Does Great Design Increase Sales? An In-Depth Look

Does Great Design Increase Sales? An In-Depth Look

We all know what the old saying means – good design sells. But is there any validity to this statement? Could spending on high-quality, considerate design for your products and brand influence revenue figures? Let's delve into the connection between design and sales.

The First Impression

Let us remember one undeniable fact: first impressions matter. Design affects them significantly – be it packaging, a website homepage or a company logo – these are among the first things potential customers see.

Within those precious few seconds, design can:

1. Capture attention;
2. Convey key messages;
3. Trigger emotions and gut feelings;
4. Start building trust and credibility.

If the design doesn't “wow” or is inconsistent with what a brand wants to project itself, you might lose that person before they even give your product/service a chance. On another note, however, visually striking, professional-looking designs that are also relevant could attract people and make them curious enough about what you offer to begin a positive relationship.

Designing Your Way to Success

Nowadays, having a great product or service alone won’t guarantee success in overpopulated markets where everyone seems alike; therefore, differentiation becomes a crucial factor that can easily be achieved through well-thought-out designs.

Differentiation Using Appearances

Deliberate beauty, a reliable visual brand, and alluring packaging can make products stand out on the shelf and attract wandering-eyed shoppers. In most cases, the better-designed one wins even if the items are alike in every other way.

Consider this: You’re strolling down the aisle at your neighbourhood grocery store. Picture yourself seeing two pasta sauce brands next to each other — one has a generic label design that doesn’t look very appealing, while another boasts sleek modernity, which makes your mouth water just by looking at it. Which would you pick? The design becomes the deal-breaker.

Differentiation Through User Experience

The design also has a significant impact on user experience (UX). A good UX design should have intuitive interfaces, easy navigation paths, clear visual hierarchy, and pleasing aesthetics, contributing to frictionless, enjoyable user experiences.

In industries with stiff competition between similar products or services, this could be used as an effective differentiation strategy based on experience design alone. Take, for instance, Apple’s iPhone versus Samsung Galaxy phones battle royale. 

Core features might be more or less the same, but what sets them apart most of the time is users’ preference for iPhones’ sleekness in look and feel plus seamless interactions, which have become synonymous with Apple-designed apps over time. This has undoubtedly played a part in making the iPhone such a huge success story globally.

Building Brand Perception and Loyalty

Aside from attracting attention and standing apart from rivals, great design influences people’s perception of and relationship with a brand over time. A consistent and high-quality design helps to establish a strong brand identity, personality, and set of associations in the minds of consumers.

Creating an Emotional Connection

Good design arouses emotions and creates memorable experiences for customers. When a brand's visual identity resonates with someone’s taste and values, they feel a sense of kinship towards it. They start thinking about the brand as an extension of themselves or their lifestyle.

Think about iconic brands like Nike or Harley Davidson with cult-like followings. Everything from their products, packaging, ads, websites — even merch — all work together through design to communicate a particular attitude or way of life that speaks directly into its desired audience’s soul. People love what these companies stand for mainly due to design.

Building Trust and Credibility

The consistently professional and polished design can also help build trust over time. Suppose every touchpoint or communication coming out under our fictitious company’s umbrella has some level of sophistication/attention to detail paid towards its physical appearance. In that case, this sends signals saying: “Hey! We’re not just another fly-by-night operation; we know what we’re doing here!”

Design plays a vital role in achieving such a goal, especially regarding establishing legitimacy right out the gate with new brands (who don’t have much history behind them nor too many friends sharing words about how awesome they are). 

The moment a potential customer lands on some website whose interface looks like it was designed back during Windows 95 days… well, let’s just say there won’t be much trust between said visitor + whatever service/product is being offered at that point. But yes, investing heavily in graphic arts can help overcome initial hesitations about trusting your online business!

Justifying Premium Prices

Another thing great design can do for us is enable charging higher prices as well – numerous scientific studies have repeatedly shown how individuals perceive more aesthetically pleasing products to be of superior quality (even though not always true).

Attractive design implies attention to detail and quality — things people don’t mind paying extra bucks for. Think about some fancy restaurant down the block that dropped mad cash on interior design, menu layout, plate presentation skills, etc – they’re able to charge $40 plates of chicken because it’s all dressed up with lovely napkins & check presenters 😉

Driving Word of Mouth

In the current world of social media, design can be used to amplify word of mouth and PR for a brand. People are fond of sharing good designs with their networks, whether an eye-popping product, innovative packaging, viral ad campaign or a drool-worthy website.

Shares on Social Media

Consider those unboxing videos that garner millions of views because of the thoughtfully designed packaging. Or witty ad designs that get shared all over Twitter and Instagram. When design is worth sharing, it can expand a brand’s reach exponentially and bring in many new potential customers.

Even for small businesses, having a well-designed and visually appealing presence on social media can generate buzz. There’s nothing more powerful than when people see their friends raving about how cute your Instagram feed is or how hilarious your TikTok videos are — that’s priceless social proof.

PR & Media Coverage

Good design also catches media outlets' eyes, leading to earned media coverage. Products with cutting-edge designs often get featured in gift guides, design blogs, industry publications, and mainstream news.

For example, many design blogs/magazines publish yearly roundups of the most incredible product packaging designs. Brands that invest in outstanding packaging have an opportunity to get their products seen by enormous audiences for free – even just one feature can cause a significant spike in sales and awareness around the brand itself.

Design in the Digital Age

In the modern era, sales can only be driven by design. With many competitors just one click away, design determines whether somebody sticks around on your site or goes to another company’s.

Enhancing Ecommerce Sales

For ecommerce brands, web design is either the making or breaking point for sales. Potential customers will be lost if the website is clunky, confusing, or unattractive. However, browsers can be converted into buyers when they find products easily and check them out quickly on a well-designed site.

Consider the amount of work Amazon puts into consistently improving its UX design so shoppers have the easiest time finding what they need and completing their purchase in just a few clicks; this kind of relentless optimisation pays off big time.

Conquering Short Attention Spans

Nowadays, people have incredibly short attention spans, and there are millions of things competing for their focus — in such an environment, design becomes critical to instantly grab someone’s attention as they scroll past and communicate essential information.

Captivating visuals, snappy headers, and concise, well-formatted copy stops the scroll and pulls people in. But massive walls of dense text or generic stock photos often get glossed over without a second look.

Real-World Results: Companies Boosting Sales Through Design

To better understand the monetary value of good design, let’s examine some businesses that obtained considerable benefits through design investments.

• Apple: The main reason Apple became the world's most expensive company is its dedication to elegant, intuitive design. Apple can demand prices significantly higher than its competitors thanks to its design skills.
• Nike: Being focused on design in everything — from shoes to advertisements or in-store displays — has made Nike the most valuable clothing brand globally. People know they will get premium quality when they see that famous swoosh sign and are ready to pay for it.
• Warby Parker: A new eyewear company changed the traditional glasses industry with fresh designs, among other things. They attracted customers sick of uninspiring options by offering them stylish alternatives. Since 2010, Warby Parkers’ annual sales have grown by over 250 million dollars.
• Method: Method entered a competitive cleaning supplies market, differentiating itself by emphasising aesthetics within product packaging and overall brand identification system (logotype). This turned ordinary chores into trendy habits while increasing revenues up to one hundred million dollars per annum (USD)

Caveats and Counterpoints

However, this does not mean design is a panacea for boosting sales in every business. There are several caveats:

Design Cannot Fix Bad Products

If the core product is weak or fails to satisfy any genuine need, no matter how well it is designed, it will not survive in the long run. Design should only build upon them rather than attempting to conceal inferior products. While glossy packaging might lead to some initial purchases, people will still drop the item when they find out it does not work as expected.

Effort vs. Impact

In specific industries and business models, design may have less impact on sales than other factors. For example, the revenue generation of most SaaS companies could be affected more by software quality and customer service than the visual design of their websites.

One should consider investing in the design relative to its expected outcome. A small convenience store owned by a family should not allocate too much time and money for this purpose if it means neglecting other equally important areas.

Functionality Should Not Be Overlooked

Moreover, functionality and usability must always remain a priority alongside aesthetics in any design work undertaken; there should never be a sacrifice of intuitive user experience due to choices made purely on appearance. Think about those fancy-looking but practically unnavigable artistic sites – cutting-edge looks would only scare clients away!

Final Thoughts on Design and Sales

After weighing the evidence, great design can significantly boost sales in many scenarios. From grabbing attention to building brand loyalty to supporting premium pricing, the design offers wide-ranging benefits that translate into revenue.

Of course, the impact of design will vary between industries and businesses. It's not a panacea for all sales woes. However, given the clear upside potential, investing in high-quality design is a smart bet for any company that wants to take its sales to the next level.

Ultimately, the most important thing is striking the right balance – prioritising design but not sacrificing other critical areas like product quality, customer service, and usability. Nailing that combination is the recipe for design-driven sales success.

FAQs About Great Design and Sales