CHAPTER 17Store Layout, Design, and Visual Merchandising

Store Design Objective Implement Retailer’s

strategy Build Loyalty Increase Sales on Visits Control Cost Legal Considerations

Design Trade-Offs

stimulating impulse purchases

making it easy to buy products

making it easy to find merchandise

providing an interesting shopping experience is determined by the customer’s shopping needs

giving customers adequate space in which to shop

productively using this scarce resource for merchandise

• Layouts• Signage and Graphics• Feature Area

Store Design Elements

Grid Layout • Grid layout has parallel aisles with

merchandise on shelves on both side of the aisles

• Cash registers are located at the entrances/exits of the stores

• Easy to locate merchandise• Cost-efficient• Most supermarkets and full-line

discount stores use the grid layout Limitation Does not encourage customers to explore store

Racetrack Layout (Loop)

• Loop with a major aisle that has access to departments

• Draws customers around the store

• Provide different viewing angles and encourage exploration, impulse buying

• Used in department stores

Free-From Layout • Fixtures and aisles

arranged asymmetrically• Provides an intimate,

relaxing environment that facilitates shopping and browsing

Help customers locate specific products and departmentProvide product information Suggest item or special purchases

Signage and Graphics

Graphics can reinforce a store’s image

Category Signage identifies types of products and located near the goods

Promotional Signagerelates to specific offers – sometimes in windows

Point-of-sale Signage near merchandise with prices and product information

Digital Signage• More effective in attracting

the attention of customer

• helping customers recall the messages displayed

• Provides appealing atmosphere

• Overcomes time-to-message hurdle

• Eliminates costs

• Areas within a store designed to get the customers’ attention

• Feature areas– Windows– Entrances– Freestanding displays– End caps– Promotional aisles– Walls– Dressing rooms– Cash wraps (POP counters,

checkout areas)

Feature areas

The space within stores and on the stores’ shelves are fixtures is a scare resource• The allocation of store space to

merchandise categories and brands• The location of departments or

merchandise categories in the store

Man

agem

ent

Spac

e

• Productivity of allocated space (sales per square foot, sales per linear foot)• Merchandise inventory turnover• Impact on store sales• Display needs for the merchandise

Space Allocated to Merchandise Categories

Impulse merchandise near heavily trafficked areas

Demand merchandiseback left-hand corner of the store

Special merchandiselightly trafficked areas (glass pieces, women’s lingerie)

Category Adjacenciescluster complimentary merchandise next to each other

Location of Merchandise Categories and Design Elements

Planogram

Location of Merchandise within a Category

diagram that shows how and where specific SKUs should be placed on retail selves or displays to increase customer purchases

Mark&Spencer in UK uses a planogram system developed by Marketmax to develop a layout that maximizes space productivity

Virtual-Store Simulation

Location of Merchandise within a Category

Learn the best place to merchandise and test how customers react to new products

Location of Merchandise within a Category

Videotaping Consumers

• Learn customers’ movements, where they pause or move quickly, or where there is congestion

• Evaluate the layout, merchandise placement, promotion

FixturesA. Straight rackB. Rounder (bulk

fixture, capacity fixture)

C. Four-way fixture (feature fixture)

D. Gondolas

Visual Merchandising

Presentation Techniques• Idea-Oriented Presentation• Item and size Presentation• Color Organization• Price Lining• Vertical Merchandising• Tonnage Merchandising• Frontal Presentation

Visual Merchandising

Creating an Appealing Store Atmosphere

Stor

e At

mos

pher

e

Lighting Color Music Scent

How Exciting Should a Store Be?Depends on the Customer’s Shopping Goals– Task-completion: • a simple atmosphere with

slow music, dimmer lighting, and blue/green colors

– Fun: • an exciting atmosphere with

fast music, bright lighting, and red/yellow colors

Web

Site

Des

ign

• Simplicity Matters• Getting Around – Easy

Navigation• Let Them See It • Blend the Web Site with

the Store• Prioritize

Web Site Design• Type of Layout– When shopping on the Web, customer are interested

in speed, convenience, ease of navigation, not necessarily fancy graphics

• Checkout– Make the process clear and appear simple– Enclose the checkout process– Make the process navigable without loss of information– Reinforce trust in the checkout process