Many small businesses with brick-and-mortar locations struggle with enticing people into their stores, especially since the pandemic. However, once you finally crack the code for getting customers to enter, the next step is convincing them to stay and shop awhile and hopefully come back again.
There are a bunch of techniques for doing this, but the one we’re going to focus on today is improving your store’s overall atmosphere to make it more visually appealing. If you can pull this off, we’re sure you’ll see an increase in sales and return shoppers and you will keep your workers much happy and content.
1. Determining Your Brand Personality
The first step in determining your brand personality is to understand what a brand personality is. A brand personality is the way a brand speaks and behaves. It’s what makes brands relatable to human characteristics.
When customers interact with a brand, they should be able to see themselves or someone they know in the way the brand communicates. This will help create an emotional connection with the customer, which is essential for any business that wants to create lifelong fans.
There are several different ways you can go about determining your brand personality. The method you choose will likely depend on the size of your business, your budget, and the amount of time you have to dedicate to this project.
2. Utilize the Psychology of Colors
Have you ever noticed that many restaurants use red or yellow in their branding? That’s not an accident. Studies have shown that these two colors are likely to make a person feel hungry. When companies use these colors, it can make people suddenly want to stop and grab a quick bite to eat.
You can do the same for your store, but with other colors. A popular one that many companies use is blue. That’s because this color evokes a sense of trust and loyalty. Even if you don’t use blue in your store branding, spreading the hue throughout your store could cause people to have these feelings while in your store, bringing them back again in the future.
3. Keep Things Organized
A messy or crowded store is never a good thing. It can either distract customers from the items you’re trying to sell or even stress them subconsciously. Either way, it’s unlikely that someone will return to a place that made them feel this way.
That’s why you must keep your store nice and tidy. A way to help with that is by removing any access items that aren’t selling and are just taking up space. This falls in line with the minimalist approach that has worked so well with other companies. Streamlining the viewing experience will lead to a much more pleasant and productive shopping session for those in your store. How to organize is key in any business.
4. Put Up Useful Signs
Of course, we don’t want all our advice on making your store’s interior more appealing to be based on psychological effects, so let’s cover a more practical one. Putting up signs in your store that either direct people to what they’re looking for or answer commonly asked questions can enhance the shopping experience.
Many shoppers these days don’t like asking questions unless they absolutely must, which could lead to a drop in sales if your store layout is confusing. Signs help alleviate this problem. Of course, too many of them can also be bad, so make sure you set up the perfect number of signs at your location.
5. Tailor to Your Target Audience
When trying out these previous suggestions, the one thing you should keep in mind is always to tailor your store to your target audience. We’re sure you already do this for your ads, so you must also keep your style consistent in the space. If you draw in a specific group but they don’t like how things look when they get there, the chance of them ever coming back drops drastically.
For example, if you’re targeting young adults, a more modern look with clean lines would probably work better than an antique feel. On the other hand, if you want to attract an older crowd, that second option might work better.
6. Use Good Lighting
The lighting in your store can also have a big effect on people. If it’s too bright, it could come off as being too harsh or even give people headaches. But if it’s too dim, shoppers may have a hard time seeing what they want and make decisions based on that fact alone.
You must find the perfect balance for your store. The lighting should be bright enough to see everything but not so much that it’s overwhelming. You may need to experiment with different types of bulbs and light fixtures until you find what works best for your business.
7. Play Relaxing Music
Last but not least, the music you play in your store could also be a determining factor in whether someone enjoys their shopping experience. We’ve all been in a place where the music was too loud or just not to our taste, and it definitely puts a damper on things.
The type of music you play should be based on your target audience as well. If you’re a kid’s store, playing nursery rhymes would be fitting. But if you sell more adult products, something calming like jazz would probably work better.
You can also get creative with this one and come up with something that represents your brand. For example, if you sell vintage clothes, playing oldies from the 50s and 60s would make sense.
8. Use Minimalism To Your Advantage
In today’s world, people are bombarded with ads and stimulation everywhere they go. Because of this, many have developed what’s known as “banner blindness”, which is when someone tunes out all the noise and just focuses on what they came to do.
While this may seem like a bad thing, you can actually use it to your advantage in brick-and-mortar stores. By removing any excess items and streamlining the shopping experience, you can help shoppers focus on what’s important: your products.
Of course, you don’t want to go too far with this concept and end up in a sterile environment. But by decluttering your store and making it more visually appealing, you can encourage people to spend more time there and increase the likelihood of them making a purchase.
Conclusion
No matter who your target audience is, remember to keep things consistent from your ads all the way to your store interior. By following these simple tips, you can make sure your store is more visually appealing and inviting, which could lead to increased sales.
What are some other ways to make a store more visually appealing? Let us know in the comments below!
The retail world is constantly changing, and it can be hard to keep up with the latest trends. But if you want your store to be successful, it’s important to stay on top of things.
