Designs and layouts play a significant role in enhancing the aesthetics of the buildings. Whether commercial or residential, buildings are designed to suit a particular business or provide residents with a certain lifestyle. The advancement in architecture and designs has a significant impact on the sensory experience of a human. These two elements have a considerable role to play in bridging the emotional attachment with adobe or a commercial building. As for commercial buildings, the characteristics like floor plans, retail spaces, and interior design have a significant role to play not only in attracting customers but also in increasing sales and revenue.
Graana.com highlights the importance of retail designs and retail spaces in commercial buildings, a precursor to providing convenience to shoppers. Furthermore, retail designs also play an essential role in projecting a brand and making it stand out amongst the competition.
What is Retail Design?
As mentioned earlier, retail design is the most critical aspect of commercial buildings. The concept pertains to the interior planning of a commercial establishment to boost commercial activity and make the shopping experience convenient for consumers. Retail design engulfs various disciplines related to architecture, interior designing, floor planning, advertisement and ergonomics. Since the significant motivation behind retail designs is attracting customers and boosting businesses, human psychology and social factors are also among the dominant factors influencing retail designs.
One thing that is pertinent to mention here is that retail designs are dependent on the nature of a shop or a commercial unit. For example, the retail design of a coffee shop will be completely different from that of a department store.
A Thematic Shopping Experience
E-commerce has significantly transformed the shopping experience; people are availing themselves of online opportunities for buying and selling various products. While one can’t compete with the comfort and convenience of online shopping, the importance of traditional shopping cannot be ruled out. This is why commercial businesses play on the tactic of providing a ‘thematic shopping experience’ by introducing Experience-based / Themed retail malls.
The hustle and bustle are the significant characteristics of conventional shopping, and shopping often becomes tiring if there is no lively and animated element to shopping. Against this backdrop, retail designs are the best tool to make shopping a thematic experience for the consumers. The retail designs help a consumer interact better with its surroundings in a commercial building.
Taking this into consideration, the Imarat Group of Companies, renowned for its innovation, introduced Pakistan’s first Amazon themed mall – Amazon Outlet Mall. Located on the Grand Trunk Road, the Amazon Outlet Mall incorporates all the unique features of retail designs, making it a distinctive commercial hub in the twin cities.
Making a Brand Standout
Attracting consumers through presentation is one of the brands’ objectives, and retail designs can help make a Brand Standout in a mall or a commercial area. Display through retail designing should be following a theme of the brand. This will not only help to increase the sale, but also it will help to create a good reputation in the market. A retail designer assesses the location of a store and then designs a retail space for a better presentation of the commodities. An added advantage of the retail design is that it leaves a lasting impact in the minds of consumers, which compels them to revisit a store.
After successfully delivering Amazon Outlet Mall and exceeding the public’s expectations, the group is working to deliver Pakistani’s First Arabian Themed Mall – Mall of Arabia, another extravagant new opportunity, a new venture to explore.
Increasing Sales
One of the foremost advantages of retail design is that they are beneficial for increasing a brand’s sales. As mentioned earlier, retail designs are designed keeping in mind human psychology. Therefore, those elements are at the core of retail designs closer to human psychology and compel consumers to visit the store. Similarly, a retail store’s sales can be increased by incorporating those designs, making it easier for a buyer to find what he is looking for. Forging an emotional linkage is at the core of retail strategies.
Space Management
Retail designs also pay special attention to space management. A designer takes detailed input from the owner, and according to his needs, a retail design is developed. Important aspects like the circulation of the consumers are also kept in mind to avoid gridlocks at the peak hours of shopping—every element from dedicating a space for stairs to devoting space to a product. A straight floor plan is an essential tool of space management in retail designs, which is about managing areas and creating new spaces within retail spaces using walls and fixtures.
In this regard, builders and developers are now aiming to develop malls solely dedicated to one subject matter. A popular example of this – Imarat Builders Mall, another upcoming Imarat Group of Companies project being developed exclusively for meeting construction needs. The mall will act as a one-stop shop that will unite all the aspects of construction under one roof. Imarat Builders Mall will encompass modern techniques of space management that will provide a convenient shopping experience.
Increases Circulation
Retail designs also help to maintain the circulation of customers within the shops. Retail shops or malls often face congestion during the peak times of shopping. Retail designs provide the most suitable solution to maintaining the flows of customers in the shopping mall. An efficient circulation system also helps increase a store’s sales since it can adjust more customers than usual.
