Store design and planning is one of the most important things that retailers need to address to stay profitable. With a proper store layout, merchandise will sell itself, but when the design is untidy and congested, even the best product can go unnoticed.

The idea of planning your store design is not just to make it look appealing, but also create an environment that entices customers to spend more time in the store, and possibly spend more money impulsively.

Better Shop Design for Shoppability

There are three things that influence a retail store’s shop-ability, or capacity to convert consumer needs and desires into purchases:

1) Attractive appearance

Besides the unique design and aesthetic beauty of your retail space, how well does your store engage shoppers by connecting to the salient but latent needs that drive a purchase? Each retailer needs a good understanding of his/her customers, as this is what guides them in creating an appropriate and appealing selection of merchandise.

Things like store layouts, lighting, fixtures, and merchandising all draw the customer’s attention to the products and their highlights, while putting a greater focus on shop owner’s brand identity. And retail stores keep the experience fresh by relentlessly keeping the innovations coming – new products and services, special events, or promotions to entertain shoppers.

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2) Visual simplicity and transparency

Transparency seeks to minimise visual clutter and make it easy to navigate the store. As you walk through the aisles, you should immediately know if the store has what you want, and even where it is likely to be located. Basically, the store creates a feeling of comfort and familiarity, as products are arranged in ways that make sense.

In other words, the store layout and product presentation are consistent with shopper expectations.

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3) Convenient and enjoyable shopping experience

Shopping convenience means that shoppers can enter the store, find what they need, and check out in an acceptable amount of time. Delays are avoided by making promoted items easily accessible, placing complementary items nearby, creating space for wide aisles for high traffic hours, and keeping the lines fast moving.

So, how do you assess store layout?

The layout of your store is directly affected by the shape and size of the sales floor, but the idea is to expose shoppers to the products and maximise traffic flow. You can assess your store’s layout by answering the following questions:

• What message is the layout sending?
• Does it reflect store policies and support the store image?
• Is the layout appealing and conducive to buying?
• Does the layout improve the individual performance of a single product?
• Have the sales of promoted products increased or provided adequate financial returns?
• What is the impact of the layout on ROI?

You can answer these questions in two ways: quantitatively by measuring and comparing number of units sold; and qualitatively by focusing on customer feedback. For more information, contact the Connect Oasis team today.