Remodeling, refreshing or reimaging your convenience store are smart ways to attract new and existing customers. However, before you begin making these upgrades, it’s important to think about how your newly designed c-store can increase and drive traffic. Here are some ideas to consider while planning your next c-store remodel or redesign.

Design to Support Your Brand

• Establish a brand and overall vision that captures and embraces your c-store’s essence and can easily build loyalty.
• Make sure all brand messaging is truly consistent and follows brand identity standards – from marketing collateral to the way store employees communicate with customers – help customers remember your brand every time they see a social media post, billboard or email.
• Remember to tie your brand together in your new stores and legacy stores – don’t allow customers to confuse your store with the competition.
• Create a campaign calendar to build excitement around your brand.

Design for Customer Experience

• Think about the way your stores will look at all hours, not just in the afternoon or morning – your c-stores should come alive at night as well as appear welcoming and inviting from dusk until dawn.
• Consider your shoppers’ safety and visibility when designing forecourt lighting – customers prefer to refuel at stations that are well-lit in the evening and early morning hours. Fuel stations with above-average outdoor lighting ratings drove 25.9 percent more visits than their below average competitors during Q1 of 2019.
• Make ongoing updates to keep stores neat and modern – nearly 83 percent of c-store customers consider store design and upkeep to have a strong or moderate influence on where they shop.
• Win the hearts of c-store shoppers and road trippers with clean, modern and refreshed bathrooms – these c-stores are doing it right.
• Remember that a simple refresh can go along way – focusing on fountain and frozen drinks can increase your sales by 25 percent.

Design to Sell Product

• Keep in mind that your stores are a sea of color – make your signage pop in a smart way while keeping your branding consistent – use colors that create a sense of urgency.
• Make your zones work for you, don’t ignore areas that allow you to share your story – you only have seconds to capture your customers attention, don’t miss out on key opportunities.
• Include an indoor or outdoor seating area and free WiFi to encourage customers to stay a while and purchase a meal rather than just a beverage or snack – remind shoppers that your store isn’t just a c-store, but a gathering place or destination.
• Think ahead about campaigns – 73 percent of customers say that the best promotions are those that have discounted fuel with in-store purchases.
• Create décor and signage that connects and promotes brands and products local to your store areas – according to GasBuddy, more than 50 percent of c-store customers visit locations within six miles of their homes or places of employment.

Design for the Future

• Remember to design for the future, not just your c-store’s rollout – for example, be sure to provide charging areas for electric vehicles.
• Emphasize and enhance foodservice, beverage stations and beer destinations – as tobacco laws and mandates make selling vape products and cigarettes increasingly difficult, now’s the time to innovate, boost and promote your other c-store offerings.
• Think innovatively and aesthetically, don’t be afraid to disrupt tradition and the break away from the common c-store look and feel – Rogers Market and the 7-Eleven lab store are great examples.
• Ensure the layout of your store allows dedicated areas for mobile pickups, scan and go technology and other seamless and frictionless shopping trends – from delivery to order-ahead, today’s retail technology is taking convenience to another level.
• Utilize durable and evergreen fixtures, fountain areas and graphical elements that can stand the test of time and are easy for your staff to update, refresh, maintain and clean.

GSP Companies has been helping convenience store retailers remodel and refresh their stores as well as create and build brand packages since 1978. Talk to us today to learn more.