When opening a physical store, the fixtures and flow are two of your most important considerations. You need to choose fittings and displays that are conducive to showcasing your products, but that also welcome customers into the store and leave them plenty of room to wander around. Less truly is more, and a little planning can go a long way in helping you get the most out of your shop fittings, no matter what type of store you have.
Step One: Lay Out the Space
The first thing that you need to do is to create a layout of what your shop will look like. This doesn’t have to be a professional drawing, by any means. Just sketch out the walls of the shop and any permanent fixtures, poles, or other structural elements so that you have an idea of the space that you have to work with. Then, when you go to choose your fixtures, you’ll know how many you need, what types, and where they are going to go.
Step Two: Choose Your Shop Fittings
Think about the items that you will be selling. Do you need hanging clothes racks? Perhaps you need display cases for small items. You can use the internet to get inspiration for setting up your shop, including finding unique ways to incorporate various fixtures in your store. Look for displays and fittings that are versatile and that can fit in more than one space just in case you need to modify your layout as you go.
Step Three: Arrange and Rearrange
Once you’ve got a rough idea of what you want your shop to look like and the fixtures have arrived, it’s time to put it all together. Get some extra hands to help with moving all of the heavy shop fittings, and set aside a few hours to arrange the shop the way that you like. When setting up fittings, remember the following tips:
- Leave plenty of space between fixtures for browsing and traffic.
- Keep the front entrance area open and free of clutter. Crowded entryways are overwhelming and uninviting.
- Choose secure displays for high-dollar items but don’t make shopping the displays difficult.
- Make sure that you anchor or secure any displays that are heavy or may have a tipping risk for the safety of customers and employees alike.
Bonus Step: Choose Flexible Fittings for Future Redesigns
If you really want to maximize your dollars when investing in fixtures and fittings for your new shop, choose pieces that offer multipurpose use or flexible designs. Then, when you decide to rearrange or renovate down the road, you can repurpose a good majority of what you’ve already got. Temporary pegboard, slat walls, and multi-function displays are always a good investment.
In this day and age, your retail store needs to be perfect if it is going to succeed. People have so many options for shopping and a crowded, poorly-designed store is just going to create frustration for your customers. A little extra time spent choosing shop fittings can make all the difference.
When you open a new store and wish to attract customers, these in-store marketing strategies can really help in this regard.
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