How to Hire a Retail Designer: A Complete Guide for 2025

Every little detail in your shop influences whether someone passing by decides to step inside—and once they do, if they’re inspired to linger long enough to check out the merchandise, and if they leave happier than when they arrived. 

Thoughtful store design doesn’t just boost sales; it turns an ordinary shopping trip into the kind of unexpected moment that makes someone’s day—and has the potential to help turn a casual visitor into a lifelong customer. 

A professional retail designer takes your brand’s personality and translates it into floor plans, lighting, and merchandising flows that pull shoppers in and guide them toward what they truly want. 

Ahead, you’ll learn what a retail designer does, why hiring one can be key to boosting your offline sales, and how to find the right store designer for your retail space.

What is a retail designer? 

Part strategist, part interior architect, a retail designer plans every step shoppers take from their first glance at your window display to the final tap at checkout. Their plans include:

• Spatial zoning: Designers map out high-margin hotspots and dwell zones so shoppers are drawn to the right spots and stay there to browse. 
• Material and light curation: They specify finishes, fixtures, and color palettes to appeal to the eye and complement, but not overwhelm, the merchandise. 
• Visual merchandising: They stage products, signage, and digital screens to tell a cohesive story throughout the store. 

Although some designers advise on structural renovations, their expertise lies inside the four walls, crafting inclusive retail environments that turn foot traffic into customers at checkout.

Why hiring a professional retail designer is a good investment

To maximize your return on investment and create a truly impactful customer experience, hiring a professional retail designer is not a luxury—it's a strategic business decision.. The benefits include:

• More sales: Designers understand how layout tweaks result in higher dwell times and basket size. For example, Dollar General’s 2025 Project Elevate remodels target a 3%–5% first-year comp sales increase based on strategic redesign.
• Higher merchandising value: The pros know how to stage story-driven product zones, eye-level displays, and cross-selling vignettes the rest of your team would probably miss. They know how to make your most profitable item the star of the story. 
• Better lighting techniques: Designers utilize the color rendering index (CRI), color temp, and focal lighting that spotlights products, inspires decorating ideas, and guides shopper attention.
• Their network: Store designers usually have solid relationships with select vendors and can obtain discounts and access special resources that might not otherwise be available. 
• The “Wow” factor: Let’s face it: Your store’s “bounce rate” matters offline just as much as online. So why not hire a designer who can turn heads and optimize for conversion? 

Now that we’ve established the “why” behind hiring a store designer, let’s explore some of the skills to look for when hiring yours.

What to look for: Key skills of a great retail designer

A great retail designer combines exceptional taste and an artistic sensibility, technical know-how and excellent people skills. When reviewing portfolios or interviewing candidates, look for the following abilities.

Hard skills

• 3D CAD/BIM: Can draft accurate, detailed floor plans and photoreal renders that are easy for contractors to follow
• Space planning: Knows how to lay out traffic flow, sightlines, and fixture clearances to maximize sell-through
• Lighting design: Selects the right color temperature and beam angles to spotlight products and influence shoppers' mood
• Materials and finishes: Understands durability, maintenance, and brand aesthetics when specifying surfaces that make your products look the best
• Building code literacy: Stays on top of accessibility, fire safety, and energy regulations to avoid permitting delays

Soft skills

• Clear communication: Cleary explains interior and storefront design choices, budgets, and timelines in plain language to owners and builders
• Cross-team collaboration: Works smoothly with merch, marketing, and contractors so installs stay on schedule; engages staff and motivates them to take ownership of the design process and how it will improve sales
• Creative problem-solving: Adjusts layouts on the fly when site surprises crop up; turns unexpected problems into creative opportunities
• Storytelling: Turns brand values into cohesive visuals and in-store moments customers remember
• Negotiation: Leverages vendor relationships for better pricing and faster lead times

The retail design process from start to finish

Working with a good designer is an enjoyable experience. They will provide a phased roadmap to walk through everything from initial concepts to a grand opening checklist. 

Here is what the process usually looks like, starting with discovery. 

1. Consultation and concept development

Everything starts with a discovery call. The designer will chat with you about your goals, pain points, and target shoppers. This can happen in-store or over a video call. It’s a chance to see if you connect with the designer, and feel they understand your brand vision and can come up with a plan to articulate it visually. You may have calls with multiple designers before you select the one best suited to your store. 

Once you agree to work together, a site walkthrough will take place. The designer will then:

• Pull out the measuring tape to determine optimal traffic flow and sightlines
• Learn about your brand colors, fonts, story, and trending products
• Create a mood board with material swatches, photos, and a rough color palette 
• Draft a floor plan showing different zones and major fixtures 

The designer will also come up with a cost estimate so everyone is aligned on budget. 

2. Schematic design and space planning

Once the budget is approved, it’s time to set the stage. Your designer will divide the floor into selling zones based on a planogram, designed to ensure shoppers flow past your hero products first and interact with your merchandise following a timeline and narrative most advantageous to creating sales. 

They’ll also test the customer flow by sketching it out first. If it feels awkward on paper, it’ll be worse on opening day. And you can’t forget building codes—ADA clearances, egress widths, and fire safety paths are incorporated now to prevent costly redesigns later.

With scale and flow locked, the designer asks, “Does this footprint hit sales goals?”—because every square foot has to earn its keep before the next phase begins.

3. Sourcing fixtures, furniture, and materials

Freelance retail designers bring a huge network of experts with them. They can call in favors from trusted partners like metal shops, millworkers, and furniture makers, who can meet you on budget, quality, and lead time. They can design custom pieces that are best suited to your product and story. 

A designer will likely commission prototypes for key fixtures, so you can see mock-ups before signing off on a full production run. They’ll also consult with you on:

• Getting more value: For example, maybe you swap marble for quartz and solid oak for FSC plywood in lower-profile areas that won’t detract from an upscale look.
• Planning for opening day: Working backwards, a designer can plot production and freight windows so every fixture arrives before the installers do. Hopefully, they’ll factor in a bit of extra time to account for anything unexpected. 
• Planet-friendly picks: They can select environmentally friendly paints, recycled-content panels, and high-efficiency LEDs to improve your store's sustainability profile. 

4. Project management and installation

Hard hat on, the designer schedules the crew of experts, including electricians, painters, and installers. They also handle the deliveries, inspections, and ticking the boxes on all the small details along the way. 

When a fixture arrives one-eighth-inch too wide or a hidden conduit blocks shelving, the designer sketches a field revision before the drill cools. They’ll also do a final walk-through to flag the tiniest details like paint nicks, uneven lighting, and rattling drawer pulls, then chase every item to “done” before opening day.

On opening day, the designer may stay and watch shoppers move through the store and ensure the traffic is flowing the way you intended. They can tweak product placement or signage in real time, handing you a store that works as good as it looks. 

How to hire a store designer

Ask around

There’s nothing like word-of-mouth referrals when you’re trying to find seasoned pros to work with.

Begin by asking colleagues, friends, family, and other industry acquaintances. If you don’t find anyone this way, take note of what catches your eye when visiting other retail stores. Ask the owner who did the store design and how it went. Some questions to ask:

• Would you hire them again?
• How close did the timeline and budget match reality?
• Did sales or foot traffic change after opening?

Look online

At some point in your search, you might turn to good old Google to find the right store designer. 

You can search for “retail store designers” on freelance platforms like Fiverr or Upwork, but interior design communities are also a great place to look, as some designers there may specialize in commercial or store design. 

Here are some great online resources to get you started: 

American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)

This is an online community of designers, industry representatives, educators, and students, where you can find potential store designers near you in the US. 

Interior Designers of Canada (IDC)

Founded in 1972, the Interior Designers of Canada is an advocacy association that makes it easy to find interior designers for projects both small and large.

Houzz

Though geared primarily toward homeowners looking for home remodeling and design help, Houzz’s Find a Pro feature allows you to access a database of more than two million professionals who won’t have a problem adapting their expertise to a retail environment.

💡PRO TIP: In addition to searching online, you could also post your project on sites like Indeed to see what types of inbound responses you get.

Define your vision

This is an important step. When you start meeting with potential candidates, you’ll want to clearly communicate what kind of store design you’d like to incorporate into your brick-and-mortar location.

Pull together a one-page “starter” brief:

• Target shopper profile and brand adjectives
• Square footage, must-showcase SKUs, and non-negotiables
• Hard budget cap and target open date

Try organizing your ideas on Pinterest. Not only can you find endless inspiration there, but you can also create a board to start collecting images for your designer to reference. 

Interview several candidates

You'll want to look closely at each designer’s portfolio and relevant projects.

In the interview, have them walk you through their process, timelines, work schedules, and fees. Be sure to get references you can call to hear firsthand accounts of what it’s like to work with them. 

Create a clear and detailed contract

Once you have a candidate and come to an agreement on what’s expected from both parties, the next step is to put everything on paper. Clearly outline the terms and payment details in a contract agreed upon by both parties.

Moving forward with a store designer 

Once contracts are signed, agreements are made, and expectations are set, kick off the process with a bang and get ready to see your vision, brand, and products come to life in their new home: a beautifully designed retail store that catches eyes from the street and pulls foot traffic through the door—and ultimately toward checkout. 

This post was originally written by Humayun Khan and has been updated by Alexis Damen.