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Retail design basics

Guest post by: Deepak Vora

Article Overview: The advances in technology give us access to information 24/7. Ever wonder if that information is knowledge, or why we lead such complicated lives? We seem to have moved away from basic common sense, and for some reason the decisions we make in our lives are not as clear as they should be. The principles of clarity are the same in personal life and business. Do we have the ability to see things as they are and make the right decisions when needed? Let us examine the steps of designing a retail store/restaurant for success.

Retail design basics

The advances in technology give us access to information 24/7. Ever wonder if that information is knowledge, or why we lead such complicated lives? We seem to have moved away from basic common sense, and for some reason the decisions we make in our lives are not as clear as they should be. The principles of clarity are the same in personal life and business. Do we have the ability to see things as they are and make the right decisions when needed? Let us examine the steps of designing a retail store/restaurant for success. The process can be compared to the blooming of a flower. It starts with an idea in the mind of an entrepreneur. Slowly blossoms into a vision and blooms to a fully fledged urge to see it materialize. At the end of the day the ultimate goal of the retail venture is to SELL!!! Sales create jobs, opportunities and profits which makes the entire effort worthwhile. This is the common motive of everyone working in the retail industry. When all the players in the venture understand that their job is to maximize sales, the process becomes very simple yet exciting. The only question one needs to ask is - what is the best action to facilitate sales? 1. Location. Finding a suitable location with sufficient foot traffic is extremely important. For a street location, availability of parking and passenger drop off areas should be taken into consideration, as well as well know attractions in the area which guarantees people. In an enclosed mall, the type of tenants in the vicinity will have a huge impact on the sales. 2. Attention finding the right location guarantees traffic, but not potential customer entry. There are a lot of things in the shopping environment competing for a customer's attention - noise, traffic, street vendors and other retailers to name a few. To overcome these distractions, it is essential to come up with a presentation that will get the customer's attention. The first step to sales is to "get noticed" and get the customer in the door. 3. Entice. Once the focus is on getting noticed, the steps to achieving the goal become clear. The storefront is the portal of the store and as we all know, first impressions are the last impressions. It is the billboard which works 24/7 365 days. The perfect storefront design, masterfully integrates entry doors, display windows and finishes, enticing customers in the store 4. Engage. Customers today have lots of choices. We live in an age of short attention spans. The first 8-12ft inside of a store referred by landlords as a design control zone is very important. Proper lighting, merchandise display, finishes and ambiance will determine whether the shopper will become a customer and a sale will take place. 5. Explore. Most of the retail stores are deeper than 12ft of entry area. The store layout should be such as to encourage exploration of all areas of the store. Visual merchandising through the store can lead customers to the rear with ease. A cohesive ambiance can provide the customer a seamless shopping experience, exposing them to all the merchandise in the store, maximizing the sale potential and profits there is more to retail design than what is described. At times simple things get overlooked and it is always good to go back to the basics.

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Article Tags: design basics, retail design, shopping environment, Visual merchandising



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Re: Google No-Follow Issue? - [quote="MichelleJ":1856udcj][quote="TannyL":1856udcj]I agree GT. The basics never change, and if you master the basics the small changes will not alert you.[/quote:1856udcj] I agree it is important to focus on the basics, just keep doing them consistently and everything else will fall into place. MichelleJ[/quote:1856udcj] I also noticed that no matter which new program or service is released I always go back to the basics and "forget" about the new stuff, unless they really work.
Re: Google No-Follow Issue? - [quote="TannyL":1cre6app]I agree GT. The basics never change, and if you master the basics the small changes will not alert you.[/quote:1cre6app] I agree it is important to focus on the basics, just keep doing them consistently and everything else will fall into place. MichelleJ
Re: Google No-Follow Issue? - I agree GT. The basics never change, and if you master the basics the small changes will not alert you.
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