All retail premises on high streets face certain pressures these days, with growing numbers of consumers opting for online commerce against the general backdrop of commercial uncertainty over what the future holds. Despite historically high house prices, estate agents feel both of these pressures particularly keenly at the moment, and unless the Brexit affair is settled speedily, there is a chance that this could continue for some time to come.
Fortunately, there are plenty of tools to draw consumers and clients back to brick-and-mortar stores. Delivering unparalleled customer service with which internet-based companies can’t hope to compete is one of the most effective ways to do this. In this blog, however, we’ll be looking at the power of signage to attract new custom, in particular the fairly new technology of LED light pockets for estate agent window displays.These display solutions are increasingly popular, but adoption is still far from saturation point – so now is the time to strike. Read on to find out everything you need to know about this innovative and eye-catching display technology, whether it is worth the investment or not, and what it could offer your business.
LED Light Pockets: What are They and How do They Work?
The use by estate agents of clear acrylic pockets suspended from cables is long established, so much so that it would be surprising to see an agent’s window without them. By embedding LEDs into the pockets, an attractive and striking effect is created, visually highlighting your window. Each panel is generally not more than several millimetres thick and they often come in a range of styles, including bevelled and framed edges.
With these designs, the LED light is bounced off the inner edges of the pocket, creating the impression that the frame of the pocket is glowing. Each pocket is attached to imperceptibly thin metal cables, suspended between the ceiling and floor. At a glance, the glowing pockets look as if they’re floating, which is a particularly striking thing for any passerby to see! The power for the LEDs is transmitted by wires tucked away inside the suspension cables, furthering this visual effect.
These pockets can often be made to order in any size as well, giving estate agents the opportunity to use posters and graphics to draw attention to promotions or special deals, as well as simply highlighting the present properties up for sale. The lack of clutter, combined with a highly visible and legible form of display, allows you to convey maximum information with minimal effort on your part or that of the viewer.
What Can These Light Pockets do for Your Estate Agency?
Your business may close at 5pm, but with the aid of glowing light pockets in your windows, your properties will be advertised and clearly visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing people to see what you have on offer any time of day. This is particularly effective during the winter months, when the evening draws in by 4 or 5pm, but people will be present in busy streets until much later.
In this regard, LED illuminated window pockets constitute a powerful tool that utilises the promotional capacity of a space that you already own and have the right to use, as opposed to hiring a billboard or space in the pull-out property supplement of a newspaper. That said, there are many other stores on the high street, and all of them will be trying to do the same thing that you are – maximising their use of space for promotion. Fortunately, LED-illuminated pockets can help to differentiate you further still.
Brand Differentiation
By making your window display glow, your premises are guaranteed to stand out from the white noise of the high street, working to grab attention and hold it. This means that people are likely to remember your store, and thus your brand will be in the front of their mind when they eventually need your services, or if someone else mentions looking to buy or sell a house. In this way, brand differentiation pays its dividends over a long period of time, and therefore this form of signage should be viewed as an investment.
Furthermore, the contemporary and modern style of these light pockets creates the perception that your business is forward-facing, modern and efficient. This also makes people more likely to buy from you, and can even give you an edge over those older brands who can claim expertise by way of having existed for decades.
Keeping Up Appearances
Such an investment in window displays also suggests to consumers a care of appearances. Any business that is able to devote time and money to external appearance is more likely to be doing well in terms of custom, and therefore must be doing something right. This care over appearances also implies that you take care over other areas of work, such as attentiveness to customer service and experience, getting the job done and producing positive results.
Lastly, the beautiful effect created by glowing frames in your window allows your premises to actually enhance the look and feel of the local area, which is something that not many businesses can genuinely claim to do. All of these thoughts are subconscious and occur when viewing your window display, but they influence decisions very strongly.
The technologies behind signage solutions change and develop every year. At The Sussex Sign Company, we have accrued several decades’ experience in the business, and we’d be thrilled to put that expertise and knowledge to work for the aid of your company. To find out about the great things that we can achieve if we work together, get in touch today, Call us on 01273 417057