar with Competitors
To truly differentiate your store’s design, you need to know what your competitors are doing. Get to know other stores commonly visited by your customers, and find ways to make the shopping experience better in your store. Good design should make customers want to visit your store more often, and stay longer, than in competitors’ stores.
Define and Integrate a Narrative
The first step is to understand your customers – who they are, what they want, and why they’re in your store. Then, use design to narrate their story as they move throughout the store. Understand their actions from the moment they walk in until they leave the cash register. This can be as simple as a display of commonly-purchased items, with signage and product placement that entices shoppers to make additional purchases.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Sales Associates
Finally, don’t forget about the most powerful advantage brick and mortar stores have over online shopping: sales associates. Make sure to have a sufficient number of helpful and knowledgeable sales associates available to shoppers.
Retail Tech carries a wide variety of new and refurbished POS equipment. We offer installation and staging, POS printer repairs, and more. If you need help choosing a hybrid POS system, contact our POS systems specialists for help finding the perfect point of sale solution for your small business.
