The festive season is generally an exciting time for retailers as the high street fills with cheery customers looking to purchase gifts and find great deals. For many businesses, it’s also a time to refresh their stock and prepare for a new year of products, and it can be a great opportunity to attract new customers with timely seasonal promotions.

It is essential, however, for retailers to consider their shop design. Both the interior and exterior of a brick-and-mortar venue play a significant role not only in the advertising and reach of a retail venue but also in the efficiency and sales too.

So, for those wanting to prepare their store for the festive period, as well as the busiest time of year, and ensure that their shop layout and aesthetic are optimised, here’s how store design can help a new year’s sale.

Footfall Management

The increased number of customers that visit a high street store during the festive season is only a good prospect when it results in a larger number of sales or a wider and more positive audience reach. However, if a shop’s design does not accommodate the busier footfall, then shopping environments can become stressful and even hinder sales.

Retailers should ensure that their shop layout gives priority to capacity and navigation during this busier period. While this may mean taking a few elements of shop furniture or a number of products away, the resulting capacity will go much further with customers as they seek to browse through crowds.

Changing Layout

Those retailers experienced with seasonal sales will know all too well that things can change very quickly during the new year, with shelves quickly becoming empty during the busier periods. For this reason, it can be worthwhile to adopt modular displays, as well as retail furniture items, such as slatwall panels, that allow for the easy and efficient adjustment of product displays.

The potential for a more flexible retail layout also allows for sales displays to be moved when necessary, ensuring that the right products are on display and at essential times, with modular furniture allowing for locations to change more easily than static alternatives. As such, displays can constantly be effective, being quickly adjusted or replaced the moment that stock runs low or entirely sells out.

Advertising Opportunity

As both returning and new customers visit a store, they can be directly reached with in-store advertising, making their visit not only valuable for potential sales but also for marketing reach. Advertisements should be placed and designed with this reach in mind, ensuring that customers are familiar with upcoming promotions of the new year.

Retailers will also find that in-store displays, those showcasing sale items, work particularly well, especially within often viewed areas such as street-facing windows. A shop facade can also be a great place for sign and poster displays too, with quality advertisements able to steer people away from competitors and into a retail venue.