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What Your Retail Space Says About You and Why Brick and Mortar is Still Important
Words Jules Sheridan
As a designer, you may be so focused on your product that you overlook other aspects of your business, such as your retail space. Juel Sheridan explains why having a physical space for your brand is so important.
Designing a retail space has never been more exciting. The opportunities for innovation are rife and brands have the opportunities to create a physical representation of their stories and values. Before developing further into what your retail space says about you as a brand, we should begin with why invest in a retail space at all? It has been well over eighteen months since the outbreak of the pandemic and the potential of social media and digital communication exploded. In this climate, the role of the store was questioned. Savvy brands seized this moment to become content creators and entertainers. Depending on our moods, we could be uplifted and entertained by live streamed Instagram music sessions. Whether our subject of interest was make-up, fashion, wellness or culture, we could be educated through tutorials and one to one virtual sessions.
With so many brands embracing this model of communication and online shopping was the only way for people to buy products, speculation arose that digital was out pacing physical retail and the role of the store would become redundant. Yet this could not be further from the truth. When done well, investing in a retail space could not be more important. At the end of 2020, The Business of Fashion and Brookfield Properties shared report findings comparing conversion rates of both digital channels and physical retail throughout the year. Despite at least 3 months of closure, A-rated retail outperformed digital when it came to conversion to purchase rates. E-commerce had a 3 percent conversion rate, whereas physical retail sat around 20 percent. In addition to this, the report confirmed that the costs of acquiring customers through digital channels via advertising and marketing pale in cost-effectiveness in comparison to stores.
The role of bricks and mortar is important and an advantageous asset when it comes to developing a brand strategy. However in order to understand what your store says about you, we should hone in what makes a store unique.
Looking back to the months of store closures, our communication with our favourite brands became a comfort blanket of never ending content to be consumed and this was a backdrop to our quarantined lives. Yet despite the noise, the constant scrolling, clicking and tuning in, there was a void. We were missing places to visit for not only a change of environment but also face to face conversations. We are social creatures by nature and need both human interaction and connection. What it means to be human is one of the most unique selling parts of a physical retail space. What your retail space says about you is also what it reflects back into the community, including the relationships between customers, staff and suppliers.
Acting as a pillar of community
In the last year, we have all sensed a greater loyalty to serving others and connection to our wider community. Brands need to be a part of this conversation and the store is the home that facilities this interaction. Whether it is through hosting IRL workshops or events, or having a dedicated expert on hand to help customers with their queries, the store resembles a physical space for this all to take place. Given the conversion to acquisition rate that stores hold, investing in the store as a community space is paramount.
Power of one to one customers and human interaction
Eye contact, a smile, a warm welcome – a welcome back. This is what the independent corner shops, often family-owned and run, that have filled in the gaps during lockdown, have taught us to appreciate so greatly. The post offices strung out across the country, recovering from their own terrible scandal where up to 400 sub-postmasters were made to cover “shortfalls” in their accounts which turned out to be a software system glitch, came good for us, enabling communication and the sending back of incorrectly ordered, or regretful on-line orders, of which there were so many. Even queuing to enter shops in person became a treasured trip out, socially distanced at two metres, and long distance chats on the pavement with complete strangers. This was the end of invisibility. Goodness how we all saw each other!
How staff are treated
Staff on the counter became front line workers. They were essential. We needed them, noticed them, appreciated them. Smiling with our eyes became a thing. I hope this never goes away. Regular chats with the same faces – we love to see the same faces when we go into stores – especially ones who have had the benefit of good training, but also those with a natural flair for human interaction. Cherish these people. Pay them properly and help them to help you help any customers that come over your threshold. Customers are not “your” customers, they do not belong to you. Remember that always.
Relationships with suppliers and how this looks
Cherish your suppliers. You need reliable trusted suppliers, and to know where and how they are sourcing the goods they source to sell on to you. Ask them questions. Do your homework, and form good respectful relationships, to ensure that the community that you are forming with your retail store is a good one, and you will reap the rewards. Create positive ways to request a bit of local exclusivity and pay your suppliers on time. Try and meet them in person and make sure that your values are compatible.
We are getting some really exciting briefs coming in, and we will be working hard with the key decision makers of the brands involved to design and build amazing stores and concessions within stores. The department store has not gone away and there is room for everyone. Exciting, but perhaps a little more considered, times.Sustainability is the key. Do it once – do it properly.
