A list of useful terms for retail design
Brand magnet - Moving far beyond the simple display of merchandise, the brand magnet is designed to be an extraordinary experience creating tangible expressions of the brand values.
Brand soul - The very core of a brand.
CAD (Computer-Aided Design) - A method of conveying the design of a retail environment in computer-generated three-dimensional form
Communication hierarchy - Establishing the communication needs of the consumer in relation to the physical retail environment - including high, medium, low and product level areas.
Concession - A dedicated sales area for a specific brand/company product offer that is situated within a larger store. Concessions are usually found in department stores.
Customer journey - The customer experience in a specific retail environment. Consideration of the sequence of touchpoints of the consumer within a given space are often used to inform both the spatial and graphic communication design briefs.
E-tail - Retailing on the internet.
Fast fashion - The trend for fashion retailers to buy their merchandise closer to the season, and hence respond to trends as they emerge.
Flagship - A larger retail outlet where the full product range of a brand or retailer can be displayed within one carefully controlled environment.
Micro-retailing - A current trend for retail stores to be created with the aim of being more relevant to their locality.
P.O.P./Point of purchase - Methods of display designed to merchandise goods adjacent to a till point. This method of display is most common in supermarkets and chemists etc.
P.O.S./Point of sale - Graphic communication elements found in a typical retail environment, including both imagery and text.
Retail design - The design of all elements of a retail environment ranging from the external elements of store frontage, fascia and signage, through to the internal elements of furniture, display, lighting, point of sale graphics and decoration.
Retail refreshment - The creation of a feeling of effective change by altering only the obvious customer focal points, such as window displays, till backs, fitting rooms, shelf edges, price tickets.
Roll-out - The implementation of a retail design concept across the company’s retail estate.
Scalability - The creation of a design concept that can be applied to a range of different sized retail formats – retaining the essence of the retail concept yet adapting to various sizes and scales.
Solus store - The description of a standalone store dedicated to the display of one brand or company product offer.
Video-tracking - Study of shoppers in store using video recording equipment to establish their behaviour while in the retail environment.
Wayfinding - Use of signage and consumer navigational needs within a retail environment.
White box retailing - The style of retailing that dominated our high streets during the late 1990s where white walls, floors and ceiling provided a monolithic and clear backdrop to product display. The retail concept of Gap best characterises this approach.