Transform the hectic holiday shopping experience with simple signage solutions. Retail centers see an influx of visitors during the holidays, but a well-designed wayfinding system can transform your shopping center into an efficient and enjoyable destination, guiding shoppers through the festive chaos with ease.
On average, 40% of consumers intend to spend more during the 2024 holiday season. It’s not just gifts and luxury items they’re considering either; consumers are also spending on essential items such as groceries to make meal time a memorable holiday experience, according to arecent McKinsey & Company report on consumer sentiment.
Whether your customers are splurging or saving this holiday season, wayfinding is a universal need at indoor malls, outdoor retail centers or mixed use locations with retail and restaurants, grocery stores, discount retailers and more. From the moment someone arrives at your place of business, until the moment they leave, directional signs and graphics have the ability to make or break a visitor's experience. Effective exterior business signage helps create a more productive, organized navigation experience, getting people where they want to go quickly and safely.
Create a Memorable Shopping Experience
We all know what it’s like to be in a busy shopping center during the holidays. It’s chaotic and loud and if the signage isn’t clear, it’s enough to make you want to turn around and leave. Avoid the holiday meltdown this season with directional signage and exterior business signage that makes parking, drop off and curbside services easier to navigate for your customers.
Watch: Royal Palm Place Retail and Wayfinding Success
Royal Palm Place, a 19-acre property with over 90 eclectic shops, needed a significant marketing effort including wayfinding from the curb to the counter. Ultimately, “the ability for people to know where they’re supposed to go or where they would like to go,” was the challenge and the real game changer in the marketing plan for this retail center, which relied heavily on more directional signage.
Wayfinding signsare game changes. Exterior business signage helps navigate customers from the outside in, and interior signage provides needed guidance to often overlooked areas of your business.
Directional signage at shopping centers is most often found at:
- Entrances and Exits: To guide visitors as they enter and leave the shopping center
- Main Walkways and Corridors: Helping shoppers navigate through the central pathways and find key areas
- Elevators and Escalators: Indicating the location and direction of vertical transportation options
- Parking Lots and Garages: Directing drivers to entrances, exits and specific parking areas
- Intersections and Junctions: Providing clarity at decision points where shoppers may need to change direction
- Food Courts and Rest Areas: Guiding visitors to dining options and seating areas
- Restrooms: Leading shoppers to essential facilities
- Store Directories and Information Kiosks: Displaying maps and store locations for easy navigation
- Emergency Exits and Safety Stations: Ensuring visibility of safety-related information and areas
- Information Desks: Such as customer service desks, lost and found, or stroller rental locations
These are just some of the ways in which you can help your customers find their way around your store this holiday season.
5 Ways to Make Shopping Easier with Wayfinding Signs
Make it simple this holiday season and take directional signage. Strategic placements ensure that shoppers can easily and efficiently find their way around your retail center.
1. Facilitate Smooth Traffic Flow
Use wayfinding signs to reduce congestion, guiding shoppers efficiently through crowded areas.
- Overhead Directional Arrows: Use these signs to guide shoppers efficiently through main walkways and intersections, reducing congestion by clearly indicating pathways.
- Color-coded Pathways: Use floor or wall signs using colors to designate different sections or routes within the shopping center.
2. Embrace Seasonal Themes
Incorporate festive designs and colors into wayfinding solutions to amplify the holiday atmosphere.
- Seasonal Wall-Mounted Wayfinding Maps: Incorporate festive colors and holiday motifs into these maps, adding to the holiday spirit while still providing essential navigation information.
- Sidewalk Signs and A-frames: These simple signage solutions are portable, temporary and easily changed out, especially during peak retail sales season or parking closure notices.
3. Improve Safety
Provide clear directions to emergency exits, ensuring shopper safety during peak holiday times.
- Exit and Emergency Route Signs: Ensure these are highly visible and include clear directions to emergency exits, maintaining safety even during busy shopping periods.
- Elevator and Escalator Signs: Place signs at elevators and escalators showing which floors or areas are accessible.
4. Strategically Place Signs
Position signs at crucial junctions such as entrances, near elevators and escalators, and in parking lots.
- Pylon Signs: Place these tall, freestanding signs at key junctions such as entrances, near elevators, and escalators, providing directional information to multiple locations and enhancing visibility.
- Restroom Wayfinding Signs: Direct shoppers to the nearest restrooms, often strategically placed near intersections.
5. Incorporate Technology
Utilize digital displays for real-time information and QR codes for interactive maps and holiday offers.
- Digital Displays and Kiosks with QR Codes: Position interactive kiosks throughout the center to help visitors quickly locate stores and discover holiday deals, includingQR codes shoppers can scan for additional information.
- Floor signage: Floor graphics that include floor projections can be used for interior spaces to help facilitate directions when a wall is not nearby.
With these strategies, make holiday shopping smooth and enjoyable in your shopping center.
Make Wayfinding a Festive Experience
Wayfinding is a year-round need. The holidays provide an opportunity to use seasonal colors and motifs, but make sure they are clear and readable, especially from a distance. Considerdigital displays that offer real-time store promotions and mall events. Incorporate QR codes that link to interactive maps with real-time updates, especially during peak hours. Ensurebrand consistency and maintain uniformity in signs' fonts, colors and styles for brand alignment and better recognition.