The era of minimalism is taking over, and from the looks of it, the “trend” has found a permanent place in the heart of retail and commercial designs alike. For retail stores, minimalism provides numerous advantages, such as:
- Exudes a sense of sophistication, elegance, and luxury
- Allows customers to focus more on products instead of the store’s design
- Makes your store look modern and trendy
- Helps customers relax and have an easier time shopping
- Reduces clutter and promotes a neat, organized environment
- Provides a sense of exclusivity
- Increases employee morale and work performance
- Helps decrease time required for cleaning and organizing
How to use minimalism for your retail store
Now that you know the benefits of incorporating minimalism in your retail business, it’s time to find out how you can do just that:
1. Remove distractions
Aside from the necessary shop fittings for sale and key pieces of furniture, remove everything that serves no purpose other than being a distraction. Possible unnecessary items include loud pieces of decor, excess art or promotion collateral, and very bulky pieces of furniture. In doing so, you can shift the focus to the most important elements in your store: your products.
2. Avoid overcrowding
When people feel cramped in a space, they are more likely to walk out of a store rather than continue perusing what you offer. In contrast, having a spacious store layout provides a sense of relaxation and peacefulness, which is something that can help customers focus on the task at hand: shopping.
3. Clear the clutter
Customers won’t appreciate a store with overloaded shelves, visible inventory boxes, and unnecessary items on every surface. Hence, keeping clutter at a minimum motivates them to stay in your store longer and spend more time looking at your products, which, of course, increases the chances of you making a sale.
4. Tone signage down
Don’t bombard your customers with signage. This can only serve to overwhelm your customers as well as make your look tacky. Don’t place signs on every inch of your store, either. If you have something to announce, put it on a sign that is big enough for customers to see instead of placing a hundred little signage on your displays.
In addition, keep the text on your signs short and direct-to-the-point. Keep in mind that customers will only read the first few words of your sign, so don’t miss the opportunity to get your message across by printing a long paragraph.
5. Use fewer colors
A common theme in minimalism is using only one to three colors for the design. In doing so, you can avoid overwhelming customers’ eyes when they walk in, which will allow them to focus on the things you have for sale.
However, minimizing your color scheme doesn’t mean you have to use boring colors. Experiment with a mixture of natural tones and bolder colors. Mix and match colors and textures for more dimension. As long as your colors and textures complement each other, then you’re good to go.
6. Avoid busy walls
Floor-to-ceiling pictures on walls might have been trendy in the past, but that’s not the case today. When designing a minimalist retail store, avoid having busy feature walls that take the attention away from the products themselves.
7. Be consistent
Buy displays that are similar to maintain consistency throughout your store design. For example, if your clothing racks are made from black steel, buy shelving that is also black and metallic, even if the shelf tops are made from another material. On the other hand, if your counter is made of wood, then your product displays should also have a touch of wood to ensure that they complement each other.
The same goes for items such as pedestals, hangers, hooks, mannequins, room dividers, among many others.
8. Declutter the backroom
Minimalism should also extend to your backroom, even customers can’t see it. Remove excess inventory, unnecessary equipment, and just-in-case items that you don’t really use. In doing so, you’re not only reducing clutter, but you’re also making it easier for employees to find things without having to rifle through mountains of clutter.
Incorporating minimalism in your store is one of the best ways to attract more customers and drive up sales. Not only do customers see a sleek and modern business, but they are also drawn to the clean, uncluttered appearance of the place, which increases the joy of shopping instead of making them feel overwhelmed.
If you feel that your store’s design is a little too crowded or loud, these strategies can help you turn your store into a minimalist space.
