Planning Your New Retail Premises

Everything about your shop should reflect its brand image and the type of customer it is trying to attract. This includes all of your shop fittings, from clothes rails to clothes hangers. As the saying goes ‘the customer is always right’ – whether this is necessarily always the case, it is still something you should try and adhere to where possible. If you’re selling designer high fashion labels, then you should make sure everything about your store gives off this feeling. Likewise, if you’re selling elegant formal wear, you wouldn’t expect to walk into a store with neon walls and blaring rave music. Consequently, your first step on opening a new store should be to make sure the décor matches the product. In fact, the colour of your walls is perhaps the most important when it comes to décor and design, as 70% of sales in UK high street retailers come from the wall areas. It might be tempting to choose a bright colour or some funky wallpaper, but make sure that your clothes will still be easily visible when put against it and won’t be lost in a sea of jazzy patterns. Go neutral without being too bland. Space and lighting are important, so don’t overcrowd your floors and walls with too many shop fittings. A customer glancing through your open doorway will want to see further than the first rail, no matter how good the stock you’ve got displayed on it! If they do make it over the threshold, they’ll also want to see what else you’ve got to offer, not be struggling to make things out in the gloom. Find the right balance between too much and too little stock. Shop fittings are not just about clothes rails, either. Give the same care and attention when choosing other items, such as fitting room curtains, mirrors, hooks and stools, and even your clothes hangers. Hangers can come in a variety of materials these days, including plastic, wood and fabric. Again, your choice of hanger should reflect your shop’s overall image, and wooden and fabric covered hangers are particularly suited to higher end boutiques. Whichever you choose, however, try and be consistent throughout (or at least through specific ranges) as this will give a better overall appearance. You may also want to furnish your shop with some accessories, artwork or props. You can use mannequins to create eye-catching window displays in keeping with your store’s style, and these are an extremely effective way of both showing off your stock and enticing customers to come inside. You can also place mannequins around the store itself, to show customers how great certain ranges will look when worn. If you’re selling any smaller items, consider buying clothes rails with flat tops which can act as a table to display these on. You can buy a variety of containers, baskets or small racks which are perfect for this purpose, as well as for creating point of sale displays, which should be seen as proper sales displays rather than a way of simply filling space.

For new shop fittings, clothes rails and mannequins, visit http://www.displaysense.co.uk/