Are you thinking of opening a brick and mortar store? Opening a shop is a hugely exciting step to take, and is the perfect way to showcase your products. Retail can be a challenging industry, so it is vital to make informed decisions when opening a store to give yourself the best chance for success.
Here are some of the factors to consider when preparing to open a retail store:
Location Matters
Location is one of the single most significant considerations when opening a brick and mortar store. This requires a careful balancing act between finding an empty retail unit with affordable rent and is situated in the perfect location.
It is useful to research local shopping areas to discover where shops seem to thrive and where retail seems to struggle. Gaining an idea of the foot traffic that passes each area is crucial so that you can capitalize on passing trade.
Perfect Your Branding
Creating a strong brand is vital for your retail business. You want to entice people to find out more about your brand, fall in love with it, and then buy it! Establishing brand success requires a cohesive and consistent approach. Your brand needs to capture people’s attention, it needs to be distinctive and unique to your business.
To strengthen your brand, you need to use it everywhere! Your shop sign is especially important to your brand, so it needs to be a high-quality sign, such as those produced by Anaheim Signs. Your sign is the first thing that passersby will notice about your store, so it is worth taking your time to choose the right signage.
Eye-Catching Displays
Visual merchandising plays a crucial role in attracting customers into your store. Enticing customers into your store requires eye-catching window displays and stock inside your store showcased in an appealing manner.
Changing your window display fairly regularly will help to keep passersby interested in your store, and more likely to pop in and view your stock. Putting together seasonal window displays also captures attention, especially if it is an exciting new product range geared towards the time of the year.
Inside the shop, try to get a balance in your displays to make sure that they are not overly cluttered, but also not too sparse. If your shelves are groaning under the weight of your stock, customers are more likely to put off making a purchase as they will think that you aren’t going to sell out of the item. Having packed shelves also increases the chances of products being knocked over and damaged by browsing customers.
Preparing for Launch
Once your store is almost ready to open, it is time to start creating some buzz about your launch. To gain people’s interest, why not start sharing details about the opening day on social media, and advertise opening discounts or giveaways, to encourage people to visit and make a purchase or two. Make sure that you let the local press know about your exciting new store too!