Updated October 21, 2026
How to drag shoppers away from their phones and make them walk into your store? Bump up your curb appeal to greatly impact your store's appearance.
Store appearance is what most big brands spend millions on.
From the access to their parking lots, the exterior finish, the channel letters of the sign to the details of nested, round merchandising tables in greige, the recycled materials on the floors to the digital capabilities in the fitting rooms, there was plenty of attention to stand out.
Plenty of people will tell you to abandon those defining features, including retail merchandising, so customers can “get in and get out.” They will tell you curbside pickup is the way forward. I am telling you that is a mistake.
If you are still focusing on curbside pickup expansion, know you are losing at least 50% of your add-on and impulse sales because designated pickup areas make zero impact on a shopper.
Retail has always been a game of being brilliant on the basics when it comes to store appearance, but there is an even greater urgency now to create an exceptional visual experience for all your shoppers.
Within a few seconds of seeing a brick-and-mortar store, whether from the parking lot or from the street, shoppers decide on numerous things, from how much attention is paid to detail to the type of shopper who is welcome there and even to how susceptible the store is to shoplifting.
We know immediately whether we will feel comfortable walking into a store if the store will have something that surprises and delights us, and even the level of customer service we will receive.
The external image for every type of store is different; with big-box outlets, it is just size that makes you think they have everything you need, and on the opposite side are the boutiques whose windows showcase a curated selection for their particular niche. Think how different a bike store is compared to an Eileen Fisher store; different, but you instantly know what you will find there.
You don’t open the door to the Eileen Fisher store and find Yankee jerseys. Your store's exterior and display windows need to communicate to your shoppers exactly what type of clothing, sport, hobby, or home goods they will find in your store.
Customers have always noticed how well a building is being maintained, whether it has chipped paint, worn doors, missing lights, or general uncleanliness. They don’t want to see employees smoking out front or trash or debris in parking lots or on sidewalks.
A spotless store signals that someone is paying attention. Shoppers read that before they read anything else you have put in front of them.
Make it easy to pay, too. Contactless options like tap-and-go credit cards, Apple Pay and Afterpay remove one more reason to put something down and leave.
Even if you have vacancies around you on Main Street or in the mall, get landlords to put art, displays, or something in vacant windows so the view from the street is inviting.
Inside, great displays of merchandise, even if not well-stocked but with easy-to-understand signage, help ground the shopper not just to go in and get what they need.
On the contrary, a store that has a haphazard organization adds stress and anxiety to shoppers. They wonder, “Where can I find what I’m looking for? What is this? Can someone help me?”
Worse, they can get in trouble trying to do it themself...
Once I got kicked out of and banned from a local Home Depot because I wanted a lawnmower that was in stock on the top shelf but couldn’t find a store associate to help me so I got on one of their forklifts and got it down myself. I did not know that I was not supposed to do that.
— Ryan, Perdido en TX (@RyanLostinTX) June 25, 2020
Even in a consignment or resale store, organization is key to not wasting shoppers’ time. Most shoppers who come through your door will want to see what you have to offer.
Without organization and a clear method to your visual merchandising, store organization, signage, and traffic flow, they will find it feels like work to shop with you.
Here’s an example from a grocery store in Portland with too many messages and signs on top of signs.
Now look at an organized store...
It is the product that makes an impact, not the signage. The signage actually gets in the way of the prior example. The product also stimulates desire. It draws the shopper to the display to look at the variety.
Much like a well-merchandised apparel store, the consumer considers the purchase based on looks more than the price.
Remove those vendor-supplied fixtures in the middle of your aisles. They create bottlenecks and wreck your sight lines.
I started selling western wear to yuppies in Santa Monica in the 80s. We had so much merchandise that racks were jammed together, and sight lines were compromised. It wasn’t just bad for shoppers; it made it possible for our store to be cleaned out of Levi 501s by a ring of shoplifting professionals.
Shoppers won’t tell you your store lacks impact or organization; they will leave empty-handed. When fewer shoppers visit brick-and-mortar stores, your efforts have to be to attract new customers, and you can’t afford to turn off even a few.
A great store layout gives the shopper a feeling of wonder, not just the satisfaction of buying.
That is why the visual cues customers respond to deserve your attention. But the outside appearance of your store has to draw them in first.
An attractive feature of a storefront should be an obvious place to enter. Car dealerships have learned putting a square around the front doors has increased visits and helped attract customers.
The area around your front doors should be clean and grab a casual shopper’s eyes.
The visual merchandising of your front windows needs to be curated to a few related items and not trying to show all you have. As you look for ideas on decorating windows, remember that the lighting and main item should be at eye level.
A new customer is looking for something to stand out.
Not only will an attractive storefront improve your business, but it will also add to your company culture. An exciting storefront tells your employees, “It’s different here.” It also signals to associates that they aren’t just working for anyone but for a store focused on the customer.
That will lead to a willingness to care about working to maintain a healthy and clean store.
My friend Peter went to the Apple Store in Grand Central Station. Every step was explained to him at the entrance, he was walked up to Level 2 overlooking the main concourse, and then escorted to an employee who took him to the line at the Genius Bar.
That pride in caring for your shoppers and customers also shows in your store exterior…
Anthropologie’s visual merchandising is legendary; each store’s windows are original but simple to understand and carefully thought out by their individual visual merchandising departments. Take a look at this New York City location.
But once shoppers see your amazing storefront, how do you get them to buy?
First off, it is important not to guess about your foot traffic. A retailer can use a third-party company that monitors traffic using cameras or light beams. You can also use a sophisticated service like ShopperTrak with multiple sensors. If you’re too small for those, you can always make hash marks on a piece of paper for each individual that walks in during a set time.
The main goal of understanding foot traffic is to see how much opportunity is actually coming in the doors. Many times, associates and managers say, “We’re slow,” and do not realize they had plenty of opportunities they didn’t recognize.
But the key to foot traffic is to relate the number of shoppers who entered to the number of customers who purchased. That percentage is referred to as the conversion rate.
Window displays are even more critical in getting shoppers to purchase impulsively and add incremental items to the list they walked in the door with. Proper visual merchandising can stop a shopper in their tracks. That display converted your foot traffic of lookers into buyers.
But merchandise can only do so much. The real magic is in having a very visible personable staff who can go beyond being nice and encourage the shopper to try the item on, to treat themselves, to compare and contrast similar products, and add-on or suggestively sell additional products.
To boost foot traffic, look at your online reviews to see how your store's appearance affects shoppers. Here’s an example from Texas, “I walked through the place for at least 10 minutes before I even saw anybody. It smells old and not fresh inside. I didn't feel welcome here.”
Showcasing your store’s appearance extends to social media as well. Social media shares are an important channel to bring shoppers into your store through live videos, tours of new products, or influencer promotions in your physical store. Make sure your appearance is professional, speak clearly and slowly, and showcase your items in the best light and angles possible.
Whatever your store design, make sure it is cleaned regularly. That goes beyond cleaning off handprints on the front doors; it includes washing your awnings and mats, ensuring your planters are full of growing plants and not trash, and ensuring any chips in paint or materials are fixed on an ongoing basis.
An effective storefront sign is easy to read at the speed limit on your street. Channel letters that are lit from behind do this best. Pay attention to retail trends and digital displays as well.
How can you evaluate the effectiveness of your storefront? If you have studied how to attract the eye of the casual pedestrian or car in traffic, you should hear people telling you how much they liked the window, why they came in, or hopefully, they’ll buy what you featured in the window. And remember, their comments on social media count too.
The key to making an impact is to duplicate it repeatedly so your shop never feels old or stale but surprises your loyal customers as much as newcomers.
Want more traffic to work with? Start with how to attract attention and get more customers and 12 visual merchandising tips that work.
See also, How Your Merchandising Can Influence Customers To Increase Retail Sales
In Sum
Retailers have to give people a reason to visit that is so impactful from the outside appearance that it justifies stopping and opening the door to enter.
It can be as simple as improving your outdoor aesthetic followed by correct retail merchandising inside.
SalesRX has a whole course on merchandising included. Download the course descriptions below.