Every pioneering retail design company will tell you that our market is always changing. The wonderful world of retail design never stands still. There are constantly evolving innovations, trends and emerging insights. As a leading design company, Design Clarity is always at the forefront of such knowledge. This is how we assure our clients the very best outcome that is crafted to lead and to last. One of our favourite things to do is to share our up-to-the-minute knowledge. After all, if we squirrel such information away within the confines of our retail design company, business may miss valuable opportunities to grow or succeed. So here, the passionate experts of our retail design company share some of the chief market insights that we consider to be of influence in the coming year.

1. Technology takes retail design by storm: everywhere you look technology reigns supreme. As a retail design company, we increasingly leverage technology to deliver swift seamless shopping experience that delight convenience-loving consumers. Think Apple Pay that has revolutionised supermarket shopping forever.
2. Touchpoint multichannel sales approach: every retail design company worth its salt recognises that we are experiencing the rise of the omnichannel. Offering a seamless approach to sales, the omnichannel offers a range of capabilities that streamline the customer experience. From Amazon’s simplified reordering process to consolidated loyalty program a la Starbucks, the possibilities are endless.
3. Mobile loyalty programs: we encourage you to take a good look at current loyalty schemes. These will soon be a thing of the past, in their current form at least. One of the chief emerging trends we recognise is that of personalised mobile loyalty programs.
4. Diversification: nothing spurs hot competition like big brand names moving into new markets. That is exactly what we have seen Amazon do in the grocery shopping context. Now consumers can have their household and pantry essentials ordered and delivered within an hour. As a retail design company that has been around the traps for many years, we find this diversification trend to be exciting and opportunity-rich.

One of the best ways to drive continued success in the retail sector is to stay abreast of all current trends and innovations. The most time- and cost-effective way to do this is to work with a proactive retail design company like Design Clarity.

Attempting to launch a food business without restaurant design is akin to serving a messy hotch-potch plate of food to a discerning foodie.

Running a food business is vastly different to serving up your incredible culinary creations at home. Your family and friends will forgive you a haphazard dining experience or overwhelming choice of cuisine options because they know your cooking is infused with personal love and passion. Yet when it comes to business, love just ain’t enough. Restaurant design integrates your natural passion for food with sound business strategy, a compelling dining experience and purposeful offer.

Naturally every food business will have its own unique value proposition and restaurant design requirements. Yet there are some set-up fundamentals that are common to all. Here, vastly successful Wrap it up! restauranteur Faisal Haque shares a handful of his best advice to set your fledgling food business up for success. As you may well expect, restaurant design features prominently.

Have a sole value proposition

Trying to be all things to all people is a grand mistake. Settle on a single product or theme that your consumers will come to recognise as distinctly yours. By simplifying your offer, you will make your consumers’ life and dining choice easier. Restaurant design takes your one key differentiator and visually translates this throughout your entire premises. So your consumers become fully immersed in that one thing you are known for – and carry a lasting memory of this with them to share with others and return to your restaurant for more.

Pinpoint your product

A premium product choice will carry powerful appeal across diverse consumer groups. Think pizza, loved by one and all regardless of age, life stage or lifestyle. A great choice in champion product will bring put bums on seats. Exceptional service, delicious food and expert restaurant design will keep your full house rolling.

Strategic appointment

Place your food business is the perfect place to capture your target patrons. Whether your desired consumer is the lunchtime office crowd, discerning evening diner or weekend nightlife lovers, where you set up your restaurant plays a huge part in its success.

Build a captivating brand

Restaurant design recognises that branding is key. Some may even say it is king. Design Clarity crafts compelling branding that sets patrons’ mouths watering before they have even tasted your cuisine. From colour choice to visual presentation and imagery that patrons eat with their eyes, brilliant branding and successful restaurant design always go hand in glove.

When it comes to launching a food business, getting it right first time means you have a world of opportunities at your feet. Like diversification into new markets or franchising. Restaurant design lies at the heart of any successful food business and no one does restaurant design like Design Clarity. Speak with us today.

Retail displays are undergoing a revolution. It is all thanks to the aptly-named Personal Information Economy or ‘Digital Halo’ in which modern business operates. This revolution capitalises on the significant personal data that consumers put out into the marketplace. Smart retailers drill down through such data to grassroots detail that empowers them to tailor compelling personal connections with those consumers they wish to target. One example of this in action is strategically individualised retail displays linked to specific consumer needs, motivations and purchasing methods.

Looking at large groups of consumers like Gen Y is no longer enough to forge compelling shopping experiences. Within a single generation consumer group like Gen Y are several ‘sub-groups’, each with their own unique mindsets, desires and buying habits. Gen A is a shining example of just such a sub-group. Gen A are those at the older end of the Gen Y pool.  A highly intelligent, talented and fast pace-loving bunch, Gen A will certainly not be captivated by retail displays or strategy aimed broadly at Gen Y. As such, retailers who delve deeper into generational data and isolate specific sub-groups will reap terrific rewards. In essence, for retailers, this is economic self-creation.

So what is the lesson in all of this? Before you begin crafting retail displays, first know thy consumer. Not just in the traditional ‘they belong to this generation group’ style but rather by going deeper into the generation data to hit the truly personal level. In this way, you can tailor retail displays to give specific consumer groups a sense of being personally valued thus inspiring trust, loyalty and repeat business. Without doubt, the personal touch counts for a lot – especially in the realm of retail displays.

Every member of every generation wants to feel cared about. The triggers by which they come to experience this feeling, however, can be highly distinct from generation to generation and sub-group to sub-group. Here is where capitalising on consumer personal data can be a genuine ace in the hole of any conscientious retailer. Design Clarity has a vast track record of crafting retail displays that resonate resoundingly with specific consumer groups, drawing on the fruits of the modern Personal Information Economy. Get in touch today to discuss your project.

One of the best barometers of retail design significance lies within organisations’ retail industry growth plans. Judging from the perspectives revealed by leading UK CEOs at the 2016 British Retail Consortium Retail Symposium, retail design is gaining viral traction as a crucial growth tool. Design Clarity UK business development manager attended the symposium and heard first-hand how integral retail design is to high street retailers’ industry growth plans across the UK.

UK high street retailers are certainly shooting for the stars in their industry growth plans. Retail design is being used as a foundation for such significant growth. Take Hobbycraft for example. With an ambitious goal to grow from 85 to 200 stores, design takes centre stage in its strategy. Customer-centricity lies at the heart of Hobbycraft’s planning. Building its customer experience based on comprehensive knowledge of that customer has led Hobbycraft to invest sizeably in its technological capabilities. Mobile tills and online verticals are all part of the ultimate goal to supercharge international expansion.

Interestingly Hobbycraft’s focus on thoroughly understanding its target consumer aligns seamlessly with Design Clarity’s approach. In this way, retail design can be tailored to relate and add value on a direct personal level to the desired end consumer. Every retailer has its own unique target customer profile. The power lies in treating every project as a blank canvas that is brought to life by an in depth knowledge of the end consumer.

Hobbycraft is by no means the only UK retailer to adopt the strategy that Design Clarity already knows supercharges retail design. High street retailer Hobbs has undertaken a comprehensive customer psychographic profiling initiative. The findings are set to form the basis of a customer loyalty program that targets customers’ personal mindsets rather than lifestyle demographics.

At the end of the day, successful retail delivers a fulfilling personal experience rather than merely a personal purchase. Design Clarity has long implemented retail design targeted to unique consumer profiles on a personal level. Now UK high street retail is following suit. So sit back and watch the power of personalised retail design go to work.

Want a lion’s share of the London restaurant market on a plate? Restaurant design London pivots on an immersive sensory patron experience. Appealing to all five senses is certainly best practice in restaurant design London. After all, people do not dine out for food or nourishment alone. It is the overall experience that matters.

Naturally the experience you aim to cultivate must be matched to your brand and target audience. It doesn’t matter whether you are appealing to those seeking an end-of-night kebab after hitting the London town or discerning palettes seeking the sanctuary of linen table-clothed silver service. Restaurant design London engages all five senses to create a full engaging experience that leaves customers wanting more – and coming back to get it. Here are some tips on creating a superlative sensory experience:

• Visual: invite your customers to feast their eyes as well as their tummies. Integrate eye-catching visual displays from menu to food presentation. Digital signage also has a knack of turning heads
• Auditory: back to the kebab vs. silver service example, restaurant design London would advise to match your sound effects with your brand and consumer. Late night kebab joint can keep the night humming by belting out the latest chart toppers. Fine dining establishments will feature classical ambient music in keeping with the discerning consumers who dine there
• Smell: you would be surprised at how many customers are converted on the strength of a mere whiff. Fragrant bakeries compel walkers-by to purchase fresh bread or cakes. Smell is a well of value in restaurant design London. Always match your restaurant’s aromas to your brand promise though
• Touch: align your physical restaurant space seamlessly with your brand promise and patron proclivities. After all, your restaurant is a physical 3D brand ambassador. Be sure to keep everything spic and span in your restaurant too. Surfaces should be smooth, hygienic and clean to the touch.
• Taste: yes, here is the kingpin of restaurant design London. Certainly an end-to-end sensory experience is vital but taste still rules the roost in this space. Once again, match your taste offer to your establishment. If your patrons like to know exactly what to expect when they come to your restaurant, keep a consistent yet quality menu. Alternatively, if your crowd is avid foodies with a penchant for exciting fare then mixing up your menu is a must. Whether your menu is unchanging or dynamic, always keep focus on dishing up sensational taste

Ready to look further into restaurant design London. Begin by looking closer at Design Clarity. This expert team has to its credit many transformative restaurant design projects across London, UK and Australia.

Fashion retail design speaks directly to one of the most influential forces in customer conversion: the eyes. Consider that 80% of sensory information received by the brain is visual. This makes fashion retail design a game-changer for your store. Here is the discipline that crafts visually appealing and inspiring merchandise presentations. For optimum fashion retail design outcomes, entrust this to industry experts like Design Clarity. Yet you can get started yourself by keeping some helpful hints in mind, like:

• Match store layout with in-store foot traffic: have you ever taken notice of how customers move around your store? If not, now is a good time to start. Foot traffic directions form the blueprint of optimum store layout. Fashion retail design research suggests that shoppers in many countries including Australia and UK follow a counterclockwise in-store journey. But there is no substitute for observing the foot traffic in your particular store. So watch, take note and arrange your store floor accordingly to keep customers comfortable, engaged and inspired
• Dodge customer decompression: thinking about placing hero products and services right up front near your store entrance? Fashion retail design says this is a no-no. Your entranceway is actually a ‘decompression’ zone where customers adjust to the pace and space of your store. In other words, retail displays in the decompression zone will likely be lost on your customers
• Ignite impulse buying: fashion retail design inspires customers to buy off the cuff with strategically placed sale items at the checkout. Here is a final bite at the cherry to convert more sales. Think about this: 27% of shoppers buy extra items at the checkout. Are you leveraging these odds to your advantage?
• Keep it fresh: fashion retail design does not deal in static spaces. Keep your merchandise displays fresh by shaking things up on a frequent basis. Customers should experience something a little new along every journey they make within your store. Changing up your displays will go along way to achieving this

Get fashion forward. Put fashion retail design to work. Use the hints shared here to get you started then engage stellar specialists in the field to really get things cooking. Contact Design Clarity for superior fashion retail design.

Retail displays can soar or sink. It all comes down to creating the right impressions and impact at the right time. Customers shop with their sense and visual appeal is a high-impact force. You could have the most brilliant top-quality wares available but if you are not showcasing these correctly, they will stay stuck on your shelves. Start drawing customers in and keeping them in your store. It all starts with a call to Design Clarity about ravishing displays.

When done right, retail displays can:

• Build brand recognition
• Attract customers then hold their attention
• Leverage merchandise placement to guide your customer journey
• Draw customers to key points of sale

What retail store could not use these benefits? But they are a double-edged sword. If you are not executing your retail displays effectively, you could be inadvertently driving business away. Uninspiring or stilted merchandising will cause customers to sense blocks, bottlenecks and barriers. This just will not do for business. Design Clarity expertly supercharges your displays to use every aspect of your premises to your advantage. That means facade, floor plans, lighting, furnishings, branding and of course they work together to compel your customers that you are a retailer of choice. Your specialist Design Clarity team will:

• Tailor an impressive blend of permanent and portable displays
• Support you in continually refreshing your retail displays to keep existing customers interested and win new consumer favour
• Optimise your floor plan so as to eliminate wasted display space and use every inch of your store
• Match products within retail displays so your merchandising presentation follows a theme
• Create striking window retail displays to draw customers into your store with a desire to see what else you have on offer

Ready to unveil retail displays that convert customers like crazy? Speak to Design Clarity today.

Successful restaurant interior designs are so much more than skin deep. True restaurant interior design pivots on a compelling customer journey. The advantageous impact of an optimally functioning customer journey cannot be overstated. Yet like any journey the route you, as a restaurant owner, want your customers to take requires careful planning, mapping and insight. Design Clarity specialise in bringing together impactful customer touchpoints to ensure your restaurant thrills and pleases patrons at every turn.

Any restauranteur will tell you that it is a cutthroat market out there. Competitors are rife and growing in number every day. Separating your restaurant from the flock is one of the foremost challenges you face today. Brand recognition and loyalty are essential to surviving and thriving in the fiercely competitive restaurant sector. Effective customer mapping empowers you to build your restaurant around its target patrons – a surefire way to differentiate from other establishments.

As specialists in leading restaurant interior designs, Design Clarity can provide you with a centralised customer journey mapping solution that:

• Integrates your unique restaurant brand promise and values
• Invokes strong emotional connection and appeal in target patrons
• Documents a fully integrated action blueprint complete with operational targets
• Meticulous analysis, monitoring and measurement to assess the customer journey effectiveness as it unfolds in real-time

Customer journey mapping is surprisingly not just about the customer. This process guides you and your restaurant staff through the journey your customer is experiencing. Thus, client empathy, knowledge and understanding is fostered at all levels of your business from front to back of house. In this way too, your team will be fully appraised on key customer touch-points that they must keep in mind for exceptional service delivery. It also forges stronger connections between your restaurant team themselves by uniting them in achieving a common goal.

Restaurant interior designs are as much about experience as about fittings, furnishings and mood. Speak to Design Clarity about leading customer journey mapping that strategically moulds your restaurant interior designs for maximum impact.

Din not dinner. That is what restaurant design UK is all about. Certainly contemporary minimalist styling is all the rage for restaurants today. Yet this design theme has a high-impact side-effect: noise. Just where do you think all that din from background music, chatter, staff conversation and food preparation go when there are precious few surfaces to soak them up? They reverberate right back into the restaurant space meaning that the carefully cultivated ‘buzz’ now commonly goes overboard.

So is dining with sound effects really so bad? Current research in restaurant design UK says it is. Eateries are frequented by patrons as lively places to socialise, catch up with friends and enjoy stimulating conversation. Yet many diners now leave their restaurant of choice having heard only a smidgeon of what their dining companions have said. While lively buzz is a sought after part of the dining experience, not being able to hear ones companions is not so highly prized.

Furthermore, old yet established research by University of Manchester yields pertinent yet concerning points. The research aimed to get to the bottom of why food served on planes always tasted so bland and unpalatable. The experiment found that significant background noises drives down salt and sweet flavor detection on the part of the diner. Meanwhile their ability to perceive bitterness rose. Imagine: all that cuisine artistry your chefs create may be lost on your diners due to din in the restaurant.

Now Design Clarity is transforming restaurant design UK by dealing with the din. Our expert team knows full well that some noise creates appealing energy and vibe that patrons are drawn too. So the focus certainly isn’t to eliminate noise. Rather, Design Clarity is well-versed in the do’s and don’ts of restaurant noise. We help progressive UK restaurants strike the perfect balance between buzz and bellow by incorporating noise control measures into design. Our restaurant design UK approach incorporates touches like:

• Strategic placement of physical barriers and recesses to disburse soundwaves
• Careful choice of fabrics and soft furnishings to buffer noise
• Placement of rubber caps on furniture and soft carpet or mats on main thoroughfares

Like to see more? Look at Design Clarity’s recent restaurant design UK portfolio encompassing:

• Din Tai Fung – Miranda, Sydney
• Gari
• Coco Roco

Modern restaurant design can be a marvellous thing. One force of nature in the restaurant industry is fast casual dining. Convenience, speed and relaxed dining are appealing offerings of the fast casual hot spot. Yet many fast casual restaurants fall foul of fundamental modern restaurant design principals and this can cost an establishment plenty. If your premises is guilty of ignoring the following three factors, it is time for a modern restaurant design rethink:

1. The customer journey
   Today’s customer does not come through your doors to merely purchase goods or services. Online shopping has made such transactions in and of themselves all but redundant. Instead consumers come in search of an immersive engaging experience. Entertainment, socialising and bright positive energy are all threads that make up an unforgettable time out. As such, modern restaurant design must draw together many factors from technology to evocative brand stories. Successful execution of modern restaurant design builds a strong connective relationship between patrons and the physical restaurant premises.

Take Design Clarity’s recent work with Laurent Boulangerie and Patisserie. Here an artisanal French bakery brings a taste of Paris to Melbourne. Character-filled alfresco dining under classy awnings and classic French-styled cane café chairs provides the stylish opening statement to Laurent. Destination France oozes from every pore of Laurent from a beautifully sketched Paris-scape wall providing a backdrop for indoor dining. Classic blue accents, large pendant lights and tall vase arrangements build the brand story inside. All transport patrons out of metro-Melbourne and into the heart of classic French dining

1. Cohesive culture

Scrumptious cuisine crafts a much stronger bond with patrons when consumed in an environment that harmonises effortlessly with its theme. Cultural authenticity is one of the strongest forces modern restaurant design can cook up. Herein lies the key to a meaningful dining experience.

Design Clarity has infused convincing cultural authenticity into Nando’s Canberra. Incorporating Portugese nautical history into the fabric of Nando’s, a truly unique brand story is told. Raw natural materials, solid design, decorative floor and wall tiles plus interior structures reminiscent of old Portugese sailing ships all contribute to this modern restaurant design success story.

1. Do it differently
   Every restaurant is singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to so-called ‘differentiators’ these days. Green cred, local ingredients and advanced technology – these catch-cries are everywhere. Trouble is, when everyone else is doing it it’s no longer a differentiator. So how can modern restaurant design carve out a niche for your establishment when it seems everyone else is on the bandwagon too? Draw on the nuances of your local environment. Where your premises is situated can be one of the key aspects that sets your restaurant apart.

Once again, Nando’s rises to the occasion to serve as a great example. At Nando’s Adelaide, Design Clarity drew heavily on South Australia’s rural and agricultural heritage for inspiration. Wielding modern restaurant design, Nando’s Adelaide has been purposefully styled to resemble a barn-like structure. Exposed trusses, farm machinery relics and even a tile pattern resembling the quintessential country tablecloth feature to express the brand story.

Modern restaurant design weaves magic with your premises. When you want to finest modern restaurant design, speak to Design Clarity first. Just check out their recent work for the likes of:

• Moo Moo Bar & Grill
• Pasta Remoli
• La Bodeguita del Medio