Comfortable Customers Are Spending Customers

The longer you can keep a customer instore, the higher the likelihood of them making a purchase. Look no further… here are the 5 main areas for keeping your customers comfortable.

Seating

Keep those shopping companions happy and give them somewhere comfortable to sit. Areas to relax while shoes are tried on and benches outside changing rooms are a must-have to avoid a hasty exit for tired shoppers. But why stop there? Go a step further by keeping those waiting occupied, whatever their age, placing magazines and colouring books in seating areas.

Seats, benches and couches can all be tailored to fit any style of store, working brilliantly to increase the amount of time shoppers spend instore.

Temperature

The weather may not always be ideal in the UK, but keeping your shop a suitable temperature plays a large part in growing footfall. When shopfitting, ensure the correct ventilation and temperature control systems are in place so you can keep customers comfortable, whatever the weather.

While you can never get everybody to agree on the optimum temperature, shoppers will often enter stores to cool down in summer, or warm up in winter, creating the perfect opportunity to encourage shoppers instore and keep them browsing. All you need is the equipment to facilitate this.

• Use ventilation systems to prevent condensation on window displays
• Place heating systems at the entrance to give customers warmth in winter
• Keep a cool store in summer to encourage browsing

Lighting

Suitable lighting is important when convincing customers to make a purchase. Make sure natural light is present where possible, but make sure the sun isn’t shining directly on them.

The right lighting can increase staff productivity, create a desirable atmosphere and make a memorable experience for shoppers. Be sure to add fixtures where additional light is required and experiment with different techniques to create your chosen effects.

For more tips and tricks to get your instore lighting spot on, see our ‘5 ways to brighten your customers’ days’ article in this ebook.

• Install tinted windows where sunlight is too bright instore
• Invest in lighting which will create the desired atmosphere

Noise

Something often overlooked when shopfitting is noise. Simple irritations can play a large role in affecting a customer’s overall experience, but these can easily be solved by making informed decisions when shopfitting.

Buzzing lighting fixtures, loud tills and humming ventilation systems can all damage customers’ enjoyment while shopping. To avoid this, read reviews and take time to understand the pros and cons of each before installing them. It can be worth investing in higher quality systems for confidence, knowing that they won’t negatively impact your business.

Music can add to the atmosphere of any store. Whether you’re a family-friendly brand, looking to create a warm atmosphere or a vibrant company aiming to make a memorable impression, installing speaker systems and choosing suitable tunes is bound to entertain shoppers.

Organisation

Regardless of which products you sell instore, organisation is key in retail.

Shoppers don’t want to rummage through piles of disorganised items, so improve your customers’ experience with a desirable product layout, making browsing enjoyable. Showcase variations and ranges of products in eye-catching shelving and group similar products to increase the likelihood of selling.

Staff don’t enjoy continuously trying to fold or tidy messy displays, so design a layout which will lead to higher levels of productivity. Having set places for specific stock will not only make staff members’ lives easier, but it will also encourage customers to put items back in the correct places and keep the store presentable.

• Display selected quantities of stock
• Organize using sections, making it quick to find products
• Take customer feedback on board to improve organization
• Create adequate space to pass by between displays

There’s no doubt that putting thought into these five areas will help to improve customers’ experiences. Enjoy providing a brilliant environment for shoppers to browse in, and make sure they leave the store feeling happy and satisfied. After all, comfortable customers are spending customers.

For more pieces on shopfitting and visual merchandising, read Modern Retail’s Guide to Shopfitting