When you say the words storefront design, your mind probably goes right to what you see when you walk inside the entrance to your favorite retail location. The thought process that goes into developing what you see, though, expands well beyond a shopper’s first few steps.

With storefront design, sure, retailers are obviously taking into consideration their welcome displays, but, more specifically, they’re about these three aspects… And probably many more.

Choosing the right floor plans

There’s no such thing as the perfect floorplan, and no floorplan is one-size-fits-all for every retailer. What every retailer is likely to do, however, is make it so that their floor plan provides a route where the natural progression encourages customers to move around the store. Some geometric floor plans put a heavy focus having fixtures in different places and where they fit in regard to other fixtures. Other floor plans can be more free flowing, not in that there’s no method to the madness – just so that it looks appealing.

Using the right floor plan that caters to your storefront is key. Regardless of the thinking behind the structure, making sure that you’re greeting and leading your shoppers is vital, so that it is naturally directive toward where you want them to go – especially if some of your offerings are seasonal. Floorplans should naturally direct shoppers to products.

Consider seasonality and quantity

If some of your products have a shelf life – no pun intended – It’s important that you keep them at the front of the store; it should be kept in mind that you’re showing customers what you’re merchandising currently.

For seasonal times, you could hang your value product in a window with the hopes that it draws even more people in. Consider the Super Bowl – If you’re a sporting goods retailer in Kansas City this year, your Super Bowl gear is neither toward the back nor is it with the rest of the fan gear; it’s right up front, so that when a customer walks through the door tables filled with Super Bowl gear are the first things that can be seen.

Don’t overwhelm customers with the quantities, though. Don’t put out so much product that makes it overpowering for a shopper. Conversely, don’t put out too tiny an amount of product so that it makes your merchandising display for that particular area appear to be lacking. Understand how much of your product to display.

Adapt to the floorplan, and make sure you’ve got the right spacing between your tables and fixtures. Make sure that your retail displays themselves aren’t beat up – that they’re in good shape and present themselves well. If you have displays that are beat up or that have seen better times, it should be a trigger for the brand developing them that they need to make them out of higher quality materials.

Appeal to all senses

One thing that’s often overlooked  when it comes to storefront design, is the opportunity to use music and finding other ways to appeal to each and every of your shoppers’ senses. Make sure that you’ve got the items necessary to appeal to every part of every person who comes through your door, even if it’s as simple as purchasing Glade Plug-ins.

Make your store smell better. Make your place sound better with the music you’re choosing the play over the speakers. Things like that can be often disregarded, and they shouldn’t be.

Interested in leveling up your point-of-purchase (POP) marketing with a new display? Download our free guide: The Future of Brick-and-Mortar.