Retailers know all too well that getting people into the store is not as easy as it used to be. With online retail thriving and social media becoming one of the most prominent marketing tools, retailers are looking to new strategies to attract buyers through the gates.
With increased competition among retailers, details matter more than ever. Your shop fit out can take your business in one of two directions: toward greater profitability or away from it. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that guide retailers toward greater profitability and how green walls can act as an effective feature piece for any retail space.
Hip and Comfortable Ambience
With online shopping at their fingertips anywhere, shoppers don’t spend as much time in retail stores as they used to. When they do, they are seeking an experience almost as much as they’re seeking the products they end up purchasing.
When you create a hip and comfortable ambience in your shop, people come just to soak up the atmosphere. Nothing says “hip and comfortable” like green walls. Scientifically proven to calm stress and promote creativity, indoor plants help your visitors to feel both relaxed, creative and inspired at the same time, and this is an ideal environment to create when asking customers to depart with their hard-earned money.
‘Instagrammability’
Social media has not only changed the way we communicate; it has also affected where we go and why we go there. People want to be seen and photographed in places that add to their status and appeal, so if you can fit out your retail shop in a way that brings people for photographs, you’ll set yourself up for several important benefits.
First, you’ll increase valuable foot traffic to your shop. Customers will be drawn to your eye-catching green wall, and will then look around at what they can buy. If the quality of your fit out matches the quality of your products and services, increased traffic will convert to increased sales. But let’s not stop there.
An ‘Instagrammable’ shop fit out can also provide you with an amazing amount of free marketing. Instagram runs on aesthetic images, and with a unique shop feature like a green wall, images of your shop will be spread far and wide, popping up in social networks you may never have been able to reach otherwise.
Shopper Behaviour
Market research shows that people spend more money in shops where customers peruse and meander rather than race through the store looking for one thing before exiting. In order to help shoppers slow down and spend an ample amount of time in your shop, it’s important to create “speed bumps.” Some retailers place four-way gondolas or slat boards along the normal traffic pattern. Others use unique signage.
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You can set your retail shop apart by using a green wall as the speed bump that slows shoppers’ paces and keeps them coming back for more.
Open Space
Researchers have also found that shoppers are unlikely to bend down to see lower-placed items if they feel there’s not enough room to do so without brushing against another person or a shelf or rack. Personal space is important in a retail shop.
Since green walls have a narrow profile relative to many other eye-catching “speed bumps,” you can preserve your customers’ personal space while still providing plenty of room for your products and display cases. They provide lots of different placement options for the rest of your merchandising, so you can customise and change your traffic flow as often as you need to.
A Peaceful Transition
When shoppers enter your shop, they transition from the outside world to your space. How does your space feel? More importantly, how do your customers feel when they’re in your space?
A beautiful wall of plants, whether they’re artificial plants or an easy maintenance moss wall, brings a peaceful feeling to a space. This can be extremely important, especially at certain times of year. One study, for example, found that heart rates tend to increase by 33 percent while people are Christmas shopping. This is similar to the heart rate increases experienced by people running marathons! Tired and stressed shoppers crave a peaceful place where they feel they can catch their breath and relax. Provide this for them, and they’ll enjoy the feeling of simply being in your shop.
An Attractive Left Wall
Effective store planning is the ultimate goal of any retail fit out, and fortunately, there’s plenty of research out there to help us understand what works best. For instance, after shoppers form their first impressions (by taking in the combination of walls, flooring, signage, fixturing, and primary and accent colors), most Australians turn to the left. We shop the way we drive. So make sure that whatever is on the left wall is what you want your customers to see.
If you want your green wall to invite customers in and give them a breath of fresh air, consider placing it on the left wall just past the entrance.
Artificial or Living?
As a shop owner, you’re busy all the time, so you don’t want to install displays and decor that add time-consuming tasks to your list of things to do. That’s why most retailers opt for artificial green walls.
Besides being low-maintenance, artificial green walls allow your customers and employees to enjoy their beauty and simplicity without having to deal with insects. After all, insects love plants, too. Our artificial green walls are botanically accurate, durable enough to handle indoor and outdoor wear and they’re also UV certified.
Our artificial green walls come in a variety of plants. The plants can be combined for visual interest, or you can choose a single plant variety for a minimalist look. Retailers know that everything in their stores needs to be durable, and green walls certainly fit that description. Our green walls come with a 4-year guarantee.
Easy to install, green walls may be just what your retail shop needs for its new fit out. Learn more about our green walls on our product page, or contact us at Evergreen Walls to get answers to your questions. We look forward to helping you fit out your retail shop and enjoy the benefits of a peaceful, designer atmosphere.
