4 minute read
Elaine Hooper, director and
Striking a balance
Retail100 Consulting director and co-founder Elaine Hooper explains why she loves a good floor plan conversation
Ifind the subject of in-store space and displays very interesting to navigate, because it can cause a lot of internal conflict. “How can this be?” I hear you ask. Well, in my mind, this is not as simple as it sounds.
When you consider your store, you will know better than anyone how your customers ‘shop’ it. You will also be thinking about your customer profile. Age and social demographic play a key part, of course, as these factors are relevant to your assortment choices. However, the frequency of their visits is really important in the decision-making process of how you approach your displays.
Customers
If a large proportion of your business is tourist trade, those customers may only visit your shop once a year, and it’s likely that a whole family may shop at the same time. But if your store is a local go-to, then you could have customers visiting once a week or more, and they are more likely to be on their own or in twos.
If families visit frequently, you need to think about circulation space for a pushchair, for example. But if your most frequent customers don’t take up so much space, you can be a little more relaxed about this.
Displays
The frequency of customer visits is also important with regards to how often you need to change your displays. The grocery trade does this brilliantly - albeit very annoyingly.
Supermarkets certainly force you to walk up and down their aisles, swearing as you hunt down the baked beans that were in aisle 13 last week but are now in aisle 24! That said, it certainly can influence you to add more goods to your basket as you walk past items you hadn’t noticed before.
Consider the ‘hot spots’ in your store, and the flow of how your customers shop. Do they enter the door and turn left or right? Do they linger in a certain area? You know where the high traffic locations are, and these can be the ones you target to change more often, without having to relay your entire shop.
Space
Next, and very importantly, is the analysis of sales and profit to space. With my background in space planning, this was always a fascinating subject when talking to buyers versus shop teams. I say ‘fascinating’ but what I really mean is ‘emotive’. Buyers may decide that they want to increase their ranges of storage baskets, for example, because market trends dictate. However, fitting them out on the selling floor without customers having to play elaborate Jenga games to get to the ones they want, is another story.
I would advocate ensuring you have a floor plan, in whichever format works for you. Post-it notes are always helpful when moving your layouts in theory. Layer on your sales and profit numbers to the space you have allocated to each fixture. While you may love a certain brand, if it’s not doing what you need it to in terms of sales and profit, then don’t give it your best space - or use this as leverage when you are negotiating with the brand on commercial terms.
Fixtures
Think about your fixture choices and densities. Again, this is a contentious subject, as you will have conflicting emotions. But amongst all the noise of brand expressions, you should ensure that the fixtures never overpower your store’s identity. The overarching and dominant feel of your store should always reflect ‘you’, so your customers immediately know they’re in your store.
Therefore, when a supplier offers you a free fixture to hold their products, you need to be aware that it could be at cross-purposes with the look of your store. Also, it won’t look good if it’s not full, so you are beholden to place more orders with them. Do give it some thought before committing, especially if you are signing away to ensure the fixture is fully stocked for a period of time. It’s all about a balance between supplier fixtures and your freedom to merchandise your fixtures as you like, while ensuring an overall harmonious look and feel that you are proud of.
Finally…
In summary, while it isn’t always the most fun thing to do, have a floor plan, layer on sales and profit per square foot, and reallocate the size of displays or brands as required. This is also a good tool to use as leverage for brands who may want a larger space or a better location.
Please feel free to reach out to me at elaine.hooper@ retail100consulting.co.uk to discuss this further, as I love a good floor plan conversation!
Elaine Hooper is a director and co-founder of Retail100 Consulting, which is a consultancy firm with 100 years of retail experience that helps retailers and brands grow.
Coming from a retail background, she worked for John Lewis for 32 years. Categories and roles covered included space planning, project proposition lead, and senior buyer in seasonal, beauty and home categories.
Elaine is skilled in end-to-end strategy, licence and private label product development, sourcing, and maximising brand potential, with experience in leading teams, coaching and mentoring. Email: hello@retail100consulting.co.uk Visit: www.retail100consulting.co.uk; www.linkedin.com/company/retail100-consulting
