When someone walks into your retail location, what do you want their first impression to be. Most merchants would say that they want to be perceived as professionals who are invested in quality and the customer experience. There are a lot of elements that perform together to form that first impression and one of the most important is the quality of your shelving fixtures.
While your merchandise might be the shining star, your shelving fixtures play a major supporting role. At some point, whether it’s before a business opens or years down the road during a remodel, retail business are faced with the challenge of purchasing retail fixtures that are aligned with their image and perform.
When the time arrives, one of the first questions retailers have is if it’s pre-made or custom retail shelving that will best fit their needs. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you decide.
Assessing Your Floor Plan
It’s unfortunate to see retailers who aren’t making optimal use of their floorspace simply because they’ve adapted their floorplan to fit stock retail fixtures rather than adapting the fixtures to fit their space. Before you decide on stock or custom, one of the first things you need to do is to take a good look at your floor plan.
If you find that there’s space that could be merchandised more efficiently or could better serve your customers with a different type of shelving, it might be best to consider custom options. Custom retail display cases can be built to suit any area, no matter how small or oddly shaped.
For retail locations that are designed with standard aisle fixtures to hold a variety of fluctuating merchandise, high quality stock options will likely work well for your space.
Consider Your Image
Sometimes it’s difficult to find retail fixtures that blend perfectly in with your overall décor or represent your brand image. The question to ask yourself is how important the appearance of your shelving fixtures is to your overall image.
For example, if you want to present a sleek, modern image then standard wire racks that might work wonderfully in a convenience store are going to stick out like a sore thumb in your location. Retail fixtures are available in such a wide variety of finishes that it’s unnecessary to settle for whatever happens to be available.
Instead, look at the stock shelving finishes and compare it to the custom finishes that are also available. Which offers the best options for a professional, cohesive appearance for your retail location?
Product Matters
Retailers that sell odd shaped or difficult to merchandise products often find themselves either taking a loss because they can’t optimize their displays, or the merchandise becomes damaged due to improper shelving fixtures. Some products work beautifully on stock fixtures while others require a customized solution.
Invest in High Quality Shelving Today
If you’re unsure of whether stock or custom retail display fixtures are right for your location, the best thing to do is connect with a professional who can assess your needs and make recommendations. We specialize in high quality, stock and custom display options for your retail location. Contact Jahabow today to learn more.