How to Create a Retail Store Layout Design that Increases Sales
Although there’s a huge emphasis on online shopping in modern times, shopping in brick and mortar stores is still very popular. Due to the popularity of in-store shopping, retailers need to be aware of the impact that store layout can have on sales figures. If you create a layout that appeals to shoppers, you’ll no doubt improve their in-store experience and your overall sales figures.
But how can you create a layout that turns browsers into actual buyers? Well, here’s everything you need to know about creating the perfect retail store layout design.
We’ll cover:
Make Customers Feel Welcome
Shoppers decide whether they like your store within the first 15 seconds of entering, so you have to create the most welcome of atmospheres straight away. The first area that the customers will step into is referred to as the threshold of the store. It’s in this part of the store that you should be particularly welcoming as here is where they decide whether or not to move further into your shop or not.
In order to make your store extra welcoming, why not try these following tips for your threshold:
Keep it spacious. By leaving enough space in the threshold, it’ll give your shoppers a relaxed entrance. When shopping, the last thing you want is to be bombarded from the moment you enter a store. If you do this, the chances of the customer leaving almost immediately are very high.
Display your best products. As we’ve said, the judgement of whether to carry on or not is made in this part of your store. Therefore, if you display your star products, the chances are that they’ll venture further into the store.
Make it appealing. Shoppers need a reason to enter your store. Window displays need to pull in the customer and make them feel like they’re missing out if they’re not having a look around your store.
Strategically Place Your Most Popular Products
A lot of the time, customers will be coming into your shop hoping to buy your most popular products. So, by placing them strategically around the shop, your layout can manipulate them into browsing for longer.
It’s best to keep groupings of staple items to a minimum and to spread them out across the store. Keep them at opposite ends and shoppers have to walk past additional products, which could prompt impulse buys. This way, the customer is enticed into exploring your entire shop as opposed to one area.
Include only a few popular items in the threshold. This means you can attract the shopper who’s looking for a specific item and doesn’t want to waste any time searching, but aren’t neglecting your other products.
Keep Best Stock at Eye Level
In any kind of store, products that are located at eye level receive the most attention from shoppers because this is where the gaze usually goes to.
This is why shelves come in handy in retail stores. Not only are they great for storage purposes, they’re also perfect for helping you with your store design. Putting items on the bottom and top shelves of racking is known as locating items at “stoop level” and “stretch level” respectively. We recommend that you place items of low profitability at these two levels and put the higher profitability at eye level.
Profitability should help you determine where products are situated, but you also should take health and safety into consideration. Avoid placing heavy or fragile items on the top shelves to keep your workers and shoppers safe from potential injuries.
Design Buying Paths
Your store has the power to dictate the route that people take when they enter your store. The buying path that you create should lead shoppers where they can see most of the products in your store. Controlling how shoppers move and browse your store increases the chances of them purchasing items.
Attention-grabbing displays at the ends of aisles are great ways of enticing people to walk down certain aisles. When they go over to browse the display, the likelihood is that they’ll check out the aisle too, which obviously increases the chance of them buying something from on the aisle.
Footprint stickers and signage are other good ways of drawing attention to certain places and making customers follow them. They can be totally customisable to appeal to your store target market and are a way of standing out from the crowd as it’s not a common method of marketing.
Checkout Space and Design is Vital
Your checkouts are where your customer’s store experience should come to an end. We’d advise placing your checkouts far away from your most popular products. That way, your shoppers have to walk past a whole load of your items to get to the pay point. This, again, increases the chances of impulse buys.
A lot of stores will utilise the space behind the counter to promote their special offers and seasonal promotions. This promotes impulse buys and retail stores should include little accessories that can easily be picked up on the way to the checkout.
Dominion Print Can Help
The look and feel of your stores can influence how much a customer spends when they’re in there. Shoppers shouldn’t feel bombarded by your efforts and should be made to feel comfortable every time they shop in your stores.
As we’ve mentioned, signage in stores can massively promote buyer behaviour and ultimately profit. But, they must be done correctly in order to be effective. At Dominion Print, we’re experts when it comes to all things signage. But, don’t just take our word for it.
Download our product matrix below and see how we’ve helped previous clients and how we could help you too.
{{cta(‘6d2dbeb2-24d2-4f1a-beaf-41e65a5b0b3a’)}}