Common Mistakes In Retail Display Designs And How To Avoid Them
Some retail store business owners believe that success rests solely and firmly on product selection and price. While it is true that these factors are essential to get shoppers through your door and convince them to buy, would you believe it if we told you there’s much more to the story?
Presenting an attractive, logical, user-friendly retail display scheme helps every step of the way. Running an enticing shop means more than just putting things on shelves or racks. But how do you accomplish this? Read on to explore the top four mistakes shop owners make in retail shop display design – and more importantly, learn how you can avoid these mistakes to keep them from affecting your bottom line.
RETAIL DISPLAY DESIGN MISTAKE #1: Awkward or Disorganized Flow of Traffic
The Mistake: Narrow, uneven or twisted paths that disrupt a smooth flow of traffic through your store can make shopping uncomfortable. Not only do your pathways between shelving units, POP display stands and display racks need to be wide enough for shoppers to browse comfortably, but the overall design needs to encourage traffic flow as well.
Tips to Avoid this Mistake: Keep a fast-traffic path to the registers and doors. Take advantage of what your real estate has to offer – wide-open spaces should reveal eye-catching displays or merchandise that lure shoppers out of the path to browse.
RETAIL DISPLAY DESIGN MISTAKE #2: Lack of Cohesive Rack and Shelf Design
The Mistake: If you use too many different types of racks and shelving systems in your store, it detracts from the products and can even affect the psychological state of your shoppers. Wood here, shiny metal there and mismatched glass displays can result in a cluttered look, which can heighten discomfort and anxiety.
Tips to Avoid this Mistake: Decide on a display scheme and stick to it. Eclectic is fine and can work well in many stores, but tie your look and feel together with similar elements and complementary designs. For example, choose warm wood for housewares, sleek metal for high-tech gadgets and glass cases for jewelry.
RETAIL DISPLAY DESIGN MISTAKE #3: Amount and Variety of Products
The Mistake: Too many products or multiple types of products displayed together can create clutter and confusion. In a smaller retail store, a rack of twenty identical shirts can lend the impression that you don’t offer variety. Whereas a shelf with ten different individual products can fluster the indecisive shopper, making it more difficult to decide what to buy.
Tips to Avoid this Mistake: Balance is the key. Identify the products you want to push, and display a few of them prominently. Shelve similar items together, but do not overwhelm shoppers with too many selections. Leave comfortable spaces around things. No one wants to shop from a clothing rack packed so tightly they can’t get a piece out to look at it, or from a shelf where moving one product may cause an avalanche of nearby items.
RETAIL DISPLAY DESIGN MISTAKE #4: Bad Lighting, Air Flow and Other Building Issues
The Mistake: Every retail shop has intrinsic factors that affect the comfort of shoppers. Lights should highlight products correctly. Air vents should not blow directly where shoppers stand in a checkout line or on lightweight point-of-sale displays.
Tips to Avoid this Mistake: Pay attention to your lighting and airflow. Keep shoppers focused on things other than restroom doors, fire extinguishers, dressing rooms or other necessary but unattractive things.
All retail stores need a functional and feel-good display layout and design that works with your product types and customers’ interests and habits. These fundamental mistakes of bad traffic flow, cluttered merchandise, product amounts and spacing, and the overall comfort level and appearance of your store can be easily rectified with planning and care. Finding the right product display designs can improve sales and help you succeed in any type of retail establishment.
Need some help? Creative Displays Now has got you covered! If you’re looking for a unique, show-stopping display to take your retail merchandising experience to the next level, reach out today. We can’t wait to show you what we can do for you!
