Learning Objectives
List the elements of a stores environment and define its two primary
objectives.
Discuss the steps involved in planning the store.
Describe how various types of fixtures, merchandise presentation
methods and techniques, and the psychology of merchandise presentation
are used to increase the productivity of the sales floor.
Describe why store design is so important to a stores success.
Explain the role of visual communications in a retail store.
Introduction to Store Layout Management
Store Image is the overall perception the customer has of the stores
environment.
Space Productivity represents how effectively the retailer utilizes its space
and is usually measured by sales per square foot of selling space or gross
margin dollars per square foot of selling space.
Retailing Truism
The more merchandise customers are exposed to, the more they tend to
buy.
Objectives of the Store Environment
o Tasks to create desired store image and increase space productivity.
o Get customers into the store (market image).
o Convert them into customers buying merchandise once inside the store
(space productivity).
o Do this in the most efficient manner possible.
Shrinkage represents merchandise that cannot be accounted for due to
theft, loss, or damage.
Store Planning
Floor Plan is a schematic that shows where merchandise and customer
service departments are located, how customers circulate through the
store, and how much space is dedicated to each department.
Stack-Outs are pallets of merchandise set out on the floor in front of the
main shelves.
Allocating Space
Types of space needed:
Back room
Office and other functional spaces
Aisles, services areas, and other nonselling areas of the main sales
floor
Wall merchandise space
Floor merchandise space
Warehouse clubs are able to take advantage not only of the width
and depth of the store, but also the height, by using large warehouse
racks that carry reachable inventory at lower levels with large pallets or
cartons of excess inventory at higher levels.
Planning Fixtures and Merchandise Presentation
On-Shelf Merchandising
Is the display of merchandise on counters, racks, shelves, and fixtures
throughout the store.
Fixture Types
Hardlines Fixtures- Those functions are commonly used in
promotional aisles to display advertised or other special value
merchandise.
Softlines Fixtures- A large array of fixtures has been developed to
accommodate the special needs of softline, which are often hung
on hungers.
Wall Fixtures- is a display that draws special attention to selected
features.
Merchandise Presentation Planning
Methods of Merchandise Presentation:
Shelving- flexible, easy- to- maintain merchandise presentation method
Hanging- apparel on hungers can be hung from softlines, such as
round tracks and four- way racks, or from bars installed on wall system
Pegging- used both softlines and hardlines
Folding- can create a high- fashion image
Stacking- gives an image of high volume and low price
Dumping- can be used in softlines, hardlines and creates a high-
volume, low cost image
Psychological Factors to Consider When Merchandising Stores:
Value/fashion image- One of the most important effects of merchandise
presentations is the psychological effect it fosters in the customers mind
of how trendy, exclusive, pricery, or value oriented the merchandise is.
Angles and sightlines- Research has shown that as customers move
through a retail store, they view the store at approximately 45 degree
angles from the path of travel than perpendicular to their path.
Vertical color blocking- To be most effective, merchandise should be
displayed in vertical bands of color whatever possible.
Visual Merchandising
Is the artistic display of merchandise and theatrical props used as scene-
setting decoration in the store.
Heres sampling of the techniques stores use to generate those sales:
Getm coming and going. Escalators are a focal point of many
stores. That makes them ideal locations for promotional signs and
for impulse items like perfume.
Lead them to temptation. Department-store design incorporates a
gauntlet of goodies to stimulate impulse buys. Cosmetics, a stores
most profitable department, should always be at the main entrance
to the store.
Its all in the display. When an item, such as a watch or a scarf, is
displayed in a glass case, it implies luxury. An item in a glass case
with a lot of space around it implies real luxury.
Color is king. Retailers believe consumers are more apt to buy
clothes that appear in full size and color assortments.
Suggestion positioning. Once the customer has already purchased
one item, its easier to sell an additional item. Thus apparel
retailers strategically place impulse buys like hair bows and
costume jewelry by the cashier the same way supermarket
checkouts display candy and magazines.
Store Design
Ambience- is the overall feeling or mood projected by a store
through its aesthetic appeal to human senses.
Storefront Design- is the design located outside the store.
Interior Design- is the design located inside the store.
Lighting Design- makes effective use of lighting to highlight and
feature merchandise on display.
Sounds and Smells- makes effective use of fragrances and odors
to generate smells that reinforce its store ambiance.
Visual Communications
Name, Logo, and Retail Identity
Institutional Signage- is the largest signage in which usually placed
infront of the store.
Directional and Departmental Signage are large signs that are
usually placed fairly high, so they can be seen throughout the store.
Category Signage are smaller than directional and departmental
signage and are intended to be seen from a shorter distance; they
are located on or close to the fixture itself where the merchandise is
displayed.
Point-of-Sale Signage is relatively small signage that is placed very
close to the merchandise and is intended to give details about
specific items.
