STORE LAYOUT, DESIGN AND

VISUAL MERCHANDISING
 Store Management

Customer Service Managing the Store

Layout, Design and

Visual Merchandising

18-2
Store Design Objectives

Implement retailer’s strategy

Influence customer buying behavior
Control design and maintenance costs
Provide flexibility
Meet legal requirements

18-3
Store Design
The primary objective of store design is implementing the retailer’s strategy

Meets needs of target market

Builds a sustainable competitive advantage
Displays the store’s image

(c) Brand X Pictures/PunchStock

C. Borland/PhotoLink/Getty Images

18-4
Impact on Customer Behavior

 Attract customers to store

 Enable them to easily locate merchandise
 Keep them in the store for a long time
 Motivate them to make unplanned purchases
 Provide them with a satisfying shopping experience

18-5
Today’s Demographics

Time limited families are spending less time planning

shopping trips and making more decisions in the stores.

Retailers can:
Advertise
Package products differently
Research the “first moment of truth”

18-6
Tradeoff in Store Design

Ease of locating
merchandise for

(c) image100/PunchStock
planned purchases

Exploration of
store, impulse
Royalty-Free/CORBIS

purchases

18-7
Reasonable Access
What does that mean?

32 inch wide pathways on the main

aisle and to the bathroom, fitting rooms
elevators and around most fixtures
Lower most cash wraps and fixtures so
they can be reached by a person in a
wheelchair
Make bathroom and fitting room fully
accessible

Keith Brofsky/Getty Images

18-8
Types of Store Layouts

Grid
Racetrack
Free Form

18-9
Grid Layout

 Long gondolas in repetitive pattern.

 Easy to locate merchandise
 Does not encourage customers to explore store
 Limited site lines to merchandise

 Allows more merchandise to be displayed

 Cost efficient
 Used in grocery, discount, and drug stores. Why?

18-10
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc./Andrew Resek, photographer
Grid Store Layout

Receiving &
storage

Fruit
Books, magazines, seasonal Cart
Vegetables display Checkouts area
Entrance
Office &
customer
service Exit

18-11
Racetrack Layout

 Loop with a major aisle that has access to

departments and store’s multiple entrances.
 Draws customers around the store.
 Provide different site lines and encourage
exploration, impulse buying
 Used in department stores

18-12
Racetrack Layout

18-13
Free-Form (Boutique) Layout

 Fixtures and aisles arranged asymmetrically

 Pleasant relaxing ambiance doesn’t come cheap – small
store experience
 Inefficient use of space
 More susceptible to shoplifting – salespeople can not
view adjacent spaces.
 Used in specialty stores and upscale department stores

18-14
 Free-Form Layout

Storage, Receiving, Marketing

Hats and Handbags

Underwear Dressing Rooms
Stockings

Accessories

Tops
Checkout counter
Casual Wear

Pants

Tops
Clearance

Skirts and Dresses

Items
Jeans

Feature Feature

Open Display Window Open Display Window

18-15
Usage of Signage and Graphics

 Locational – identifies location of merchandise and guides

customers
 Category Signage – identifies types of products and located near
the goods
 Promotional Signage – relates to specific offers – sometimes in
windows
 Point of sale – near merchandise with prices and product
information
 Lifestyle images – creates moods that encourage customers to
shop
18-16
Effectively Using Signage

 Coordinate signage to store’s image

 Use appropriate type faces on signs
 Inform customers
 Use them as props
 Keep them fresh
 Limit text

18-17
Feature Areas

Feature areas
◦ End caps
◦ Promotional aisle
◦ Freestanding displays
◦ Cash wraps
◦ Walls
◦ Windows

PhotoLink/Getty Images

18-18
Space Planning

 Productivity of allocated space

 Merchandise inventory turnover
 Impact on store sales
 Display needs for the merchandise

18-19
Space Planning Considerations

 Profitability of merchandise
 Customer Buying considerations
 Impulse products near front
 Demand/Destination areas off the beaten path

 Physical characteristics of product.

 Complementary products should be adjacent
 Sales rate
 More units of faster selling merchandise need to be displayed

18-20
Prime Locations for Merchandise

Highly trafficked areas

◦ Store entrances
◦ Near checkout counter

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc./Andrew Resek, photographer

Highly visible areas
◦ End aisle
◦ Displays

18-21
Location of Merchandise Categories

 Impulse merchandise – near heavily trafficked areas

 Demand merchandise – back left-hand corner of the store
 Special merchandise – lightly trafficked areas (glass pieces)
 Adjacencies – complimentary merchandise next to each other

18-22
 Merchandise
Presentation Techniques

 Idea-Oriented Presentation
 Style/Item Presentation
 Color Organization
 Price Lining
 Vertical Merchandising
 Tonnage Merchandising (large qty displayed together)
 Frontal Presentation (display as much of product as possible
to catch customers’ eye)

18-23
Creating a Store Environment

Color Lighting

Store Atmosphere

Scent Music

18-24