If you run a retail business, regardless of your business niche, or the size of your operations, one important fact you can’t deny is that you need to attract and retain new customers. One way to do this is by ensuring that your business premises appears welcoming and draws customers in with its curb appeal.

Installing a canopy over your doorway is a great way to highlight the entrance to your business and welcome customers. Read on to find out more about the benefits of installing a canopy of your retail shop entrance door.

Reasons to have a canopy over your retail shop entrance door

Aesthetic appeal

The most obvious reason is that a well-designed entrance canopy looks attractive and inviting. When shoppers are strolling by, one of the strongest reasons to enter your shop is how appealing it looks from the outside. One study found that more than two-thirds of consumers confirmed that they had avoided a store based on its external appearance alone.

Information like this establishes a significant and undeniable connection between a shop’s exterior and customer behaviour. Your retail shop can leverage this fact to its advantage.

Protection from the elements

At one time or another, we’ve all experienced the inconvenience of unexpected rainfall or of the scorching sun on our faces and necks. At such times it’s always a relief to have an entrance canopy to help protect your products and customers from sudden showers. This has proved particularly useful during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, where shoppers have been forced to queue outside due to limits on capacity. Furthermore, entrance canopies can serve as a temporary shelter for your suppliers while loading or unloading goods from supply vans and trucks.

Branding

You may have noticed that many shop owners with entrance canopies often print their logo or shop’s name boldly on their front. That’s a brilliant move because doing so serves several purposes at once. It’s a form of identification and instant advertising that helps to give you maximum business exposure.

Increase the usable shop space

Where the interior of your shop is quite cramped, an entrance canopy can be used to discreetly extend your usable space. For instance, let’s say that you run a small restaurant, cafe, or snack bar. On warm summer days, you can set chairs outside and have people sit out. This is a better alternative to having everyone stuck inside and could be beneficial in these days of social distancing. In addition, you could designate it as an outdoor smoking area for your customers. Thus, your canopy offers a win-win situation for everyone.

Easily distinguishable

The entrance to your business; whether that’s a florist, grocery store, hardware store, hotel, or office, should be welcoming and easy to identify from the roadside or a nearby car park. Such bold branding can help to highlight the entrance to your business and draw in an additional stream of visitors and clients who may otherwise pass by. Hence, this combination of aesthetics and practicality can be used to ensure that your space works for you optimally.

Add to the value of the property

Another benefit of an entrance door canopy is that it can help to boost the value of your retail space in the eyes of potential buyers. Let’s say that you need to let go of your shop for some reason (maybe you found a better location or you’re changing the kind of business you do). First, anyone taking over the space from you will likely be pleased to gain the use and benefits of a canopy without having to go through the process of installing one themselves. Secondly, a canopy over the entrance door implies to potential buyers that you invested in that space and you put some thought into the maintenance and aesthetics while you were there.

Protect the interiors

Another advantage of a canopy over the entrance door is that it helps to protect your shop’s furnishing and interior from that inevitable faded look caused by the effects of harsh UV rays from the sun. Also, an entrance canopy will help to keep the interior shaded and relatively cooler, especially in the hot summer months. That’s not all. It protects your customers from the glaring sun and offers them some privacy.

With all the above benefits, your entrance canopy is no longer just another pretty aesthetic tool but an essential part of your marketing strategy. Hesitate no more, contact us today by phone or email to arrange a free site survey to assess your needs. Thereafter, our team will handle the entire process from design to installation. The final result will be a professional, durable, and well-designed shop entrance canopy.

FAQs

If you’ve never bothered with an entrance canopy before but you’re now considering one. You’ll definitely have some questions such as:

1) How much will my entrance door canopy cost?

The cost will largely depend on the size of your canopy. However, from experience, we have seen that for most shops, anything from 2.0m x 2.0m by 6’5” to 3.0m x3.0m by 6’5” will do. These sizes cost from £1,600 to £1,900 respectively. Note that these prices are exclusive of the cost for fitting your canopy.

2) Do you guarantee the quality of your canopies?

There’s hardly anything worse than being stuck with a weather-beaten and shabby looking canopy outside your store and we understand that. Therefore, at Shelter Solutions, we only use the best materials that can withstand years out in the rain, snow, and sun. As much as possible our canopies are made of high-grade aluminium that comes with a 15-year guarantee. But, where we can’t avoid using steel (e.g. for building considerably larger canopies) we use only our own steel manufacturers to ensure that every piece of steel that goes into your canopy passes our strict quality control standards.

3) I’m a busy store owner. How much attention and maintenance will the canopy require?

We have put a lot of consideration into the type of materials we use for our canopies so that they’ll need minimal maintenance. Simply scrub them down with warm soapy water at intervals as often as possible. Even once a year will do to keep your entrance door canopy looking as good as new.