Quick wins - maximum impact with minimal investment

In the case of business takeovers, format expansion or the introduction of new concepts and brands, retailers worldwide face a similar challenge: how to transform stores quickly with a new identity and customer experience while working to small or restrictive budgets.

“Quick Wins” is our approach to enable retailers with limited investment & resources to refresh their stores with minimum impact on existing technical systems. With this approach which we also call “Facelift”, we can bring existing stores up-to-date or allow retailers to get a new look even when they cannot meet the cost of complete renovation. This is achieved by close alignment between Schweitzer shopfitters and our sister company, design agency Interstore, who work together hand-in-hand with clients to understand their specific challenges and constraints.

We’ve supported several retailers through successful “Quick Wins” projects, allowing them to launch updated stores or parts of their stores to give a fresh look, directly helping them to improve sales performances.

For German retailer Marktkauf, we developed a cost-effective remodelling solution for their store located in Burg. For this location we created entirely new in-store communication systems, new high-level décor elements with minor adjustments to the store layout. In this case, we achieved the remodelling in just 5 weeks.

Sobeys Inc. is the second-largest retail group in Canada. For its supermarket chain Safeway, Interstore developed a graphic concept based on their new brand identity, which was then realised by Schweitzer across 9 branches. In addition to these new graphics, strategically important departments were fully updated by Interstore and implemented into each store.

There are several ways that “Quick Wins” projects can be implemented:

1. Visual Re-fresh

Create a new look and feel that makes use of visual elements, fonts & style of communication language. Schweitzer can tailor the implementation of a “Quick Wins” Visual Refresh based on the specific characteristics of each location. With this solution, we introduce some architectural elements to define important departments.

2. Integration of new departments / offers / brands:

New departments or brands can be easily fitted into the existing store layout by using modular plug-in furniture, without the need of complex interventions on existing technical systems.

3. Replacement / renewal of strategically important product worlds:

Key existing zones can be renewed and updated to meet changing customer needs.

The strategy for each retailer & situation can be a mix of the above, but the overall point is that, with this approach, we can make a real difference without the major costs associated with full refurbishments. Our approach to “Quick Wins” is also effective for rolling out to different store sizes, shapes and architectures, as we customise solutions to work with unique factors for each location.