How to buy shopfitting in South Africa
Welcome to our easy guide on how to buy shopfitting in South Africa
If you’re a local and you’re ready to open your first store or to redo your corporate space, you’re going to be looking to buy shopfitting in South Africa. In today’s short guide, we’ll give you some expert advice on what to look for and what to expect.
1. Do your homework
If you’re in the market to buy shopfitting, you’re probably aware of some of the ways that you can approach it in South Africa. The two main ones are:
- Buy an off-the-shelf shopfitting system
- Custom-build a solution for your space.
Buying an off-the-shelf shopfitting system is always going to be the most affordable way to shopfit your store and also the fastest. This is because standard shopfitting systems in South Africa are pre-designed and often pre-manufactured.
If you choose to purchase your store fixtures in Cape Town and Johannesburg from Tubal C, we can ship countrywide right to your door. Also, you can look forward to competitive prices and great service from one of the best shopfitting companies in Cape Town.
The second option is custom-made wood or steel shopfitting fixtures. These are expensive because they’re typically one-offs. They also take much longer to manufacture for the same reason. There’s no production line, and no shopfitting designs already on the books.
2. Choose the best shopfitting for your needs
When you are ready to buy shopfitting in South Africa, you will have the choice of various prices.
Firstly, buying shopfitting in South Africa is not like buying a car or some other big purchase. There is virtually no used market to speak of.
In our experience, when many people are buying shopfitting for the first time, they think there’s this glorious used shopfitting market. They assume that it’s like cars, where they can buy beautiful fixturing that doesn’t look at all used, for a fraction of the price of new.
It’s not like that. Quality used fixturing (generally) just don’t exist.
The only exception is Tubal C shopfitting fixtures. These can be easily uninstalled from any space and still look almost like the day they were made.
When you buy shopfitting in South Africa, you will have a number of prices to choose from. The big lesson here is that cheap doesn’t equal good.
If you want to buy affordable shopfitting, speak to us. If you want to buy cheap shopfitting, you may need to go somewhere else.
Cheap shopfitting is usually imported from China. The quality of the finishing is poor, the fit is often even worse. You are extremely limited in terms of colour as well. If you buy shopfitting in South Africa from Tubal C, you will have the choice of a variety of colours.
If you’re on a budget, we suggest you invest in a system such as the Tubal C modular steel display system. This can grow with your store and with your budget. Start with the basics and go from there.
3. Profit
You’ve selected a great solution and you’ve paid a reasonable price. Well done! You’re on your way to making loads of money in your space!
But there’s one last thing to consider: Your space and the installation.
Make sure that you choose one of the more reputable shopfitting companies in South Africa to carry out the installation. Our sister company Uriah Designs is a great place to start.
Also, be sure to check with the mall or landlord about whether there are any restrictions relating to the installation itself. Many malls only allow drilling to take place after hours when the mall is closed. Your shopfitter will need to make allowance for overtime pay for the site team because after-hours labour is more expensive.
Finally: If you haven’t chosen a space yet for your retail shop, make sure it’s in a location with lots of foot traffic. Locations near anchor tenants do particularly well, so keep an eye out for those. Shops outside normal pedestrian foot traffic tend to be far less successful at best, or at worst, fail completely.
Conclusion
Buying shopfitting in South Africa is fun and easy if you know what to look for. We hope that today’s guide made it easy for you to find shopfitters in Cape Town and shopfitters in Johannesburg. We also want to remind you that Tubal C shopfitting ships nationwide and we have short lead times. Contact us for more info.