Thoughtful amenities like seating, dressing rooms, and customer service areas make the shopping experience memorable for customers and encourage them to continue engaging with your business.
Incorporate elements that provide customer comfort as you are creating your store layout. Be sure to provide some type of seating for both customers and anyone who is accompanying them. There were countless times in my own experience when boyfriends, tired friends, or relatives would spend their entire time in my shop seated in our chairs. Our seating options not only encouraged the shopper to stay longer since her party was comfortable, but it also gave everyone a positive experience. Seating can be as simple as stools near the checkout, a lounge area near the dressing rooms, or an entry bench.
The comfier the better, though, as this is about customer comfort, after all. Create seating to give customers and friends somewhere comfortable to lounge. Source: Decorist. Fitting rooms are an increasingly important way for brick-and-mortar stores to compete with their ecommerce rivals. They offer a private place for customers to try on clothing and get up close and personal with your merchandise.
You should also outfit your fitting rooms with storage, seating, and hanging areas so customers can change easily and have a place for their personal items. Providing these features will ensure that your customers can use your fitting rooms with ease and enjoy their experience in your store.
Your customer service area is where customers can conduct returns, ask questions, and get assistance from store associates. In smaller stores with fewer customers, your customer service area is typically your checkout counter; in larger stores with heavier traffic, there tends to be a completely separate counter where customers can get assistance without clogging up the checkout lines.
Smaller stores integrate their customer service desk into their cash wrap. Larger stores with heavier customer flow create separate customer service desks.
Source: Cousins Market. Whether you plan to go it alone or hire a professional, there are many resources available to help you plan and execute your retail store layout.
If you want to handle it all yourself, store planning software and other online idea resources can make the job easier. If you feel overwhelmed at the idea of planning your retail store layout yourself, professional designers can help. They will be able to guide you through every step of the process and provide experience and access to contractors and material services.
Many retail fixtures and display companies provide store planning and design services to their customers. Though typically not free, these in-house design services can be far less expensive than hiring an independent designer. Plus, they can help streamline the process of retail store layout and planning as well as the purchasing and installation of displays and fixtures.
Store planning software allows you to create virtual plans for how you are going to lay out your store and display your products. Store design software is more common for multi-location retailers that want to deploy the same planogram in multiple places.
Either way, if you are looking to build planograms, DotActiv offers a handy free tool. Another great source of retail store design inspiration is your product vendors and their line reps. Many provide retailers with free or low-cost branded display units too.
Some line reps will even assist you in product mapping your store, display setup, and replenishment—it never hurts to ask. Sometimes you just know it when you see it. Take a walk and see what other stores are doing. Or, settle down with a cup of coffee and scroll through Pinterest for a treasure trove of retail store layout ideas. Planning your retail store layout is no small task, but many small retail store owners do it all themselves with great success.
Take it slow, follow our seven steps, and remember to put the customer first. Meaghan Brophy is Fit Small Business's authority on retail and ecommerce. Before joining FSB, she managed a storefront for several years, working in everything from merchandising, to buying, to sales analysis.
Brigitte also has a background in writing, research, and publishing with an undergraduate degree in writing. Sign up to receive more well-researched small business articles and topics in your inbox, personalized for you. Fit Small Business content and reviews are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More. Published July 12, Table of Contents. Continue reading to learn how to create a sales-driving retail store layout in seven steps, or download our e-book to read later: Download Free Store Layout Checklist 1.
Decide on a Retail Store Floor Plan Large or small, most retail stores use one of six basic types of retail store layouts: grid, loop, free-flow, diagonal, forced-path, and angular. Loop Floor Plans Maximize wall space and lead shoppers along a set pathway. Apparel, accessory, personal care, specialty brand, and mixed-use stores like bakeries that also display packaged goods. Diagonal Floor Plans Maximize employee visibility in retail stores with lots of product testing.
Forced-Path Floor Plans Customers are guided through a predetermined path and exposed to every product. Angular Floor Plans Showcase curated or edited inventories in designer or specialty shops. Designers, artisans, high-end apparel and accessories retailers, and curated or limited collections. Grid Floor Plan Grid floorplans offer a convenient and space-effective way to shop. Loop Floor Plans Loop store floor plans create a circular path for customers to follow. Free-Flow Floor Plans Free-flow Floor plans use many diverse display types to create an open shopping experience.
Diagonal Floor Plans Diagonal store layouts are ideal for letting customers sample products while providing employees maximum visibility. Forced-Path Floor Plans Forced floor plans create a set path throughout the entire store. Impulse Buy: A purchase made with no prior planning, made on a whim. Angular Floor Plans Angular floor plans use several displays to showcase their items in a dynamic way. To avoid disrupting this pattern of movement, you should: Highlight the right-hand side of your store : The right side of your store, especially the area just beyond the decompression zone, is best for promotional displays since this is where customers will look and shop first.
Direct traffic counterclockwise : As customers will naturally drift to the right upon entry, you should arrange your store so that traffic flows based on this right-to-left pattern. Place checkouts at the end of the path : Checkouts and registers should be located to the left of the entrance so you can maximize the right side of your store for product exposure.
Seating Dressing Rooms Customer Service Areas Be sure to provide some type of seating for both customers and anyone who is accompanying them. Brigitte Hodge Brigitte is a retail specialist and staff writer with brick and mortar management experience. Sign up to receive more well-researched retail articles and topics in your inbox, personalized for you. This email address is invalid. Free step-by-step guide to designing an effective store layout including customer behavior patterns, checkout placement , and how to position products for maximum exposure.
Extensive Retail-Related Symbol Library You get thousands of ready-made visuals for cabinets, chairs, tables, lighting fixtures, and more! Design Store Layouts Easily You don't need to be an artist or expert to create great-looking store layouts. SmartDraw helps you align and arrange everything perfectly. Plus, it includes beautiful textures for flooring, countertops, furniture and more. You can quickly plan your store set up without having to learn difficult architecture software.
Free Support Got a question? This site uses cookies. Store Layout Software. Planogram Software and Retail Plan Software. You need to make informed choices about your rotational displays. You need to understand how your individual planograms integrate with and have an impact on the store floor plan. Versatile retail floor plan software with smart analytics will reveal missed opportunities and retail space that could be allocated more effectively.
Find the design that best combines macro space floor planning and micro space planograms with the Floor Planner from Scorpion. Do you want to have a look yourself? Contact us now and we will provide you with a Floor Planning demonstration.
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