You only get one first impression – the minute a customer walks into a retail store, they should be immersed in the story of your brand.
Consider colour palette, floor plan layout and your business values as the paint brushes, use your retail outlet itself as the canvas, and craft an engaging picture that makes your brand inseparable from the space.
This point is particularly important with multiple retail outlets. Each site in your National Rollouts needs consistent design and branding in order to accurately communicate your business’ message.
Visualising your brand
Your brand is one of the most important tools you have to sell your business to the public. An engaging brand story can help you stand out to customers looking for a retail ‘experience’. Selling the experience of your outlet goes beyond just delivering the right products – customers want to learn more about what your business means during their time in-store.
Visualising your brand can make a big difference in achieving this end. Consider key imagery associated with your brand and work with expert designers to figure out ways of bringing this to life in the design of your retail outlet. Apple, for example, prides their products on being simple to use. The floor plan of every outlet uniformly matches this simplicity and minimalism, subconsciously delivering customers more information on your brand message.
How do I express my brand in retail outlet design?
The risks of brand inconsistency in retail chain store fit outs are plain. Variation in the customer experience between stores contributed to an average 30 per cent performance difference in surveyed outlets, according to management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.
Consistency in showcasing your brand through retail design can be achieved in three ways:
- Colour is a vital and instantly visual way of connecting your customers to your brand. The psychology of colours is an important factor here as different colours inspire different emotional reactions. But more importantly, you need to use a consistent palette when fitting out multiple retail stores to clearly indicate the response you want from your customers.
- When searching for new premises to expand your retail brand, you need to carefully consider how you’ll use the space. Customers want consistency, so the floor plan of your new store will need to replicate that of your flagship outlet. Can you do that in the space you have? And is there anything you can do differently to optimise this new in-store experience?
- Think of words you immediately associate with your business; now translate these into actionable design styles or decor choices. Your business values are guidelines, so use them to influence and improve your customers’ in-store experience.
What are my next steps?
Integrating branding into the design of your outlets is a key step for retailers that want to excel in a competitive market. Design principles aid in creating destinations that go beyond a bricks-and-mortar space for products and become story-centred experiences.
For expert design input on achieving brand-consistency in your retail fit out, contact Innova today.
