A Retailer's Best Salesperson

Did you know that one of your best salespeople is not a person at all? Your store layout can drive people to certain areas, highlight certain products and even facilitate the purchase process. Pretty impressive, huh? Since we all like top-notch "workers," this month's featured article on the F.C. Dadson website is all about making your layout go to work for you. Here's an excerpt:

Fixture Design and Layout
Aisles lead people to the merchandise. Once there, your fixtures take over as traffic cop. Just as how our eyes follow the lines and curves of things, so do our feet. Considering this and the fact that people can't generally walk through merchandising displays, the design and layout of your fixture pieces can play a large role in directing people through a retail area.

How does this work? Fixtures create pathways for shoppers to travel and, in a very unobtrusive way, guide them towards certain areas of the store. There are two main reasons this happens and one is the fixture's design itself. The piece's shape influences how people will interact with it. For example, an angular fixture is great as a directional piece. People will follow its lines to the next stop, be it an aisle, counter or merchandise. A fixture with a more rounded or circular design encourages people to follow the curves and walk around it -perfect for corners and end caps.

The second reason deals with how the fixtures interact with each other, or the layout. Want to make sure store visitors check out certain areas of the store? Try angling the surround fixtures toward these spots. It's sort of like having a salesperson shouting, "Come this way!" Want to move people from the front of your store to the back? Aligning your fixtures creates long aisles that lead customers from one end of the store to the other. Depending on your fixtures, available space and traffic flow goals, you can achieve a number of outcomes with your fixture layout.

Click here for the rest of the article.

-- Liz Blohm