Store Design and Layout

Objectives of Good Store Design

 Design should be consistent with the image and strategy: Define the
target customer and design the store that meets customer’s needs
Design should positively influence consumer behaviour:
Concentrate on the store layout and space planning issues

Design should consider cost versus Value: Various features such as

lighting, placement of merchandize, etc. are considered

Design should be flexible: Ability to physically move store

components and ease with which components can be modified
Design should recognize the needs of disabled: There must be
enough space for the movement and access of person with disbilities
 Store Layout
Objectives of Good Store Layout

Maintain tradeoff between providing ease of finding merchandise

and providing a interesting layout

Maintain a balance between giving customers adequate space in

which to shop and productively use the expansive space for
merchandize

Store Design and Layout

 Types of Store Designs
 Grid Layout
• Used by the grocery and drug stores
• It contains long gondolas of merchandize and aisles in a repetitive
pattern. Grid layout is cost efficient
• Convenient for customers to move around the entire store space
• Less space is wasted and hence space productivity is enhanced

 Racetrack
• Also known as Loop, is a type of store design that provides a major
aisles to facilitate customer traffic with access to the stores multiple
entrances
• The aisles loops around the store providing access to all departments
• The aisles must be differentiated by the change in colour or floor
texture

Store Design and Layout

 Types of Store Designs
 Freeform Layout

• Also known as boutique layout arranges fixtures and aisles

asymmetrically
• Used in small specialty stores or within the departments of large
stores
• Personal selling is more important in this layout
• Atmosphere is relaxed and customer feels convenient to shop
• Chances of theft are high as adjacent departments can’t be watched
• Some storage space is lost to create more spacious environment

Store Design and Layout

 Visual Merchandising and Display
Feature Areas
These are areas within the store designed to get the customer’s
attention
 These includes;
• End Caps: These are displays located at the end of an aisle
• Promotional Aisle or Area: Used to display merchandize for
promotion
• Freestanding Fixtures and Mannequins: Designed primarily to get
customer attention and bring them into the department
• Windows: Provide a visual message about the type of merchandize
for sale in the store and type of image store portrays
• Point of Sale Areas: Places in the store, where customer can
purchase merchandize
• Walls: Used for placing shelf and racks for the displays
 Space Planning
Space planning includes following factors;
 how profitable is the merchandize?
 how many SKUs will normally be carried in stock?
 how will the merchandize be displayed?
 will the location of certain merchandize facilitate the purchasing?
 what items does the retailer wish to emphasize?
Location of Departments
 Relative location advantages
 Impulse Products
 Demand Areas
 Seasonal needs
 Physical characteristics of merchandise
 Adjacent departments
Visual Merchandising and Display
 Planograms
 It is a diagram created from photographs, computer output or
artist’s sketch that illustrate exactly where every SKU should be
placed
 Planograms should be visually appealing, represent the manner in
which a consumer shops and embody the strategic objective of the
corporation
 A planogrammer must be able to balance visual impact with the
financial analysis

 Planograms are useful for merchandize that does not fit on the
gondolas in a grocery or discount store
 Electronic planogramming requires the computer modeling based
on model number, product margins, turnover, size of the product,
packaging, actual picture of the merchandize, etc.
Visual Merchandising and Display
 Visual Merchandizing
 It is defined as the presentation of products in order to sell them
 It includes various aspects such as store floor plan, store windows,
signs, merchandize display, space design, fixtures and hardware, etc.
 It is expected to educate the customers, create desires and finally
augment the shopping process
Benefits of the Effective Display
• Entertain, inform and educate the customer about the product/service
• Reaffirm the store’s image
• Arranges the merchandize for easy access
• Draws customer attention
• Establishes a creative medium
• Highlights merchandize to promote its sale
• Encourages customer to enter the store and shop
Visual Merchandising and Display
 Merchandize Presentation Techniques
 Idea Oriented Presentation: Presenting merchandize based on a
specific idea or the image of the store

 Style / Item Presentation: Organizing stock by the style, item or size

 Colour Presentation: displaying according to season or latest trends

 Price Lining: Organizing according to the price categories

 Vertical Merchandising: Arranging merchandize vertically on the

walls and high gondolas. National brands are organized to follow the
eye level while store brands are on the lower shelf

Visual Merchandising and Display

 Merchandize Presentation Techniques

 Tonnage Merchandising: It is display technique in which large

quantities of merchandize are displayed together. Customer equate
tonnage with the low price

 Frontage Presentation: Displaying merchandize in which retailer

expose as much product as possible to catch customer attention

 Fixtures: Purpose is to hold and display merchandize. E.g.Straight

rack, rounder, four way fixture, gondolas, etc.

Visual Merchandising and Display

 Atmospherics
 It refers to design of an environment via visual communications,
lighting, colours, music and scent to stimulate customers perceptual
and emotional responses and ultimately to affect their purchase
behaviour
 Atmospherics refers to the store physical characteristics that are
used to develop the retail unit image and draw customers
 It is classified in terms of exterior and interiors atmospherics
 Exterior refers to: Store front, display window, surrounding
businesses, look of shopping centre
 Interior refers to: Lighting, colour, dressing room facilities, etc.
 It helps to enhance the display and provides customers with
relevant information

Visual Merchandising and Display

 Role of Atmospherics in Retail strategy

 Enhances the image of retail outlet

 Attracts new customers
 Create a definite USP
 Generates excitement
 Facilitates easy movement inside the store
 Facilitates access to merchandize inside the store
 Ensures optimum utilization of retail space
 Ensures effective and desired presentation of the merchandize
 Reduces product search time for the customer
 Reinforces the marketing communication of the outlet
 Influences the service quality experience

Visual Merchandising and Display

 Atmospherics in the context of Internet Retailing
In the context of e-tailing, following factors are considered;

Website organization
 Server performance
 Product data
 Search option
 Easy navigability of the website
 System response time

Visual Merchandising and Display

 Organizing the Display
Display concepts can be based on the following themes
 Seasons
 Special occasions of holidays
 Colours
 Trends and activities
 Themes
 Events of the community
Locations of the Display
 Front Windows
 Small platforms at the entrance
 End caps
 Display or product case
 Behind the check-out counter
 Designated display areas
Visual Merchandising and Display
 Components of Display
 Wall Display: Slatwall, Slotted wall standards
 Floor Fixtures: Gridwall panels and accessories, garment racks and
displayers, Display cases and counters, metal shelving gondolas
 Display products: Mannequins and body forms, Clear acrylic
displays

 Supply and equipment

 Promotional items: Window signs and banners, promotional signs

and tags, etc.

Lighting fixtures: Track lighting, etc.

 Signage

Visual Merchandising and Display

 Factors to consider in organizing the effective display
 Balance : It uses optical weight to balance the display

 Rhythm : Lines can lend a rhythmic feelings to any display or area

 Proportion : Refers to relationship between the apparent size, mass,

scale or optical weight of two or more objects

 Texture : It sets the mood of merchandize and the store

 Harmony: The display should be in harmony with the whole store

 Emphasis: It could be through the use of colours, dramatic lighting,

signage, graphics and strategic placements
Visual Merchandising and Display
 Walls as Retail Selling Tools

Captures the shoppers attention as they enter retail space

 Wall displays draw shoppers farther into the store
 Communicates the fashion information
 Encourages the multiple purchases
 Acts as a way finding tool, guiding shoppers to products they come
to see and buy
 Forms the retail background, supporting store image by the strategic
use of a variety interesting wall surfaces, paints, colours and wall
papers

Visual Merchandising and Display

 Colour Planning
 Colour Schemes;
• Complimentary : Involves two colours that are directly opposite to
each other on the colour wheel, e.g. yellow and violet
• Split – complimentary : Involves three colours – one central colour
and two on either sides to compliment it,e.g. yellow with red violet
and blue violet
• Double complimentary : Uses four colours – two colour plus their
compliments, e.g. yellow with violet and green with red
• Triadic : Involves three colours forming a triangle such as orange,
green and violet
• Analogous : Scheme involves adjacent colours
• Monochromatic : Involves a single colour

Visual Merchandising and Display

 Role of Colour in Retail Atmospherics
An effective colour plan performs the following functions;
o Communicates the desired aspects
o Sets mood
o Emphasizes features
o Highlights a products
o Emphasizes seasonal aspects of the merchandize

Some colours for special events;

• Christmas – Red and green
• Halloween – Black and orange
• Valentine Day – Red and Pink
• Independence day – Saffron
• Diwali – Red, yellow, green
• Eid - Green
Visual Merchandising and Display