As a leader in the retail industry, you can say with confidence that you really know signage.
You know how to design a great, eye-catching sign. You’ve spent days of your life arguing with city permit departments and landlords about the feasibility of various outdoor building signage choices. When you’re stuck in government buildings and airports, you cringe at how they (mis)use their signage.
We gotta hand it to you: you are officially a signage expert.
However… your extreme fluency in the world of signage may mean that you’re overlooking something – namely, how signage affects people who don’t understand any of the finer details about signs. Yup, we’re talking about your customers.
Let’s take a moment to go back to the basics about signage, so you can make sure you’re taking advantage of all the benefits that signage provides your retail company.
The Functions of Signage in Retail
Of course corporate signage can be used for branding, which is why your company’s logo and colors matter, as well as your choice of signage material. But, as all the good corporate signage companies can tell you, effective signage can also be used for a lot more!
Signage can help in at least 3 surprising ways:
- Entice customers into exploring hidden areas of your stores
- Encourage last-minute impulse buying at the cash wrap
- Deliver in-store social cues that can expand your marketing reach
Let’s dig into these a bit more.
1. Use Signage to Entice Customers into Exploring Hidden Areas of Your Stores
Well-placed signage in surprising locations, such as on floors, ceilings, or glass signage around corners, can draw your customers into areas of your retail store that they may not have otherwise visited.
Maximize your space by calling attention to displays in various store areas using directional signage designs like footprints or arrows on the floor, walls, or ceilings with resilient 3M Controltac signage – or visually expand your space with innovative stick-on embellishments. Options include stick-on mirror films, metallic architectural films, or personalized graphics with texture, such as the realistic wood accents Tillys added to their stores.
Read More About How Tillys Appealed to Customers
2. Use Signage to Encourage Last-Minute Impulse Buying at the Cash Wrap
As a retail expert, you already know how to drive impulse purchases through strategic product placement and sales staff training, but creative interior signage on and around your cash wrap can also help you increase those last-minute sales.
High-quality, all-surface, custom signage can do double duty as an interpretive signage solution that helps inform customers about your current sales events, limited-time deals, and bonus offers in an eye-catching, low-cost way that keeps your cash wrap looking fresh and new year-round – no old, scuffed, or out-of-date signs here!
3. Use Signage to Deliver In-Store Social Cues That Can Expand Your Marketing Reach
Whether your customers are getting ready to travel around the world or they’re planning to stay at home and decorate their own nest, full-size wall graphics can provide social cues that will help them find their perfect item and share those finds with their friends.
Replaceable, eco-friendly wall graphics and interior architectural signage can direct your customers toward the areas in your store that they’re looking for (for example, a wall mural graphic of luggage can draw their attention to luggage options in your store). By including custom-printed social media hashtags or photo-booth areas on your wall murals, you can get your customers to snap pics and develop some UGC that helps spread the word about your store.
Get Your Customers Excited About Shopping Brick-and-Mortar
These days, leading retail professionals have a lot of competition and, if the most recent Black Friday is any indication, you’ll have to work hard to keep customers shopping at your brick-and-mortar locations in the future.
And what is it that your brick-and-mortar stores offer over your online outposts? A unique brand experience that can bring the fun back into shopping.
If you’re looking for innovative interior and exterior retail signage for your nationwide locations, whether for a new store rollout, an image boost, or a new product release, the retail signage experts at NGS have got you covered.
NGS can help you develop and design signs for your locations; select the right, high-quality materials for all your signage and graphics projects; and manage all the permitting and installation for you – all on your timeline and your budget, completely hassle-free.
