The importance of customer comfort for retail stores

For retail store owners, customer comfort is not something that receives a huge amount of their attention.

Realistically, it seems that a focus on ensuring customers are as comfortable as possible is more of a matter for the owners of restaurants, hotels, and similar hospitality-based businesses.

However, there definitely is a call for a focus on comfort within your retail store too. 

Why should retailers also focus on customer comfort? 

Essentially, for the same reason that a hospitality business looks at customer comfort: to ensure customers feel comfortable and at-ease when they are visiting their establishment. 

In many ways, the benefits of customer comfort are best discussed in reference to the opposite. Imagine, for example, a retail store that is uncomfortable for people to visit. The lights are bright enough to risk triggering a migraine; the air is musty and unpleasant to breathe; there’s loud music that pounds away without reprieve - very, very few customers would want to visit such a store once, never mind as a repeat, loyal customer.

By ensuring comfort, you’re making sure that customers will feel good when visiting your store and that they will want to visit, and make a purchase, in the future. 

How can a retail store be “comfortable”?

In many ways, comfort for a retail store is simply a question of being unobtrusive and neutral. There are a few different ways this can manifest:

●     If you do wish to play music in your store, always keep the volume low enough for those who dislike the music to be able to “tune it out” without too much effort. 

●     Options such as a commercial air purifier can help to make sure that the air in your store is clean, fresh, and welcoming for all visitors. 

●     Keep lighting reasonable; lights should be bright enough that stock can be seen clearly, but not so bright as to be unpleasant to be around for any length of time.

●     Consider adding seating. Seats have become less common in retail stores over the past few years, but they are hugely advantageous for many shoppers who will appreciate the chance to rest - and browse your stock while they do so. 

●     While it may not sound like a comfort measure, providing signage genuinely can boost how a customer feels when visiting your store - comfort is not necessarily based solely on physical comfort. Adequate signage helps to keep customers informed and that they know exactly where they need to go, which promotes an all-around better experience.

●     Avoid using flooring that is slippery, or becomes noticeably slippery when wet - the latter of which is a particular cause for concern in winter. Slippery floors can be very concerning and cause customers to feel nervous with every step they take - not to mention carrying the potential to cause injury. Often, textured flooring is the best choice when it comes to maintaining good traction.,  

In conclusion

Customer comfort may not be at the forefront of your mind as a retail store owner, but when it comes to keeping customers happy - and making sure they will want to visit again - then implementing some of the measures described above could well be the right choice for your business.