Retail strategy store development: In-store graphics

Toolbox Revisited
Within a succesfull branding process, a clear basic idea and the uniqueness of the products offered are not enough. The result should also be attractive in its elaboration. The quality of the translation of the basic principles into the store image is therefore an extremely important succes factor. In order to carry out this process in the best and most complete way possible Jos de Vries The Retail Company has developed a practical toolbox.This toolbox contains all the tools to create a complete and distinctive store concept. Using this toolbox, you will avoid making random decisions about the store´s image. They will always be rooted in the basis principles of the formula.

The various parts included in the toolbox are:

Tool 1. Store lay-out
Tool 2: Store design
Tool 3: In-store graphics
Tool 4: Visual Merchandising
Tool 5: Shop front Design

Tool 3: In-store graphics

In-store communication includes all the graphic expressions that adress the customer in a direct manner: You can divide the general class of in-store signs into the following levels of communication:

Brand signs
Who are you and what do you stand for?
What is your message?
Images, atmospheric photography
Determine identity

Theme signs
Spring, Christmas etc.

Price cards
Fixed prices
Special offers and promotions
Roll back and reductions

Info and signposting
Orientation
Product information
Store information
Product range information

Take-aways
Carrier bags
Packaging
Leaflets

When you create the overall in-store graphics package, you should choose a style and implementation enabling the customer automatically to subdivide the various signposting elements into the right group, with the appropriate communicative function. Together with the overall corporate identity of the store concept, this strategy will ensure that – eventually – the overall store formula will be used as a communications tool on the way to the realisation of the store brand. Thanks to these levels of in-store communication, the consumer is given a clear, accessible and – especially – recognisable store image. This communicative structure will also give you the most certainty that the customer has not only bought something before leaving the store, but will also take the information and identity of the store concept with him.

This is necessary in order to establish the overall store brand. The basis principle is that you adjust the entire in-store communication package to the overall communications strategy of the store concept. Brochures, ads, possibly radio and television commercials, websites and so on, not only serve to enhance the same identity but also to convey the same message content. Decisions regarding the style and content of in-store signposting elements should always be made in context of this overall communications strategy. Besides, when making decisions about in-store communication, you should always check which of the five levels of communication the expression belongs to. The style should also be adjusted to this framework.

Development in the fields of in-store communications.
The growing importance is attached to in-store graphics is a clearly noticeable trend. The reason for this is that the overall quality of tools-related store concept components has greatly improved in the recent past. Almost every chain store has raised the quality of its store layout, lighting and product presentation to a very high level in collaboration with store concept agencies and professional shop fitters.

These developments also show that this is the very reason why achieving the primary objective of this development – creating distinctiveness and thus keeping ahead of the competition – is no longer a simple matter. So in the future new ways will have to be found to distinguish your store from those of the competition. In-store graphics offer new and often highly effective possibilities. In addition, in-store graphics have the significant benefit that they can be interchanged and replaced quickly often at relatively low cost. Thanks to this, the store image and its communicative expression can be adjusted quickly to the ever faster-changing wishes and behaviours of consumers. The store image acquires more dynamics by making in-store graphics play a greater role. Due to the increased competition and uniformity within store concepts, it is becoming increasingly important to convey the emotional components of the store formula to the consumer. Because of the direct communication that in-store graphics offer, interest in this tool is increasing.

This chapter is part of the Book "Let me tell you a store"
Please contact Jos de Vries The Retail Company or m.vanderkooij@josdevries.eu for further information.

A world of diference: DIY developments in Europe

By Nico de Jong, creative director with Jos de Vries The Retail Company

From my beginnings (in 1999) in the ‘Do-it-yourself’ sector until the present day, I continue to see DIY store retail concepts develop rapidly. A scant 10 years ago, DIY stores were rectangular, metal boxes with an enormous assortment of products on display. To make this possible, the box was laid out as efficiently as possible, with shelving units and a straight path down the centre. A DIY store felt like a warehouse, and the customer was expected to find his way as best as possible. The enormous competition between DIY centres has lead to the understanding that this concept needed an overhaul.

10 years ago, a DIY store was a rectangular box, efficiently laid out with shelving.

The average DIY store sells tens of thousands of different articles. Consumers must be able to find precisely the product they are looking for. Surveys have shown that customers prefer not to read signs. This means they will have to be lead around the store in a different way. Currently, concept developments featuring ‘worlds’ are becoming increasingly important. Wood, construction, electrics and tools are a DIY store’s standard ‘worlds’. However, the decoration departments such as light, paint and décor are becoming increasingly important. Each ‘world’ has its own atmosphere. Thanks to these different atmospheres, the DIY centre is being divided into departments. These departments lie along the main aisle, which is capped by an inspiring focus point. This point entices the customer to walk the entire main aisle. This leads him past each world. In turn, each ‘world’ has its own focus point. This makes it even more interesting for customers to walk into other departments and make impulse purchases.

DIY centres that entice and inspire are successful

The inspiring focus point is an essential part of a ‘world’. But due to the diversity of the various worlds, it is important to maintain a house style. This creates unity in the store. At Jos de Vries The Retail Company, we continually work on developing these concepts further. My experiences to date have shown that DIY centres that work with enticing and inspiring formulas are most successful.

Please contact n.d.jong@josdevries.eu for further information on DIY-projects.

Retail architecture - creating success in the retail sector

By Ir. Jasmijn Prinssen, architect with Jos de Vries The Retail Company

For many architects, ‘commercial architecture’ is a dirty word. ‘Commercial’ is linked to ‘compromise’ in the minds of many; the art and architectural vision must make way for commerce. People rich in money but poor in taste have the last word, and many spatial artists view this as selling your soul to the devil.
But I see this extra dimension as a challenge. In addition to the fact that a building must harmonise with the urban planning and meet reasonable requirements for prosperity, each building should strike a perfect balance between space, form and function. The challenge in designing a shopping mall is not only about seeking this balance, but also about adding that extra layer allowing it to become a commercial success. So, what factors come into play?

Attractiveness
The building must be accessible, stimulate a certain degree of curiosity and be inviting. The goal is to encourage people to visit the building more often, how dynamically and flexibly can the building be used?

Addressing the desired target group
Awareness of your target consumer is no different than for any other public building. But the design may appeal to a certain group more than others. Modern or traditional? Show the visitor what he can expect, or will it remain a surprise, hidden behind a shining façade?

Experience
People are not only destiny shoppers, heading straight for a single store. Some of them are just looking for a day out; the shopping mall in lieu of the amusement park. Larger shopping malls often integrate services from other sectors, such as cinemas, performance spaces, metro stations, etc.

Routing
What retailers will be in line of sight, which ones can you hide away? Seduction and surprise begins with interesting routing. It must be varied, stimulating, but also provide easy shopping. A boring layout does not create return customers, while an exciting view is the key success.

Plenty to think about and play around with. It is important that a retail architect is involved in the early stages of developing larger buildings, hypermarkets and shopping malls. The success of the design can be determined at this stage, success that will ultimately be reflected by the turnover figures.

Innovation is: having nothing to choose from

By Jan Kroon, art director with Jos de Vries The Retail Company

Retailers are going all over the place in 2009; we want to be all things to all people, we provide good service, we are cheap, we have everything you need, and so on and so forth. Target groups are becoming larger and larger, or even being done away with completely…we’re a store for everybody! If you compare all retail concepts, a good 80% will be essentially identical.

Making clear choices and actual innovation are often seen as too risky. We don’t want to lose customers, or put up too high a threshold. It’s special offers that draw the customer into the store. It’s all about price.

But there are other ways to do things. I recently visited a Dutch sporting goods store specialised in running equipment. When you enter, you sign up for a personal talk with one of the running experts. You spend the brief time you’re waiting wandering around the store; sports shoes in all shapes and sizes. When your number comes up, your feet are measured using special equipment which clearly displays the type of foot you have. You are then given a pair of test shoes to try out in the store’s running track. Camera images subsequently examine how your foot settles. All of your personal details are collected and you receive a pair of shoes that feel like they were custom made for you: they fit perfectly. You ask for an alternative pair, but they’re not any better. You decide to purchase the shoes without asking how much they actually cost. When you reach the checkout counter, there’s a guy who just dropped by to say how much faster he ran the half marathon with his new shoes.

This store is known to be the best in its field. They invest time in a highly personalised service. They gain it back via the targeted choice they make. The store makes the choice for the customer…

You decide to purchase them without wondering how much they cost.

Another example is El Bulli in Roses (Spain), the most talked about restaurant in the world. A laboratory for experimental gastronomy, you will have to wait for years for a table (over 400,000 reservation requests per year). The location and décor are subordinate to the culinary surprises that grace the table. The staff is dressed in dark, sober Mao-like outfits, discretely but attentively present. They may not draw attention away from the food on the table, but are there to accompany you on your journey in experimental dining. The dishes (flavour bombs) provide a bit of spectacle every time. Consider spherical green olives and mozzarella balls, caipirinha sorbet served in a frozen lemon peel with a spoonful of tarragon extract, marshmallow made of parmesan cheese… an entire palette of experimental tapas, familiar flavours in unexpected shapes and colours, unique combinations - a re-education of the senses, as it were. You can’t choose what you get, and you always pay the same amount (excluding drinks). When you leave, you get a printout of the menu, describing the 25 to 30 courses.

What Ferran Adria does is radically different from anyone else, and that’s about more than his experimental daring. The atmosphere in his restaurant is relaxed, never stiff, never snob, a true breath of fresh air for gastronomy at that level. He brings guests back to the essence of eating. He wakes you up with playfulness and humour in colour, form and flavour, wiping away culinary clichés and old eating habits.

Forcing a choice can be done by offering something unobtainable. A hotel in Galle (Sri Lanka) charges over 10,000 euros for what the owner calls the most expensive desert in the world. The desert must provide the guests of the Fortress hotel with a unique experience. The Italian cassata ice cream, enveloped in gold leaf, is flavoured with Irish cream. It is served with mango, pomegranate mousse and champagne sabayone. The exclusive treat is decorated with a chocolate figurine of a fisherman hanging on a pole – a local custom – and an 80-carat aquamarine gemstone.
To date, nobody has ordered the desert…