We have recently expanded our shopfitting range with a selection of shop sign lights, perfect for illuminating your shop frontage.

In the upcoming weeks we are also going to be adding a selection of interior shop display lighting such as feature lighting and mood lighting which can be used and changed according to themes and shop displays.

Our aim is to provide our customers with no-nonsense, cost effective and attractive shop lighting which they can purchase to improve both internal and external shop lighting to provide a more fulfilling shopping experience to their customers.

The current selection includes swan neck lights, a traditional take on shop sign lighting and trough lighting, an increasingly popular signlight with retailers due to being more suited to shops where other forms of sign lighting does not meet with local planning approval.

We provide both of these available to buy online with options of size, colour and orientation so you can buy the perfect type of light to suit your retail environment.

If you have seen any other kind of retail lighting which you think would be a good asset for our customers then please get in contact and let us know.

Creating a welcoming and inviting shop environment is great for getting customers through the door and keeping them but actually converting your customers and selling your products is what pays the bills and keeps the shop open.

Having a logical layout and well-defined departments is instrumental in guiding your customers, but what else can you do?

Create an aspiration display

Actually taking your products out of their packaging and displaying them in a natural pose with other complimentary products is great for setting the scene and giving the customers how they could utilise the product, see it in it’s full glory and picture how it can make a difference to their lives.

Take for example a kitchen or bathroom company, they don’t just line up all the toilets, the baths and the shower cubicles then let the customers wander around. The kitchen companies don’t just have rack after rack of cupboard doors and worktops, they both have highly thought-out, superbly finished product showcases where the customer can see exactly how the new kitchen would look  together with cupboard doors, worktops, tiles and taps. Seeing the finished product allows them to visualise it more easily and as a result increases sales.

As a retailer your job is to increase sales and creating lifelike product displays is just one of the ways that can help you do that. Whether you are selling clothing, furniture or food well thought out product displays help to increase sales.

There are companies out there that deal solely in retail dressing that retail groups hire to come in and help them with their displays as they know it increases their sales. We’re not saying you have to employ anyone to do this for you but do give it a go yourself and see what results you get.

We would recommend you treat this display as a focal point to bring customers deep inside the shop, not in a doorway.

We would suggest you keep it away from the modern shop counters as this can cause congestion, small impulse units are better situated here.

Try different displays and see how your customers react, also ask them what they think.

Hopefully by trying this you will see your customers interacting more with your stock and also see your sales increase.

Here at shopfitDIRECT we are always looking for attractive and cost effective shop fittings to add to our current range. Our latest addition is the fantastic range of Concept Shop Counters.

Available in a selection of modern colours and wood finishes the Concept range is distinctive from it’s extra thick 30mm counter bodies and inset silver panel.

The whole range is designed to bring a more modern feeling to your shop and is ideal for  more  fashion -orientated and style-based operations such as boutiques, hairdressers and photographers etc.

The entire range is available Maple, Oak, Walnut, Beech, Ash and an attractive Dark Grey, all complemented by the distinctive silver panel.

As well as choosing the colour you also have the option of doors and drawers as well as stem lighting and down lights on the display counters.

A great checkout area can be achieved by incorporating an impulse shop counter as well as shop counter corners which allow you to create a seamless checkout space.

As we make all of our checkout counters and display cases to order it is possible to make slight additions to each one, for example you may want the inset panel the same colour as the rest of the shop counter or a slightly differently-sized unit.

We feel this new range is a great addition to our offerings and has already proved popular with both new and old customers.

For more information on this range please get in touch.

Since we first started trading we have tried to be as efficient with our delivery charges as possible. We started off by charging a delivery cost based on quantity of slatwall panels and the post code area they were being delivered to.  We had nine post code groups and five brackets for slatwall quantity.  This meant we had 45 different delivery charges which would be calculated by some additional coding we had done for our website.  The prices varied from £35 to as much as £155.

The benefit of this was each customer would only pay the exact delivery cost for their slatwall, no more, no less.

The negative was that the pricing structure was so difficult to work out that customers would be shocked by the delivery charge or they would just leave and shop elsewhere.

Slatwall Delivery – Revision 1

We took onboard how difficult the pricing structure was and looked how we could alter it to be more user friendly. The problem was that slatwall being delivered to Yorkshire would cost us only £35 but delivery to Scotland could easily be over £150.

We looked at this and decided that we still needed a  stepped pricing structure but much less complicated. We therefore kept the nine postcode areas but removed the different prices for quantity. This meant there was a set price based on postcode.

The positive of this was the slatwall pricing structure was a lot easier to understand for customers, the negative was customers were leaving the site when faced with a delivery charge, especially £70+.

We then looked at the rest of our products and saw that the range of shop fittings such as gondolas and shop counters were selling really well when offered with free delivery.

Slatwall costs a lot more to deliver than a shop counter as it takes up a minimum of two pallets and is very very heavy. We knew we had to get round this so we could offer free delivery on our slatwall panels.

Free Delivery on Slatwall Panels with Low Minimum Order Quantity

The way we got round it was to implement a minimum order quantity of 10 8’x4’ panels or 20 of the 4’x4’ slatwalls. This does mean a few people will unfortunately miss out but as most of our orders are over 10 panels anyway it should cause that much of a problem and we can offer less than the minimum order over the phone by charging a delivery fee.

This means we can offer free delivery on all of our slatwall products. So now, whether you are searching for slatwall from London, Birmingham, Manchester or Yorkshire we can offer it next day with free delivery. This is comparative to previous charges ranging from £35 to £150.

We have seen a great increase in orders using this method and more people choosing to checkout online rather than over the phone.

We are constantly striving to improve our shop fittings website to make it easier for customers and to improve their shopping experience. We hope this change makes a difference to you and if you have any suggestions for the future then please get in touch with us.

The most effective retail shop fittings are the ones which go unnoticed, working behind the scenes promoting your products without overshadowing or creating a distraction.

Your shop fittings, while creating the desired look and feel within the retail arena should shy away from becoming the centre of attention themselves.

Every single thing within your shop should be looked at to see what part it plays and whether it could be improved.

Shop Signage

Shop signage plays a massive part in directing customers around your unit and creating separate areas (Junior/Adult, Men/Women etc). A lack of signage can leave customers lost and wandering aimlessly before making a hasty retreat.

Product Displays

Display the product instead of storing the product. This is mostly prevalent during January sales and mainly within the fashion sector. A good clothing display should showcase the product while having a selection of colours and sizes close at hand. During heavy sales the product display seems to be reduced while storage is the at the forefront in importance – don’t make this mistake unless you have the footfall and price structure which attracts this type of setup.

Transition Zone

Creating a welcoming transition zone will help to entice customers further into your shop rather than turn around and walk straight out. While in the transition zone your customer will be deciding whether this is the right shop for them. They will be influenced by the lighting, music, signage and what they can see. If you relate this to a supermarket the tall aisles never start right at the front door, this area is usually very empty, allowing you to adjust to the shop before continuing with shopping.

Creating Impulse Purchases

Encouraging impulse buys is a great way of increasing the spend of your current customer base and maximizing the value of all future customers. This can be achieved through a display counter, showing handy accessories and low cost items or a unit to be browsed when queuing.

Create Personal Touches

Adding personal touches is a great way to interact with the customer. One very popular chain of bookstores does this by getting the staff to handwrite personal recommendations for books and displaying them next to that particular book.

Having great merchandise to sell and having a great location for your retail outlet are an excellent start when opening your shop but sometimes that is not enough on it’s own. A lot of purchases are made subconsciously based on emotion and first impressions, all of which can be affected by the layout of your store and shop fittings.

When opening new shop premises, unless you are backed by a large retail chain with proven shop layout and display systems , deciding on the layout of the shop can be a little hit or miss and prone to alteration movement during the initial months to see what works best in both welcoming customers, displaying products and also moving customers through your retail premises.

While slatwall panels are fantastic for outer-perimeter wall- lining and displays some mid-floor shop fittings are too industrial looking, bulky and are difficult to manoeuvre when altering displays.

It is fantastic then to reveal the benefits of slatted panel gondola units. Made from slatwall, with the same principle and mechanism as the traditional wall displays these complimentary  freestanding units, finished in the same colour as your existing slatwall, can be easily manoeuvred and accessorised to display whichever products you wish while also directing traffic through your store to your feature areas and finally the checkout counter.

Slatted Gondolas can also be merchandised to make displays of their own, popular choices include sale items, latest, accessories and also impulse when situated close to the checkout or along the queuing area.

The wide range of slatwall accessories which can be used with all of the gondolas as well as bespoke items such as taped wooden and glass shelving  mean changing the use of the gondolas to display a different range of products is very quick and exceptionally easy. Metal, wood and plastic are used and each fixing has a different purpose, some to store, some to display and some offering both functions.

Several different designs and layouts including a choice of finish, edging and colour of inserts means there is a huge choice available. The largest H shape gondola is perfect for creating aisles through a shop while offering promotions on the end panel, smaller slatted gondolas such as the tower or four way unit work well as impulse units and can be placed where people are stationery such as close to the checkout or if in a clothes shop, outside the waiting rooms. Further additions such as spinning functionality can be added so the units can be quickly moved around or in limited space rotated to display all products.

Getting the placement of these units correct is imperative in the design of your retail store. Bad layout can dramatically lower sales and a perfect layout can show a massive increase over a standard shop layout.  Shop gondolas can be moved and tested, moved and tested until you find the layout that works best for your retail unit.

Larger companies bring in professionals to design shop layouts as different concepts can bring in dramatically different results, while for a small retail outlet this isn’t really necessary it is definitely worthwhile reading up and experimenting with your own shop fittings.

As a shop owner your windows are your first impression for your customers. They are the image you portray, a summary of the products you sell and a fantastic tool to entice new customers , from your selected demographic, into your shop and way from your competitors.

All good shop displays should be based around  a theme. Whether this is a specific day e.g. Christmas Day, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day or a certain period of time such as Back to School, New Autumn Collection, New Year Sales etc.

The window display will attract attention from your target market. While the phrase ‘Never judge a book by it’s cover’ is true, it most certain isn’t for retail outlets. The window should give a sneak peak of what is in-store for the customer and leave your target customer wanting to come inside and see more of the same. The window display, while showcasing your products, will also give the customer information without them knowing, such as what kind of products are available, what scope of range, style and also an indication of price. While it may not necessarily be a great idea to display the prices of all your products in the shop window display the display itself will indicate the price. Minimalistic displays showcasing only a few high-quality products will give a subconscious message that a more exclusive range with a higher price-point is being sold.

Here are eleven top tips to help you create a great display in your shop window:

#1 – Clean the window and display area. Cleaning the glass both inside and out, removing any marks or sticky patches from previous displays, then dust and vacuum will give you a great blank canvas with which to start your shop advertisement.

#2 – When deciding on props for your display, pick two colours from the range you are currently promoting and base your display, any more and it could look messy or less-focussed.

#3 – Focus attention on the products you wish to sell. While you are using your shop window to attract attention, you want the attention to be focused on the products, not overshadowed by your display props.

#4 – Backing papers, fabrics and banners can look fantastic and are also great at helping to fill a window.

#5 – Be creative with your displays. This can mean using out of the ordinary display props or materials which are available locally or composing it from free or recyclable products. One of the most popular and effective is using logs and leaves for Autumn/Winter based scenes.

#6 – Recover old display materials. A fresh look on old props can be cheap and effective way of changing a display to compliment current fashion and trends. One of our customers recently wallpapered raw slatwall to create a funky and unique display backdrop.

#7 – Light your shop window. Accentuating products with good lighting during the day and also at night will spotlight your display and also attract attention even when you are closed.

#8 – Advertise what you are trying to sell. The shop should promote from outside what you are actually selling inside and the theme should been continuous. It is no good promoting high class, exclusive products if once the customer comes inside they can only buy low cost, inexpensive items.

#9 – Use your shop front in conjunction with your internal shop fittings. If your shop is visible through the window the gondolas, tables etc should be at a low level and build up towards the rear of the store so the customer can see right through the shop and new products as the display goes further away.

#10 – Grab attention. A tried and tested way of grabbing attention is using shop window stickers on the front, especially during a sale but also to promote new ranges, new products etc.

#11 – Have lots of stock of the products you are promoting – hopefully your new display will entice lots of new customers wanting to buy your products – don’t let all that effort go to waste.

Every shop needs to make the most of the available space and display their goods to maximum effect, and to do this you have to have a good selection of shop fittings. Having this would do so much for your shop and would give you and your customers loads of benefits. With the right shop fittings, you will encourage customers to come in your shop, have a look, and buy.

How you set up your shop would definitely draw people to check out your shop. The way you design your shop would communicate to your customers what your shop is all about. Deciding on how you display and present your merchandise is essential.

 It would help your customers to see what they want, and move about inside your shop with ease.  You should choose the right equipment and the right style in order to make it easier for your customers to see and find your products. Once you get the best layout for your shop, customers will not hesitate to come in since even while they are outside looking in, they would be able to have a glimpse of how your store looks like inside and the quality and range of your products. The moment the customers step inside your store, they would feel that they are indeed in the right place.

 The right shop fitting will be able to help you maximize the selling area that your store has, ensuring best use of shelf space. More products equal more sales, as long as they are displayed well. To ensure that you have the right equipment, check out the products that shopfitDIRECT.co.uk has available for you.

 Our Store has a wide array of products for your shop fitting needs – from display counters to greeting card racks, through to the smallest accessory, we have it all! You have the freedom to choose the colours and the finish you want for a lot of our  products to match the atmosphere you want your shop to have. This would be beneficial for you since it will help you achieve the look that you desire for your shop.

ShopfitDIRECT does not only have stunning pieces for your shop, the quality that we offer is outstanding since we understand the importance of having high-quality products. But what’s even better than having great quality stuff? It’s getting it at an affordable price. Whoever said that you can’t have premium items without having to pay a large amount? Well, shopfitDirect proves them wrong because we use the finest materials for our products to ensure that you get only the best. 

Most of our products also come with free nationwide delivery.

So, take your time and have a look at the variety of equipment we have. Also feel free to call our free phone 0800 118 5050 to talk with our friendly staff to discuss the products further.

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Today is the day we launch our new blog all about shop fittings and what is hot in the shop fitting world. Hopefully this will help both experienced shopfitters, and the first time DIY’er looking to fit out maybe a small corner or just buy a shop display or some slatwall panels.

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