Effective Retail Space Management

The sight of a good retail store with attractive windows and an enticing entrance—induce the customer into entering. The customer enters the store and often keeps walking inside following the walkway wherever it leads, or sometimes takes a while to look for directions, within the store. Sometimes the customer’s attention is drawn to certain displays and merchandise presentations before he moves on. To reach his destination inside the store, the customer tends to follow directions to reach there, especially in a big-box format. Seldom does he realize that subconsciously he is directed to ‘walk’ the entire store and thus exposing him to all that the store has to offer. This is achieved through a well thought-out and laid-out retail floor design.

A well-planned and properly designed retail floor achieves a great deal for the store:

(a)     It enables a smooth and efficient customer flow into the store and within it. The design of the store includes fixtures, the placement of merchandise and the fixtures on the floor too direct customers through the store.

(b)     It helps the customer reach and access the merchandise he is looking for, without fail.

(c)     The aesthetics of a well-planned floor are a visual feast for the customer and trigger the ‘come-back’ feeling in him, as he feels a sense of belonging in the store,

(d)     It helps creates a feeling of comfort in the minds of customers, enabling them to waltz their way through without facing any bottlenecks on the way.

(It is said that generally the customer, while walking through the retail floor, thinks of the benefits he is going to get from his prospective purchase and feels happy about the right choice, he is currently making).

(e)     A well laid – out floor, in essence, helps the store to sell more effectively and retain customers.

Effectively retail space management is critical to the successful operation of a retail store, as more and more sales from the same space would lead to increased margins for the organization. According to R. Sriram, former MD and CEO of Crossword : “Space Planning is integral to the success of any retail store since the biggest investment in retail is in space.”