Analysis: Enhancing the in-store consumer experience

Signage, graphics, imagery and merchandise can all help ease a shopper’s way around a store, but it is also important that wayfinding methods used don’t detract from the consumer experience.

In an age when younger shoppers are less likely to ‘read the instructions’ and do much of their learning intuitively, it’s also tempting to ditch the overt signposting for a more holistic approach. But the last thing a store chain wants
to do is frustrate and lose a customer who can’t find their way easily.

“We don’t believe there is one particular trend or direction when it comes to finding an appropriate wayfinding solution.

It all depends on the creative solution being developed for the client and the level of experience desired for the customer,” says Colin Melia, director of design consultancy HMKM.

“For large department store projects we have witnessed the desire for digital/interactive directories. Customers resonate with image and moving image more readily than static words, thus removing the possible requirement for multilingual typographic content. Also, digital enables the client to run content such as promotions and key stories that have been developed for a variety of media platforms, thus providing the customer with a seamless visual journey while engaging with a particular retail brand.”

Kate Shepherd, director of strategy and insight at design consultancy Checkland Kindleysides, agrees and says such ‘storytelling’ is a vital part of modern signage solutions. “We’ve seen fashion retailers bring the catwalk to the store through digital technology - adding drama and movement - and we’re working on a drinks-related project where we are creating ‘worlds within worlds’ in terms of product signage and collections,” she says.

“Some retailers use product at higher level to create wayfinding cues that do away with traditional signage.”

Shepherd believes that such an approach and careful planning of space and categories lends itself to more intuitive exploration by shoppers, while clever use of digital screens and lightboxes reinforces these visual indicators. Therefore merchandising, signage and adjacencies all become part of the retail story.

Harrods, London and Bloomingdale’s, New York

Harrods and Bloomingdale’s have wayfinding apps for tablets and smartphones that not only provide total store navigation but inform the customer of upcoming events, new product launches and must-have products of the season.

The level of detailed information drills down to what brands are in a particular category and area.

Such tools are particularly useful in very large stores because the directory is often not easy to find for shoppers. They can also can keep a consumer informed about where they are and where they need to go at all times, without taking them away from the merchandise. “Harrods occupies a five-acre site and has over a million sq ft of selling space across more than 330 departments, so Imano was asked to create a store guide app for Harrods that would facilitate customers with navigating their way around the store,” says James Williams, business director of mobile digital agency Imano. “Our aim was to create a user-friendly experience that would optimise the shopper’s time in store.

Users can view floor plans and see their current location.

“They can also search departments, products and brands and receive directions on how to get to their chosen item.

There is a live news feed and events taking place in store as well as a live Twitter feed on the home page. Users can find out about the history of Harrods and create a personalised shopping list. They can also can take an audio tour of the shop and view a 3D model of the building.”

Target, Australia

Fashion retail provides a particularly good opportunity for the merchandise to provide the visual signals to direct customers through the space and to specific elements. “For our work with Target Australia, very simple high-level directional signage was used to complement category destination display of merchandise,” says HMKM director Colin Melia. “A wall of denim creates theatrical impact and has the obvious visual message for the customer that that is where the denim offer is to be found. So depending upon the project brief, a combination of solutions is also appropriate.”

Future Labs, Germany

This summer, German shopping centre giant ECE embarked on a two-mall trial of digital innovation as it seeks to enhance its malls for a bricks-and-clicks environment. The ‘Future Labs’ are at Alstertal-Einkaufszentrum in Hamburg and Limbecker Platz in Essen and are being used to test numerous services from a virtual guiding system and a large number of social media connections, through to interactive play areas.

Both of the Future Labs are intended to serve as experimental locations for new technical trends and ideas, with those that prove popular implemented in other centres. The trial includes a 3D guiding system (Your Way2go) that lets users load the fastest route to a desired shop as a 3D animation via a QR code or to display it on the screen.

Sainsbury’s, London

The 5,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s store in Earlsfield, southwest London has an emphasis on fresh fruit and vegetables, oven-baked bread and hot food to go. New approaches to merchandising, equipment and communication have been used
by design agency Twelve Studio. Directional cues in the convenience store have a number of layers - the interior immediately suggests freshness and food provenance, while high-level signage denotes areas such as fresh fruit and
hot food.

Signage next to the merchandise is also used to encourage shoppers to try, for example, new herbs or to indicate fruits in season. A conversational tone is used throughout, providing assistance but also making navigation and pricing very clear.

DFS, Cannock

Furniture retailer DFS recently expanded, opening new stores in Cork, Cannock and Stirling, with a model by John Evans Interior Architecture & Design. The stores have been created to embrace new technology and to enhance furniture presentation. At Cannock, working with DFS and specialist consultants Jupiter Design, PAI Group and Touch2View, the store layout has been planned to guide the customer through a sequence of experiences, beginning with a porcelain-tiled entrance, high ceilings and a large-format video wall, using nine back-lit screens. The store is punctuated by screens delivering digital media content, such as frequently asked questions, demonstrations of the various cushion types, and iTab points, which run via the DFS app, allowing the customer to plan a virtual room.

Wrangler, Leipzig

Denim brand Wrangler opened a 1,350 sq ft pilot store on Neumarkt in Leipzig, Germany at the end of August with a new retail look designed by Checkland Kindleysides that is planned to be rolled out across Europe. The store has been designed to ‘capture the spirit’ of the Wrangler brand and to feel ‘impulsive and industrious’. Merchandising has been used to tell much of the brand’s narrative as well as to help signpost areas in the store. A key feature display is the denim drawing table, which creates a focal point showcasing Wrangler’s latest key outfits, fits and finishes. Behind is a denim wall, divided by cuts but signage is used to provide additional information on cut, fit and style.