How to Optimize Your Retail Floor Layout

 

There’s an actual science to a retail store layout. Little details, like moving customers in a certain direction or the strategic placement of items, can increase your sales and create a better shopping experience. No matter how much space you have (or don’t), the right kind of store layout encourages customers to return. Saga Display breaks down how retail shopping stores can do better.

Understanding the Importance of Floor Layout in Retail

Every retail store basically starts with four walls surrounding a big empty space.  How that blank space is set up and organized can encourage customers to stay longer, draw their attention to special items, and encourage more purchases. 

Over time, experts and psychologists have determined how a retail store layout influences buying habits and customer satisfaction. There are five basic retail store layouts that can work with almost any kind of physical size and space.

Choose the Right Store Layout

Choosing the right store layout depends on several factors. Take into consideration the customer’s shopping habits: do they have specific items in mind and just want to get in and out, or do they browse? How do they want to see products arranged – in a group or combined with different items? Consider the size of your store as well. No matter what size your space is, ultimately, you want to have a store floor plan that optimizes the visibility of your products, guides customer movement through the space, and gives them a great shopping experience.

Grid Layout 

The simple grid layout is good for a large store with many different products. It’s pretty straightforward, with shelving and aisles arranged in long parallel paths. The grid store layout is typically found in places like grocery stores or pharmacies.

Loop (Racetrack) Layout: 

The loop store layout is designed to guide customers through a pre-determined path around the perimeter. It’s meant to encourage exploration, like in a furniture store or department store. The loop is a retail floor plan that offers more chances to showcase merchandise and place promotions where they’re more likely to be seen.

In a large retail store, this retail store design keeps traffic moving and makes it easy for customers to navigate. However, if someone is looking for a specific item, it might be a frustrating design.

Free-Flow Layout: 

Unlike a grid store layout, the free-flow layout allows customers to explore and browse, with no set aisles.  It creates a very relaxed shopping experience around limited floor space and encourages impulse buying. This is a great store layout for smaller spaces or stores with a limited product range. The free-flow layout gives the illusion of more space.

Herringbone Layout: 

This is an angular or diagonall store layout and is a variation of the grid store layout. It has a main aisle and smaller aisles that branch off from it. It’s good for long, narrow spaces, guiding customers through a main path, and making the most of display space. The herringbone layout is often found in places like bookstores or hardware stores.

Boutique Layout: 

The boutique store layout is based on a free-flow design that encourages customers to explore. It has a warm aesthetic appeal and allows for “alcoves” or “stores within a store” that highlight curated merchandise and product categories. For a jewelry store, for example,  This kind of store layout may feature items like an earring display stand in one spot, a necklace display stand in the other. This unique retail store design is great for specialty stores.

Analyze Customer Behavior

Analyzing customer behavior is part of an effective retail store layout. Do your customers want to get in and out of the store? Or do you carry merchandise that you want them to explore?  Understanding customer behavior can be analyzed by studying foot traffic, how customers interact with products, or “heat maps” that reveal where customers spend time in the store or avoid. Sales data can also reveal bestsellers, trends, and more that can shape a more effective retail store layout.

Decompression Zone:

The decompression zone is an open, uncluttered space at the entrance of a retail store. It allows the customer a moment to adjust their view of the entire store and orient themselves to the store layout. It sets the tone for the shopping experience, so avoid overwhelming the customer with a barrage of products or big displays.

Power Wall:

In retail store design, the Power Wall is a large visual display meant to catch the eye of the customer and boost sales. It’s frequently placed on the front right wall, a prominent spot that naturally draws the eyes of customers, and it’s used to highlight new products, seasonal items, or bestsellers.

Customer Flow Patterns:

Studying customer traffic around the retail space can help adjust and improve the retail floor plan. This can be done by manual counting, sensors in the store, thermal imaging, and even AI systems that track how customers move through the store.

Strategic Product Placement

Part of an effective retail store layout is maximizing how products are displayed. There’s a science behind product placement that involves where customers are most likely to see them, shelf height, convenience in accessing them, and other factors like placing certain items in high-traffic areas during peak times or seasons.

High-Demand Items:

Display  high-demand items in ways that maximize their visibility: eye-level shelves, near the checkout area, and at the back of the store, to encourage browsing while getting there

Impulse Buys:

Impulse buys do well when placed in two spots in retail floor plans: high-traffic areas like entrances and end caps at the end of aisles, and near the checkout.

Complementary Products: 

Place complementary products (such as sponges with cleaning liquids) on adjacent shelves or within the same aisle.

Eye-Level Displays:

Placing items, like a ring display or a bracelet display stand, at eye level has been shown to increase sales. That level (about 4-5 feet) maximizes visibility. Using eye-level displays for high-margin or popular items boosts sales potential.

Optimize Checkout and POS Areas

An important part of a story layout is in the checkout area. Make it easy and pleasant for the customer with spacious lanes, clear signage, and no bottlenecks. Offer self-checkout options and reduce the number of steps needed to complete a purchase. Keep the area clutter-free.

Clear Signage: 

Guide customers to checkout with overhead signage and floor decals.

Queue Management:

Avoid bottlenecks with self-checkout options and a modern POS system that integrates with your inventory and payment systems. Ensure employees are trained and comfortable with the system.

Space Allocation: 

Ensure that your checkout area is spacious, with clear signage and minimal clutter.

Utilize Vertical Space

The use of vertical space is critical for floor plans; retail must maximize all of its assets. Shelving, displays, and signage are all smart tools to create a great customer experience and drive sales.

Shelving

Vertical shelves that reach ceiling height help organize and display products in ways that influence customer behavior. Utilize shelves of different sizes and types to create effective displays. Targeted lighting will draw attention.

Wall Displays:

Use the “60-30-10” rule: 60 percent of your display should be a dominant color, 30 percent a secondary color, and 10 percent an accent color. Include lighting to highlight the display.

Signage

Signage in a retail store should have clear messaging and a consistent design. It should also be placed strategically, such as at the entryway or on end caps in the aisles.

Regularly Review and Adjust

Floor plans in retail are never static: they need to be reviewed and adjusted regularly to match changing behaviors and trends among consumers. It’s a good idea to monitor traffic flows and product placement to give customers the best shopping experience possible and maximize sales at every turn.

Saga Display has the tools for every kind of retail store layout. We can help with space management and effective signage and displays to move product and build customer loyalty.

Let us help optimize your retail space for maximum results!