Does the popularity of online shopping, make you wonder how commercial shop fitouts will cope with the competition? Maybe you ask yourself if it is even worthwhile sinking money into a retail refurbishment, when you see so many people shopping online.
Well, all is not lost because even though online shopping is here to stay, we will always need retail stores. In fact, as one of the leading shopfitters in Sydney, we know that a clever interior design can help to augment or even offset online shopping.
Will online shopping replace physical stores?
We will go so far to say that this will never happen. Customers will always want to visit physical stores because they like to feel, touch and examine the products before they buy. More importantly, as a retail store with a physical presence, you can have the edge on ecommerce stores, if you plan your business accordingly.
The key is to take advantage of the increase in online shopping by also offering online shopping yourself. This may sound simple, but as shopfitters in Sydney, we speak to lots of business owners and managers, who are already taking this vital step. All it takes is a website, shopping cart and a payment gateway or if you prefer, you can simply offer online ordering with payment and pick-up at the store.
Suggestions for commercial shop fitouts
Clearly, retailers might have to work harder in some instances to encourage customers away from the internet and into their stores, but this is where clever marketing and expert interior design can help. From a marketing point of view you will need to integrate your online and offline businesses and from an interior design standpoint, you will need to design the interior of your stores to take the customer’s needs into account, now more than ever before.
This means that commercial shop fitouts and retail refurbishments need to turn a retail store into a destination and a meeting place, rather than just a shopping outlet. After all, if customers only want to peruse and purchase merchandise, in many instances they can do that online in the comfort of their own home. So you need to give them a reason to enter your store, as well as a reason to visit your online store.
To achieve these lofty outcomes, you need first class marketing skills, a top of the line interior design and an unparalleled knowledge of shopping behaviour. The future is all about integrating online and offline shopping, so giving customers an experience in your physical store that is not achievable online is essential.
Your marketing strategy for this new model of integrated shopping also needs to take advantage of social media, as this is one of the most popular forms of communication today. Include not only images of your new refurbishments on your website, but also images of your products, and post offers and discounts (available in-store only!) to your business’s social networks.
It is clear that commercial shop fitouts need to leverage the power of online shopping and use it to their own benefit. Without a doubt, a top of the line interior design refurbishment and a friendly designer atmosphere is something that cannot be equalled by an ecommerce store.
