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The furniture store industry has grown 1.7% per year on average since 2017 and currently stands at a market size of $75.7 billion. The market is extremely competitive, and one of the ways you can ring up more sales is by making your furniture showroom easy to navigate.
If you can help customers find what they’re looking for easily, or help them discover interesting pieces without any hindrances, it will greatly improve the customer experience. This, of course, is more than likely to translate into greater sales.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some great ways to ensure that your furniture showroom is easy to access and navigate. Here are all the tips you need to elevate the shopping experience so that customers may gladly spend hours at your furniture store.
1. Ensure that the floor is clean
It’s easy to see why the customer experience is so important in an in-store setting. Customers love the allure of walking along the aisles in a furniture store to discover pieces that fascinate them. However, if the environment is even a little off-putting, it can ruin their shopping experience.
That’s why, no matter how beautiful or functional your products are, you must ensure that your showroom floor is clean and uncluttered to allow for a leisurely and pleasant browsing experience.
There shouldn’t be any debris on the floor or anything else that distracts your customers or hinders their shopping experience. Leave your aisles clean and open to allow for easy navigation — from the front, all the way to the back of your store.
2. Design a functional layout with no overcrowding
When designing your furniture store layout, you must allow your customers the freedom to browse your store as much as they would like. Give them enough room to walk in between your displays — and your products — easily so they can decide how best to use them.
To that end, choose a layout that allows them to easily access the different parts of your store. Even though your primary objective should be to showcase your products, you also need to decorate your showroom tastefully, without overcrowding it.
3. Keep signage on point
If the signage at your furniture store isn’t up to the mark, you’re likely leaving serious money on the table. Your showroom should play the role of your highest-performing salesperson, and that is only possible if you can optimize it with eye-catching signage — both directional and promotional.
Make sure that you have an adequate number of wayfinding signs that encourage shoppers to check out the different areas of your store. Also, everyone loves a good discount. If you’re offering them, display the signs prominently at various strategic locations throughout your store.
And don’t forget about the signage at your entrances and window displays; make them look as inviting and tempting as possible, so you can get more foot traffic.
4. Make your displays relatable
While setting up your displays, see to it that they appeal to your customers’ tactile and visual sensations. These senses are what shoppers primarily use to assess furniture before buying them. The shapes, colors, and textures of your products will help to create a visual experience of your brand.
So, strive to make your displays more relatable; they should allow customers to visualize the products in their own homes. The easiest way to do this is to think of your showroom as a living room. Every piece should complement the overall decor and style.
Further, your displays need to be informative as well as aspirational — offering a sneak peek into the way your products can enhance the lives of your customers. If you can get your displays to tell a story, shoppers are likely to spend more time at your showroom, helping you ring up more sales.
Another thing to note: your shelving units should display the furniture items at eye level so they can be reached easily by customers. Also, pay close attention to items that have been bought recently and reconfigure your displays as soon as possible so there are no empty spaces.
A great idea is to keep updating your furniture showroom so that it reflects the latest design trends. Modular displays can be particularly helpful in updating your store quickly based on current promotions and seasonality.
5. Get the lighting right
Lighting has a lot to do with shaping the perception of your products and your brand. You can also use lighting strategically to drive people’s attention to specific areas within your store. The clever use of lighting can also change people’s moods to create a dynamic environment.
For example, soft lighting can create a calm, peaceful environment, so customers can experience the story you’re trying to tell or the personalities your products showcase. At the same time, ensure there’s enough light so shoppers can fully admire the product details. Conversely, use bright lights near the checkout counters to induce them to take action.
6. Use digital touchscreens and kiosks
Customers aren’t created equal. Not everyone wants to stroll around leisurely in a furniture showroom to discover new and interesting pieces. Some customers know exactly what they need and want to find it fast. Placing a few touchscreens or kiosks strategically throughout your store can come in quite handy in such situations.
These will act as digital catalogs that customers can scroll through quickly to find what they are looking for and make their selection. For best results, use high-quality, realistic images of your products that can be viewed from different angles and in the available customizations. These catalogs should also have the capability of directing the user to a product’s actual location in the store for better viewing.
7. Ensure that store staff is available when needed
Having a properly trained team of store associates is essential to the success of your business. Your staff needs to be knowledgeable about your products and their price points as well as where they are located in the store.
They should always be present to help customers navigate your furniture showroom and capable of ascertaining their preferences and needs. Train your store staff to engage with customers in a friendly, professional manner and assist them in finding what they need easily.
8. Conduct store audits regularly
Finally, it’s essential to conduct regular audits of your furniture store to check whether operating procedures and brand standards are being followed effectively. The good news is that Bindy’s smart audit solutions can help you eliminate paper- or spreadsheet-based manual workflows that result in faster execution and greater productivity.
You can build customizable forms and checklists and use them to illustrate your brand standards, get everyone on the same page, conduct inspections, and drill down to the root causes of issues so you can fix them easily. Bindy also allows you to assign corrective actions on the spot and streamlines follow-up so you don’t have to take time away from other important business activities.
Final words
In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s important for your furniture brand to have a solid online presence. That doesn’t mean, however, that you neglect your brick-and-mortar locations.
Through strong online engagement and positive in-store connections, you can consistently deliver superb customer experiences. Not only will this reinforce your brand but also help you foster more meaningful relationships with your audiences.
Follow the tips mentioned above to deliver positive in-store shopping experiences which, in turn, will help you reach your goals.
OTHER RESOURCES FOR Furniture STORES
Refer to the Furniture category for checklists, how-tos and best practices for the furniture industry.
About the author:
Francesca Nicasio is retail expert, B2B content strategist, and LinkedIn TopVoice. She writes about trends, tips, and best practices that enable retailers to increase sales and serve customers better. She’s also the author of Retail Survival of the Fittest, a free eBook to help retailers future-proof their stores.
