5 Retail Store Design Ideas That Sell

When opening a new retail store or remodeling an existing shop, you need a retail store design that attracts customers, maximizes selling space, and increases sales. Everything from the lights in your space to the colors on the wall to the way the merchandise is laid out will influence consumer’s buying decisions. To help put you on the path to profitability, here are five retail store design ideas the sell.

 Let Your Interior Shine

Shoppers are attracted to retailers with warm, inviting, and well-lit interiors. A study conducted by the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden found that the store’s brightness, color, and temperature were significant factors in attracting customers. Those old-fashioned incandescent lights have a yellow-orange tint that can make a store look less appealing. They also burn hotter, increasing the temperature in the store. Opting for LED light fixtures allows retailers to create the optimum ambient and accent lighting that will appeal to their customers. They burn cooler too, at a more comfortable temperature of 78°F.

Give Your Space Breathing Room

Retail stores that are cluttered with merchandise can be overwhelming, making it difficult for shoppers to find items they want, causing them to leave in frustration. Frustrated customers are less likely to return. Avoid clutter and give your space some breathing room or “white” space for customers to walk around. Even if you have a small retail space, you can use shelves, display tables, and display cases to creatively arrange merchandise vertically without cluttering the store.

Use Colors to Your Advantage

Is the color of your store sending the right message to your customers? Colors have a psychological effect that influences consumer buying decisions. There are different schools of thought when it comes to the impact of color. Some like Max Luscher, a Swedish psychotherapist who invented the Luscher Color Test, believed color preferences are made subconsciously. While there are differing opinions, we know through decades of advertising and marketing that consumers have individual perceptions about color. For example, red conveys speed and excitement. Green is associated with tranquility and health. Blue conveys trust, leadership, and strength. Orange means energy and activity. Yellow conveys happiness, freedom, and intelligence. Black conveys elegance and high quality. By understanding the emotional impact of color, you can use it to stimulate sales in your store.

Create a Profitable Traffic Pattern

The way to increase retail sales is to lead customers on a path that takes them through your entire store. Major retailers give considerable thought to the customer journey and perfecting the sales path. Retailers know that most U.S. consumers will automatically turn right upon entering the store. Using this as a starting point, retailers will often delineate a circular path they want customers to take while shopping in the store. There are several techniques for creating a profitable traffic pattern, such as using different types of flooring, area rugs, and racks that are uniquely positioned for maximum effectiveness. Sale items are always in front along the path to draw customers in deeper to the department or area. Customers will generally turn right again and continue along the visual path you create.

Visually Appealing Store Displays

Appealing and consistent store displays will help attract customers and increase sales. A research study conducted by Dr. Lawrence D. Rosenblum, Dr. Harold Stolovitch, and Dr. Erica Keeps, discovered that 83% of the decisions we make are based on sight. In comparison, only 11% of the information we process is based on the sounds we hear.

Whether shoppers are looking through a store’s window or walking through the front door, visually appealing signage will not only help bring them into the store and browse through your merchandise but help them stay on the sales path taking them around your store.