The power of retail property
The retail property market has had an interesting few years. The pandemic saw thousands of shops close, with some never opening their doors again.
Despite a number of setbacks, physical retail is still going strong. We’ve seen a shift in consumer attitudes and the way people shop. Customers nowadays are increasingly looking for an omnichannel offering, with brands making use of both online and physical retail.
So what can retail property do for your business?
Enhance your brand visibility
Making use of retail property can help bring your business into the limelight and increase your brand visibility. Having a strong physical presence – whether that’s on a high street, in a shopping centre, or at a retail park – will help you bring in new customers.
Ways that retail property can improve brand visibility include the usage of large signage and window displays, as well as a clean and attractive storefront.
Brand visibility is a key building block to building brand awareness, which all the world’s most successful companies have in spades. Having a physical retail space will help make people who frequent shopping destinations recognise your business.
Increase customer engagement
Retail property can also help improve your customer engagement rate. Having a physical retail space enables your customers to directly interact with your products. This is where having an omnichannel offering comes in handy; whilst customers are able to browse your products online, they can enjoy a full sensory experience in person.
Having a physical retail space can also help you with visual merchandising, which will in turn boost engagement. Visual merchandising is when you present your products in a way which is visually enticing to your customer base. Methods of improving your visual merchandising include the use of lighting, the layout of your store, and maintaining a clean and tidy store. You can read more about visual merchandising here.
Retail businesses with a physical presence can also make good use of experiential marketing, which is a great way to boost your customer engagement. This is all about creating an experience for customers rather than using traditional marketing methods. Having access to retail property enables a business to host live events with product demonstrations, workshops, and even networking or live music events.
Fuel sales growth
The possibilities unlocked by retail property enable your business to fuel its sales growth. Increased brand visibility and customer engagement are just two of the many factors which can contribute to the success of your business.
Having a physical retail space will give you the advantage of a face-to-face interaction with a customer. This means you can upsell products which might be harder to shift on an online platform. A positive experience with a member of staff will also help build brand loyalty and will likely see customers come back or recommend your business to others.
Turning a retail space into a destination for customers can also drive sales growth; providing an exciting place for customers to go to will help you sell more products and further increase brand loyalty. You can read more on turning a space into a retail destination here.
Finding the right retail space
If you do choose to take on a retail space, it’s important to choose the right one.
Location is incredibly important. You need to find somewhere which suits your customer demographic with a good level of footfall, or else you’ll likely not get enough people through the door.
It’s imperative that you choose a retail property which is both visible and accessible. This ties back into brand visibility, but you should also think about convenience for your customer base.
Another factor to consider is the local competition. Look at the surrounding businesses: are they in a similar market to you? This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – standing out from your direct competition is a great way to attract new customers and build brand loyalty.
Of course, when choosing a retail space, it’s key to think about your budget; you don’t want to overextend. Writing a business plan can help you figure out your finances and stay prepared.
In an ever-changing landscape, retail property remains resilient – and looks to continue to do so in the future.
Ready to find the right property? You can read more about finding the right agent here or check out available properties on Completely Retail.