How important is interior design to business success?

We all know the impact the pandemic has had to the way we live our lives, run our businesses and take part in our communities. Yet, as we learn to live with the virus, consumers are eager to return to the social way of living of the pre-Covid world – they want to visit the restaurants, shops, hotels and bars they love, and they’re excited to explore the recently opened ones. The businesses that will successfully sail through these difficult times will be the ones that embrace the ‘new normal’, looking at this period defined by social restrictions as an opportunity to adapt and improve.

For some businesses, this means rethinking product and marketing strategies; for others it’s operation improvements and creative interior design solutions. This doesn’t have to mean huge expenses for companies in an already difficult period – instead, the recipe for success lies in wise, customer-focused spending and in prioritising areas that might have been overlooked in the past.

Hospitality, Retail and Food&Beverage (F&B) are highly competitive industries and design is usually an area that can get easily overlooked once the grand opening is out of the way. Yet, according to The Design Council “every £100 a design alert business spends on design increases turnover by £225”. Making small design interventions now will safeguard future profits when the hospitality market is ramping up again.

In this blog post, we will be focusing on 3 strategies that can have a positive impact on your business and how to leverage interior design to bring these to life.

Aviary Rooftop Bar Terrace - Image Credit: The Aviary

First impressions matter – how to re-engage your core audiences and reach new ones

As your customers slowly start to come back to restaurants, pubs and hotels, it’s important to provide the best possible first impression post-lockdown. A brand’s visual identity sits at the core of the emotional connection it builds with customers, and design tends to be the most effective way to illustrate this. Even small changes like refreshing colour palettes, increasing layout flexibility and adding creative displays can create a long-lasting impression and secure valuable customers.

Beyond this, creative interior design coupled with an effective marketing strategy, can be a simple and successful way in which businesses appeal to new audiences, and reignite interest in their established ones. Both are visual ways in which the values and identity of a business can be understood by customers.

Most of today’s marketing efforts are concentrated on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest, so an exciting social presence is one of the best ways to connect to customers, and create a brand appeal and following. Exciting and innovative interior design features such as impactful feature walls, unique artwork and purposely hidden design features are visually appealing for customers, and can promote engagement with your social media pages. Ultimately, this will allow you to develop brand desirability and target new audiences.

The Goring Hotel - Image Credit: The Goring

Your brand should tell a story

Interior design means a lot more than the appearance of a business or venue. While first impressions always matter, as customers spend more time in a well-designed space, they begin to discover the multitude of layers behind the brand’s story.

Great customer service and excellent products can define your brand in the eyes of the customer, but the design will bring it to life. Think of interior designers as your product’s storytellers – without an environment that can reflect the brand’s values and personality, the product or service itself will not be experienced at its full potential. This will make it harder for you to build brand loyalty amongst your customers.

Indeed, interior design is the glue holding together a number of key components of your business; designers can make sure that operations, marketing and the brand’s core values are always in sync and help you communicate with your target audience in the best possible way. Capitalising on exciting interior design will allow you to reconnect with people who might not have visited your business in a while, as well as attract new customers.

The Cadogan Hotel Bar - Image Credit: Adam Handling Chelsea

Depending on the nature of the business, lighting can easily and effectively transform a space, making sure different audiences are targeted at pre-set times of the day thus increasing flexibility. For example, a daytime tea room can opt for a neutral coloured and bright lighting setting that can be easily adapted to a warm glowing, dimmed atmosphere in the evening when the space transforms into a whiskey bar, without changing the light fittings.

The most successful hospitality, retail, leisure and F&B businesses use this technique to maximise occupancy and revenue. Successful businesses also use lighting efficiently from a colour tone perspective to emotionally connect with their customers.

Adam Handling Chelsea Restaurant - Image Credit: Tim Green

The way in which interior design can be used to influence business outcomes is a rich topic, and one that we’ll continue to explore in future blog posts. We’ll take a granular approach and look at different types of businesses within the hospitality and food and drink scene, and what impact a creative and innovative design can have on them.

In the meantime, if you want to discuss how you can help your business thrive through interior design, get in touch! We’d be delighted to help you review your current set-up, discuss what improvements are needed, and look at cost-effective ways in which you can add value through design.

*the design for all the venues included in this post was led by our creative director Ana Moisin in previous design practices