Customers today want to feel a connection to the brands they support. So, if they’re going to spend their money in your retail store, they want an experience, not merely a transaction.
Brick-and-mortar retail is alive in 2022.
While the pandemic certainly fueled the rise of online retail, 46% of surveyed consumers still prefer visiting physical locations over shopping online. And when a customer expects a positive in-store experience and receives it, 90% will likely return to that business. (source Retail Customer Experience, State of Consumer Behavior 2021 Report)
To remain relevant and grow your retail business in 2022, you’ve got to create exceptional in-store experiences for your customers.
But today, time is working against you: Not only do customers have shorter attention spans than ever before. But since the onset of the pandemic, customers now want a quick, in-and-out shopping experience. This means you’ve got less time to connect and make an impact with your customers.
So, how can you set yourself apart from competitors and make the most of your customers’ in-store visits?
Use visual merchandising to create a positive, convenient in-person shopping experience. Artfully arranging your store shelves in the right way and using accessible, eye-catching displays can help entice and engage your customers and promote product sales.
Consider implementing some of these retail display trends to make your customers feel more comfortable and engaged in your store.
Use brand storytelling to share your purpose. Using storytelling graphics can make the retail experience more meaningful for your customers. “In addition to giving your customers reasons why they should buy a product or service, businesses need to start sharing the story behind their brand, why it exists, and why this matters.” (Forbes).
On your next Target run, notice how the retail brand promotes its commitment to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025. Graphics and displays throughout the store showcase these brands, including the new kitchen product line, CRUXGG, by Bronx-born culinary collective Ghetto Gastro. Splashy in-store graphics tell the brand’s story and their commitment to fighting food insecurity, which reinforces Target’s commitment to giving back to the communities it serves.
Use technology to encourage interaction with your brand.
Implementing digital touches as part of in-store shopping can help improve the customer experience, making it more convenient, fun, and memorable—and it can also provide you with valuable customer data. For example, use kiosks or pop-up displays to connect with customers as they wait in line using a product or lifestyle video. And use QR codes on displays, menus, and signs to encourage customers to enter a contest or giveaway, provide feedback using surveys, and capture discount coupon codes.
Use signage to create a safe, healthy shopping environment.
Clear, concise signage can help make the shopping experience easier to navigate for customers: From directional prompts to instructions for self-checkout, in-store signage gives people the information they need to boost their sense of security and satisfaction.
Create bold displays that make it quick + easy for shoppers to find their product.
With many customers still looking to reduce time spent in retail stores, make it easy for them to get what they need with well-designed product displays. Use free-standing and endcap displays to call attention to your product. Whether a seasonal theme or a designer-inspired item, build your display to appeal to what your audience is seeking most right now.
This display that Shamrock designed and produced for Jose Cuervo did just that: The bold graphics attract attention, and the tower display format makes it easy to find the desired beverage products quickly.
Build pop-up displays to entice and engage customers stopping in to pick up online orders.
Take the convenience of in-store pickup and blend it with visual merchandising: Use the opportunity to present pop-up galleries of your seasonal flavors, most popular items, or specialty product bundles. This is your chance to up-sell, or at least, to make an in-store brand connection with online shoppers.
There are many brand touchpoints across your customer’s retail journey. To make the most of those opportunities and engage each customer as part of your brand community, use creative visual merchandising and displays that make them feel connected.
If you’re interested in brainstorming some ideas for your retail product displays, reach out to me directly jbanks@shamrockcompanies.net.
