An Updated Guide To Retail Signage
July 9, 2021
Before there was social media, before the internet, and even before billboards — there was retail signage. It’s one of the oldest and most efficient methods of marketing; some research points as far back as ancient Egyptian shopkeepers. Sure, great products and solid merchandising strategies go a long way toward building your bottom line, but retail signage will never go out of style.
What Is Retail Signage?
Retail signage is exactly what it sounds like: A graphic display that helps educate and engage your customers. Signage comes in many forms, including exterior signs, digital signage, and window displays. It’s a connection that potential (or current) customers will have with your business, and the interaction needs to be a good one.
Signage matters so much that research shows that 60% of businesses reported a minimum 10% increase in revenue after implementing retail signage. For retailers who have already weathered a challenging year, retail signage could offer a big-time return on investment.
The Purpose of Retail Signage
When you break down retail signage into three basic uses, it’s much easier to streamline the sign creation and design process.
Marketing: This is the signage that customers see around town and outside of their homes (and your business). This includes billboards, exterior signage, and other media that work to advertise your retail business and leave a lasting impression.
Foot Traffic: When your retail signage is informative and engaging, it attracts customers to visit your physical location and boosts overall foot traffic. A lack of signage is bad, but poor quality signage is even worse — customers need to know where to find your business.
In-store Navigation: Once those customers are inside your store, help them move around the aisles with ease. Retail signage in-store clears up confusion and helps shoppers make educated buying decisions. Bonus: It helps build their trust, too.
What Are the Benefits of Retail Signage?
Of all the marketing investments you can make, retail signage is perhaps the most cost-effective with the highest return on investment. Signage may not put you at the level of the big box stores, but it will help you get discovered.
Signage is a communication tool. When designed and installed in an optimized way, it can work to help guide shoppers from idea to conception and maybe even towards a bigger purchase. You can track the result of your signage by following the sales of the inventory that it’s promoting. This is a great way to quantify customer demand and understand insights that help you meet those demands.
Is Your Retail Signage…
Outdoors? Make it easy to read and in line with your existing brand. Think about all of the potential customers walking by that have seen your store and never stopped in. How can you convince them to give you a try?
Informational? Use clear, concise language and accurate information to help give customers a path to travel throughout your store. If they’re confused, they’re far less likely to return to the store.
Persuasive? Sometimes shoppers need a little help being convinced to follow through with their purchase decision, and signage can be a great way to do that. They can turn an otherwise “regular” product into a superstar.
Compliant? ADA compliance is imperative, and signage should support everything you do in your store to welcome a diverse customer base. Don’t forget to include Braille for those who may have vision impairments.
Quality Is a Priority
When your signage is well-designed and high-quality, you’ll demonstrate to your customers that you value them enough to invest in their experience at your store. You know first-hand as an owner that shoppers will notice when signage is misspelled, misprinted, inaccurate, or just plain confusing. Working with an experienced signage partner will help give you peace of mind that you won’t have to deal with any costly or time-consuming mistakes or errors.
Retail signage is one of the most critical, pivotal aspects of marketing your product. Butler MSI understands this; since 1926, we have provided sophisticated branding in the form of retail signs to everyone from small companies to large ones. Fortune 100 industries. We pride ourselves on superlative customer service and relentless attention to detail. Our breadth of in-house design and manufacturing capabilities position us to be a low-cost producer and effectively compete for your business. Let us fulfill your retail signage needs and show you just how well it can be done.
