It’s well known that there are several ways the overall retail experience, including the design of a retail unit, can influence customer behaviour. Many brands are beginning to understand that for offline marketing to have a successful resurgence, the spaces they occupy must be interesting enough to drag customers away from their phones and back in store.
With the rise of pop-up shops and independent ‘boutique’ stores, retail spaces are becoming more intriguing. These spaces offer the potential to provide customers with a unique and exciting customer experience – one they will love so much they will shout about it from the roof tops (although posting on Instagram will do).
It has been suggested that the layout and decoration of a store can have the potential to see repeat business increase by 52%, so it’s an important consideration when creating an appealing and compelling environment for customers. It’s also one we took seriously (and had fun with browsing Pinterest!) when considering and creating the aesthetic for our pop-up juice bar – Kinetic Café by Opus Energy.
When creating our café, we were keen to ensure we offered a unique experience, one that would be interesting enough to share with friends. How many times have avid social media-users taken photos of something cool that’s ended up on their Instagram feed? That’s the type of space we wanted to create, from powering the juicers with human energy, to having our very own neon sign which would cut-through the high street noise.
Individuality is at the heart of modern marketing and retailers must appeal to the many customers that want to share their own unique finds with the world, increasing their exposure in the process. Retailers need to find a way to communicate their brand story using their surroundings. It’s much easier to convey a brand’s identity online, but by delivering a clear, branded physical experience, a retail space can transform the way customers think and feel about an organisation.
After all, experience is the most memorable expression of a brand and by providing a distinctive backdrop, your customers will remember how you made them feel.
When designing our retail space, we discovered the below Pinterest boards. Take a look:
The best café interiors on Dezeen, including a pale pink hummus deli in Paris and modernist vegan eatery.
Revivals, nostalgia and reinterpretation of the industrial and the mad men era of design. Travel back in time with a vintage style and get inspired!
Restaurant and Café interior design inspiration from Interior Designer Alanna Dunn.
Lifestyle and Design Blogger Lauren Nelson
Ultimately, there are several ways that the design of a retail unit can influence customer behaviour and there is a lot to consider when creating the perfect retail space, but keeping an eye on current design trends and thinking about your target audience is half the battle.
Read more about the makings of the Kinetic Café – our first ever retail project – here!
