Things You Must Remember When Designing a Store

When business owners are opening up a store, they spend a lot of time thinking about products and profit. The design of a shop isn’t often given the attention it deserves. This is because people underestimate just how important it is to your business as a whole.

Getting them through the door is only the beginning

Store design is a complex area. You might think it’s just about making things look pretty. A lot of business owners seem to think that store design pretty much begins and ends at getting people into the store. That store design is largely limited to the very front of the store, to what displays you have in the window. Well, that is pretty darn important, I’ll give you that. But store design gets a lot more involved and complicated than that.

You’ve probably already guessed that the rest of the store should look fantastic. But it’s not just about the looks of things on a surface level. Good shop design takes into account customer psychology and habits. Good design steers customers while remembering that customers will go in certain directions regardless.

The aesthetic and philosophy of your business

Think about Apple. They tend to go for the minimalist route when it comes to their hardware and feature designs. (For better or worse.) If something is superfluous, it shouldn’t be there. Well, they apply that thinking to their stores. Have you ever been in an Apple store? They’re usually massive, but you can usually see everything at a glance. There’s no chance of getting lost. Everything seems to be in a perfect position.

You shouldn’t make shop design choices that don’t gel with the aesthetic and philosophy of your business. Those lines of thinking may be what attracts people to your business. Don’t have them scratching their heads because your store layout presents contradictions!

Your audience

Who are the people that will be going into your store? If you’re dealing with a particular niche, this is very important. The type of people that usually buy your product will be attracted by certain design styles. Sometimes, this may even mean you should avoid a flashy, pretty route. Take a trusty bookstore, for example. If your store has stacks of books everywhere, not all of them in perfect condition? So much product that people can barely move around properly? Well, book lovers will often go for those stores!

That’s not to see that all bibliophiles only want scruffy-looking stores. People who love books are going to be pretty happy with whatever bookstore they can find. So a sleek and shiny bookstore is definitely something you should consider, if that’s what you want. Especially if you’re looking to sell newer items, or perhaps to an audience who perhaps don’t buy books too often. But if you’re selling older books, rare books, and/or secondhand books? Then don’t be afraid to have a store that’s a little bit cluttered, a little messy. As long as people can actually find things, they should be fine. They’ll appreciate the sort of “authenticity” that such a look lends to a bookstore like yours.