Shop Fitting Basics: How to Fit Out a Shop

E-commerce may be the retail term of the decade, but even the most streamlined of online shopping experiences cannot overpower the beauty of a physical in-store experience.

With small businesses and large brands alike doing their best to design and create the perfect in-store journey for customers, fitting out your shop is as much an exercise in guessing what the customer wants, as it is a chance to make everything look beautiful. 

In this blog post, we uncover the steps to fitting out a shop – considering what you need, how best to fill the space, and sharing a few tips on bringing your physical store to life. 

Create a plan 

First thing’s first – what do you want to have in your shop, and how can you use the space to ensure that you tick every box? Creating a plan can save you money, time, and stress later down the line – providing a form of checklist which will keep you on track and prevent you from missing the important things. 

After all, an extra clothing rail is great – but have you left enough room for fitting rooms?

Plot the customer journey

As soon as your customer walks through the door, you should have some idea of the journey you want them to take. Most customers automatically turn to the right when they walk into a shop, and this knowledge can help you when it comes to placement, displays, and marketing collateral. 

Think about lighting

Lighting isn’t just about functionality, it’s also about setting the right tone in your shop and ensuring that you have created an environment which fits your industry and ideal customer.

Use light to reinforce your branding, put a spotlight on those items and displays which you really want customers to pay attention to, and ensure the light is clear and bright enough that customers can see what they’re looking at. 

Set a budget

With so much to think about, it can be easy to fall off the wagon when it comes to creating your perfect shop – especially in terms of budget. Make your life easier by assigning a budget to the functional, practical, and aesthetic parts of your shop fit out, and be flexible but firm. 

Use a shop fitting expert

We cannot recommend this enough – working with a company which specialises in retail fit outs will bring a new perspective to your shop. They’ve seen it all before, they have experience of different configurations, and they will be able to let you know if something will work or not based on other jobs and fittings they have completed. 

A shop fitting expert will also know more about health and safety and other regulations, so will be able to ensure your fittings are installed in a way that meets building requirements as well as ticking your boxes around functionality and aesthetic presentation.

Pick the right furniture and details

Once you’ve got the layout and structure of your shop, it’s time to start thinking about filling the space and making it your own. Spend time working out what fittings you need in order to make the shop feel organised and well-spaced, with a combination of shelves and display units often ensuring that both wall and floor space is used in the best way possible.

TOP TIP: Have an idea in your head about what you will place on each shelf or display unit, so that you can ensure the structure is sturdy enough to support the weight of your products or display items. 

The final elements

This is the final stage to fitting your shop, and it’s where you start to introduce branding and signage, and all of those equipment basics which turn your shop from a showroom into a functioning store.

From checkout fittings to welcome signs, the products themselves, and all your pricing displays, make sure that everything fits with the overall environment and vibe that you are trying to create – giving your customers a cohesive experience which they will positively link to your brand. 

The more you can do to support what the customer is looking for, the better their overall experience will be. And that doesn’t just apply to your physical shop – it is also important across your ecommerce store, marketing collateral, and other online platforms too. 

For more support on designing and building the perfect shop for your customer base, our team are here to help! Get in touch today and let us bring your brand to life.