Your Store Decor

Decorating a store is very, very individual and of course depends on the sort of shop, the sort of products you sell and the size of the premises, not to mention the budget you're on. So when it comes to decorating and dressing up your store, you need to bear in mind your target audience and think creatively. 

For the general shop theme, colours set tone and mood in a shop, so bear in mind the type of atmosphere you want to create. Research colours and effects, for example, red and orange in a food shop can promote a feeling of hunger, whereas pastel hues and whites can be calming and relaxing, which is ideal in a shop selling bath salts and spa products. Spend time considering the mood you want in the store and carefully select your colour scheme. 

Creating eye catching displays are a great way of drawing a customer's attention to a product that otherwise they would have glossed over. Such displays need a clever use of colour (but not too many different ones) otherwise the overall look will be tacky and childish (unless, of course, you are advertising children's products!). So pick your colours carefully and use them to brighten your shop and create focus points to attract customers to a particular promotion or sale. 

The good thing about our units at Shelving4Shops is that they are versatile and re-usable, so you can rework it each time you need a new display. Pegboards are fantastic for promotions as they are so easy to work with and are quick to amend or rearrange when you need to change over a product or advertise a special deal. They are also ideal for hanging items, such as necklaces or signs, for example, and give a bigger space to create really eye catching displays. Don't forget the minor details either, such as the finishing touches. Whether it's a particular piece of artwork behind the counter or a bowl of sweets for customers to help themselves to, it's the small touches will get your store remembered.

All About Us!

Shelving4Shops was born under the supervision of parent company Shoptek UK Ltd. Shoptek are one of the leaders of the market, in the sourcing and reselling of supermarket shelving and shop equipment. 

Shelving4Shops goal was to provide a high quality, suitable and affordable alternative when used shelving was not available, giving our customers options when it came to fitting out their shops. We have over 15 years of experience within the retail shelving sector, which we use to give you the best service possible when you are dealing with us. Our team has a wealth of knowledge to help you build up, match or add to your current system. We also can offer advice on the best shelving for your particular retail area, advising on how best to utilise and maximise your display and space available. 

We have a vast network of contacts working on the ground within the world's major manufacturing centres. We are constantly on the lookout for new, stronger, more reliable and cheaper equipment, to update and expand our selection that we can offer our clients. We know that kitting out a shop with all the right equipment is an expensive business, so we try and source the most cost effective equipment to help you make your business work. We source as much used shelving as we can to give our customers the choice of helping the environment and reduce outgoings, recycling is great but can be expensive, so we try and do as much as we can to help you save money!

Light Up Your Products!

Two important studies, conducted in late 2013, looked into retail lighting and how it affected customer behaviour in stores. The first study examined the extent to which lighting influenced consumers' subjective preferences and looked at three areas - the window, the store and shelving displays.

With a window display, people preferred vertical lighting, which make products stand out more, and it was noted that the colour rendering was not such a factor here. When coming into the actual store though, brightness was not so much of an issue and instead it was evident that people preferred warm lighting and moderate brightness. At around 3,000k and 4,000k people are at the most comfortable and this comfort diminishes if the lighting goes above this. 

The study found that varying the lighting was also significant, for example, changing the colour of the lighting at certain times of the day or when a specific promotion was on. Smart design of the installation can encourage people to follow tracks around a store and you can use that to get people deep into your store. When it came to shelving displays, it was evident that people preferred more lighting here, as naturally they wanted good light to be able to see products clearly ahead of purchasing them. 

The second study used eye tracking technology to monitor people's instinctive reactions to different lighting schemes and where their eyes looked. The most significant finding was that people's eyes were drawn naturally to areas of contrast, where dark and light areas overlapped, rather than the most brightly lit areas. Another interesting conclusion to note was that people were drawn to products that were at head height, showing that anything above or below that is often overlooked. To draw more attention to these it's worth using dynamic lighting to change the brightness, or these products need raising to face height. 

When the findings were tested in a store in Hamburg, it was concluded that people's eyes were instinctively drawn to areas where the lighting was active and were more attracted to blue lighting, over any other colour. 

To put the findings to good use, it's worth thinking about the colours and the brightness used in your store. For example, use lighting to draw people towards your shelving and think about using active or blue lighting to highlight unloved areas of your shop.

Spice Up Your Store

Think of your convenience store as a blank canvas. There is so much potential to make your store stand out to get your store talked about and attract more customers. You can develop your own theme and really get creative to draw customers into your store and get those products flying off the shelves.

To start with, why not draw up a floor plan to get an idea of how you want your store to look and to be laid out? Make sure your aisles are not too narrow and there is plenty of lighting as people don't like to be in spaces that feel claustrophobic! Remember, you can use gondola shelving to create your aisles. Shelving4Shops has a range of different heights (from 1.4m to 2.1m high), so have a think about how high you want your aisles to be. Something to bear in mind when deciding on product placement is that people are more likely to take notice of products that are face height, so for things that are above or below, it may be worth investing in some quality lighting to make sure lower or higher products get noticed. Also make sure your customers know what the prices are, so take a look at Shelving4Shops shelf barkers to make sure they have all the information they need to make a purchase. 

There are loads of great store design ideas to take inspiration from. Vintage themed stores are increasingly popular, as are retro colours such as pastel blues, yellows or reds. You can always pick up vintage furniture and quirky decorations at charity shops, for example, so keep an eye out and get creative and inventive! Remember that although decoration costs time and money, the return will be worth it. Unique, stand-out stores really get talked about and people will make the effort to come specifically to your store if they've heard it talked about! 

Your Store Decor.

Decorating a store is very, very individual and of course depends on the sort of shop, the sort of products you sell and the size of the premises, not to mention the budget you're on. So when it comes to decorating and dressing up your store, you need to bear in mind your target audience and think creatively. 

For the general shop theme, colours set tone and mood in a shop, so bear in mind the type of atmosphere you want to create. Research colours and effects, for example, red and orange in a food shop can promote a feeling of hunger, whereas pastel hues and whites can be calming and relaxing, which is ideal in a shop selling bath salts and spa products. Spend time considering the mood you want in the store and carefully select your colour scheme. 

Creating eye catching displays are a great way of drawing a customer's attention to a product that otherwise they would have glossed over. Such displays need a clever use of colour (but not too many different ones) otherwise the overall look will be tacky and childish (unless, of course, you are advertising children's products!). So pick your colours carefully and use them to brighten your shop and create focus points to attract customers to a particular promotion or sale. 

The good thing about our units at Shelving4Shops is that they are versatile & re-usable, so you can rework it each time you need a new display. Pegboards are fantastic for promotions as they are so easy to work with & are quick to amend or rearrange when you need to change over a product or advertise a special deal. They are also ideal for hanging items, eg necklaces, for example, & give a bigger space to create really eye catching displays. Don't forget the minor details either, such as the finishing touches. Whether it's a particular piece of artwork behind the counter or a bowl of sweets for customers to help themselves to, it's the small touches will get your store remembered. 

Realistic Refridgeration!

In the summer months, it is especially important to make sure your choice of chiller does exactly what you want it to do, and sometimes this is several things at once.

Serve over counters are great for displaying goods that require careful display whilst keeping them at a steady, cool temperature. These refrigerated units are perfect for creating a beautiful display of products that customers can easily view and choose, whilst giving you easy access and the assurance that the products are kept fresh and refrigerated. 

Dairy cabinets give good surface area for display whilst maintaining the specific temperature to keep goods fresh and properly refrigerated. This is especially important to keep the optimal shelf life of products. 

Display freezers are ideal for presenting your frozen produce in the most attractive manner possible and encouraging those impulse buys. Summer is an ideal time to make the most of grabbing people's attention and displaying those ice creams! Choose a display freezer based on your store space and layout, and on the products you are planning to display. Chest freezers have the option of baskets to offer easy-to-grab impulse buy ice creams, upright freezers give shelves with the potential to create bright, eye catching displays. 

Bottle fridges are (as the name implies) specific to displaying drinks. They create a neat, tidy way to store bottles and keep them refrigerated, giving either customers or bar staff easy access to drinks kept at a constant, cool temperature. 

Multi-deck chillers give you the option of using height to display your produce at constant refrigeration, maximising the use of space in your store. They are the cost-effective way to display large amounts of chilled goods, with great viewing potential and easy access for both staff and customer. 

Whatever you need your chiller to do, we have a huge range of both used and new units here at Shelving4Shops. For advice about which chiller you need, feel free to contact us on 01455 221512 for enquiries and information. 

Visual Merchandising

Visual Merchandising is the activity of promoting the sale of goods, especially by their presentation in retail outlets. It is a merchandising technique which effectively utilises the design of an environment by visual communications, lighting, colours and music to stimulate customers perceptual and emotional response, and ultimately to affect their purchase behaviour. According to research by Dunne and Lusch (2005), store environment is an important element in retailing given that 70% of purchase was an impulse buy or unplanned purchase. 

In terms of your store, the presentation and feel of the store plays a key factor regarding buying activity, so you could use themes to vary the feel of your store periodically. Tempting as it is, try not to limit your themes to the four seasonal ones, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, but instead try and think outside the box to implement some more original ideas. For example, you could use Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Halloween, making these work for you depending on your target audience. Practically, this means using good display equipment to create your displays with your promotional products showing in the best light they can. Adding a promotional gondola unit at the end of a bay or near a till point is a great way to get extra sales from customers. In particular, a promotional gondola unit placed at the front of a till point will encourage customers to purchase extra impulse buys as they capture the customer's attention while they are waiting to pay, a purchase that requires no effort to pick up.

Variation on your theme will keep your store looking fresh, with updated displays meaning customers will come back to your shop again and again for a new browsing experience each time. It is easy to use and Shelving4Shops wide range of display equipment can help create those displays that push for those extra purchases from customers. 

Ultimate Convenience.

When it comes to food shopping, one of the biggest factors that the majority of customers will want is convenience. They don't want to have to work when shopping, they want an easy experience where finding things is quick and simple. 

Convenience is something which every store design needs to take into consideration. Product display needs to be concise, clear and easy so that customers can find what they want. To make things easier for the buyers, it’s vital that you have the right shelving and display equipment. For example, Shelving4Shops has a range of shelving that you can tilt to certain angles, ideal for displaying confectionary. Pegboard backing on a unit means you can put lots of products together, keeping everything related in one place.

Our magazine shelving means you can put out lots of different products in a way that makes it easy for the customer to quickly find the specific one they are looking for. People are more likely to be put off if they have to spend a lot of time searching for a product. 

Obviously it is also important that if you are displaying fresh, frozen or refrigerated items, that you have a chiller. Shelving4Shops can offer advice on selecting and placing the right one, as it's such a vital piece of equipment and not a decision you want to make lightly. 

All of this equipment really does add up, so Shelving4Shops also stock second hand and used equipment for food stores. Visit our website www.shelving4shops.co.uk to view our range of shop shelving and accessories range. 

Finding The Perfect Shelving Balance

If you work in retail, then you’re fully aware that competition between stores has never been higher. Stores left, right and centre are striving to compete for customers’ attention and to get them to shop at their store instead of their competitors’, which is why it’s important to ensure that your store is in prime condition.

Ensuring that your store stands out from the crowd can be tricky. More and more stores are coming up with different ways to grab potential customers attention, however a stand out store starts with stand out shelving.

It’s important to find the right balance between providing an easy customer shopping experience, combined with a unique store layout. The majority of our shelving units are adjustable, allowing you to adapt them into your store. Try not to over complicate your layout though, there’s a fine line in looking different from your competitors and creating a complex store layout. Of course, you don’t want it to be too mundane either, as customers will then travel elsewhere for a more unique shopping experience. Finding the right balance between the two can be tough, which is why our friendly sales team are always happy to help you find the right shelving solutions for your store. Just give us an idea of your store layout and what you’re after. We’ll do our best to find you the perfect solution to suit your requirements.  

New & Used Refrigeration

Every store across the UK requires shelving that’s good quality, in good condition and importantly, reliable. Whether it be small convenience stores, large supermarkets or retail outlets, most will also require the correct type of refrigeration. 

At Shelving4Shops we understand that sometimes it can be a little frustrating to source everything you need from just from one supplier, which is why we have teamed up with a trustworthy local refrigeration company whose speciality is in both new and used commercial refrigeration. They offer a large variety of refrigeration equipment for any kind of store, such as multi deck chillers, display freezers and bottle fridges to name a few. 

Arneg refrigeration is a name you can surely trust. Their sales team are highly experienced and fully qualified fridge and air conditioning engineers, who have a vast knowledge of the industry, and will work with you throughout the process to achieve exactly what is required. 

All of the used refrigeration units are of high quality and standards. They have been thoroughly cleaned and fully tested to their capabilities. Each unit comes with a 3 month warranty, giving you the confidence and peace of mind when buying used refrigeration. Second hand refrigeration is ideal if you’re on a tight budget and are looking to save a bit of money, however we also understand that it can be tricky to find exactly what you require, especially when compromise just isn’t an option. Hence why we also offer new commercial refrigeration such as air conditioning, display freezers, dairy cabinets, multi deck chillers and bottle fridges just to name a few. 

There are many important factors to consider when buying refrigeration for the first time, and all of these factors can be discussed with an experienced member of staff who will be happy to help with any enquiries. For more advice and information on refrigeration, or if you just need help planning your shop, please call Luis on 07787184992, or visit the website www.coldfreeze.co.uk 

Keep Clean!

You may have spent a lot of time and effort to ensure that your store is displaying merchandise perfectly, but the effort shouldn’t stop there. Keeping your shelves and units dust and dirt free also plays a major key role in maintaining a favourable customer reputation. 

It’s extremely easy to forget to keep your shelves clean and tidy. But neglecting them can have a detrimental effect on your store’s valued reputation, as well as your customer credibility. Keeping shelves dust free ensures shelves look presentable and customer friendly. Sleek looking shelves allows customers to easily approach them and shop for a product, without being totally disgusted by the uncleanliness of the shelf that the product sits on. Having a filthy shelf also gives off the impression of unprofessionalism in the store as well as the company, and that can quickly establish a negative reputation amongst the store’s potential and existing customers. It also implies the product is unpopular as the assumption is that a product which is selling well wouldn’t have time to let dust build up on the shelf.

Remember that Health and Safety can either make or break a store. If a customer was to report poor standards to Health and Safety, then the chances are it will become publicly noted, and destroy what took years to build up a valued customer reputation. 

If you can put the time and effort into a store layout, you can surely find the time to do a quick dust down on the shelves and units. It almost counteracts the beautiful display you’ve put together if they end up filthy within a few weeks time. A few minutes every couple of days can ensure your shop stays reputable, as well as ensuring continuous customer loyalty, which is always a bonus. 

Chillers and Freezers for Retail Stores

Shelving4Shops are excited to announce our new partnership with refrigerated shelving suppliers Fridge Freezer Direct. FFD are specialists in supplying commercial refrigeration for a range of retail stores.

We work closely with our associated suppliers to make sure that our customers are able to find exactly what they need to fit out their stores with high quality, reliable products. It's great to be able to offer refrigerated shelving units from Fridge Freezer Direct along with our comprehensive range of shop shelving, and we can incorporate FFD products into your store plan to make sure they are a perfect fit.

The refrigerated shelving products FFD offer include:

• Chest coolers and freezers
• Beverage fridges
• Counter-top coolers
• Multidecks
• Ice cream freezers
• Refrigerated wall displays
• Glass door fridges and freezers
• Under counter fridges and freezers
• Catering equipment and bar supplies

Incorporating chillers, freezers and refrigerated shelving units into your store layout means you can stock a wider range of products, including fresh, chilled and frozen goods. This is great for appealing to customers who are looking for a cooled drink or some fresh milk, an ice cream on a hot day or a chilled bottle of white wine on a Friday night. If you can fit a retail chiller into your store you can boost your sales and make your store an essential part of your customers' commute, school run or weekend. For more information on the range of products FFD offer, visit their website at www.fridgefreezerdirect.co.uk