The BIG Question:
Retail Clarity: How to be in control of what messages your customers see?
‘In retail, if you say two things at once, be prepared to be ignored 50% of the time’ In this issue we tell you how your store can speak in a way that customer will hear you.
The SHORT Answer:
Retail clarity is a strategy that pushes a store to be as simple and intuitive as possible. This empowers customers to navigate with ease, explore more confidently, and ultimately increase their likelihood to buy.
”“View your store as if you cannot speak the language, this is how customers read your store.”
Kevin BeardFounder & Creative Director, KVB Design
The LONG Answer:
5 Steps to Communicate
In today’s fast-paced retail landscape, it is essential to communicate in a way that is instantly readable, clear, and easy for customers to navigate. This creates the perfect setting for the customer to buy.
Working with Mega Image, the leading Romanian supermarket chain, we developed a retail experience that puts clear communication at it’s heart, creating a dialogue with the customer in every touch point.
Create a clear hierarchy, that reflects the journey
First announce, then explain. A clear communication hierarchy should reflect how your customer sees and understands the product range. Using natural associations and umbrella terms to link relevant categories, to make departments instantly recognisable.
→ At Mega Image we created a new signage system focused on simplifying the navigation of the whole product range, in to simple worlds and zones.
Know when to be radical and disruptive
In retail it is vital to recognise when communication needs to break through the visual noise of other signage. Done well, this creates real impact, drawing attention, sparking curiosity, and engaging customers more deeply.
→ We proposed that the Mega Image loyalty brand identity ‘broke the mould’. Using lime green to disrupt the brand red, used extensively in other applications.
Protect your primary brand colour
Your primary brand colour is the anchor of your recognition and communication. To maintain clarity, it should always be applied with purpose, carefully chosen moments reinforcing and supporting your message.
→ In Mega Image stores, we ‘reclaimed red’ for service and customer touch points. Ensuring that brand red always communicates help and assistance, limiting it’s use elsewhere.
Communicate with more than words
Shapes and colours can be used as a powerful ‘shortcut’ to avoid the overuse of words. Creating powerful assets for both association and recognition from a distance. Used well, they create a simple, accessible communication system that is instantly understood by all.
→ To navigate the wide product range in Mega Image stores, we introduced supporting colours for each product world, that overtime became ingrained in the memory of customers.
Sometimes less is more
The greatest challenge in design is achieving simplicity, yet it is simplicity and clarity that customers seek in order to feel confident and ultimately buy more. Before ‘adding more’ it is vital to remove distractions and visual noise that already exists.
→ At Mega Image, the new clarity could only be achieved by first removing the layers of signage which did not support the new clear communication.
”“The most successful retail communication is built as an integral part of the buying experience, reflecting the customer journey.”
Matt GreatbatchManaging & Design Director, KVB Design
Retail Clarity in Practice
Mega Image, Romania:
A Retail Experience That Talks
Mega Image set out to rebrand its national store network, enhancing signage, colour palette, and visual identity to deliver a clearer, unified retail experience.
Together, we developed a visual strategy that introduced structured categorisation and wayfinding, alongside a refreshed approach to applying the brand’s red within the stores.
Tip of the Month
Consider how fast your customer is moving and design your communication to match.
The faster the customer, the simpler the message.
In a world of endless streams of communication, it is easy to overlook the power of simple, well designed messaging in your retail environment. If you are brave enough to say less but in a more concise and effective way it will empower your customers to engage more.
Thanks for reading Retail Design Insights. As always, we welcome your thoughts and look forward to continuing the conversation.
What’s Next?
Looking to make your retail brand talk to the customer, or explore a new approach to Retail Clarity?
Drop us a message. We’re always ready to talk retail.
