Choosing Shop Fittings for Your Ideal Customer

Posted On: September 15, 2021 By: a.macdonald

To run a successful shop, you need to have a solid idea of who your ideal customer is. With this character in mind, you can make the best decisions possible to maximize the chances of enticing them in and getting them to spend. From shop fittings to window design, everything needs to be on-brand.

If your target market is older ladies, it is unlikely you would blast hip-hop over the stereo, for example. Similarly, a shop for teenagers wouldn’t waste time stocking tartan shopping trolleys. In addition to stock decisions and music choices, your shop design is also crucial to snagging that ideal customer. But does your current layout suit them?

Here are some ways to check whether your store layout is optimised for your ideal customer

1. Analyse Your Customer Flow Around Shop Fittings

Customer flow is a term for the way customers tend to move around your shop. There is a myth that shoppers turn in the same direction as they drive when they come through your front door (ie. left in the UK, right in the US). However, the direction they turn is actually affected more by external factors (the position of other popular shops in the area and the direction in which they approach your shop, for example).

It is worth taking time to monitor behaviour on entering because, if there is a dominant direction in which they travel, you can adjust your shop design to appeal directly to your ideal customer. The display the majority naturally move towards is sometimes called the ‘power wall’ or the ‘lakefront property’. These shop fittings, whether garment rails, slatwall panels or anything else need to make an impact. They should be filled with items you want to promote to your perfect client.

In addition, observing customer flow around your shop, whether whilst out on the shop floor or using CCTV footage, can help you with shop design. Are there areas where customers don’t tend to visit? If so, you can try to work out why. It may be that these spaces are too cramped or the shopfitting equipment you are using is inconvenient in that location. Once you realise this, you can adjust your shop design accordingly.

2. Choose the Right Mannequins

Your mannequins should represent either how your ideal customers will look in your products or how they imagine and hope they will look. With so many different types of mannequin available, you can choose the one that suits your customer the best.

For example, for a younger audience who are less constrained by what used to constitute gendered clothing, our gender neutral mannequin might be a better option. It means that you are no longer restricting yourself by only marketing the clothing to one gender; you are showing that it is for everybody, and that increases the potential market.

Picking mannequins based on your customer also helps with practical elements. For instance, if you are looking to entice swimming enthusiasts, you could choose a specific swimsuit bodyform rather than a whole mannequin. This concentrates the display on the items that they are specifically interested in, but also saves space in your shop. If you only need half the room for your mannequins, you can use the height above them for something else, allowing you to have more product out on the shopfloor.

3. Make Sure Your Shop Fittings Fit Your Brand

Your brand is so important when it comes to targeting your ideal customer. You can spend all manner of cash on advertising and fancy window displays, but that has to follow through in your shop design. And your retail shop fittings are an integral part of that.

Your shop fittings don’t want to overpower the items you are displaying, but they do want to complement them. If you can coordinate with the lines you are promoting, then all the better, but at the very least they should be consistent and smart. Scuffed rails and broken shelves can detract from the impact of your displays. 

Looking for Shop Fitting Supplies?

If you are inspired to dig deep into your shop design to really target that ideal customer, then take a look at our shopfitting supplies. From rails to counters, wall displays to showcases, we have everything you need to add a real boost to your brand.

If you want to know anything else or have any questions about shop fittings, contact us today.