What to Consider When Creating a Clothing Store Floor Plan

In-store shopping is still the preferred method for 82% of millennials – even those that also engage in online shopping. With so much demand, there are plenty of customers for you to target. To stand out from your competition, you need to take the relevant steps to grab customers’ attention and keep them engaged as they browse through your clothing store.

boutique indoor store

That’s why you need a faultless clothing store floor plan. Here’s what you need to consider:

 

 

Take Advantage of Shopper Behaviour

Studies show that 90% of people turn right when they walk into a store. That’s a huge insight into shopper behaviour that your clothing store should utilise. The first thing fashion enthusiasts will notice inside of your store is your interior design. This includes what you have on your walls, what your flooring is like, fixturing, signs and more. They all need to work together to tell a single story. 

When turning right, it’s important to take advantage of what’s called ‘the power wall.’ It means you need to carefully place the merchandise you want to sell in this area. Take a look at what your high-demand products are or what you want to promote more than others.

It can be a new range of jeans, branded t-shirts or anything else you want to push. Placing clothes in this area will ensure they get seen. It’s an excellent promotional and brand-building space, so use it to strike a lasting impression.

 

Design for the Space You Have

It’s completely normal to have some wild ideas about how you want to shape your clothing store. Although, you need to keep the space you have in mind. It’s no good having a small space yet try to use ideas that will leave customers fighting for elbow room. Or even having smaller ideas, yet you leave the majority of your store empty.

It all depends on the type of atmosphere you want to create. Here are some floor plan layout examples to help you draft up an early blueprint.

Grid

A layout where lots of merchandise is placed on long aisles in a predictable fashion. Here, impulse buys are placed near the front and the staple items are towards the end. It’s perfect for giving shoppers plenty of exposure to your clothing and the layout encourages them to browse other aisles.

Although, this layout tends to suit supermarkets and newsagents better.

Herringbone

We recommend this layout if you have a long and narrow clothing store. However, it’s quite similar to the grid layout if you need to pack a tiny space full of your clothing items. The side walls can be used for promotional items and the visual breaks can allow your store to breathe a little. 

The downside is that lots of products in a small area means customers can easily bump into each other. That can be annoying and doesn’t make for a great in-store experience.

Loop

Sometimes referred to as a racetrack, this layout is great to manipulate your customers’ traffic flow. You’ll make your customers walk past every item. It’s clever as it increases the chances of somebody making an impulsive purchase that they didn’t initially intend on buying.

It’s good for maximum product exposure and IKEA is an example of the loop layout done well. However, this can also become frustrating as it’s a one-way system and they can’t turn back without disrupting others. This can stop shoppers from returning.

Free-Flow

If you want to be really creative with your space, then this is the layout for you. It doesn’t conform to any strict regimented layout rulings. It’s entirely up to you where you want to place your clothing products. However, free-flow relies on the common behavioural trends of shoppers, so keep them in mind.

With free-flow, you need to think about where you’ll place different items of clothing so the journey is more natural. You don’t want to confuse shoppers by going from formal shirts placed right next to women’s handbags – or even placing the checkout in a confusing area. 

Take a look at your highest areas of traffic and tweak your space as required. You can find out more about these store layouts in this blog.

 

Have a Clear Concept to be Memorable

Think about some of the most successful and memorable clothing store experiences around. They have concepts which are unique to them, such as Hollister. While trying to sell their products, each store is darker than you’d expect. It creates an surf-shack atmosphere that allows shoppers to hang out and find some cool clothes.

It helps them to relax, spend more time there and, hopefully, spend more money. You can look to even more for inspiration. Joyce Boutique in Shanghai is known for sleek interior, artistic details and exclusive collections displayed in an elegant and inviting environment.

Chloe Boutique in Soho has a cosy atmosphere with a feminine interior decor. They tend to place their bags on the walls with plenty of space in between and push more expensive products in the middle of the store. They’re just some of the many examples out there of clothing stores that have a clear concept and floor plans. It makes them more memorable. 

Do the same and find a concept that makes your store unique. Start as simple as picking your theme and colours to you can work on your interior.

 

What You Need to Grab Attention

Sometimes you need to do a little bit more to persuade customers into making a purchase. This can be done by adding some extra products to help draw attention to particular areas or garments.

Here are some ideas to think about:

 

  • Window Graphics: It’s the perfect starting point. At Dominion Print, we have a wide selection of self-adhesive materials that can draw attention before they even enter your store. They’re an excellent way to deliver effective and eye-catching marketing messages.
  • Banners: We also have durable banners that can help your clothing store make an impact. It’s another excellent way to market your products or use them for impactful designs to gain interest.
  • Free Standing Display Unit (FSDU): Using an FSDU is another beneficial way of creating sale solutions. You can utilise it to help you build your brand or product so that you can push certain items,
  • Printed Flooring: We also offer printed flooring solutions and it’s a good idea to utilise this if it fits the concept of your clothing store. They’re ideal for indoor and outdoor environments. It’s another way to capture attention or even subtly guide customers through your store.
  • Light Boxes: Light boxes are an innovative way to both utilise valuable wall space and also draw attention to certain products. They’re not something customers see all the time, so it’s a good chance to place these in strategic locations. Our backlit graphics solutions offer a dramatic boost compared to traditional methods.

Along with your floor plan, having products like these are beneficial additions that can take your clothing store to the next level. It can result in an increase in dwell time and a positive experience that customers will remember to encourage repeat visits and purchases.

It’s vital that you have a clothing store plan designed to help you succeed. Although, there’s still a lot more that you need to know before you can go out and create your own. We know it can be a tricky place to start, so we’ve created some handy templates you can use.

 

Download Your Free Floor Plan Templates

Our floor plan templates are great to use for ideas and inspiration when it’s time to create your own. It can be for your clothing store, coffee shop, exhibition or even a hotel. It’ll also explain how working with Dominion Print will help you wow customers and increase sales. 

Get your free copy using the link below.

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