Showroom design ideas

by Sally Bouorm | February 1, 2012 11:10 am

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By Vic Walker

The benefits of the information age are continuing to grow even today. While the Internet has given us access to vast amounts of information and data, it has also given rise to wonderful new concepts that no one ever could have imagined. Companies like social media giant Facebook and retail giant Amazon exist today because of the wide spread acceptance of the Internet. In the last few years, buying products online has led to a new philosophy on how brick and mortar stores must approach store design.

Now that consumers can comparison shop year-round, 24-7, creating an interesting and compelling shopping experience is key to the survival of any retail store. Consumers are no longer required to go to a physical location to make their purchases. However, when they do, it is important to create a retail experience the Internet is not capable of duplicating. Customer service is again becoming a way for retail stores to differentiate themselves from the faceless experience of online shopping. This is especially true when considering certain types of products that require ongoing maintenance during their life cycle, e.g. hot tubs.

In this day of online shopping and electronic consumerism, it is more important than ever to create a ‘remarkable’ retail experience to stay competitive.

What defines remarkable?

Remarkable experiences can be created during any interaction that provides the consumer with a memorable experience. There are many areas in which a physical retail space can offer a more compelling purchasing environment than the Internet—especially when shopping for consumer products that can capitalize on the benefits of a physical showroom.

Some companies have become so masterful at this they have created new standards for retail design. Consider Starbucks, for example. Most can appreciate the interior designs and cohesive brand expressions that are evident in their retail outlets—getting a ‘cup of Joe’ is both a journey and a destination. For this reason, many people will hold small meetings or brainstorming sessions at a Starbucks location because the environment is about more than a great cup of coffee. Comfortable, living room-style seating and services like a free wireless network (Wi-Fi) gives customers reasons to stay in the store for extended periods of time.

Each store’s merchandising is also set up to make it easy for consumers to browse complimentary items while waiting for their order to be processed. The displays are full of textures and interest, inviting interaction. The rich colours and materials used in the interior of each store help support the brand image and are consistent location-to-location. This allows Starbucks to always present the same look and feel, which helps consumers know what to expect when they go into one of these locations.

Many of the same elements used in large, well-established retail chains are also important for smaller, single-location retailers such as swimming pool and hot tub dealers. Creating a memorable experience for the consumer is not only a good way of building long-term business, it is also effective at creating and driving spontaneous purchases.

Since showroom design can become quite specific when considering different types of retail outlets, this article will focus on outdoor living retailers. It will discuss several key concepts that can make the biggest difference by considering the unique needs of a retailer that sells both hot tubs and outdoor living products such as furniture and barbecues.

Key design concepts for outdoor living retailers

When considering the outdoor living retailer, there are some key showroom design concepts that can be applied to help enhance the overall consumer experience. The primary emotional goal of a retail environment should be making the customer feel comfortable and happy.

In today’s market, retailing has changed from a product-centric to a customer-centric business. Retail today demands a new holistic view when it comes to designing showroom experiences, as it is not only an extension of the brands being sold but also an expression of the retail store’s brand. Ideally, the showroom’s personality will reflect the values the retailer wants to present to their customers and thus create an alliance between them and the brand. Once personality is defined, the tone of voice is created from the environment, graphics and messaging, which talk to the consumer.

Effective showroom design should also link directly to the overall marketing strategies of the brand being sold. Key areas that can be used to improve any showroom are first impressions such as floor plan design, lighting, supporting family shopping, building the dream and design for the senses. Emotional shopping experiences are fun, exciting, interesting, explorative, magical, creative, unexpected and imaginative. By giving customers something they do not expect when they walk into the store is sure to create a remarkable experience.

First impressions: parking lot and signage

It may sound simplistic, but one of the important pieces of a successful showroom design is making sure the customer can find and enter the store easily. Having a well-maintained store sign and parking lot establishes right from the start that the store is worth taking the time to visit. That said, the store’s signage should be easy to read, in good repair and the night lighting is working, if applicable.

External signage is the face of the business and should attract customers in different ways at different distances, for example:

• At 50 m (160 ft), the main signage should be a brand beacon and make an impact statement about the business;
• At 20 m (66 ft), storefront signs should have a secondary brand statement and reinforce a key offer or buy line;
• At five to 10 m (16 to 33 ft), there needs to be a direct call to action—this should be reduced to three-to-five key sales messages; and
• Ideally, there should also be a key invitation to pull customers inside the threshold of the store.

The parking lot should also be clean and easy to navigate, as this is important to building the brand and visual connection for customers. Even if the store is located in a strip mall or other retail grouping, the areas designated for the retail outlet should be maintained.

The front of the store is also important. Just like the saying, ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression,’ the storefront is the company’s first impression and the overall goal is to have a well-maintained and professional appearance.

If possible, any advertisements and window graphics should be easy to read and have calls to action, e.g., weekend sale or promotional information. Store hours and other important details should also be easy to read and find. If the store offers emergency service (pool and spa retailers), a contact number can be helpful to a new customer who might have stopped by when the store was closed.

Effective floor plans and showroom composition

Showroom layout is primarily driven by the types of products being displayed, as well as the available square footage and overall retail space design. However, a showroom designed to cause interaction and emotional reaction can help create that remarkable experience.

Showrooms, as well as products, are responsible for emotional brand development. More than any television or radio advertisement, the showroom experience helps build the store’s brand and reputation. An effective showroom should create an emotional engagement with the products and help customers envision a lifestyle.

Showrooms can also help produce brand loyalty by creating a strong positive experience. This is especially true when considering the products used in the design of an outdoor space. Every showroom sends a message to the customer and creates an emotional response.

For instance, showroom design and layout should promote easy interaction with products and customers. Ideally, products should be within 1 m (3.3 ft) of customers on their natural path throughout the inside of the showroom. The path should allow freedom to experience the product and lifestyle. It may sound simple, but making sure customers can interact with the product is very important. It is also important to remember families might be shopping together, so including fun and interesting things for kids to interact with in the overall composition will further promote browsing.

There is always a constant fight between making sure the floor space is making money and creating a pleasant shopping experience. Hot tub retailers, for example, can show the products available in a variety of ways as they come in a number of sizes and styles.

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Some hot tub retailers, however, tend to go wrong by putting too many products on the floor. While this might portray a large inventory, it may not allow consumers to see the product from all angles, while also minimizing their ability to interact with them. The best showrooms allow consumers to experience the product easily without feeling cramped or crowded.

The overall goal is to keep customers in the store as long as possible and to help them enjoy the experience. Giving consumers an easy-to-navigate path around the store is always a good way to enhance the visit.

When considering the floor plan, point of purchase (POP) displays can be used in strategic locations to tie in with a displayed product or offer a complimentary product or service. Understanding the decision factors when a consumer buys a product is a vital element of product category management. Once understood, the internal category management can be designed to reflect the natural selection process. For instance, locating the chemical display by the service counter helps customers who are already in the store remember they might need to stock up on their routine chemicals. This simplifies the product selection process, increases customer satisfaction and solidifies the retailer as a product leader in the customers mind.

This connection leaves them with a lasting memory of their experience. In this emotional economy, there is more to shopping than going home with all of the items one went out to buy.

Creating showroom vignettes

So what does the ‘dream’ backyard look like? Many times consumers have ideas of what they want as individual items (e.g. barbecue, swimming pool, hot tub or furniture) but have problems pulling together the entire concept as a whole. This is why many consumers tend to seek professional help putting together an outdoor space. This issue is one of the most compelling reasons to consider using lifestyle vignettes to create a gorgeous showroom that is both esthetically pleasing and retail functional.

These vignettes can help the customer see his/her dream outdoor room, even if they are not sure what that looks like yet. The vignette should create an emotional engagement with the products and help customers envision themselves living the lifestyle they want to enjoy. Vignettes are also great ways to cross-merchandise a store. For example, setting up furniture next to a hot tub with a water feature or a fire pit can really help set the tone for a display. The furniture is also a great way of having customers interact with the products. Many times, the best sales conversations occur while sitting inside a properly-designed vignette. If the room is available, having a few different styles and sizes of vignettes can be very helpful.

Showing a compact corner setting for those who have small backyards, in addition to a large, full-featured outdoor kitchen with deep seating and hot tub, helps show the store’s diverse product range while playing into the different types of customers that need outdoor living products.

Successful vignette designs promote interaction and provide enough information to help the customer determine if the design fits their outdoor lifestyle needs. Make sure there is proper information around the vignette to show pricing and what is included if the vignette is priced as a package deal.

Customers often want everything they see, and helping them make that decision with good signage is important. Interactive kiosks are also becoming popular and can help customers visualize their dream backyards. Locating a kiosk near complimentary products also helps consumers customize the options to suit their particular needs.

Dedicated service area

Since most swimming pool and hot tub dealers will be involved with the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the product they sell and install, it makes sense to account for this in the layout of the store.

Having a dedicated parts and service area inside the store is both effective and professional. It allows consumers who need only those services to quickly go to a designated area for assistance and it shows new customers the store offers a full range of professional support for the products it sells.

Make sure the location of the service counter is appropriate, as some customers arrive to resolve a problem. The lesson here is to have a place where complaints can be heard out of the range of other customers.

The importance of lighting

Lighting has many purposes with respect to retail store design. The store must be adequately lit for safety and ease of shopping, as lighting can be used to draw emphasis to specific products or sales specials.

Lighting is a key part of emotional showroom design and should be specific to each area. The use of low-voltage lighting and hot spots augment overall showroom lighting, while halogens and incandescent-style lights can be used to enhance the warmth of a room. Using lights to create shadows and textures can also add ambiance and character to a showroom.

Different lighting schemes should also be attempted to see how customers react; sometimes lighting schemes differ between daytime and nighttime shopping.

Another idea is to use outdoor style lighting (e.g. Malibu lighting) to create ambience and accent the vignette. This not only adds light to the showroom but a lifestyle-relevant product that can be sold with the other items displayed in the vignette.

Designing showrooms for the senses

Attention to sensory design is another important part of a successful showroom. Once achieved, the overall effect creates a strong uniform message that connects with the consumer. For example, people retain 80 per cent of information when they can see, hear and touch something but only 23 per cent when they only see it. This information underscores the importance of engaging all of the customers’ senses.

The overall feeling of a showroom can be influenced by using a simple understanding of the senses. Creating an emotional reaction in a store can be as easy as making someone think ‘that smells good’ or ‘I know that song.’ Positive emotions are engaged through sensory merchandising, which can create great results.

Sight

A showroom should always be neat and clean and appear well-maintained. Remember, sight is the most obvious sense. The human eye takes in everything quickly and provides a summary of the overall space. This is why it is important to use colours to accentuate specific products and establish the mood for the showroom. Colours and textures will guide customers to areas the retailer wants them to focus on, such as specials or promotions. Do not be afraid to change up the showroom every now and then to keep the space feeling fresh and new.

Smell

Smell is the strongest sense tied to memory. In this case, it would be appropriate for a showroom to have flowers and plants to help create the feeling of the outdoors. The fresh feeling live plants give to an outdoor room is powerful, not to mention the natural fragrance of flowers, which can be enhanced by the use of candles and/or other media.

It is important not to go overboard; however, as overpowering the consumer’s sense of smell can drive them out of the store.

Hearing

If done correctly, playing music inside the showroom can also be a good idea. Music should fit the overall mood of the room and not be overly loud. Sound systems can also be used to play soundtracks that support the theme of the retail space or product vignette. For example, a soft, Zen-like track played near a relaxing hammock completes the picture of the setting and helps create an experience consumers will remember.

Over six decades of research has shown music to have profound effects on consumers. It has the power to soothe, energize and even change one’s emotional outlook.

Music has immense benefits for customer satisfaction and employee morale. Having some form of background sound can also help with sales, as it allows for multiple presentations to take place at the same time without everyone listening to the other sales pitches.

A common sense way to create a soothing ambiance in an outdoor living store is the use of features that are found outdoors. Water features, for example, provide a natural background sound that also helps set the mood for the showroom as a whole. Water features can also use lights to enhance their appearance. By operating the water features, it also helps the consumer see and hear how that product might fit into their personal backyard oasis.

Family shopping

One of the many ways an outdoor retailer can help the entire family enjoy the shopping experience is to understand the shopping family. Many families like to go out and shop together. This is especially true when considering the products might be used and enjoyed by the family as a whole.

Providing a place for young children to play or watch television can help parents focus on reviewing the products they are interested in. When done correctly, the experience is one the children enjoy as well. This is especially important when considering the goal of the outdoor retailer is to create an ongoing relationship with the customer. If the store experience is one that is easy on the whole family, return trips are more likely to occur, which gives the retailer additional opportunities to sell other complimentary items.

PARKING LOT EVENTS AND OUTDOOR LIVING

In the hot tub industry, many retailers use their parking lots to hold weekend sales events, which can be a powerful way to create consumer excitement. This reinforces the importance of making sure the parking lot is as pleasant and functional as it can be to help build a memorable experience for customers. A well-executed parking lot event can help create a fun and exciting atmosphere that will encourage consumers to shop and purchase the products they need for their outdoor areas. While advertising can help these types of events succeed, the smell of a running barbecue and the sounds of an outdoor party can also draw in the casual shopper who might be passing by. Having a jumper or some other way to entertain kids is also a sure way to help parents take full advantage of the event and shop without distractions. Outdoor events are not only fun for the whole family, but can truly set a retail location apart by bringing the showroom to the outdoors. Having annual or regular events also helps local customers plan for their purchases.

Walking a familiar path

For retail store owners who feel their showroom may be ready for a new approach, it is a good idea for owners to travel the path their customers take.

Start with the exterior of the building and parking lot and imagine from the customer’s perspective looking at the showroom for the first time. Does the signage communicate the brand message the way it should? Keep in mind, a showroom needs to function at all levels for the customer and evoke an emotional response.

A well-designed showroom can have a fiscal impact on business. A retail consulting agency found 65 per cent of customers would never visit a showroom again if they had a single bad experience or event, while 71 per cent also said they would not even visit the website after having a negative experience.

This shows there is a direct, long-term link between atmosphere and financial performance. If done correctly, a showroom will evoke an emotional response from consumers that goes beyond the product itself and moves into a long-term relationship with the company and its brand.

 

 

 

[3]Vic Walker is the product design manager at Dimension One Spas, a hot tub manufacturer in Vista, Calif. He has almost 20 years experience as an industrial designer and more than 12 years experience in the pool and hot tub industry where he has been awarded more than 15 patents for his contributions. Victor has provided design support for many of the retail locations for Dimension One Spas. He can be reached via e-mail at vwalker@d1spas.com[4].

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/showroom-design-ideas/

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