So you are starting a new high street business? You have set up your limited company, your bank accounts and share structure, you’ve registered your domain name and had a nice logo designed. Now all you need is a nice professional website, an online payment provider and you are ready to trade.. Right? Wrong!
What about shop front signage? If you are a high street retail store and are looking to attract passing trade then you need signage that stands out and indicates to passers by what kind of store you are and what you sell.
The business world has come a long way in the last two decades and more and more people are focusing on online sales and online lead generation, we mentioned in a previous article how online advertising and marketing is crippling big corporations because they believe that they must allocate millions of pounds every year to their online sales and marketing when in reality many people still like to leave their homes and go out shopping once in a while.
Yes lots of people nowadays, especially the generation known as millennials and the generations following them do like to do everything they can online, I remember walking over to the bar in a local well known restaurant and pub chain recently and having my pick of the bar staff all stood around doing nothing whilst people ordered food and drinks from their tables via the app, I mean what’s happened to human interaction? I actually fear the day when the humans race stops verbal communication altogether and all communication is carried out via imojis and text speak, hopefully than day is a long way off.
Getting Your Percentage of Online Custom Is Great, But…..
A good percentage of the population do most of their shopping online these days and I’ll be honest for lots of industries and niches an actual high street store simply isn’t required and the savings these companies make by not having a high street presence – assuming they are not paying a fortune to some internet marketing company with a cool, hip name – could be passed onto customers, sometimes it is and sometime it isn’t but their are still some niches that need a high street presence.
Take women’s fashion especially, sports stores, lingerie stores, stores selling fancy household goods such as ornaments, paintings, fancy lighting, antique stores etc, in fact the list goes on… These are the types of retail stores that people still want to visit so they can browse and examine the goods in person so these stores need to stand out from the crowd in between all the takeaways that for some reason now dominate our high streets and professional, retail signage can make all the difference.
What Signage Is the Best?
There are all different kinds of signage available nowadays such as Illuminated Signs, Reflective Signs, Raised and 3d Signs and the signage you choose depends of your industry, your location and of course your budget.
Often, plain signs suit a business much better than fancy Illuminated or Reflective signs, you don’t see a solicitor or accountant with a flashing neon signs that says ‘no win no fee’ or ‘get your accounts done here, cheap as chips’ no that would be silly and have the opposite effect, however plain does not mean poor and plain retail signage still needs to be professionally designed, manufactured and installed so it lasts so choosing the right signage company that can meet all three criteria is important.
For companies situated in the North West, Universal Signage based in Trafford Park, Manchester is one on the most highly respected and trusted signage companies around today with an impressive portfolio ranging from local takeaways to well known premiere league football clubs.
So yes even in 2019, signage is important, especially for start-ups trying to get noticed…
