Here’s how to design in-store experiences to achieve ROI goals by affecting
how guests think, shop, engage and re-engage with retail brands.
Interview with Kevin Wildes, The Look Company
Furniture World spoke with Kevin Wildes, sales program manager at The Look
Company (thelookcompany.com), which provides interior brand activation and
signage to help retail brands improve in-store experiences.
Furniture World asked him how the most successful retail installations
influence the way guests think, shop, purchase, engage, and re-engage.
Wildes replied, “Even today, there are many stores that aren’t well
merchandised, are poorly laid out and have signage that makes it difficult
to find products.
That may not appear to be a problem in some smaller footprint stores, where
RSAs are trained to help shoppers find what they want. In those stores,
owners and managers may believe that shoppers are having a great in-store
experience when, in fact, they are having a wonderful experience with their
salesperson.
But especially for moderate-sized and larger footprint retailers, lack of
attention to traffic flow, signage and other factors can be a real problem.
In these stores, RSAs of varying abilities can’t be expected to do all the
heavy lifting, especially during high-traffic periods and when
short-staffed. Many of today’s shoppers are reluctant to engage with RSAs
upon entering, believing they have already identified what they want to buy.
Most of the time, however, these shoppers still need assistance to furnish
their rooms and solve challenges. That’s why physical store environments
must step up to guide and inform to maximize conversions.”
“Take a step back, imagine what shoppers see and feel when they enter, then
visualize what you want them to see and feel.”
Changing Behavior
“The best furniture retail environments influence consumer behavior by
making brand promises feel real and relevant at every touchpoint. There’s an
adage that a company is only as good as its worst experience. When it comes
to retail, the goal is to minimize negative experiences and maximize
positive ones. Improving visual engagement and merchandising changes
shoppers’ perceptions and sets the tone for engagement before they even
touch a product.”
From Intention to Action
“When most furniture retailers opened their first store, they most likely
started with a design intention. However, when opening a new store, updating
an existing store merchandising or coordinating store experience across
multiple stores, it’s important to go beyond intention to consider how to
move shoppers from intention to action.”
Cohesiveness
Wildes explained that it’s essential to tell clear and cohesive stories. “To
start,” he said, “take a step back, imagine what shoppers see and feel when
they enter, then visualize what you want them to see and feel. Engage other
people to do the same. Evaluation is the first step toward creating a
cohesive store experience.”
Shoppers’ Needs
“A second step is to ask how visual merchandising addresses why shoppers
visit. Does the current physical store environment help them find a specific
item, such as a sofa, among a sea of similar items? Does it advance their
journey toward completing a project such as furnishing a living room?”
Differentiation
“Evaluate how visual merchandising differentiates your brand from its
competitors. Many furniture stores have similar showroom graphics and
layouts. For those shoppers who don’t have a meaningful interaction with an
RSA, it’s easy for stores they visit to blend together. If you don’t stand
out as different and better, they won’t be coming back.”
“The best furniture retail environments influence consumer behavior by
helping brand promises feel real and relevant at every touch point.”
Four Practical Considerations
1. Design For Brand Promise
Wildes explained that many retailers initially focus on cost or aesthetics
but overlook how their installations should reflect their brand’s promise.
“Let’s say,” he suggested, “that the core of a furniture store’s brand
promise is to provide customers with the biggest and broadest selection. It
follows that when shoppers enter that store, their initial impression should
reflect that branding. The space shouldn’t be walled off. Shoppers shouldn’t
be required to enter through gates or have difficulty navigating the store.
Similarly, if marketing communicates that a store helps customers create
beautifully designed homes; when shoppers first arrive, if the showroom has
a warehouse vibe and minimal attention to design aesthetics, it’s a
problem.”
“The next level of attention is what customers see when they walk through
the store. This should also reinforce brand messaging, confirm expectations,
and influence buying behaviors. If a store’s brand promise is design, the
space should showcase thoughtful, curated displays and appropriate
graphics.”
2. Design for Brand Clarity
“Design store spaces for clarity rather than focusing primarily on filling
spaces,” Wildes suggested. “There has to be a balance between fitting every
SKU onto a showroom floor and marketing/customer experience considerations,”
he observed.
“For example, sometimes stores find great deals on mattress inventory that
ends up stacked in showroom corners. A simple and effective solution is to
hide the area behind inexpensive fabric graphics. This has helped more than
one retailer avoid looking like a warehouse store that just happens to have
some nice items.”
3. Design for Flexibility
Wildes advised, “When budgeting for brand identity and visual merchandising
projects, considerations like scalability, flexibility and ROI are
essential.
Space design that supports flexibility improves ROI. A retailer’s showroom
may have been designed to support a definitive brand or sales approach.
Sometimes, though, installations fail to achieve the desired results.
Flexibility isn’t built into most retail showrooms. Displays generally stay
in place for a minimum of 24 to 36 months or until funds become available
for a redesign. That’s true even if a build-out doesn’t support adequate
return on investment.”
Wildes reminded retailers that ROI considerations may require adjustments to
non-performing design elements, vignettes, and departments. “If an area
needs to be moved, opened up, closed in, or have a different relationship
with other store areas to achieve goals, having flexible installations can
be a serious advantage.”
Responsibility
“A related consideration for retail managers is who will maintain and reset
flexible areas. Will team members be able to reposition them or change out,
for example, large-format, solid-substrate or fabric graphics without the
assistance of an outside installation team? That is something SEG (Silicone
Edge Graphics) and lightbox solutions can help with.”
4. Design for consistency
For most multi-location retailers, maintaining consistency across all
locations is important, Wildes told Furniture World. “Often, retailers will
build a flagship store that really rocks but struggle to apply that flagship
experience to their smaller or lower-volume stores.
The ability to scale look, feel, and impact is of significant retail value.”
Retailers that choose to operate individual branded stores within a trading
area, there’s a different challenge. “Flexible design is still possible,”
said Wildes. “Stores will differ, but adding visual display solutions, such
as light boxes, fabric graphics, modular frames, integrated fixtures,
experiential graphics, and signage that solves problems common to the group
will increase collective traffic and conversions.”
Seasonality Considerations
“There are optimal ways to set up stores utilizing analytics that track what
sells and when. Sometimes, seasonal displays are designed to achieve
sales-per-square-foot goals, and at others, they can be loss leaders. The
specifics determine optimal placement within a store.
Success with seasonal displays, like any other visual merchandising,
requires being intentional about why you do what you do, monitoring
effectiveness, and having the flexibility to adjust if necessary.”
“Even modest changes will signal to returning customers that a showroom is
active, vibrant, and there are reasons to come back more frequently to find
new and exciting items.”
Are Displays Working?
When asked how retailers can determine if installations are living up to
their ROI potential, Wildes replied, “It would be nice to be able to
definitively determine that a new installation is solely responsible for a
sales spike. But in practice, multiple factors can contribute. For example,
an installation can coincide with the introduction of the right product at
the right time, a sales or marketing initiative, or an increase in consumer
interest in home furnishings due to other factors. Getting customer feedback
via social media, surveys and post-sale follow-up can help separate the
causes,” he noted, “as can initiating conversations with shoppers and sales
associates.
Monitoring internal analytics is a powerful way to demonstrate how changes
to in-store environments impact shopper behavior, including when they are in
the parking lot, approaching the entrance, passing through the entrance,
shopping or inquiring about services.
Today, determining the effectiveness of any initiative requires continuous
engagement to gain a thorough understanding of how shoppers and customers
feel about their experience.”
About Kevin Wildes
Following graduation with a BFA in Interior Design from the University of
Georgia, Wildes became a serial entrepreneur, co-founding a flooring
company, a marketing company and a consulting firm. He also worked with
Lowe’s, Havertys, Mohawk Industries, and The Home Depot.
“My father is a third-generation master builder,” he recalled. “Growing up,
I was involved in the construction and home industry, building single-family
homes and light commercial buildings. My thought was that obtaining a design
degree would allow me to design stuff without having to swing a hammer. That
didn’t necessarily work out, as I ended up doing both.”
Wildes, who subsequently earned an MBA from Kennesaw State University,
worked in and around the home furnishings industry as a retailer, marketer,
salesperson and consultant before joining The Look Company.
“The Look Company,” he explained, “does everything from huge Super
Bowl-sized stadium activations to wall displays for small mom-and-pop
furniture retailers. We provide custom and bespoke solutions tailored to our
customers’ needs. There isn’t any category of retail we haven’t touched
through our work supplying SEG and dye-supplemented printed fabric graphics,
lightboxes and other products that work well for all types of retail.”
New vs. Existing Construction
When asked about the differences between providing solutions for new versus
existing stores, Wildes observed, “Certainly, there are fewer design
constraints with new construction, but what I like about remodels is what
project retailers might not think is possible or affordable, can often be
accomplished with creative solutions, for example, an SEG system or modular
solution that is cheaper than traditional wall construction.”
Avoiding Retail Sameness
“What furniture store environments say visually needs to be both ‘on brand’
and unexpected,” Wildes explained. “When customers visit similar-looking
stores, they are less likely to pause and engage. Perhaps the best way for a
furniture retailer to focus on this issue is to shop its competition
thoroughly.”
Shop the Competition
“The first and best thing to do when planning new construction or a remodel
is to shop local competitors and buy something from them.
When walking through their stores, pay attention to visual merchandising,
interior design details, zones and transitions. Also, the paths customers
take at every touchpoint, from entering the parking lot to making a
purchase. Details matter. When shoppers enter, do they go right or left, and
then to which areas do they gravitate?
Observe in-store messaging, which, when done well, will have a hierarchical
aspect. That means large category signs displayed up high, mid-level signage
that’s more detailed, and product-level information presented on furniture
or a tag. Understanding that hierarchy and observing how shoppers engage is
instructive.”
“Pay attention to visual merchandising, interior design details, zones and
transitions. Also, the paths customers take at every touchpoint, from
entering the parking lot to making a purchase. Details matter.”
Wildes explained that buying an item or having a trusted employee make a
purchase provides deeper visibility into what shoppers experience, whether
good, bad or ugly. “It’s one of the best ways to get a firsthand view of
whether your store is playing on the same level as competitors, for better
or worse.”
Surprising & Different
“There’s value in installing surprising, different and exciting branding.
I’m not suggesting that retailers position a floppy blow-up guy out front,
however, they should brainstorm moments that surprise and delight customers.
Having said that, any display reset is likely to cause a bump in sales, no
matter how mundane or crazy good it is. Even modest changes signal to
returning customers that a showroom is active and vibrant, and there are
reasons to come back more frequently to find new and exciting items.”
Bringing Customers Back
“Encouraging shoppers to return to satisfy future needs is an important
function of any store design,” Wildes added. “Here’s an example. The reason
bedding departments tend to be well-lit is that bedding departments are
typically located toward the back of showrooms. Lighting naturally attracts
shoppers like a moth to a flame. Even if guests aren’t currently shopping
for bedding, they may be reminded to come back when they do need a
mattress.”
Prep Saves Time & Money
Wildes mentioned that additional information retailers bring to the table
can be useful. For example, heat mapping. “This can help identify lighting,
signage and display solutions to correct specific problems.
Often, we work with professional store designers who come prepared with
brand guidelines and store layout design guides. Although we can prepare
these, that helps us roll out displays more economically, faster, and with
greater flexibility.”
Problems Seeking Solutions
He continued, giving examples of common problems that can be solved by
improving in-store environments.
Traffic Problems: “Retailers may find that moving shoppers
into and through stores to achieve specific goals is a problem. Facilitating
traffic movement into a store from the parking lot is one example.”
Ticket Problems: “Average ticket can be increased for a
category or department, for example, by relocating departments or
facilitating cross-selling between departments with signage.”
Conversion Problems: “And, of course, conversion is usually
the most significant problem, even for retailers that generate a lot of
traffic. Conversion problems vary by store, but general solutions involve
creating store environments that support RSAs and provide the best customer
experience.”
Additional Observations
Anticipate Your Shoppers’ Needs: “Thoughtfully designed
installations reduce friction along the shopping journey, making shoppers
feel at home and facilitating decision-making. Many retailers believe that
offering more choices leads to higher conversion rates; however, studies
show that too many options can confuse customers and result in lower
conversion rates. Thoughtful installations can minimize that.
The best in-store environments anticipate shoppers’ needs and guide behavior
in ways that prompt them to pause and engage.”
Engaging With Salespeople: “It’s important during an
install to explain to staff why showroom upgrades are being made, how they
will help them sell more product and make their jobs easier.”
Keeping Up In Uncertain Times
Wildes related, “When product availability and supply chains are in flux,
stores must be able to flex and adapt showroom messaging and physical spaces
to maintain and reflect brand promises in various ways.
Retail always moves fast, but even more so in challenging times like these.
Display programs need to keep up. It’s my view that so many retailers still
don’t think about in-store displays in terms of programs, systems or
building in flexibility. Without that mindset, it is much more challenging
to adjust customer experience to the ebb and flow of business conditions. I
believe that flexibility is the future of retail.”
Future Proofing Retail
“When, at The Look Company, we speak about future-proofing, we mean that
cost isn’t just about what a retailer spends. It’s about what they waste if
they get it wrong.
Remaining ROI-focused by ensuring that businesses have the flexibility to
course-correct and make alterations throughout budgeting cycles is more
important now than ever before.
Retailers can advance brand objectives by creating store environments that
are as engaging as possible, support and supplement sales floor
interactions. When that’s done well, the result is more conversions and
raving fans.”
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