Retail shops are cleverer than you think and every item is placed in a certain place for a reason. Researchers have spent a lot of time studying how the mind works, meaning more often than not you will walk out of a shop with more than you needed as your brain corrupts your shopping choices. In previous blogs we have spoken about making your shop more authentic, so now we are going to give you some top tips for the layout of your shop to help boost sales.

What you see is what you get

Obviously, the first thing you see before actually entering the shop is the window display. If you have the option to have a window display then use it and use it well. As Linda Cahan of Cahan & Co says: “Just like your eyes are the windows of your soul, store windows are the eyes of the store and each window should tell a story.”  You will need to plan your window display and make sure to choose one colour to entice customers and put across the image of the shop. As you will know, in the more luxury boutiques the clothes are very spaced out and there are only a few choice items. This is what you need to replicate in your shop window.  Remember, less is more and that putting less in your shop window you will communicate that every item is special.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression

Your window display should bring customers in and their first impressions should keep them there. Depending on what type of shop you own you could always offer free gifts at the door to entice customers, or give them something to smell, see, touch or try. Most clothing shops place a mannequin at the front with a fashionable outfit that reflects the image of the company so it’s the first thing that shoppers see.

To the right, to the right

As customers enter your shop they should be drawn to the right hand side. Studies have shown that most shoppers get drawn to the left first then right as they walk through the door; they will then go right and work their way around the shop anti-clockwise. The best way to utilise this is by putting something straight in front of the shopper as they walk in the door i.e. a table with clothes or products on. After they have seen this, they know that they have to make a decision to go left or right. To make them go right you can create a bigger space so they feel encouraged to go that way or put something on the right hand side that will attract the customer.

Save the best ’til last

Shop owners often create aisles that end at nothing.  Cahan says: “They create an aisle that ends at nothing, either a back wall or a stockroom or the bathroom.”  However, shoppers should be encouraged to walk along an aisle to get to somewhere that is intriguing, captivating or compelling.  Your aisle should lead to either an aisle of a different department or finish at a rack of products.

Look at life from a different angle

It is more practical for shops to lay their aisles parallel to the walls but research has shown that it is more effective to place your aisles at a slight angle, depending on the shape and size of your shop. Cahan says: “Ideally, aisles could angle in from both sides to a central aisle, forming an arrow layout that ends in a back-wall display. But only take an angular approach if you can keep aisles wide enough for customers to navigate easily.”

Have a break, have a KitKat

Shoppers get bored of looking at hundreds or even thousands of products. Dyches has researched shopping patterns and says that more than 20% of shop products are ignored or skipped unless they are needed. So make sure you break up the aisles in order to retain customers’ attention.

Improvements

If you need to make improvements but don’t have the budget then here are a few ideas to help:

•  Ask friends, family or employees to walk around the shop and give any feedback on the layout. You could also take photos and analyse them yourself or with your staff.

•  When making design changes you could collect cheap decorative products and re-create them or decorate them yourself.

•  Change will keep shoppers interested so you will need to do it more than once. The owner of Hermann Furniture, Jennifer Hermann, says: “There’s never an area where we don’t change things nearly every day. That’s fun, and makes customers want to buy.”

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