The psychology of shopping

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Know your brand

Key to any successful retail environment is a well-defined brand and a clear understanding of the target audience. All too often, there is confusion surrounding the basic brand identity. “You can go into a luxury store that is too densely merchandised and you can go into a low budget one that is sparsely merchandised,” Rabone noted. “It comes back to the research, both from the designer and the client’s point of view.”

There is also a tendency for stores to try and do too much, Johnson pointed out. Retailers still have that old-fashion mentality of wanting to display as much merchandise as possible, with little thought for how that impacts the overall aesthetic of the store, or patterns of movement within it.

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“A common mistake is to overcrowd an environment – this occurs when clients do not select the appropriate design firm and try to incorporate too many products into what ought to be a well informed and targeted space for their brand,” Johnson noted.

“You should have a couple of striking features, some good focal points that draw the customer in,” Rabone agreed. “Another mistake is having too many high mid-floor units. What you tend to do is work on a tiering system – you start off low in the middle and go higher towards the perimeter. That means that the customer can see right into the back of the store. In some stores, you get a situation where nobody ever goes into the back of the shop because the customer can’t see it, which means it’s not easily accessible.”

In many cases, the retail experience has become too convoluted, particularly when it comes to some of Dubai’s more elaborate malls. Mall operators have lost sight of the fact that what shoppers require above all else is ease and convenience. “A lot of times, they take the philosophy of the idea too literally, and they forget that this is supposed to be a retail environment, rather than Ibn Battuta’s trail, for example,” said Ajmal.

Inappropriate lighting is also a common problem. “One of the biggest design mistakes is lighting – some of the most influential brands, like Armani in the Mall of the Emirates, have perhaps got the most inappropriate interior lighting. Designers have a responsibility to ensure that the consumer enjoys the retail experience and emotionally interacts with the products, which is certainly not possible with lighting that doesn’t communicate the brand or the product,” said Johnson.

According to Rabone, lighting can make or break a project. “You can have the best designed store in the world but if the lighting doesn’t enhance the product, it will kill the interior. Unfortunately, that’s one of the places where a lot of clients will try to save money. We work with a lighting consultant because it’s a completely different science. A lot of interior designers think they know lighting, but they don’t.”

The aim, ultimately, is to elevate the product on display – rather than overshadow or draw attention away from it, Rabone concluded. “Our job is to create a stage set for the product.

“Your store has to represent the brand but it also has to be the backdrop to the product. At the same time, it needs to be striking and eye-catching and stand out from the crowd.”