A store’s layout can become a blueprint for success and that success is a magical connection of many sensory elements that takes place within just a few seconds.
It is what leads the customer to enter the store and become immersed in the experience of shopping.
Merchandise needs to be presented to customers in a retail environment where the atmosphere and total shopping experience meets or preferably exceeds the customer’s expectation. You build this customer experience with design,” says British retail design consultant Terry Waterhouse.
Waterhouse will speak on the relationship of store design and improved customer experience at the upcoming 21st National Retailers Conference and Stores Asia Expo (NRCE) in the Philippines. His presentation, entitled ‘Elevating customer experience through store design’, is slated on August 10, the second day of the conference.
Waterhouse is the director of Redgoodss, a Hong Kong based firm that offers a whole spectrum of solutions and services for retailers. The company tackles end-to-end brand imaging: from ‘big idea’ conceptualisation, visual merchandising to implementation. Redgoodss focuses mainly on the Asia Pacific region.
Waterhouse, pictured above, commented: “Design bridges brand vision and customers’ aspiration. Retail is about aspiration. People want a better lifestyle and aspiration is represented by being at that place at that time. It is that moment that’s important to the individual and the physical place, the store, becomes the fulcrum.”
A report published by Inspire Retail Solutions effectively illustrates how much design affects customer experience. It says it only takes two to three seconds for a shopper to make a decision to pass by or enter into a store.
“In that length of time, your storefront, displays and signage, as well as the individual’s personal associations and preconceptions are all evaluated and judged,” it reads.
Make merchandise the hero
Waterhouse advocates that effective store design is built for and all around the merchandise.
“Our mission is to make merchandise the hero, nothing else and nothing more. It’s not about the designer or the design company. We are tasked to create an image that will entice people to go inside the store, images that will stimulate the consumer to go in and spend money.”
Themed “Shopping: More Fun in the Philippines – Taking customer experience to new heights,” this year’s NRCE will be held on August 9 to 10 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Organised by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA), NRCE was last year attended by over 700 retail owners, suppliers, CEOs, and top level executives.
Waterhouse echoes the optimism of this year’s NRCE. “I believe the Philippines is one of the best kept secrets in Asia. The Philippines has a very good retail model. Unlike in other places where you’re either luxury or mass market, here in the Philippines, the established emerging middle class and a growing middle class are all catered for.”
More information: info@philretailers.com or ebbs@philretailers.com. Information on the 21st NRCE is also available on the Website
