Between 40% and 70% of customers make their final purchasing decisions in a store with a physical retail location. Make your brick-and-mortar space more inviting to potential customers, and you can convert them into fans of your brand.
Start with understanding your customer flow and merchandising needs, then move on to the mysterious ingredient: ambiance, which is easier to create than you may think. Not sure where to start? Pandora CloudCover offers background music streaming for retail space and stores. We take care of licensing, playlists, streaming and more. Check us out.
Where Should You Start When Designing a Retail Space?
Deciding on a floor plan starts with blueprints. Your square footage, the size of the products you’re selling, the number of employees you have or need, and the location of existing structures in the space all influence where you put displays, the checkout counter, information booths, signage, and furniture.
Many retail stores put racks and shelves in a basic loop pattern, so customers are guided in a circle around the store to the checkout. But there are many other kinds of layouts you can use with psychologically similar flows of traffic.
7 Retail Store Design Fundamentals
There are seven retail store design principles to remember as you go:
- Make your merchandise eye-catching.
- Encourage the customer to take their time.
- Mark out the path the customer should take without being obvious or obstructive.
- Encourage the customer’s natural tendency to turn right after entering (at least in North America).
- Make bold choices that reflect your brand and keep you apart from your competition.
- Aerate the layout. This may include decluttering some areas, adding seating, or placing a few plants or lighting instruments in certain areas to create a feeling of expansion.
- Always think of your space as an opportunity for creative solutions.
How It All Fits Together
After you take care of the basic structural issues, like where support beams, pipes, and wires need to be placed, you can begin arranging your actual product displays. While you create presentations, consider how products work together (for example, a small soap display can complement a display for shower curtains) and how many items you need or want to put out.
Do you want your customers to examine numerous choices to find exactly what they’re looking for? Does your space work better with a minimalist approach? The decision for abundance versus minimalism can influence where you place these product displays.
The main component of display creation should optimize natural flow around the store.
Traffic Flow Enhances the Retail Experience
Your customers must move around the store, find what they need, see other items they may be interested in buying, get information to answer their questions, and pay for their items.
These needs are easy to manage and accommodate, but what makes the shopping experience pleasant? The answer to this question will vary based on your target demographic, but several foundational elements are true of any retail experience.
These are some ways to enhance your customers’ shopping experience regardless of what you sell.
The Decompression Zone
This is the entryway of your storefront, typically about the first 5 to 15 feet of retail space. Essentially, your customer crosses the threshold from the outside world into your store, and that transition should be smooth and engaging.
Keep this area free of clutter (including merchandise and signage), so customers have a clear view of your store’s interior from the entryway. Use soft and inviting lighting, along with subtle background music.
The Power Wall
This display area is designed to capture attention and draw customers into the store. It should be clearly visible from your decompression zone. Often, these walls use the fill height and width of the wall and have bold colors highlighted with clear light.
You might use this to showcase your latest products, deep discounts, or featured collections.
The Right Side
In North America, 90% of customers turn to the right when they enter a retail store. For many retailers, the right-hand wall is called the power wall because it is the first flat surface customers encounter. This can serve as a high-impact area for your products, so creating an appealing display of your merchandise and services here is important.
This can serve as a high-impact area for your products, so creating an appealing display of your merchandise and services here is important.
The Path
Once a customer is in your store, whether they’re simply browsing or looking for a specific item, you have the power to guide their journey. You can guide them through particular sections of your store based on popularity, price point, or association with each other.
Over time, pay attention to which areas have more popular products because you may change the path based on what your customers are most interested in. However, you also do not want to appear to force them in a specific direction. Instead, use racks or shelves of items, furniture, and information stands to guide them without seeming too pushy.
Typically, this path moves counterclockwise in North America based on customers turning to the right immediately after entering a store. You can make this path more appealing by changing the color and texture of the floor, and you can guide the customer’s eyes to specific areas with bright colors, arrangements of certain items, or prominent but attractive information displays.
The Customer’s Pace
While you want your customers to follow a specific path around your store, you typically want them to do so slowly. This way, they can browse your items, encouraging them to purchase more. Even if they do not pick up additional products, the aesthetics of different display areas can lighten their mood.
Enough Room
Customers do not like feeling cramped or crowded. It is important to make sure your aisles and display areas are big enough for several people. You may include a strategic bench or two or a seating area if you have enough space.
Checkout
Your checkout counter needs to be in a highly visible location. If the average customer in the United States turns to the right and you create a circular route around your store, you may assume that the best place for the checkout counter would be to the left of the door. However, this is not necessarily true, as it can depend on how much space you have, how you must divide up your store, and even where certain support structures like beams are located.
For some retail spaces, having the counter in the middle of the store or at the back, across from the entrance, makes the most sense.
You can also display low-cost product displays near the cash register for customers to pass as they approach the line. Many businesses place small impulse purchase items close to the register. But even peppering the end of the path with several small, colorful displays can lead to additional purchases.
Walking Through It
Test it once you’ve created a space you think works. Walk through it yourself, and start by turning to the right. Ask friends and family to come in and try it, offering feedback about their movements through the space, how they feel in certain areas, and if everything feels convenient and pleasing.
Types of Retail Store Design Layouts
There are several different types of layouts available. Understanding each one, including their pros and cons, can help you make a smart decision for your company.
These are the nine common types of layouts:
1. Grid
In a grid layout, long aisles run parallel to one another. The main benefit is space utilization, as the grid maximizes all of your available retail area.
A grid also makes products easier to find. However, a grid can also feel monotonous, and it could discourage impulse purchases. Retailers typically include high-demand items at the back of the store, while end caps hold promotions or seasonal items.
2. Herringbone
In a herringbone layout, aisles are set at an angle to maximize diagonal flow. The benefits include improved visibility, but it can be harder for customers to navigate.
Retailers typically showcase key products at the intersections of isles.
3. Loop
In a loop layout, customers are guided along a defined path that moves through the entire area. The benefits include exposing customers to all areas of the store. However, it can be restrictive for customers, especially those who want to get in and out quickly.
Retailers typically place high-appeal items at the center of the loops to capture attention from all angles.
4. Free Flow
In a free-flow layout, the design is completely unstructured and open. The benefits include increased browsing and a casual atmosphere. However, cons can include reduced efficiency and wasted space.
Retailers group related products while attempting to avoid clutter to keep pathways clear.
5. Boutique
In a boutique layout, the store is divided into a grid by theme or product type. These zones can enhance the shopping experience, but it can be expensive to implement, as each area needs specialized design and fixtures.
Retailers should place complementary items within each zone to encourage cross-selling.
6. Straight
In a straight store design, a main aisle moves through the center of the store with smaller aisles branching off. It’s an easy layout to navigate in a small store, but it could be hard to use in a larger area.
Side aisles should be used for related products or less popular items.
7. Diagonal
In a diagonal layout, aisles are set at a very pronounced diagonal angle to encourage flow and movement. It can lead to increased visibility, but it requires a lot of space.
The diagonal aisles should end with key products. Strong sightlines should increase interest in these items.
8. Angular
In an angular layout, aisles are set via curved lines to create a flow. The result is a visually appealing store, but it can be complex to design and implement.
9. Geometric
In a geometric layout, products are set up in patterns and shapes. The result is very modern, clean, and contemporary. However, it can feel sterile and impersonal to some shoppers.
Geometric shapes should be used to create product zones.
Tips to Enhance Customer Flow
All retail store design techniques are made to enhance the way customers move through your retail environment. The right plan for you will depend on the size of your space, the products you sell, and more.
Consider Traffic Flow
Start with a traffic flow analysis. Set up your store with a path that seems right for your environment, and then deploy some secret shoppers. Ask them to answer the following questions:
- Where do customers go first?
- What areas do customers skip?
- How often do customers need help to find a product?
- How often do customers pick up impulse items before leaving?
Use Visual Cues
Good ways to optimize your space include placing high-demand items at the back of the store to encourage people to walk through the entire store. You can also deploy visual cues like lighting and flooring changes to guide people through the path.
Prioritize Flow
Showcase promotional items through end caps and eye-catching displays. However, if you notice that your customers are clustering around the areas and blocking flow, move them out of the aisles to encourage people to move freely.
Track Data
With your display in place, track your sales data to ensure that all areas of your store are producing sales. You can also deploy customer surveys or feedback forms to understand the shopping experience you're providing and identify areas for improvement.
Visual Merchandising Techniques
Your customers enter your brick-and-mortar store because they want to touch and experience your merchandise in person. The way you set up your store can ensure they find just what they’re looking for — even when they didn’t know they wanted it.
Group Items
Consider grouping related products. For example, if you’re deploying a sale on hiking boots, display them next to thick socks that make those boots more comfortable.
This step can not only ensure that both products sell, but they can make customers feel like you understand them and what they want.
Use Eye-Level Placement
Most retailers place their high-priority products at eye level. This technique ensures that shoppers can see the products they want while they’re scanning the store while standing up.
If you’re using a grouping technique, put the anchor product at eye level and the associated items above or below them.
Emphasize Lighting
Lighting is an important part of your merchandising approach. Your customers should be able to see the products clearly without using their phone flashlights.
If you’re selling something that sparkles (like jewelry), high-impact lighting is especially important. However, almost any product will benefit from a soft light that helps customers examine it carefully.
Mental & Emotional Customer Experiences to Keep in Mind
Once you have defined the zones and displays in your store and tested the walking path, there are still some notes to remember to keep your customers happy.
- Keep everything spotless. One survey found that a third of shoppers avoided a business because it appeared dirty from the outside.
- Create a sense of opening or expansiveness. For example, some stores cut windows or holes in walls separating rooms, so the space feels larger.
- Keep it clean. The fashion designer Coco Chanel famously advised fashionistas to look in the mirror before leaving and remove one item from their outfit. Do the same with your retail displays to visually declutter them.
- Add pep to displays. Use something other than traditional shelves or racks to display items. For example, if oak barrels are potentially on brand for you, use these to create a visual texture for your display.
- Stay modern. Digital features, like brand information scrollable on a tablet or an interactive digital display, can enhance your customers’ emotional ties to your brand since they have directly interacted with it in some way.
Environment & Ambiance Are Crucial Final Touches
You've walked customers through a path, shown them your best products, and made the experience wonderful. What else can you try?
Incorporating the senses can help to heighten the experience and make customers big fans of your brand.
What Can Customers Touch?
More than 80 percent of customers want to touch products before they buy them. What will they feel? And when they're not touching your products, what else will they feel?
Customers don't want to feel anything that is:
- Gritty
- Sticky
- Slimy
- Moldy
Cleanliness is important here. But consider how touch can highlight your brand.
Do you sell outdoor equipment? Incorporating natural stone into the floors or rough wood on the walls may help bring the outside in. Do you specialize in luxury goods? Marble countertops and fleece chairs may help.
What Does Your Brand Smell Like?
A brand-specific scent is so powerful. Humans are hardwired to make emotional connections with our noses, and the things we smell during amazing experiences stick with us. Adding a special scent to high-traffic areas, such as checkout lines or changing rooms, could help customers remember who you are.
What Does Your Brand Sound Like?
The sounds your customers hear while they shop have a profound impact on what they buy and how long they stay.
If your playlist is upbeat and drum heavy, you’ll have people bopping down the aisles at a quick pace. Choose something slow and melodic, and you’ll have dreamy shoppers gliding through the space.
Finding the right mix can mean experimenting and asking for feedback. But the right playlist can be an incredible tool in designing your retail space.
Helpful Tools for Designing Your Retail Space
An architect or interior designer can help you create the retail space your customers will love. But you can also do a lot of this work DIY with a little help from the right tools. These are a few of our favorites:
Flow
Wondering how your retail store should be set up? Use a tool like SmartDraw to help you block out space and set up flow. Drag and drop elements until you find a setting that seems just right.
Light
Technical tools like Radiance can help you understand just how bright your space will be with certain lights. But this software is made for engineers, and it can be complicated for average people. If you have space in your budget, working with a lighting designer might be wise.
Color
What color should your walls be? What hue suits your brand? Use a tool like Paintzen to explore colors by trendiness, ambiance, photos, and more. Get tiny samples and paint a few walls before diving into the immersive painting experience.
Scent
You may already have an idea about what your brand should smell like. If not, companies like Bespoke Fragrance can partner with you to create a custom, signature smell for your brand and location.
Sound
Companies like ours put you in control of your brand sound. Create a playlist on a site like Pandora, and we'll take care of the licensing requirements. You'll share the sound with your customers in no time.
If you're not sure what music is right, browse from our pre-packaged playlists too. We make it easy.
Retail Space Design FAQs
Here are some of the top questions we get about designing retail businesses.
What are the key considerations when designing a store layout?
Customer flow is crucial when designing a store layout. Your customers should get into, through, and out of your space without bumping into merchandise or one another. You must get this part of the setup right before designing anything else.
What considerations should be made when designing a retail store interior?
Customer preferences, employee demands, and the constraints of your space all play a role in what you can and can't do. Visualization software can help you set up zones and understand where things should go, but expect a few tweaks after opening until you hit on the right model.
References
10 Store Design Ideas That Save Money and Boost Sales. (September 2014). ShopKeep.
Planning Your Store Layout: Step-by-Step Instructions. (January 2018). FitSmallBusiness.
Retail Interior Design: The 7 Principles of Retail Store Design. (September 2014). Green Room.
How to Create Retail Store Interiors That Get People to Purchase Your Products. (February 2018). Shopify Blogs.
7 Low-Cost Design Ideas for Small Retail Spaces. Entrepreneur.
Do as Coco Did … (October 2011). Little Grey Matters.
5 Points to Consider when Creating a Retail Store Design. (November 2015). VMSD.
82% of Consumers Want to View and Feel Products in Store Before Purchasing Online: Study. (August 2018). Internet Retailing.
The Smells That Make Shoppers Spend More. (June 2022). Business News Daily.