Tips for Better Retail Signage
February 10, 2020
Tips for Better Retail Signage. Think about this: what would happen to your profit margins if you increased the average sales of customers who already shop in your store on a regular basis? It’s no secret that brick-and-mortar retail stores are fighting for customer’s attention as the eCommerce boom continues. Store owners must do everything they can to increase revenue and ensure success, and that includes optimizing retail signage strategies.
Enhance Customer Experience
Retail signage is first and foremost a communication tool to help show the value of a product to your customers. It needs to be informational, and persuasive, and tempt them to choose your store over the competition. These signs can be inside the store, pointing to products, or outside of the store to attract shoppers to come in and shop. Either way, they need to be clear, and concise, and support branding (online and off) that already exists. The goal is to connect with customers on an emotional level and create an experience they’ll want to come back for.
Location Matters
From the outset, location strategy may seem easy — but there are some nuances you’ll need to think about before choosing where to place signage. Exterior signage should work like a real-world ad that’s working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Choose a placement that is easy to see in an area that won’t be obstructed by parked cars or even glare from the sun or streetlights. Interior placement should be placed at eye level and shouldn’t impede customers’ movement throughout the store or ability to pick up products.
Don’t Ignore Design
Once you’ve chosen placement, you need to focus on getting the design right.
- Be specific: Signage should include specific details, whether you’re helping customers find their way around the store or informing them about a product. This is what’s known in the retail world as narrowcasting — having the right message in the right place.
- Keep it simple: If a customer can’t get the message you’re trying to send in 5 seconds, your sign is too long. Fine-tune your sign or create more than one if you’re trying to convey a longer message that would take longer than 5 seconds to comprehend.
- Structure your copy: Just like effective social media posts require a killer caption, so too does your signage. You need a headline, explanatory text, and finally, a call to action in order to give shoppers all of the information they need to make a decision.
Consistency is Key
While it can be tempting to think that out-of-the-box images or messages may capture your customer’s attention, the signage inside your store should be consistent. Think about your logo colors and fonts, any ads you run, and even your digital marketing strategy. Connect all the dots to create signs that lead directly back to the overall message you work hard to send to customers. That way, you’ll become a familiar brand that shoppers will grow to trust.
Size It Right
Bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to retail signage. Think about the message and the placement when selecting the right size for your signs. While the message should be large enough to read, it can’t block aisles or overshadow products. Too small, and it could be easy to ignore. Direction signs — like those that lead customers to cash registers — should be big and bold, helping to eliminate any confusion that could prevent them from making a purchase.
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, 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.
