The Importance of Wayfinding in Retail Malls.
Good wayfinding signage in a retail destination is a key asset-management tool for retail owners and managers that can increase visitor dwell time, provide an uplift in consumer spend and contribute to the likelihood of repeat visitation. Despite this being the case, many asset owners still look upon wayfinding as either a luxury they can ill afford, or worse – a last minute add on of little significance to the overall success of their retail environment. As retail destinations continue to attract less footfall in the face of digital and other leisure-based competition, it is becoming increasingly important that retail operators take stock of their public facing systems that affect the customer journey.
One of these systems is wayfinding. While wayfinding is ostensibly known as being only signage, wayfinding is in fact a system of elements deployed within the built environment to assist people in orientating themselves and navigate space. The tools available go far beyond signage, although the humble sign is still an integral part of the tool kit. Other features within a quality wayfinding program also include measures such as environmental graphics, digital interactions, art gestures and on to architectural details and landscape / hardscape elements as well.
At its core, wayfinding is the essence of helping people navigate space but as retail developments evolve, wayfinding is becoming much more than simply a means of directing customers to the nearest washrooms. Well-conceived and delivered wayfinding systems that are contextual can deliver generous commercial benefits to owners and managers, as well as significantly improve the customer journey from beginning to end. Many times, in an increasingly connected world, that journey begins online and then moves into the physical. It is here in the real, tactile, and busy physical world that wayfinding can be the make-or-break component of a successful mall visit. Take for instance the car park, it’s usually the first step in the arrival experience at a mall and then the last step when the visitor is leaving the destination.
If a poorly planned wayfinding system in a car park leads to a terrible experience the guest will remember this from their way in where they couldn’t find anywhere to park or even the mall entrance and on the way out where they failed to navigate the parking garage in an easy way to go home. These experiences full of friction lead to stress and are marked in the visitor’s mind for hours, days or weeks to come and are often mentioned to friends and family when the destination name comes up. This is not good for any operator who is seeking to deliver repeat visitation.
Who Benefits?
The benefits of a successful mall wayfinding system apply to two groups – the visitor and the owner – be they the leasing and retail management teams, marketing or asset managers, along with the asset owners themselves. Let’s first start with the key to all retail success: The Visitor. For this group, the advantages of having an elegant, recognizable, and clear wayfinding system are obvious. Having this in place allows visitors of all types to quickly understand the space, easily find their way around and make informed decisions about the best route to take in order to reach their chosen destination and then leave conveniently.
We’ve all experienced it, the inability to find one’s way around creates frustration and often leaves a highly negative lasting impression of the experience. As we move towards the experience economy, such negative scenarios in a visitor journey are disastrous for all sorts of metrics including, social media, word of mouth, dwell time and indeed repeat visitation. Shrewd asset owners understand that a positive visitor journey is a key aspect of the retail experience, contributing to the time and money spent at the mall, which in turn helps sell space to their tenants at favorable rates. There are other considerations too. The importance of clearly noted routes to areas such as car parks, toilets and exits should not be underestimated, not only to prevent visitor frustration, but also to fulfill health and safety requirements.
In all, the bottom line is and continues to be – a happy customer is a spending customer. Now let’s take a look at the benefits for the other piece of the puzzle: The Asset Owner. Moving away from the build it and they will come mindset is the first part of the conversation, because those days are distinctly over. The key to success is understanding that building it may have them come once but if it’s not enjoyable, convenient, and fulfilling, chances are they won’t be coming again and with that another customer is lost to a myriad of competitor options along way turning their experience into a fail meme to spread across social media to the retail asset owners detriment.
The increasingly positive correlation between dwell time and average spend per visit highlights the importance of the visitor journey for the revenue stream of the mall. As a part of this, it has also been found that the more relaxed shoppers are, the more likely they are to spend. Just like the example of the lost visitor, the stress induced by getting lost in malls, car parks or even getting to the mall itself can have a profound impact on retailer revenues. While delivering the optimum tenant mix and facilities are of course the primary drivers of dwell time, arguably an effective wayfinding system along with the overall sense of place – delivered by a well thought out placemaking program are an important aid in delivering a unique sense of place as well as getting visitors where they want to go that has a tangible impact on the metrics adopted by the ownership team.
Increasingly, to capture the attention and imagination of shoppers, malls are needing to become more than transactional marketplaces. This shift requires almost a complete rethink of the entertainment, dining, and experiential elements of the asset. It is here that placemaking can make a substantive difference to visitation and retention. Having a well crated brand proposition and site narrative along with deploying creative measures such as public art, targeted activations and bespoke digital interventions can produce immersive experiences, deliver wow moments, and drive positive social media engagement. Consequently, if visitors have a good experience in the mall, they are more likely to return.
These regular visitors are clearly the key to the continued success of a mall and by default delivering the type of revenue and footfall growth that owners and their tenants require to justify their substantial investment. Low footfall and decreasing penetration levels are an increasing problem across the entire brick and mortar retail sector, contributing to diminished revenues and dissatisfied tenants. As such, areas within the destination that are non-active, not very visible or are confused, as well as retail destinations that have been extended commonly experience notably reduced footfall. These scenarios highlight the critical importance of strategy and experience-based insights that an expert wayfinding consultant like Creative Dialog can offer the asset owner to assist them in maximizing their returns and in providing their visitors a positive customer journey.
The Power of Strategy.
Wayfinding without a strategy is not wayfinding, it’s just a cluster of signs. The most critical aspect of any wayfinding approach is to acknowledge that strategy is key to the success of the program and in doing so recognizing that the user experience is at the center of all good strategies. As every retail environment is different, it stands to reason that each destination requires a nuanced wayfinding strategy that takes in all of the variables and elements in a holistic, yet detailed way.
It is therefore incredibly important to have the right strategic partner on board when delving into the world of wayfinding strategy because there simply isn’t a one size fits all approach.
It is inherent that before any system is designed, that strategy must come first. At the very least when embracing a wayfinding strategy, it should be one that speaks to such concerns as: understanding best communication practices, the recognition of the dynamic nature of spatial navigation and should be attempting to integrate the system seamlessly to create a free-flowing environment that enhances the user journey by cutting through visual clutter.
The best wayfinding consultants know that good wayfinding gets people to where they want to go, great wayfinding does it with the minimum amount of intervention. From our perspective less is more should be the guiding mantra of any wayfinding system. We see this lover and over again but more often than not, the number of signs within a space should be decreased rather than increased. One sign will often do the job of three far more effectively, while architectural and additional environmental elements such as shape, materials, color, and lighting can also inform user journeys without the overt need for signage. These considerations along with many other site-specific conditions all form part of a cohesive wayfinding strategy that quality consultants like Creative Dialog deliver to maximize the positive benefits to both end user and owner.
Bottom Line
As traditional retail seeks to reinvent itself in the face of stiff competition and changing market dynamics, adopting a sound wayfinding strategy is not only good for visitors – it’s good for business. The importance of having well-thought-out systems in place to create positive user journeys cannot be overstated and the benefits go directly to the bottom line. By investing time and money into developing a world class wayfinding system, forward thinking asset owners are furthering their competitive advantage while at the same time extending their brand engagement and increasing their visitor satisfaction, all of which delivers a resounding win – win for both user and owner. At Creative Dialog with more than 25 years of industry experience across wayfinding, signage design, placemaking and destination branding we put people, strategy and expertise at the forefront of what we do, to ensure that the visitor is always the hero.
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