The Exterior and Interior of a Store

The Store Design is the design in which a store's interior and exterior is set up. The objective of a store design is to guide customers around the store and to entice the customers to purchase items to maximize sales.

Exterior Design includes: Storefront Design

Interior Design includes: Color, Lighting, Sounds, and Smells

Exterior
Storefront is the front of the store. The logo of the store name and the store windows is what the customers see when approaching the store and at that moment, it may make or break whether or not the customer enters in or not. The front must identify the name and the store windows must present a general nature of the store and gives customers a hint as to what kind of merchandise that is inside. The store window displays should be changed at least once a month, usually when floor set takes place and must reflect the products that is being offered inside. Here is a picture of storefront that I think is very intriguing. The logo of the name is very clear and the lights around the store windows help highlight the products inside.

Interior
Color can influence the customers behavior. I'm not talking about colors of the merchandise, but the colors that surround customers while they shop can effect whether or not they make a purchase.
*Warm colors: light bright colors such as: red, orange, yellow, etc. Warm colors attract customers and help gain attention. These "happy" colors is very inviting and will entice customers to linger longer in the store.
*Cool colors: darker colors such as: blue, green, violet, etc. Cool colors can have a calming, relaxing, and peaceful effect in retail stores.

Lighting is important because it illuminates and gives customers a feel for the store. Good lighting is highlighting merchandise, sculpting space, and capturing the mood that strengthens and intensifies a store's image. There are stores that have bright lighting and some with dark lighting. I am not a fan of stores with dark lighting because you can't see products clearly and I think that stores should have bright lighting so customers get to see every detail of a product and know what they are buying. That is my personal opinion, however stores with dark lighting are just as successful as stores with bright lighting.

Sounds 
Music has its different affects on people. Some people may like to shop in peace and quiet because they may think music is annoying and distracting when they shop and other people love music. Music is generally viewed as a valuable marketing tool and let me tell you, IT WORK'S! I don't know about you, but music gets me pumped up when I am shopping, usually depending on what kind of music is being played. It makes me happy and enjoy shopping even more and happy customers are likely to help increase sales. Not only does it make me love to shop, but looking from employee aspect, it makes me love my job as a sales associate because it makes the time go by faster and it puts me in a good mood and it helps me sell to customers because they see that I love my job, the environment, and the products I am selling. Overall, music is a good thing!

Scents
This topic of interest is pretty simple. Smell has a huge impact on people. If a customer enters a store and catches a whiff of something that smells awful, they are most likely going to turn around and exit the store. They are probably not going to be returning because they've already had a bad experience and first impression of the store. So all in all, make sure the store smells good and welcoming! But you also need to keep in mind to not spray too much and have just a good amount because sometimes stores can spray too much and it can be overbearing.