How Important a Retail Store Is?

 

Stores nowadays are both physical and digital. With the emerge of e-commerce, the footfall in physical stores is kind of affected. People are more into their comfort and they want to be too while shopping. Who doesn’t like ‘a retail store on hands’? The store layout is more eye-catchy with more effective UI and you’re just a ‘click away’ to make the shop. But what advantage a physical store have on an online store? The experience.

Physical retail stores proffer an in-hand experience of the products and then the brand builds relation with the customer to trigger the repeat purchase. For that, extravagant retail store designs are laid to provide the experience which retains for a longer period. The open spaces in a store have their own ‘experience talk’. The space speaks “literally” for itself. And the designers utilize it in the most effective way to narrate brands’ story to their TG.

As India is the fifth largest retail destination globally, despite the increase of 76% of consumer shift in the online market, the physical brick-and-mortar stores stack their importance with experience factor. The in-store cerebral experience made with virtual reality and artificial intelligence is exactly something you can’t have on a 6” under the A.C.

The Designer Impact:

As we are making our way through the pandemic, humans being the social ‘wild-wild’ will satisfy their crave of strolling in-stores soon after. The designers too are ‘on the lock’ for flamboyant customized designs of the store layouts with the sustainable approach by using materials that can be easily Re-used, Recycled, and Dis-assembled. But the relevance factor also plays a vital when the consumer is strolling through the store, it only takes four seconds to have that experience and reach to the four play of spending.

Also, according to the Harris Interactive Survey, 86% of the consumers(adults) are willing to pay for a better experience. So, its’ concludable that retail store with an excellent design is ‘win-shot’ for the brands.

Important ‘Includers’:

There are many things that contribute to the importance of the retail store. And the list goes on....

●       In-store Graphics & Displays -

In-store displays laced with advanced technological graphics invite customers and activate wallet spend-off. Here too, sustainable approach creates a positive about the brand’s retail store.

●       Retail Store Signage -

Yes, you can call a retail store signage as ‘visual storyteller’ for a brand. It includes both interior and exterior signages that can provide info and direction to the customers. The dual purpose of giving information and navigation is solved by these signages.

●       Technology -

Wither on virtual world or including tech at POS and POP’s, technology is an important ‘includer’ in a retail store. It also helps in efficient management and communication.

●       Information Technology (IT) -

In complex retail operations, IT plays a major as the retail market is growing so as the data and information. Not a single retailer will not have a IT department to manage their data’s. Competition is also on both ‘online’ and ‘backend’ operations.

The progressive importance of a retail store and design will not get faded away (in the near future though). They(retail stores) will always have that magic wand over the virtual commerce’s’ to sweep the footfall, but the opportunity(to grab) is must(and, on time). It really doesn’t matter how many HD’s your 6” will get, at the end, what you see is what you see!