Showrooms have always been centers where customers and team members can get additional information about your products. Their importance hasn’t faded, but they have adapted for the current buyer landscape. Virtual showrooms—or websites with structured product listings—make your products accessible to all; and physical showrooms allow local (and traveling) customers to actually interact with those products. Having a virtual showroom of some kind is necessary, since it allows customers from all over the world easy access to your products. And physical showrooms give visitors the chance to grow their relationship with your company, potentially increasing their investment in your products and becoming brand advocates.
An in-person showroom is still a worthwhile investment for product sales to give your customers an experience. But a showroom can’t simply be products lining the shelves or hanging on the walls with no context. Here are some lessons we’ve learned over our years building showrooms:
Offer multiple ways to understand your showroom products.
An effective showroom runs similarly to a museum exhibit. You’re trying to educate your customers on a given topic—in this case, your products. And they need to understand at a quick glance why they might need your products. This means that you should have an easy-to-understand explanation next to all your products as well as a team member readily available for questions. Depending on your average foot traffic and number of staff members, you might consider recording someone reading those product descriptions for accessibility purposes. Since everyone has different ways they want to learn, covering all your bases gives you a better chance at connecting with your potential and returning customers.
Make the experience enjoyable from the second they step into your showroom.
Create your showroom with the intention of having people feel like they’re at home. Make the environment spacious and intuitive—if visitors can’t figure out a logical way to walk through your showroom, you risk them getting frustrated and leaving. The style of your showroom should be appealing to your specific target customer, and while you might want to appeal to everyone, primarily think about your ideal market and how they would like to see your products displayed.
Try to anticipate future design trends to increase the lifetime of your showroom.
You don’t want to be completely changing your showroom every year. Opting for prefabricated modular components can extend the lifetime of your in-person product displays. You’ll be able to move parts around just like you would rearrange your home furniture or office furniture. Build point-of-sale displays where items can be easily switched out. And try to use components that have multiple uses—such as displays with storage underneath—to maximize your showroom space.
Choose timeless paint colors such as light gray tones or beige tones that won’t make your showroom feel smaller than it actually is. For flooring, select something neutral that will match with both your current paint color and your next paint color. Flooring should also be durable to withstand foot traffic. Sheet vinyl, laminate, and hardwood are all good options.
Add an unexpected element to your showroom.
Rather than give people a standard showroom experience, have them enter into a hybrid showroom café. Whenever you can encourage guests to stay longer in your showroom, you increase the likelihood of a sale. A café environment also takes the pressure off to buy, giving team members an edge to sell (with the benefit of customers already feeling relaxed). If this doesn’t make sense for your particular business, test out different options like a movie theater showing your company’s YouTube videos, a pay-to-play arcade, or allowing food trucks to park nearby to draw people to the front of your store—and hopefully get them in the door.
Don’t neglect your virtual showroom as an extension of your in-person showroom.
A physical showroom is crucial for allowing your customers a deeper glimpse into your products and talking to people in real time. But you have to keep your virtual showroom up-to-date as well. Make sure your website is user-friendly and updated with your latest products. The descriptions should be clear and concise. Clicking around the site to find exactly what customers need should be easy for them, just as it should be during their in-person shopping experience. Both virtual and physical showroom spaces help convert customers, but don’t assume their needs. Ask them for feedback—and incentivize them to give you that feedback with money off your products or a free consultation to show them how to use the products.
No matter your strategy, keep your company’s story in mind as you build your showroom. Your customers are not only purchasing your products, but they’re also selecting your company over your competitors for a reason.