‹ INSIGHTS | RETAIL BETTER BLOG
Why We Call It “Retail Environments” - Part 1
DECEMBER 14, 2023 BY MARGARET SOTROP – Shoppers’ preferences change on a continuous basis. Over time, brands that don’t update become irrelevant in the shoppers’ minds. Smart c-store companies focus on their brands and customer-facing media to address these dynamic market forces. Convenience store remodeling helps retailers keep their brands fresh in the shoppers’ minds.
But the term “convenience store remodel” doesn’t really explain what our clients need. What about “convenience store renovation?” Sometimes, but more often than that, we’re really talking about the brand experience. As we know, that includes the “path to purchase,” which may not be part of the “renovation” or “remodel” conversation.
That’s why we say “Retail Environments” at GSP. It’s much more inclusive of all the different levels of convenience store renovations and remodeling. The term “Retail Environments” requires a team with expertise in an assortment of fields including: design, marketing, promotion, brand design, production, execution, installation and the building trades. A successful “retail environment” project requires knowing what the goals are for the convenience store renovations and designing the store to that business strategy. Updating a retail environment, or branding a space, is a much bigger project than going into a store, replacing some drywall and paint, and calling it a “renovation.”
We say “Retail Environments” because our objective is to create a shopping experience that inspires customers to build a relationship with a brand. It’s a process. Stores don’t need to close to accommodate a rebrand. Keeping the store open is key, and it is among the first questions we ask when we undertake a project. “What steps can we take to keep the store open?”
There’s more to explore in this topic, which we’ll do in Part 2 of this blog.
