Is it Time to Re-imagine the Face of Your Franchise?
When a customer steps into your storefront, are they immediately engaged in your brand and compelled to buy? Does your store layout support the desired customer experience? Do you have the right design and flow that makes it easy and appealing for your customers? If not, then your in-store marketing is costing you money – and it’s time to reverse that trend.
Consumers today are more educated, more demanding, and have more options than ever before. It’s critically important for retailers to keep up with the ever-evolving consumer needs and stay top of mind. Adapting a new franchise model or updating your business space to meet these consumer demands can lead to projects as diverse in scope as they are in size. Executing the upgrade of a single element related to branding and signage programs - such as displays, store fixtures, or kiosks - can do wonders in terms of maximizing efficiency and enjoyment for consumers.
A recent benchmark survey by Retail Touch Points indicated that retailers continue to rethink their spaces after undergoing massive transformations in 2020 (57% of respondents said they renovated stores in some form last year). This trend is expected to continue well into 2021 with more than half of respondents planning to renovate the same number, if not more stores as compared to last year.
Whether it’s a simple signage upgrade or throwing out a tired blueprint in favour of a new, more relevant and contemporary image, the end goal remains the same: keeping up with consumer demands, and translating your brand into functional, useful retail experiences that connect consumers with your products in an easy, efficient, and memorable way.
Looking for some inspiration? In today’s modern retail, there are three notable trends that are catching the attention of consumers:
Experiential Retail – Extreme Branding and Consumer Engagement
One of the hottest retail trends in the last couple of years is creating a showroom-style retail environment, in which branding is exaggerated in a unique way. It’s innovative, interactive, and intentionally intriguing, drawing consumers in and allowing them to experience one-of-a-kind moments with the brand.
Quick Serve/Self-Serve (Digital integration)
Digital self-serve kiosks have become more and more mainstream in multiple environments due to increasing consumer demand. Self-serve checkouts at local grocery and hardware stores have been around for years, and now hospitality and entertainment venues have been adapting to this trend with digital kiosks that allow patrons to order food or movie tickets.
Marketing Communication
Taking advantage of every opportunity to talk to consumers, in a tasteful way, is a must these days. Retailers can relatively easily leverage storefronts for effective and impactful messaging. In the same vein as experiential retail, interesting and inviting visuals can be used to capture attention, pique curiosity, and turn a passer-by into a walk-in through eye-catching brand engagement.
Our world is different now and it continues to change rapidly. How people interact with brands in retail settings is definitely part of that changing landscape. Consumers are more informed, have more ways to shop and have more options than ever. Brand marketing is more complex than ever too, with the engagement between the brand and the consumer growing into a continuum that leads to the moment of purchase. This journey is now driven by the consumer, but the way in-store marketing weaves into the overall brand experience will drive purchase behaviour. If your brand isn’t motivating this relationship and creating positive interactions in your stores, it’s time to do something. Just look at your space and try to re-imagine what’s possible…
About the Author
Kelly Macht has over 20 years of experience helping brands connect better with their clients. With an extensive background in sales, cultivating growth opportunities as well as client and stakeholder management, she helps to turn partner goals into fully supported and successful action plans.
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