How to find your ideal shopfitter?
With the advent of online shopping, getting and encouraging buyers to purchase from your brick and mortar store has become more of a challenge. Because of this it has become more important to hire a great shopfitter who is able to make your shop stand out from the competition.
What is a shopfitter?
A shopfitter is a professional who plans and designs the layout for your retail space and then installs the shopfitting components into this space. These retail spaces can be shops, restaurants, and offices to mention a few. Many shopfitting companies offer a turnkey service where they will deal with the whole project of fitting out the shop from design to installation. This can be useful as a shopfitting project can be a daunting task for the uninitiated. A shopfitting company may also manufacture the different components which go into fitting out a shop.
Why do you need to hire a shopfitter?
A shopfitter is an important professional to have in your arsenal when it comes to executing your brand strategy on to a brick and mortar shop. They will be able to advise you on the latest shopfitting trends. They can help to design a floor layout which enhances the customer experience from entering the store to browsing and finally making a purchase. A shopfitter is able to look at your brand components and advise how those can be best translated into a retail store. In addition, they will be able to recommend to you what are the best display units to use to showcase your products or services.
What to look for in a shopfitter?
When looking to employ a shopfitter it is important that they are able to do the following:
- Clearly identify and understand the deliverables. Your shopfitter should be able to clearly understand the objective of your store. They should also be able to outline all the work which would be needed to be done to successful complete your shopfitting project. It is advisable that the shopfitter does a site visit to see where your retail space will be. It is also important to advise your shopfitter about your product line, the size of your store, the prediction of volume of traffic expected to visit your store and any other information which would be important for your retail store.
- Define a budget. The next step would be to define the budget. Either this would be predetermined and the shoppfitter will advise what can be done within your budget or they will advise what the budget for your shopfitting project will be.
- Estimate a timeline. It is important that you get an estimated timeline from your shopfitting project manager so that you know how long it will take for each component of the project to be completed.
When these three parts are agreed upon then the real work begins. The shopfitter will design a blueprint of your shop floor layout and they may also create visuals of what the shop will look like when the shopfitting has been done. After this is done, you will need to sign off on the design. Then they can move on to manufacturing the components for the shop fit. Many of these components are manufactured in-house or can be acquired from different suppliers which the shopfitter will source. Finally, the shopfitter will install all the components into your retail store and you will be ready to pack the shelves so you can start trading.
