Creating the right retail environment

High Street has seen trading conditions become increasingly hard as shoppers change the way they spend

Squeezed incomes and Brexit worry have seen retail sales fall by an average of 12% in Q2 2019. The result is a host of bankruptcies in the media of well-known brands like ToysRus. 6,000 shops close in a tough year for UK’s high streets says the Guardian.

 

So what can retailers do about this?

Whilst re-negotiating rents and rates and reducing overheads is a no brainer this is not going to be enough to attract shoppers back into bricks and mortar.

 

Here are our top 8 retail store design ideas from the pros:
  1. Grab Shoppers’ Attention with Digital Signage
  2. Go Green With Your Walls or Window Displays
  3. Have Background Music Your Customers Will Love
  4. Add QR Codes on Shelf Tags.
  5. Have Customers Walk a Well-Thought Path.
  6. Paint an Accent Wall.
  7. Adjust Your Lighting.
  8. Get your entry and exit doors right

 

If you can improve a shoppers experience in your shop then you have a 224% chance of this customer returning to but again.

Starting with the entrance, it has been proven that electric doors are more likely to create an instant welcoming feel to a retail premise, with doors that open on exit (when hands are hopefully full of bags) giving a feeling of being valued.

 

Here are some of the most powerful ways that physical UK retailers can make their shopping experiences better for customers.
  1. Place Emphasis on Strong Customer Service.
    1. websites cannot talk so ensure helpful staff and smiles all round
  2. Engage All Five Senses
    1. websites are non-tactile, not smell, non-feel environments, tempt your customer senses
  3. Keep Your Employees Happy.
  4. Think of Products as Souvenirs.
  5. Improve packaging and branding
  6. More here.

 

Lastly, shops are an integral part of our society’s framework providing a useful human interaction rather than just a purchasing experience. They are worth retaining! Usdaw is campaigning for the Government to take urgent action to ‘Save Our Shops’. More.