How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for Your Bakery? Did you know that the first bakers’ guild was established in 168 BC in Rome? Even in the Roman Empire period, baking for commercial reasons was a popular income-generating business. Whether it’s for our own consumption or for business, baking has become more popular since the 1920s.
Today, we see a bakery at every corner, if not more. How can a bakery stand out from others when there is so much competition? Undoubtedly, one of the most important aspects is your bakery’s atmosphere. Creating an appealing atmosphere in your store needs time, research and professional help like an interior designer.
Its environment and atmosphere are critical to a bakery’s success and profitability. Although it’s easy to get distracted by the specifics of the design or the layout of the storefront, it’s vital to make sure the bakery itself enhances the experience of its customers.
The decor of your bakery will determine how customers perceive their experience, which can impact both the buying experience and the return on investment.
Designing a bakery can be a fun and rewarding venture. If you take the time to do it right, it will be profitable, too. Imagine baking a cake without the necessary tools, which is not a great idea, right? The same goes for creating the right design and atmosphere for your bakery. If you don’t invest in the time and the money, the store will be mediocre and will look like any other bakery in your neighborhood.
We’ve got the recipe for creating the perfect atmosphere for your shop. We created this article to help you establish a successful bakery. How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for Your Bakery? Read on.
The Basics
The design of your bakery serves to welcome your customers and promote your brand. Making your cake/pastry shop stand out with a few simple design basics can help convert first-time visitors into regular customers. Here’s what to look out for:
Start from the Entryway and the Storefront
2017 research by UCD food scientists shows that freshly baked bread’s smell brings “odor-cued memories” and boosts Pavlovian response and impulse buying.
For that reason, we recommend incorporating Dutch or half doors and a vent fan above the door which can help lure passersby with the aroma of freshly baked goods. Also, the entryway of your bakery should be spacious enough to provide enough space for multiple people to line up.
If you have enough storefront space, placing display cases for your baked goods might help bring in more shoppers. Including different types of goods is an excellent idea to let the window shoppers know what you can offer.
Do you create custom cake designs for birthdays or anniversaries? Showing quality prints of your designs in lovely frames on the walls is another idea to bring more customers who need customized cakes.
Make Sure It Has Good Lighting
Lighting is another essential aspect of a successful bakery. Bakers often invest in high-quality display cases; however, without good lighting, the brilliance of food colors will not be as vivid. High-quality lighting also helps preserve the freshness and appearance of baked goods.
However, the lighting of the bakery is not limited to the display cases. There should be a consistent light color throughout the store. To create a welcoming atmosphere, use the same light colors across the store; some areas may have more lights and some less, but it is crucial to choose the same light colors. Our suggestion is to stay away from fluorescents. Fluorescents have green-yellow and magenta cast, and your baked goods and the store will not look good in that bulb color.
Make the Space Happier
Two things belong here: colors and plants.
It would help if you considered adding color to the interior, as color adds life to any space. Think about adding color to your walls, windows, floors, tables, chairs, etc. Use colors that match your brand identity. For example, if you sell cupcakes, you can create a colorful space with pinks, blues, and oranges. Cupcakes are fun to look at and eat, so why not provide a fun atmosphere to your customers?
If you’re aiming to create a high-end bakery feel, then black and white colors with French bistro-style seating will do the job.
Light colors, such as cream, beige, white, or pale yellow, create the illusion of a bigger room. We recommend using soft tones to make the space look more spacious and inviting if you have a smaller store.
You can also add an accent wall within the color scheme. Your bakery will appear uncluttered to visitors if you use a simple color palette with one dominant or accent color.
Plants! Adding plants or flowers will add a great touch to your bakery. If you use fresh herbs in your baked goods like thyme, mint, or rosemary, you can create a corner for small planters and use the fresh herbs to decorate the baked goods.
Create a Comfortable Environment
Customers need to feel comfortable while shopping at your bakery; whether they are there for dining or take-out, making them feel comfortable is crucial. Take-out customers need space to move around and look at the displays to make their selections. Sit-down customers need comfortable seating and friendly staff to enjoy your bakery and potentially come back.
If you have a small space, we recommend not overcrowding the seating area. Passageways between tables and chairs should be 18 inches wide. An overcrowded aisle can result in an uncomfortable experience for customers, and it may negatively impact sales. Instead, you can offer reservations for seated customers. This way, they won’t get disappointed when there is no space to sit.
Ventilation is another essential aspect to consider when designing the perfect atmosphere for a bakery. Without proper ventilation, you could end up with a lot of heat buildup inside your bakery, which will result in uncomfortable employees and customers.
Get Creative with Your Decoration and Your Display Cases
- Baskets are a fantastic way to display items such as pastries. They come in all shapes and sizes, so you’ll never run out of options. Don’t be afraid to decorate with baskets.
- Bakeries specializing in wedding cakes can display photos of local couples cutting their cakes. If your bakery specializes in English tea cakes, choose wall art from England to showcase its nationality.
- Display cases are typically made of glass or metal. If you can find a custom display case maker, you can order the ones in your brand’s color, matching the general atmosphere of the store.
The Advanced Level
How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for Your Bakery?
Use Mirrors Like the Pros
Mirrors behind the counter are a great design idea. They reflect light, enhancing the displays and increasing the sense of space. Displaying a custom design cake in front of a mirror will show customers both the front and the rear of the cake.
Improve Customer Flow with a Bakery Floor Plan
Designers suggest that the bakery isles should be at least 4 feet wide to prevent congestion. However, they shouldn’t be too long either. A study shows that if customers feel your aisles are too long, they may skip the aisle, which may be over as much as 2 percent of your products.
Making your aisles shorter but not congested will allow your customers to engage more with your products and help in increased sales.
Background music in a bakery can be the cherry on top
Engaging a customer’s five senses in your bakery will surely help your bakery succeed. You are already providing them with the sight, smell, taste, and even touch with your baked goods. Why not appeal to their fifth sense? The sound! We recommend adding a brand-matching soundtrack for your business to achieve this.
Pleasant, brand-fitting background music for a bakery will complement the interior design and the atmosphere.
Imagine a French bakery with excellent Parisian decor and French pastries but no music. The customers will hear lots of chatter and utensil noises while trying to enjoy the pastry and maybe a friend’s company. Not so great, right?
Now, imagine the same French bakery with an excellent choice of background music. Imagine eating a “tarte aux framboise” accompanied by a French Chanson by Edith Piaf. You will feel transported to Paris when you are at the bakery and leave feeling fabulous, right? Wouldn’t you go to that same bakery the next time?
Bonus Read: Impact of background music on businesses
Let us help you find the fitting background music for your bakery. American, French, Italian; every bakery needs to have background music that matches its characteristics and target market.
Extra: Playlist Samples
If you’re thinking, “OK, I’ll turn on the radio, YouTube, or Spotify,” you’re on the wrong track. Firstly, these services are not commercially licensed providers, which means there can be severe penalties for using them in a business environment. Secondly, it’s not going to sound very professional if you’re playing the music just to play it. A non-curated, any type of music will not do any good for your bakery.
The best way to do this is to subscribe to Jukeboxy’s business music service, which gives you a vast music library (45+ million tracks) and hundreds of curated playlists. You don’t have to spend hours choosing what music to play, you can set up the service in minutes and impress your customers.
How to Design the Perfect Atmosphere for Your Bakery? Having good background music is directly related to increased revenue. Read the details here.
