To create a great customer experience, you must take many factors into consideration. Style and presentation of food and style and type of service factor heavily, but very often the restaurant’s layout and flow are overlooked.
Restaurant interior design can impact customers’ psychology and enhance their overall experience and contribute to them coming back, extending their stay, ordering/spending more and sharing their experience on social media in the restaurant.
But you must also consider service flow and ease of customer and staff access in your planning.
So here are 5 key points to consider when planning your restaurants design:
1. Make sure your branding is on point.
Your Brand logo can act as your unique calling card. As it helps distinguish you from the competition, you should have a logo and colours that represent both your brand and appeal to your customer. You should make sure that your Brand logo is visible everywhere.
2. Make a good first impression
The exterior of your restaurant plays an important role in attracting customers. Your brand logo and colours should be displayed with a clear sign that can be read by passing cars.
People like to know what they are walking into. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep your windows clean and free of clutter so potential customers can get a peek.
Your customers’ opinions of your restaurant will often be formed within the first few moments. The first impression should be in line with your brand and ethos.
The welcome should leave a positive, lasting impression on customers.
3. Colours, lighting and feeling of space.
Your restaurant’s colours should be chosen with care and should be in sync with your brand. Colours can impact the psychology of customers; they can make them subconsciously experience different emotions and react in many ways, ranging from affecting the food choices to the amount of money they spend.
Using warmer tones in your dining area you can make guests feel that the temperature is a couple of degrees higher than usual. While cooler shades can make people think that the temperature is more relaxed.
Partitions should be carefully considered and planned as these can have an impact on the natural lighting and the sense of space in a restaurant. They can also have an impact on sizes of groups you can cater for. If possible, partitions should be moveable and allow for a flexible space in your restaurant.
4. Plan the Layout.
Restaurants’ floor plans are a major component of their success. They can enhance the experience; they determine the capacity and functionality.
Plan your seating plan by considering regulations and seating capacity and choosing the right furniture in terms of size, style, and shape.
A seating layout plan is a balancing act of maximizing profits while also ensuring customer comfort. A common rule of thumb in regards to square foot per customer is as follows:
· Fine dining: 18-20 square feet
· Full-service restaurant: 12-15 square feet
· Fast casual and Fast food 11-14 square feet
The kitchen although not visited by the customers, it is the biggest investment of a restaurant. If the expensive equipment in your kitchen is not carefully designed and laid out, it will lead to delays in service as well as suboptimum productivity and even lead to increased accidents.
A good restaurant layout should bring together good food, service, and great experiences. Ideally, it should include:
· your brand personality, this includes aesthetics, lighting, and décor
· a balance between your seating capacity and the desired ambiance
· ample ventilation and air conditioning
5. Don’t Forget the Restroom Experience
Very often we overlook the issue of restrooms when we run restaurants.
The toilets can have one of the biggest impacts on your customer experience, they should be modern, well lit, functional and above all easy to keep immaculately clean.