Elevate your Retail Space with a Renovation
Your store’s exterior and interior design are a crucial part of your overall brand and whilst renovating your retail store can be challenging – the rewards are immense. One of the best ways to build customer loyalty is retail renovation. And it is not just your customers who benefit. Remodelling, can make a huge impact on customers and employees alike. So – whilst a renovation can be a significant investment, it is one worth making.
What is Retail Renovation?
Let’s start with this question – what is retail renovation? Renovation is different from construction as it improves the look of an existing space – changing the atmosphere, layout and appearance of your store.
Renovation is also different from refurbishment. Although the terms “renovation” and “refurbishment” are used interchangeably, the main difference is that refurbishment focuses on improving aesthetics while renovation changes the entire structure of a building – adding or removing walls, changing the floor layout, raising ceilings as well as improving aesthetics.
And because of that, renovation has a huge impact on your business.
What to consider when renovating your retail store
Before you start your retail store renovation, it is good to ask yourself the following set of questions to make sure you know the “why”.
Ask yourself – why are you renovating?
So – you are wanting to renovate your retail store, but what is the reason and what are you hoping to achieve. For example, has your overall brand changed? Is your interior out-dated? Are your fixtures getting old? Or, do you just want a new look and feel?Renovations can be expensive and they can also disrupt your business, so it is a good idea to be clear on why you’re renovating.
Think about – what do you want your retail store to look like?
Interior design may not be your thing, but even so, it is good to have an idea of what you like and don’t like. You could gather together ideas and then create a mood board with images that evoke the style and layout you’re after. Try to be realistic – thinking about your existing space and your ideas for your new additions. This would be amazingly helpful for you and your team as well as a great starting place for the fitout company you employ.
Calculate – what your renovation budget will be?
Next, think about your budget. What and how you choose to renovate your store will largely depend on your how much you allocate to the project. Think realistically about your budget and then add more (and extra cushion of 15% is good) so that you have a buffer for unforeseen costs that will for sure come up during the process.
Research – what do your customers expect?
Your renovation should, of course, be appealing to your customers. To understand what that actually means – you need to know who your target audience is and have an understanding of their likes and dislikes. You could survey your customers directly plus ask your staff as they are likely to have insights into how to draw customers in.
Think about these areas when renovating your store:
It is good to think about your customer experience in regards to each of storefront areas:
- Customer journey: A customer journey is the set of interactions that a customer has with your brand in buying your product – put simply, it considers the complete interaction roadmap, from brand discovery to purchasing and beyond with the 3 steps usually being Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion. This is a good article for further reading on customer journeys.
- Floor plan: A good floor plan considers your typical footfall, your product placement, and your ‘traffic’ flow and will have an impact on driving foot traffic, browsing, and in-store purchases. Organising items, shopper’s path, checkout, maximized space, walls, and blind spots will be considered when designing a floor plan. This is a good article for further reading on floorplans.
- Senses: There are different ways of engaging the senses while renovating a retail store and all have an impact. For example:
Mirror: Mirrors will make your store seem larger and more spacious to the buyers.
Scent: Choosing the right scent for your store is very important for keeping the customers in or making them turn away. Every scent is suitable for a different retail shop.
Samples: One of the benefits of a physical shop over an online shop is a sample and demo. The customers can touch, feel and try the products and then decide.
- Entrance: You only get one chance to make a first impression and that starts with your store entrance. Just like your website, customers will judge you in seconds based on what they first see, so it’s important to give the right impression, one that is in line with your brand and one that also keeps your store traffic flowing. This is a good article for further reading on the importance of your entrance in a retail store.
- Displays: You need to grab attention, and displays, if done right will do that. One important part of a retail store build is the window display, but you should also consider how you want to display your products in-store. Think about your shelving overall and ask yourself – do you need fewer shelves, do you need more wall space, how do you shelves fit with the rest of your visual merchandising.
- Lighting: Lighting has a crucial impact on the mood of your whole store. It is one of the most important elements of your whole store experience. Decorative, task, accent, and ambient are the four different types of lightings and you can choose any of them based on the store type. Take time and evaluate if your current lighting is working, what effect is it creating, is this what you want? to If not, it may be time to upgrade or make changes.
- Flooring: Damaged floors are usually an indicator of an unkempt space. Survey your flooring to figure out if it could use replacing.
- Walls: New paint is one of the easiest ways to transform your space. Also consider accent walls as these will draw customers into a specific area of your store.
All renovations require a lot of decision-making and when it comes to retail renovation, you also need to consider your brand, your target audience as well as your budget and your timeline.
Next Choose a Contractor:
Once you have asked yourself all these questions it is time to choose a commercial contractor. Look for a fitout company with years of experience, who can guide you through your project safely. When hiring a contractor, look for those with outstanding reputations and all proper licensing and insurance. A good contractor will be able to ensure that your renovations are completed in line with safety regulations and standards as well as answering all important questions you have worked through.
Talk to Liteco today!
