When trade is sticky, is there any point in digging deep to redesign stores? We ask four of those for whom design is a central preoccupation to justify their chosen discipline

Trading figures over the last couple of months have been uninspiring in many parts of the UK retail spectrum and if you believe the analysts, the bigger the ticket, the more sales have dwindled. A good time, you might think therefore, to call a halt to store modernisation programmes, or to close the door on elaborate proposals from design consultancies. Yet retailers continue to work on new ways of showing their wares, albeit in different ways from the massive structural makeovers of old. So if you want to know why store design remains relevant and why it has to stay part of a retailer’s profit and loss statement, read on.   

Bill Cumming

Founding partner and director, Twelve Studio

A better formula to see us through the recession

Bill Cumming

Bill Cumming

“Have you ever wished there was a secret formula for successful retailing? Well, be careful what you wish for. Retailing is hard but when you get it right it can be magical. Rather than looking for generic formulae that just merge everything into a ‘blandocracy’, retailers should be looking for things that make them different, unique or just plain better than the competition. When we are all experiencing challenging economic times this simple truth is more relevant than ever.

I’m not saying that design is the only solution, but we have seen time and time again how, when design is considered as an integral ingredient of a brand, it creates a more mutually rewarding relationship with customers. Investing in your brand is investing in the future. This isn’t about adding bells and Whistles, good design is more about what you take out rather than what you (albeit artfully) chuck in. For example, if you want to communicate value, use design as a tool to make sure that you communicate value more effectively than anyone else.

When times are really tough, most retailers try to do more and more when in fact they should really do less, but just do it a hell of a lot better. Effective design can help deliver environments that look more impactful (but cost less), communication that conveys a message or price more immediately (with less of it) and an overall brand experience that helps customers think about you (not the whole sector). Incisively used, design will help you communicate and demonstrate your story while creating a real point of difference.

Don’t limit your ambition to simply surviving a recession, focus on what makes customers tick and create something unique for them so they are with you when we finally come out the other side.”

Quentin Bossom

Format manager, Dixons Retail plc

Make stores welcoming

Quentin Bossom

Quentin Bossom

“Design has never been more important for stores and brands to remain relevant and compelling to the modern customer. We can provide the best product range, at great prices, and great service to boot. But if a store’s layout and appearance aren’t welcoming enough to entice a customer in and engage them, it’s going to be very difficult to sell a thing, and even harder to develop a loyal customer base or motivate your store team. Ambiance is key to making customers and colleagues feel comfortable as well as excited by products. We work hard to offer the widest and best product range to suit customers’ needs, and store design represents the best opportunity to show products in a physical way. In our case, we have opted for play-tables, allowing customers to touch and feel products before purchase. But, of course, design has to be flexible enough to reflect the evolving product mix and ranges. For Dixons Retail and other electrical specialists, think desktop PCs to laptops to netbooks to tablets, or fat cathode ray TVs, to wall-mounted 50-inch 3D TVs! Keeping the design current to satisfy the customers’ needs is imperative and essential, particularly in the current challenging environment. Through developing a customer-focused formula for store refits, which is highly cost effective and delivers a uniform, warm, exciting look and feel, store design has been crucial in helping refitted megastores, superstores and high street stores enjoy gross profit uplifts of 20% – as well as higher footfall, dwell time and conversion rates. As a result of our customer-led design approach, we’ve moved from a ‘race-track’ style to clean, wide aisles offering clear views to all areas of the store. Product areas and individual brands are easy to locate thanks to the new layout, excellent sight lines and clearer signage. Compelling vistas, anchored by visual displays such as TV and laundry ‘walls’ and a branded computing area, add to the excitement of the store as well as making navigation easier. Our design principles are based on listening to the customer and designing formats that are easier, more exciting places to shop.”

Tim Greenhalgh

Chief creative officer, Fitch

Design changes retail while changing itself

Tim Greenhalgh

Tim Greenhalgh

“Design today offers a different set of tools from yesterday. It is a significant factor in business success. Do we mean that store design is about styling or fundamentally shifting the view that the consumer has of a retailer or is it just about making shoppers put more stuff in the basket?

The way that design is used now is a lot more tactical than it used to be. Design companies are more than just places filled with people who are good at drawing. Today, these are businesses that are looking at ways of changing things. There’s also the argument of how much would it have cost if you hadn’t used a designer? This may, or may not have relevance, but shoppers have been almost conditioned by retailers to expect change and so if you tread water the tendency will be for them to ask if you’re really viable.

Good times or bad, design has to be something affecting the bottom line and not just prettification. And don’t overlook cost-engineering. This may be the more basic end ofretail design, but it’s certainly part of the process and frequently when you put together a set of guidelines for doing this, it’s about leaving things out and taking awayis a lot harder to effect than adding something else. Store design has changed substantially and is a cornerstone of success for retailers.”

Martin Illingworth

Director of store development, Harrods

A good understanding of luxury is the starting point

Martin Illingworth

Source: Martin Illingworth

Martin Illingworth

“Many retailers have an ‘identikit’ set of parts that make up their store image that is rolled out across the country or even worldwide. Some stores are very successful at this, but it only works with a limited retail offer. The interior of a department store, especially one as famously unique and luxurious as Harrods, is a rather more complex mix of retail uses, all overlaid with a rich mix of brands and all with their own image.

To unravel this wealth of product categories and brands, while maintaining a consistent store image, is the job of a good retail designer. When executed well the right design can have a dramatic influence on sales. The success of Harrods Men’s Shoe Salon, inspired by the masculinity and glamour of mid-20th century New York, and featuring bronze walls, rich ochre rugs and custom sumptuous leather chairs, is one recent testament to this effect.

At Harrods, we spend a great deal of time choosing the right designer for the retail category under redevelopment. We are fortunate to have the richly-talented UK design industry with its international agency presence to choose from. A designer with a track record in the retail category and a good understanding of luxury is the starting point for the shortlist. But, of course, you do not get a good project without a good client. So the retail brief, brand strategy and merchant’s vision, together with the creativity of the designer, need to produce chemistry to make a great retail development project.”