Retail store design ideas

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Some ideas to consider when designing a retail store

Opening a retail store can reap many rewards. You must remember however that it?s not just how great the products you are selling are that will make your store a success. Just as important if not more so are retail store design ideas that encourage customers to enter, look around and buy. Retail stores must offer a unique environment that set them apart from others.

Well-planned retail store design ideas concerning layout should allow a retailer to maximize sales for each foot of the allocated selling space within the store. By utilizing a grid wall, for example, a retail store can accommodate almost any product. Every inch of every available space must be efficiently planned for maximum display advantage. Nothing is an accident when it comes to retail store design ideas.

What are some retail store design ideas?

1- Display only your best products

It is not quantity but rather quality when it comes to showcasing merchandise. The most successful retail store design ideas do not embrace the overloading of their racks, shelves and hardware. The less clutter, the easier it becomes to make a sales decision. Small retail stores offset their larger department store counterparts by featuring hard-to-find items that are easily spotted.

2- Retail store design layout

Study successful floor plans and retail store design ideas. Showcase items near the front of the store and in the windows, with older styles and products rotated to the back of the store and to discount and sale racks. Complex floor plans may work well on battle ships but not in retail stores, and a store design layout should be easy to navigate. Find a display order that works; for example, low to high price, or by size or by category.

3- Ambience

One of the secrets to successful sales is to create the right atmosphere. Selling is a seduction of sorts and setting the mood is part of the equation. Lighting is very important; it should be bright enough to enable customers to easily see products but not too harsh. Spotlights can call attention to specific items. Learn how to select and care for store fixtures, as well as using special lighting techniques to accent your products.

Pick positive warm colors to paint walls such as light blue, green or yellow. These will offend the least amount of customers, as they are conservative in nature. If your products are geared to teens or a hip younger crowd, add splashes of daring colors to attract attention (red, orange), but don?t go over board; just enough to attract attention.

Remember that as a retailer, image is absolutely everything. Of course you want to protect yourself against shoplifters, but you also don?t want to be too obvious and turn potential customers off. Retail store design ideas must include a layout that reduces the opportunities to steal. This can never be eliminated completely, but an effective retail store layout can make it difficult to steal.

In summation, consider many retail store design ideas before you decide on the one that works best for your particular product. You have to ?shop? for almost everything in life that is worth having, just like that old rock n? roll song about looking for dates. It went something like this:

?My mama told me, I better shop around.?

Happy retail.