The layout of your store can impact how customers interact with your products. By placing certain items in certain locations, it’s possible to increase purchases. Below are some popular retail tricks to consider if you’ve recently opened a store and want to boost your revenue.
Optimize the entrance to your store
Many stores display products in their shop window or outside their store. These are typically eye-catching or in-demand products chosen to grab the attention of customers and lure them over. Consider regularly switching these products up to keep your storefront fresh and interesting.
Immediately inside your store, it is best practice to leave an empty space where customers can get their bearings. This also allows customers to easily enter and exit your store. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘decompression zone’.
Most customers turn right when entering a store, so consider placing some in-demand products here. Some stores prefer to hide their most in-demand products at the back of the store, so that customers have to search for them and are potentially tempted into buying other items, however you need to be certain customers will be prepared to go looking for them.
Place your most profitable products at eye level
Customers are most likely to notice products at eye level. This is where you should display your most profitable items.
If you offer basic cheaper alternatives to these products, consider placing these items lower. Those looking for a bargain will still search for these products, while those in a rush will pick up the more profitable items at eye level.
If you sell products aimed at kids, remember that their eye level is lower, so it may be better to place your most profitable items at a lower height to appeal to them.
Display complementary products together
Complementary products are items that are commonly bought together. Examples include peanut butter and jelly, greetings cards and flowers, or sunglasses and sun lotion.
Displaying these items together can encourage customers to buy both items, instead of just one of them. You can even offer discounts if both products are bought together.
Grab attention with custom displays
On top of regular shelves or hangers, consider adding some custom display racks around your store. These can be used to highlight certain products by incorporating branding and imagery into the display case itself.
A common place to locate a carpet display rack is at the end of aisles between shelves. You can also place them near the checkout, which leads us to our next shop layout trick…
Place impulse purchases around the checkout
There are certain impulse purchases that customers may be tempted to buy last minute while queuing up to pay. Display these around your checkout area.
Popular examples of impulse purchases to display around the checkout include candy, soft drinks, cheap kids toys, batteries and gift cards. Try to display only low value items here – products over $20 are unlikely to be last minute purchases. Encouraging such impulse purchases is a great way to make a little extra revenue.