How your store layout can affect sales

*Supermarket and store owners often face the challenge of making shoppers go through their entire store. The more your shoppers explore the store, better the chances of sales | Image – TLB Bureau*

When you open a shop, you need to consider what you will sell and where it will be, but one crucial element of your planning needs to be the layout of your store.

Once a customer sets foot through your doors, you need to carefully consider what their experience will be, how they will find things and what makes the most sense, as this can make a huge difference to the number of sales that you can make.

So, what is the secret to an effective store layout?

Signage

Whether your store is a new one or one that has been around for a while, you have to assume that every customer is entering the building for the first time, and so you need to carefully consider how they will find everything that they need. Customers only have a certain amount of patience and if looking for a particular section or items becomes akin to finding a needle in a haystack, they may just leave and go and look elsewhere.

That is why you need to make it as clear as possible where people need to go by making effective use of shop signage. Your signs can be made from traditional materials, or they could be illuminated or even digital.

This allows you to really focus the customers attention on certain things and allows you to change what your signage says according to what you are promoting at the time. This means that you can use your signage to direct customers towards what they want, but you can also use it to direct them towards what you want as well.

Eye level

As human beings, we can be lazy at times, and our brains often require a lot of the work to have been done for us. That is why numerous studies show that we are more likely to buy the things that we see at eye level, rather than anything positioned higher or lower.

Therefore, if you want to draw a customer’s attention to something, you need to make sure that the product itself or the signage about it is at eye level where people are more likely to pay attention.

Make people visit the whole store

When you visit the supermarket, have you ever wondered why the bread is located so far away from the entrance? This is because bread is one of the most common things that people will pop in for, and by positioning it at the furthest point, you are more likely to be enticed by other products that you see on the way to get it.

You can apply the same logic to your store by situating one of your best sellers towards the back of the shop so that you get the opportunity to show off all of your wares.

Show off your best assets

When someone passes by, or first ventures in, they may be unsure whether your store is the one for them, so you need to ensure that there as something eye-catching at the front to help lure them in. This could be some of your more exciting products, or it could be a display full of bold colours and bright lights.

Once you have someone’s attention, it is much harder for them to walk away without checking out the rest of what you have on offer.

Your store layout is very important, and there are certain techniques which are proven to help drive sales. By thinking about how you position your products and how you signpost them, you can help to encourage people to buy things they never even thought about.

You may want to check out Judsons Signs on The Local Brand®. However, any views expressed in the article are of the author. The article contains the opinions of the author who is presumed to be an industry insider. The Local Brand® does not endorse any advice, services or products suggested.

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Malcom Judson

Managing Director at Judson Signs

Malcom is Managing Director at Judsons Signs, specialists in sign making for, vehicles, schools and commercial and retail spaces. Judsons Signs manage the entire sign making process, from design and manufacturing to installation.