Small shops can use customer experience in their design plan as an effective strategy to enhance the shopping experience.
From the largest multi-national companies with millions in marketing budget, to the small local shop, everyone needs to create and develop the type of customer experience that connects with their customer base and ensures that each customer comes away with that special connection that will keep the coming back in the future.
If you have a small shop that you know could look better, it’s easy to improve the look and feel of it in order to make sure it makes the best possible impression on your customers as soon as they walk through the door. Here are some quick and effective tips to help you get even more from your shop’s design without having to spend a fortune.
Create a customer experience design plan
The first thing you need to do is to make a plan of action. Be strategic about your redesign and spend time coming up with ideas about how to best use your available space. Go into other shops to examine what techniques they are using to maximize their space, and spend a lot of time on this stage.
Add more windows, openings, and transparency
Windows are the perfect way to create the illusion of more space in your shop. If it’s possible, add some new windows into the walls or the ceiling to allow more light in, and this will instantly open up the space and make it look larger.
If you can’t actually add new windows, you can still create the illusion of windows. One option is to create a window between two rooms separated by a wall, as this will help to open up the space. Otherwise, simply hanging long mirrors onto the walls is a good way to create the window effect and increase the amount of light in the room.
Use lighting to enhance the customer experience
As well as increasing more natural light through adding windows, you can make use of artificial light to increase how large your shop feels. Illumination is important for any shop, especially if you have any dark corners that are not being utilised. Think creatively, and add small lights into the walls that illuminate unused areas and make the whole space feel larger.
Even shelving and furniture contributes to the customer experience
Using shelving properly is a great way to get more from the space available to you. Shop shelving for retail premises comes in many different forms, so try to be creative and think about how you can build upwards to display more of your merchandise on your walls and make more use of the space available to you.
Decorate with open spaces
How you decorate your space will have a huge impact on how large the area feels. One good idea is to stick to light, neutral colours while decorating, but to then add elements of bolder colours throughout, perhaps in the furniture that you use in your store. This can also look very stylish as well as helping to increase the illusion of space.
Never overcrowd
Don’t crowd your merchandise together if you can help it, because this can spoil all your hard work in trying to make your space look larger. Clutter is never a good option in most shops, so try to space your merchandise out as much as possible to create a more open and therefore larger feel.
Customer experience can improve the look, feel, and shopping experience
Improving the design of your shop, often cost-effectively and with ease, can make your display area look more inviting to customers, which can have an effect on your sales. Consider some of the above ideas and experiment with a few of them to improve your shop and make it seem larger and more attractive for your customers.