Retail SMART

Signs, Signs - Everywhere a Sign!
 

By: Dennis A. Conforto
Chairman & CEO of A-Z Media Group, Inc.

For the month of May we will focus on store signage - from the large signs on the outside of your location to signs that show pricing on the smallest of items you sell. In the 1970’s there was a song that had a lyric that went like this, ”signs, signs everywhere a sign”. By just driving down the road, you can see it is so true – everywhere there is a sign. Where is your sign? What does your sign say about your store? Today I would like to just give you some general rules to consider when thinking about signage for your store.

In today’s world of technology – powerful PC’s, ink jet printers, desktop publishing programs and self-serve copy and print stores – I am amazed to see that many scrapbooking store owners put little effort in to producing great signage for their stores. And I believe there is a huge price paid for not paying attention to this important detail.

Signage is one of the most important ways to get your message across to the consumer. Your store name, promotions, pricing, and products may all be displayed through signage. Are you getting all these messages across as effectively as you should or could?

Consider this: As customers walk by your store, you have less than 7 seconds to let them know what they will find inside. What message are you trying to send? Professional signage will catch the eye of the customer and invite them to enter your scrapbooking store.

Unprofessional signage is confusing to the customer and sends a negative message about your store and products. Common problems include too many signs, ambiguous or misleading messages, spelling errors or signs that are difficult to read. Studies show that most people will avoid stores that appear to be unprofessional. Don’t be one of them!
To have effective signage you might want to consider the following:

1. Quality is paramount, whether you are outsourcing the production of signage or you are doing it in-house. You don't have to spend a lot of money to produce great signs that get your message out fast. You do, however, need to spend some money to create the image that best represents your scrapbooking store.

Consider the lifespan of the sign:
Exterior signs need to last several years and require a fairly large investment. The shorter the lifespan of the sign, the less it should cost. Producing your own in-store promotional or informational signage is great, provided you have the tools and skills to do it well. If you are producing signs on your own, they should be produced on a computer, not handwritten. (This might seem too obvious to mention, but we still see stores using signs that have been written in hand with a magic marker.) Use a desktop publishing and or a word processing program and quality printer and paper for a professional look. You can even take your computer file to a Kinko’s to have your image produced professionally.

2. Simplify your color scheme: Don't go crazy with too many colors and type fonts. Choose a simple color scheme that uses up to 3 colors for all signage in your company. You’ll want to choose a background color, a text color and a highlight color.

Make sure that the colors have enough contrast to be easily read. Red on black, while a dynamic and high power combination, does not have enough contrast to be easily viewed. However, if the text is very large, bold and only one or two short words, you might be able to get away with it. When using a background other than white, outlining the text with a thin white line will also improve the contrast.

Also be careful with combinations such as yellow/green or orange/pink/red or green/blue. These combinations can be powerful and trendy, but require more work with design to make them legible. Strong contrasts such as white/black, yellow/black, red/white, white/blue increase visibility and legibility.

3. Make your signage easy to read and see: Don't try to put too much on one sign and make sure the scale fits the message and the space. Signs that are so full of tiny images and small print aren’t effective because the customer can't take it all in. One main image, a headline and a few bullet points are all you need on an informational sign. Remember more is less.

A sign in a store window should be even simpler and should be scaled to the right size. Every word should be seen from the road – if you can’t see it then don’t use it. You need to get your message across immediately as the customer walks, or drives by. This means you can only use a strong image on your sign, a headline, or a simple combination of both. Some stores only use one word, such as 'SALE' in the window, and provide more signage information inside the store that supports that window sign.
The more time the customer will spend looking at the sign, the more information you can include on it. For example, since your customer will be waiting in line to process a transaction, a sign near your cash register can include more information. Consider using this space to provide details of a contest or return policy. Be sure the type is scaled so the consumer can see every word from their normal viewing point.

4. Keep your message simple; avoid trying to say too much. This is true for both signage and advertising. Choose one main message to convey. Do you want to tell about a sale? A price? Provide product information? Or your return policy? Rather than say this all at once, try a sale sign on the top of the rack; place price and product info on the tag; and place the return policy at the cash register.

When you create your sign, write down the message you want to get across, then rewrite it in as few words as possible. Keep reducing until you have one to five words for your headline. If necessary, write a small amount of supporting information below.

5. Placement of signs requires thought and care. Place signage where it will catch your customers' attention, but will not block essential elements of your store. To do this, think about how customers approach your store. If customers walk by your store, but your store name is only placed high up on your store front, facing the street, how will they see it? You also need to repeat the name on the door or window, and perhaps hanging from an awning or on a sandwich board on the sidewalk. Make sure signs don't block traffic flow, displays, or the view of the interior of your store.

Look at outside forces that can have an effect on your signs. For example, window signage may not be visible to customers because of a parking meter blocking its view. What about a loading zone where delivery trucks park for a large part of the day, obscuring part of your store from view? Check for reflections on the window that make your interior signage invisible during the day. You'll need to check this at various times of the day to find out what happens to the light and reflections, depending on the position of the sun.

You can improve the visibility of your signage by improving the display lighting inside, and by using light colors in your windows. Light colored signage will stand out, while dark colors will recede and virtually disappear behind reflections on the glass.
 
After placing your signs, double check how they look from a customer’s viewpoint. Step back and approach the store as a visitor. Walk from front to back and look at all of your signage critically and reposition as necessary.

With these five great rules, you can create great signage. The important thing to remember is to keep your signage simple. Reduce visual clutter and focus on getting your most important message across to your customer. You will attract more walk-by traffic, and avoid confusing your customer. And that is what being retail SMART is all about.