When most people think about opening up a retail store, they focus on the relatively simple, straightforward aspects of the job. Namely, they emphasise having a good inventory, pricing it correctly and selling as much as possible. The truth, however, is there's a lot more to retail success than products and prices.

Store design matters. When people walk into your establishment, their purchasing decisions are sure to be influenced by the layout of the place and the way your products are arranged, whether they consciously realise it or not. If you fail to optimise your storefront's design, you're sure to lose sales.

Therefore, the time and money you put into design planning are not wasted. Rather, those resources are an investment in the long-term financial future of your business. When you view it that way, it makes sense to devote a little extra attention to detail.

Rethinking commercial storefront design

It's safe to say that when the majority of retail store managers start thinking about retail strategies, they have a bad habit of neglecting their store designs – and even when they do think about them, their approach is typically one that could use some improvement.

According to Marketing Magazine, the problem is that commercial store designers tend to focus on "delivering a good-looking result," but in reality, their challenge is much deeper than that. Merchandising isn't just about making things look good – it's about looking more closely at sales challenges and thinking critically at how design choices influence people's decisions to buy.

In other words, store managers need to think more like exhibit designers. They should ask themselves questions such as: Where do I want the customer to look? Which items do I want them to be drawn to, and in what order? These are decisions that will have a major impact on sales.

Tapping into creative design ideas

A successful marketing activation is about a lot more than just your products and their prices. You also have to have creative ideas about how to merchandise your products and design a storefront that will really pop.

Find creative ways to display your products.

According to Entrepreneur, there are a few ideas that have proven effective. One is to use shelving for guiding the customer's journey. If you have bookcases that you use as dividers on your retail floor, you can use them to help nudge people towards key products that you're looking to sell. Additionally, you can use lighting to draw attention toward certain products.

Having said that, you don't need to use shelves or lights to highlight key products. You can save space and win style points with customers if you're able to create elaborate displays without any furniture involved. The more innovative and unique your design choices, the more likely they'll be to grab people's attention.

How our designs make a difference

If you want to come up with a retail store design that will really pop, it's probably a good idea to enlist the help of the professionals. Luckily, Exposure Group is available to offer all the assistance you need. We have a wealth of experience with crafting kiosks, point-of-sale displays and pop-up displays that will engage your customer base and help you make more sales than ever.

There's no shortage of design pros out there, but none of them can quite offer the Exposure Group difference. We have a team of talented designers, managers and producers who are skilled not just with the design itself, but also with business strategy. We are committed to finding design plans that fit your company's needs and meet its challenges. Talk to us today, and we'll get started.