It goes without saying that an effective storefront calls out to potential customers and invites them to look at the merchandise. No matter how great your items are, if your storefront doesn’t attract passers-by, you will have a hard time encouraging walk-in customers who actually contribute a large part of your sales income.
Have you ever looked at a boring signage that looked completely out of place in front of a store and never gave it a second thought? That’s how important a good storefront is. It is not something you put up without careful thought and it is not something that you can just display your name on.
Designing an Effective Storefront
When considering the design of your storefront, you have to take note of the following:
1. Branding – Your logo should be designed in such a way that people will immediately have an idea of what you are about. For instance, a candy store should naturally have a logo that has a touch of something associated with sweets or sugar or something to this effect. You get the picture.
2. Window display – Your window display should support your branding. Let’s go back to the candy store. Think about children since they are mostly your target market when conceptualising your window display.
3. Concrete theme – Consider the look of your logo/branding and your concept of the window display. These two should be in sync when put together. Consider the font of your letters, the logo itself, the colours, and the over-all look of the store. Everything should work together to convey your marketing message.
4. Materials – These are important too because they contribute a great deal to the coming together of your theme. No matter what materials and tools you choose, you must be able to successfully incorporate these into your theme.
5. Size – You don’t want something so small it can’t be seen by anyone who’s just a few feet away from the store. It can be as big and bold as you want for as long as you don’t ruin the look of the store. In fact, some fun stores will have you walk right through doors or entrances that are part of the theme such as the front part of a car or a pirate’s ship. These are already calling out to customers.
Get Professional Help
The good news is that you don’t have to go it alone. Your great ideas can be turned into something more tangible by professional graphic and design artists. They can help you with the concept as well as design you a powerful logo (taking into account everything you want to incorporate) and then some.
If you don’t know where to look, the internet can help locate some good artists that can design your storefront for you. Choose those that have portfolios so you’ll have a good idea of how they work and what they’ve done. The only important thing to remember is that your storefront should attract customers and not shun them away.