5 examples of successful customer journeys

Customer routes are an optimal basis for guiding customers in the store to where they can find exactly what they want or what they didn't know they needed. There are different customer journeys that you can implement in your store.

We have put together five successful customer journeys, which you can use to describe which form suits your retail business.

1. The arched path

The first example is the arched path. The curved path is designed so that your customers do not follow a direct and straight path through the store. Instead, the path takes a curve. Research shows that many people pay more attention to the side areas rather than the center sales areas. The arch path takes up this effect. It leads to one of the two sides - sometimes there are branches to both sides. This allows your customers to decide whether they want to turn right or left to get an overview of the offers. It is important that the arched path leads to the back of the shop. Branching paths allow your customers to go to individual departments. This is also referred to as an arena effect.

2. The island path

The Inselweg focuses on both the sides and the middle sales areas in your store. As soon as your customers enter the store, they are on the island path. You can go this to the left. But you can also turn to the right. There is a sales island in the middle. It is also possible to integrate several large sales islands. This means the paths come together between the islands and your customers can switch sides. This form has the advantage that the middle sales area is brought even more into focus. Precisely because these are the sales areas that often receive too little attention, they can get more attention in this way.

3. The straight path

With this form, the middle sales areas are omitted. Instead, a straight path leads through the store. Individual paths lead off this path to the sides. This means your customers can always change pages. This form has the advantage that it provides a very good overview. A wide path in the middle allows potential buyers to get an overview of the offers on both sides. It is also helpful here to work with signage on the walls.

4. The labyrinth path

A labyrinth path is based on a classic labyrinth. This means that there are as many paths as possible in one area. Some of the paths lead to a dead end, but sometimes they also lead to another path. This gives you much more flexibility in how you use the entire sales area. Dead ends are consciously planned here. This means that your customers will take some paths twice. As a result, they may pay even more attention to the products and still make a decision in favor of them. Labyrinth paths are not suitable for every business and also depend a little on which target group you want to address. Young people in particular are very open to this form of customer routes and take the time to explore the individual routes and thus get to know the range.

5. Theme paths

Another successful variant is the theme trails. For the theme trails, you have decided to pick up islands with different themes in your store. What topics these are vary greatly. You may classify products by product type. But maybe also by season, event or size. Classic topics include, for example, clothing for children or adults, which is presented on clothes racks. The individual paths lead to the respective areas. There is a themed path for children's clothing. If you have the opportunity, you can already put up some examples of outfits along the way with mannequins. For your customers, themed routes have the advantage that they know exactly what awaits them at the end of the route. You consciously decide to take each path. They may even have a goal and appreciate that they can achieve it quickly.

Conclusion: The perfect customer flow requires preparatory work

Creating a successful customer journey requires careful planning and analysis. These five examples will serve as your guide to improving the shopping experience at your retail store. Remember that your customers' needs can change, so it isimportant to regularly review and adjust the customer journeyto ensure it continues to be effective. A well-designed customer journey can help attract customers, increase sales and build long-term customer relationships.