Retail Design's Increasing Importance

DDi Magazine released the results of its "State of the Retail Design Industry 2010" survey earlier this month and it presented a lot of interesting information. One piece that caught my attention was that 49% of survey respondents feel that the "importance of a retail designer's role" is much more important now than in the past and that 57% think "the average retail designer's job importance will rise even more in the next five years."

How can that be? Aren't people making more purchase decisions based on price these days? True, the majority of consumers may be more cost-conscious, but with so many retailers competing on price, eventually factors beyond price (like store design!) are going to weigh into their decisions. Janis Healy, Vice President of Visual Merchandising and Design at Orchard Supply Hardware and one of the survey's participants, explains it like this, "When given an option of a great price versus a great price and enhanced physical environment, I believe they want it all. In a price-competitive market, the retailer who can offer a complete package will win."

Maybe that explains all the innovation happening in retail right now. Another topic covered in the survey, almost 90% of respondent companies had tested out new ideas in recent years. Retailers are experimenting with everything from alternative store formats to new technology. Some are even adding entirely new product categories as a way to enhance the shopping experience -- all of which mean new challenges for retail designers to solve.

I, for one, can't wait to see what's to come in the near future for retail design. If this much has changed during a down economy, imagine the possibilities as we head into recovery.


-- Larry Myer (Connect with me on LinkedIn.)