Spatial Organization strategies in department stores: A study through customer behavior mapping by shyambhavi.shukla

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Ms. Ruchi Mehta

Name & Signature of the Guide Dean, Faculty of Design

3 OFFACULTYDESIGN WWW.CEPT.AC.IN T +91 79 26302470 F +91 79 26302075 KASTURBHAI LALBHAI CAMPUS UNIVERSITY ROAD, NAVRANGPURA AHMEDABAD 380009. GUJARAT, INDIA Student Name & Code : Thesis Title : APPROVAL

The following study is hereby approved as a creditable work on the approved subject carried out and presented in the manner, sufficiently satisfactory to warrant its acceptance as a pre requisite to the degree of Bachelor of Interior Design for which it has been submitted. It is to be understood that by this approval, the undersigned does not endorse or approve the statements made, opinions expressed or conclusion dra wn therein, but approves the study only for the purpose for which it has been submitted and satisfies him/her to the requirements laid down in the academic programme.

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5 Declaration This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other Degree or Diploma in any University or other institutions and to the best of my knowledge does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I consent to this copy of thesis, when in the library of CEPT Library, being available on loan and photocopying. Student Name & Code No: Shyambhavi Shukla, UI6917 Date: 29/04/22 Signature of student:

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I am grateful to my friends, Kratika, Abhinav and all my batchmates and peers for constantly showing me support, often accompanying me on site visits, and helping me curate this research better with their meaningful insights. Their support and appreciation for this research have helped me refine my work better. I am thankful to all the faculties here at CEPT that have constantly guided me and helped me develop my skills and interests as a designer.

Lastly, I am forever grateful to my family for providing me with all resources and support necessary to work on this research and through my entire journey since day one of starting my academic pursuit at CEPT. I would like to give a special mention to my father, Mr. Vijay Shukla for his constant interest in my academic life and his discussions which helped me during my course at CEPT. My brother, Shrikar Shrey Shukla, for providing me with resources and support crucial in shaping my journey and building my interest in retail designing. I am grateful for receiving constant love, support and guidance from the people I am surrounded by and I wish love and light to all.

I would like to thank my research partner Nishwala for constantly helping me improve and shape my research document and my teammates, Aishwarya, Vruti, Manav, and Nimisha for their active participation in group discussions and site visits. Their meaningful perspective and insights have helped shape this research document for the better. I appreciate all the people I came across during my site visits and various store employees who helped me collect precise data for this research.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my research guide, Ms. Ruchi Mehta for her constant guidance through the course of this research. Without her help and constant insights, this research would not have been possible. I would also like to express my thankfulness to her for providing the entire research team with the environment and resources crucial for this research. Her constant support and care have helped me develop my interest in retail design.

Physical retail space is the biggest touch-point between a brand and its customers. A well-designed retail space has the power to influence customers and their purchasing behaviors. While a customer is influenced by many parameters which are often situational and subjective in nature, a retail space holds the power to make the customer feel welcomed, cherished, and in control. Not only does such an environment encourage customer-product interaction, but it also ensures that brands provide customers with higher satisfaction while conveying their brand values simultaneously. All these factors contribute directly to converting first-time customers and window shoppers into repeat customers, thus also helping in increasing sales. Therefore, a deep understanding of how design strategies influence the minds and shopping behaviour of customers can help retail designers create well-curated retail spaces for the benefit of retailers and customers alike.

8 i Abstract

Westside, one of the well-established and well-known chain of department stores with several locations across the country, was chosen for case studies as a large format department store with a wide array of the product range that is all in-house labels would

Prior to carrying out the customer journey mapping, a theoretical study was carried out to identify the standard design strategies in the context of department stores and to develop a fundamental understanding of the triggers of customer behaviour and various parameters that influence their behaviour to develop a specific point-of-view for the detailed observations for the selected case studies.

The above understanding has been the premise of this study which was carried out by a team of two people. A department store typology was selected to study the customer behaviour here as it would enable us to see a variety of design strategies laid out at a single location. These design strategies while overlapping, for the purpose of this study, have been broadly segregated as spatial organization and visual merchandising strategies. The methodology of the mapping customer journey was used to analyze the customer behaviour and draw insights into the influence of deployed design strategies. The differences in customer journey mapping were observed for differences in the behaviour of female versus male shoppers; lone shoppers versus accompanied shoppers as well as differences between shoppers coming on a weekday versus weekend. These criteria were selected after a preliminary observation that showed significant differences in the behaviour patterns. It is important to note here that the customers were followed discreetly such that they are not influenced by the presence of the observers and their journey within the store was mapped to understand the influence of design strategies.

While the relation between spatial organization and visual merchandising strategies; this part of the study and document focuses solely on zoning and layout strategies and their impact on customer behaviour. It is suggested that this document should be read in correlation with, “Visual merchandising strategies in department stores: a study through customer behaviour mapping” to have a thorough understanding of design strategies studied and observed in the chosen case study.

allow the study to focus more on the customer behaviour influenced by the deployed design strategies of known product features and brand image. As the behaviour of customers in department stores is influenced by several factors, like the perceived image of the brand and its sub-brands, the intentions and expectations of the trip depending on their demographic and psychographic profiles, narrowing down the study to standalone locations further allows to study the behaviour of customers that can be safely assumed to be making an intended trip to the location, thus allowing to further focus the study on their behaviour influenced by the deployed design strategies.

Keywords: retail space, customer, shopping behaviour, department store, customer behaviour

In order to cover a diverse database of customers, stores from the best performing cities of the Western region were chosen which are Mumbai and Ahmedabad. These stores are different from each other in terms of the store area and the layout strategies used. This study observes that the customers tend to respond differently to various zoning and layout strategies which impacts the performance of various in-house labels.

The observations and analysis of this study focus on how the layout strategies are implemented in synchronization with the site context visual merchandising strategies, encourage customers to browse through the store more thoroughly and create a positive impact on sales.

To study the role and impact of spatial design on customer behaviour in departmental retail environments.

10 ii Project Proposal

Objective

Scope and Limitations

• To conduct studies on mapping customer behaviour in chosen case studies to critically look at the impact of spatial design on Indian customers.

• To identify various department store layouts and underlying techniques and principles behind implementing them.

Aim

• To identify the impact of various department store layouts and spatial design and its impact on customer behaviour through case studies, keeping two main kinds of literature: Belk’s taxonomy and Why we buy: the science of Shopping by Paco Underhill.

This study focuses on analysing the layout strategies and their application in a department store with in-house lifestyle labels. For this purpose, two standalone Westside stores from Ahmedabad and Mumbai have been chosen. Westside is a monobrand brand chain department store, and any subbrand seen in the stores are brands of the store itself. Ahmedabad and Mumbai are the best performing cities in the west zone for the brand and hence cover a wide variety of customer groups. Standalone stores

11 have been given a preference as footfall there is more likely to have a pre-conceived brand image and some level of brand familiarity. Standalone stores chosen are from two seperate urban settings which helps in covering a broader variety of customers and relate to he impact of store location on customer behaviour.

The first part of this study will focus on what customer behaviour is and its importance to arrive at better design solutions to achieve higher customer satisfaction as a measure of store performance. This part helps in understanding the complete retail cycle through the eyes of a customer and how the retail journey starts before entering a physical store, hence also the role of interior design in shaping the journey forward. This part will also explore the emotional state model of customers and situational factors, stating how spatial design is used to trigger these responses in customers for a better, more enhanced retail experience, and its significance to marketing

The study is conducted by discreetly observing the customers and their response to design strategies. By studying the customers dicreetly, it is ensured that the data collected is free from any influence that might affect the usual shopping patterns of the customers. Other methods of customer mapping are identified and mentioned in the document, however, not adopted as these may tamper with the results and customer shopping patterns.

This study and its inferences are purely based on visual and behavioural observation, as this being the first of its kind study, there is no access to sales receipts and technology used for large scale consumer studies. Methodology This study is structured in a way to understand and conduct research in a holistic manner. The study will cover the origin, function and current retail model of what a department store is. The role of customer behaviour and its relation to design strategies implemented in stores for higher customer satisfaction. And lastly, case studies and inferences from the same to verify implications based on the kinds of literature used as a base for this report. This sequence helps us understand the interrelation between layout strategies and customer behaviour in a structured way.

The second part of this study will focus on introducing keywords and technical terms crucial for this study. This part will explore the origin and current scenario of department stores in India and the world. Studying various parts of a department store and common design strategies, this section helps in listing down some fundamental design decisions and their impact on customers.

The third part of this study is observation mapping: focused on identifying case studies to observe, analyse and draw learning outcomes based on collected and reviewed literature. This will help us in identifying what is relevant and useful, giving insights into the minds of Indian customers and help make this report be of use to brands and marketers as a data bank suggesting probable solutions to be implemented for the betterment of department stores in India. This study will be an amalgamation of interviews, documented data, on-site consumer mapping and personal observation, verified with the help of studied literature from the above two parts of the research.

12 and brand performance.

13 Fig i - Methodology diagram

14 iii Index Abstract ...08 Project Proposal ...10 ScopeObjectiveAimand MethodologyLimitations Chapter 1: Customer Behaviour ...17 1.1 The Theoretical Perspective 1.2 Influence of brand image on customer behaviour: The journey before shopping 1.3 Factors affecting customer behaviour 1.4 Emotional responses in customers, automaticity and customer satisfaction

15 Chapter 2: Department Stores ...35 2.1 Introduction to department stores 2.2 Department stores in India 2.3 Mono-brand vs. Multi-brand stores Chapter 3: Layout Strategies ...49 3.1 Anatomy of a store layout 3.2 Types of store layouts 3.3 Layout strategies adopted by department stores 3.4 Layout strategies in application Chapter 4: Case Studies ...69 4.1 Why Westside 4.2 Introduction to Westside 4.3 Layout strategies applied 4.4 Methodology of case study 4.5 Westside, Mumbai 4.6 Westside, Ahemdabad Chapter 5: Conclusion ...117 Appendices ...123 iv Glossary v Bibliography vi Image references

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01 Customer Behaviour 1.1 The Theoretical Perspective 1.2 Influence of brand image on customer behaviour: The journey before shopping 1.2.1 Semiotics and brand positioning 1.2.2 Methods of customer behaviour studies 1.3 Factors affecting customer behaviour 1.3.1 In-store spatial factors 1.3.2 Store Location 1.3.3 Store promotions 1.3.4 Situational factors 1.4 Emotional responses in customers, automaticity and customer satisfaction 1.4.1 The PAD Model 1.4.2 Automaticity 1.4.3 Customer Satisfaction

Customer Behaviour

18 Indian customers have numerous options available to them, as a result of which, retailers everywhere are trying to create a stable customer base to sustain themselves in the longer run (Gogoi, 2017). Physical retail stores are the biggest touch-point for brands to attract and interact with customers which makes it every retailer’s first and foremost concern to create and manage a good retail environment. Shopping decisions of a customer are governed by numerous factors like product availability, quality, cost, need, and many more situational factors which retailers and store designers have little to no control over, a successful store design can help in attracting new customers as well as convert window shoppers into customers by encouraging them to spend more time the store and inspiring them to buy more products, thus helping in creating a healthy balance between new and recurring customers. Such a retail environment can encourage customers to indulge in impulse buying, the phenomenon of making unplanned purchases by creating better opportunities to maximize customerproduct interaction and provide the customer with a holistic and enlightening shopping experience.

Impulse buying also happens at different levels, such as: pure impulse, reminder impulse and suggestion impulse. These can be understood with the help of the following examples (Stern, 1962): Pure impulse: buying decision made purely based on product attributes and want rather than need. These can also be termed as unplanned purchases and may not have a direct impact on a customer’s needs. For example, small items like chocolates

Impulse buying is generated in customers through a pleasant and motivational store experience, hence can be used as a measure of store performance.

Suggestion impulse: buying decision made based on product interaction and realization of previously unfelt need (Blythe & Sethna, 2016). For example, many stores resort to interactive displays of product use and sample distribution to demonstrate the added features and functions in products which aims to make customers realise the products’ worth and addition to full-fill their previously unfelt needs.

19 and candies are often displayed near the checkout counter to tempt customers into browsing through and purchasing them while waiting in line.

Reminder impulse: buying decision made based on product interaction and realization of previously felt need. This aims to remind customers of items they may have needed in the past or might need in the future. For example, small utility items such has napkins, office stationary etc. are placed strategically to remind customers of products they might need to restock for use in the near future.

This section of the study is focused on understanding the significance of customer mapping observations and its impact on retail design. Focusing on the role of spatial organisation strategies in designing a retail space, various literatures have been reviewed to form a theoretical framework, establishing the relation between spatial organisation strategies and customer mapping. 1.1 The Theoretical perspective

Numerous literatures based on different aspects of retail design and customer behaviour have been reviewed to study their correlation. Table 1.1 represents some of the important contributions from these literatures which have been used further for this Accordingstudy. to studies referred to in “Why we buy” (Underhill, 2009) and statistics obtained from other studies (Eroglu, Machleit, & Barr, 2005) and (Kotni, 2016), it can be inferred that a pleasant customer shopping experience can boost sales, a direct measure of success for any retail store. (Underhill, 2009) and (Kotni, 2016) also argues that a store layout has a direct impact on a customer’s shopping experience and thus extension, sales. Retail

To study the relation between store layout and customer behaviour in retail, this research draws a theoretical framework by discussing consumer psychology, its relation to brand image and customer behaviour in physical retail environments, and the impact of different spatial organisation strategies on the same. This framework helps in conducting case studies to draw inferences and learning outcomes fitting best to the context of Indian department stores.

Blythe, J., & Sethna, Z. (2016) behaviourConsumer Impact of retail design and behaviour.consumerstrategiesmarketingon Elbers, T. (2016) The effects of behaviourconsumerdesignsandlayout-in-storeshelfon Various theirstrategiesorganisationspatialandusein different retail formats. Kotni, V. D. (2016) Impact of store experienceshoppingcustomerdesignlayouton Impact of layout behaviours.shoppingonstrategiescustomer Dale, H. S. (2017) ingmerchandisandFlagshipsvisualEffect of visual atmospherics,storemerchandising and different retail formats on responses.shopping

These case studies have been conducted in a similar fashion, as outlined by (Underhill, 2009) combined with learnings from Belk’s framework of situational factors (Belk, 1975) by observing the customers discreetly during their shopping journey so that the data collected is uninfluenced and helps in drawing observations based on naturally generated customer responses. This method of customer mapping will help us gain insights on what specific strategies generate positive and negative responses in customers respectively. This study will also give us clues into different spatial organization strategies adopted by department stores and their relevance in terms of site response and customer care The learning outcomes from these literature and case studies are used to draw conclusions to serve as a guide best fitting to create a pleasant store experience for a large format department store in India.

Since the research is based on studying and drawing inferences from customers coming to shop in a physical retail store, it is important to outline the difference between consumers and customers concerning the research. A customer is a person who walks in and interacts with physical retail and may or may not be the enduser of the product they choose to buy from the store.

20 designers aim to create a comfortable environment to make the shopping process easy for customers and retailers alike. A retail designer’s scope of work in designing a physical retail store can be broadly categorized into two areas: retail and non-retail. The retail-specific area comprises product display and product transaction spaces whereas non-retail areas are the walkways, product examination spaces, etc. A balance between these two categories helps create a pleasant shopping experience so that the customers have ease of navigation and improved interaction with products with retailers not having to face challenges like product stock-outs.

Underhill, P. (2009) Why we buy Insights behaviourcustomeron and different aspects of retail design through the process of mapping.customer Belk, (1975)R. taxonomyBelk’s of factorssituational Situational factors affecting behaviour.anddecisionsshoppingcustomer

Table 1.1 - Literature review

Author Contribution

Fig 1.1 - Relationship diagram between social psychology, consumer psychology, and consumer behaviour

1.2 Influence of brand image on customer behaviour: The journey before shopping Customer behaviour is an outcome of psychology as much as an influence of spatial triggers.

From psychological point of view, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Consumer psychology, Branch of social psychology concerned with the market behaviour of consumers. Consumer psychologists examine the preferences, customs, and habits of various consumer groups; their research on consumer attitudes is often used to help design advertising campaigns and to formulate new products.” (Editors of Encyclopaedia, 2017)

Whereas a consumer is someone who is the enduser of the product. The consumer doesn’t need to be the one who has bought the product from the store. Hence, a customer may or may not be a direct consumer.

The role of Consumer psychology in retail design can be termed as, “Consumption behaviour that is driven by the decision processes that happen in the mind of any consumer or customer outside their conscious” (Chartrand and Fitzsimons, 2010). This process helps customers form their idea of brands, form desires and expectations for services offered by brands and retail environments, and make a decision on whether they want to purchase a product or discard it. Similarly, consumer psychology is also used by brands and marketers to market their products in an effective way to their target audience. This process of “positioning” a brand in the minds of the consumer or customer is also categorized as “neuromarketing” and comes under the umbrella of neuroscience. 1.2.1 Semiotics and brand positioning Due to globalization and the rise of E-retail, it has become of great need for brands to invest more heavily in creating a brand image in the minds of consumers to attract traffic into their physical retail stores and online channels. When brands have a strong image and association in the minds of consumers, more than often a store trip becomes intended or attracts

22 Fig 1.3 - Scope of study regarding customer behaviour as a retail designer Fig 1.2 - Relation between factors constituting customer behaviour

Quoting from the oxford dictionary, semiotics can be explained as the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Based on this information, it is safe to say that not only do semiotics help in brand positioning, but also in easy product communication in terms of packaging design, creating product level recall value, and easy navigation within retail layouts making store visits more streamlined and enjoyable for customers (Lawes, 2022). Keeping all these sciences, their significance in retail and their application in mind, the following relation diagrams can be concluded –

While consumer psychology is vast and delves deep into neurofunctions of the brain which impact retail decisions made by consumer, a specific part of it which this paper will be focusing on is customer behaviour. Customer behaviour can be defined as “The activity people undertake when obtaining, consuming and disposing products and services” (blackwell, D’souza, Tahghian, Miniard, & James, 2006). In this definition, obtaining can be presumed to be all activities of interaction between a customer and a retail service that can lead to making a purchase. It is not necessary that a purchase be made as the customer might be affected by various personal and situational factors but it is important that they interact with or “obtain” the product in some way for them to go through the decision-making process (Blythe & Sethna, 2016).

Fig 1.4 - Factors affecting customer behaviour and their impact on a brand window shoppers to their stores with expectations in mind. It is then that consumer behaviour comes into play and retailers try to arouse and satisfy customers through their branded environments and psychological triggers which may help them achieve a sale. Brand positioning in the minds of consumers, very simply put is clear communication of what the brand and the product offered by them is. Positioning helps consumers understand a brand’s strength and shed light on how they are different from their competition, hence paving way for consumers to decide for themselves and make a choice of brand and/or product (Ries & Trout, 2001).

It is noteworthy that more than often customer shopping

When brands are trying to position themselves using physical retail stores, semiotics play a huge role in helping communicate the brand and adding a better recall value (mental association to the brand which helps consumers return to the brand again and again).

These techniques help in identifying what influences the consumer like emotional, rational and situational triggers in a retail environment more precisely. These

1.2.2 Methods of customer behaviour studies

Fig 1.5 - Factors constituting of customer behaviour behaviours are influenced by the brand image they have formed in their minds before entering the stores. This influence helps attracting customers seeking an experience based on preconceived notions about the store. For example, a customer who is familiar with a brand’s visual identity would most likely enter the store for that brand with a set of expectations in mind like the brand colours, product variety, product quality, the overall environment in the store, customer service, etc. If and when these expectations are fullfilled and succeeded, the customer will have a greater sense of satisfaction from the store which may lead to increased sales and organic brand advertising. Hence, a good store design is an opportunity to create a shift in the brand positioning and create a targeted image in the minds of the customers entering the store.

Consumer neuroscience, a part of a larger field known as neuroscience focuses on studying the human brain to help map consumer behaviour, with hopes to influence decision making process in customers. Since the mid-2000s, interests in neuroscience have taken off and various methods have been devised to chart customer behaviour and influences on a scientifically accurate level such as brain scanning and tracking the blood flow. But such methods have been proven to perform poorly in terms of identifying what exactly set off a trigger. These methods are also cumbersome and often require huge capital investment and commitment from brands which brands are rarely interested in. More easily accessible, reliable and widely used techniques to conduct research on neuromarketing include mapping a customer’s psychological shopping clues like eye fixation points, movement patterns in retail environment, pupil dilation while looking at a product to indicate arousal etc. (Harell, 2019).

25 methods yield quantifiable and more concrete results, which are then used to map customer behaviour. (Blythe & Sethna, 2016). On similar lines, (Underhill, 2009) describes his learnings on customer behaviour based on observations gathered by studying how different categories of customers interact with retail environments in different settings and tries to identify what part of retail design is falling out of balance, throwing customers off their shopping rhythm. Results of these studies are then used by brands to come up with better retail formats and products to improve their retail experience and increase customer satisfaction. Such studies can be conducted in numerous ways, some researchers have tried to study by discreetly observe the customers like (Underhill, 2009), while some have relied on trackers and information gathered through entry and exit interviews (Anic & Radas, 2006).

In summary, there are three methods of customer behaviour mapping• Mapping neurological clues through brain waves to identify psychological triggers of retail environments. • Tracking customers along with taking entry and exit interviews. • Discreetly observing customers and their shopping patterns. 1.3 Factors affecting customer 1.3.1behaviourIn-store Spatial factors 1.3.1.a Zoning

Fig 1.6 - Example

The main reason why department stores are preferred by customers is that they provide very clear distinction of product category making the shopping experience streamlined. It is very important for department stores to create different zones on the basis of shopping stages (entry, browsing, trial, purchase, exit, etc..) and in terms of product categories depending on the brand. Zoning in any department store helps in curating a customer’s journey and create a shopping experience which the brand wants to provide. A good zoning strategy also affects customer navigation of zoning diagram

Layout

Since visual merchandising is the biggest element in the store visible to customers, it is the most effective way to trigger and influence a customer’s shopping behaviour and experience. Visual merchandising seeks to draw a customers attention towards a product by using various design and presentation tactics for a consistence arrangement and display of Customersmerchandise.have a tendency to react to VM strategies in different manner depending on their intent of shopping - goal driven or exploratory. A customer who is specifically looking for a product would react positively to a VM strategy which focuses on creating distinct visual categories and an easy to understand curation. Whereas, a customer who is browsing, often lacking the force of motivation would seek a more visual interesting and informative VM strategy to feel motivated to browse. Thus, it is the responsibility of a retail designer to find the balance between the two tendencies and create VM strategies to accommodate the customers needs.

Fig 1.8 - Visual merchandising strategies by Enamor expereince store, Bengaluru

1.3.1.c

26 and flow of customer traffic in the store which may have a direct influence on a customer’s shopping satisfaction.

Visual merchandising strategies

After broader zoning of the store, each zone will have its own layout strategy. These strategies may or may not be uniform in the entire store depending on the brand and product. These layout strategies govern the positioning of fixtures to display product and help a customer navigate through aisles to browse through the store. An ideal store layout is meant to be comfortable to browse through and should encourage customers to browse further than intended. Positive impact of a good store layout may lead up-to better customer-product interaction and increased impulse shopping tendencies.

Any efforts by a retail space to create a product display with intentions of product selection, trial and purchase by a customer can be termed as visual merchandising.

1.3.1.d Atmospherics/ Servicescapes

1.3.1.b

Store atmospherics or servicescapes refers to the combination of various elements in a store such as music, lighting, olfactory factors, signages etc.. which

Fig 1.7 - Example of layout strategies, placement of fixtures

Store location often also impacts the store design or at least the store front in case of mall stores vs. standalone/neighbourhood stores. Other than the urban neighbourhood around the store and the need to adapt store window/front accordingly, a survey with store managers of leading lifestyle product based department store brands revealed that in almost all cases, a standalone or neighbourhood store of the same brand will invest more capital in store front and marketing strategies as these stores have to work more to attract footfall into the store

Fig 1.9 - Co-relation between spatial or ganisation strategies and store atmos pherics, Surendri flagship store, Delhi make the atmosphere of a retail space. Atnospherics are crucial to the brand image of a store and are used as a medium to communicate any brand’s ideals to its Atmosphericscustomers. and visual merchandising go hand in hand as they both contribute together to intangible aspects of a retail space like the seasons’ theme and a general brand identity. They are also responsible for creating a visual layout of the store and help with regulating traffic and aiding way-finding with the use of signages. Store atmospherics are also used an is-store marketing technique and an trigger emotional responses in customers with the help of environmental graphics.

Fig 1.10 - Target market for lifestyle department stores at Shyamal, Ahmedabad

1.3.2 Store location

A customer’s buying decision is often influenced by factors other than the brand, product and the store environment. One apparent factor which might be influencing the shopping patterns and consumer behaviour is store location. A store’s location plays a huge part in determining if a consumer is simply browsing through the store or has made a planned visit looking for a specific product. It has also been implied by numerous studies that a customer’s behaviour in the is also influenced by how much they have travelled to reach the store. If a store is located in a target market full of stores offering a similar product, it is highly likely that a customer is coming in browsing just to compare products between brands and may or may not make a purchase. But if a customer has travelled more than 30 minutes or travelled out of their way to make a planned visit to a particular store, they are more likely to make a purchase from the store. (Anic & Radas, 2006) (Turhan, Mehmet, & Zehir , 2013).

1.3.4 Situational factors

As mentioned in table 2.1, most departmental store giants have store promotions as stock clearance and special discounts during festivals. A simple answer to why these promotions is offered is to attract more customers and increase product sales while simultaneously promoting the brand image in the minds of customers to create a recall value (Kiran, 2012).

• Store layouts may or may not change according to temporary marketing strategies and props planned to advertise sales and promotions, impacting movement patterns.

• Furthermore, impulse buying and unplanned purchases often see a rise during promotions too.

Store promotions

Effects on Customer behaviour due to in-store promotions can be listed as follows-

• Store promotions may or may not create unpleasant situations for some customer, resulting into lower customer satisfaction due to overcrowding in store or longer wait lines at the point of sale.

“Consumer purchasing decisions are frequently made at the point of purchase and may be heavily influenced by what takes place there. A great many factors contribute to purchase decision, including consumer characteristics, brand features and situational factors. By identifying those factors, retailers may improve store layout and design, merchandising, atmosphere and staffing decisions significantly.” (Anic & Radas, 2006). Situational factors include store atmospherics, merchandising, store crowding etc.. Belk’s framework of situational factors (Belk, 1975) sites different situational factors in detail and how they impact Fig 1.11 - Increased In-store traffic due to seasonal promotions at Barron’s department store.

28 whereas a mall store will invest resources in making store windows more communicative of their latest marketing strategies as they receive ample footfall but a lesser percentage of those customers actually end up making a purchase (refer table 2.1, under 2.3.3 Current state of department stores in India).

• Consumer behaviour and movement patterns can change drastically in a store as a lot of customers coming in might now be making planned trips to the store in hopes of browsing through the promotions.

1.3.3

• Purpose of visit, a very personal situational factor which differs from customer-to-customer effects the consumer behaviour patterns greatly. A consumer who has entered the store in an emergency will most probably just look straight for the product they came for and make a purchase. But a customer who has time on hand and is looking forward to seek a variety of product may indulge in making unplanned purchases. Similarly, a customer who is well versed with the store and its layout may go straight to their aisle of interest to browse, ignoring most if not all marketing magnets planted by the retailers to invoke a sense of curiosity. This phenomenon is termed as “automaticity” (Alba & Hutchinson , 1987).

• Social surrounding refers to who the customer came with, it has been noted that consumers tend to spend more time in a store if they are accompanied by a group of shoppers and treat the task of shopping as a social activity. On the other

• Time dimension is important in making a sale and impacts consumer behaviour. It is implied by various studies that the more time a customer spends in a store, the more likely they are to make a purchase. Keeping this in mind, store layout and VM is made such that it encourages customers to spend more time browsing the products (Anic & Radas, 2006).

29 consumer behaviour and purchasing outcomes.

• Store density impacts how the customers perceive the store environment. Customers often like to have a sense of dominance through a “proximity bubble”, this refers to the personal space people are comfortable with, encouraging them to browse through products at their own pace (Levav, 2009) (Eroglu, Machleit, & Barr, 2005) (Gogoi, 2017). It has also been established by (Underhill, 2009) that consumers often feel uncomfortable if someone is too close to them, often touching them, making most consumers instantly leave their spot and shop somewhere else. This phenomenon has been termed the “butt brush effect”.

Some situational factors relevant to the scope of the study are:

30 hand, if they are only accompanied by someone who is not shopping with them may result in lower consumer satisfaction if the guests are not given proper accommodation in the retail environment (Underhill, 2009) (Anic & Radas, 2006). Fig 1.12 - Belk’s model of situational factors

1.4

Physic al surrounding is the most readily apparent feature of a situation (Anic & Radas, 2006). It might include location, décor, sounds, lighting, music, colour, scent, weather, visual merchandising strategies, etc.. (Belk, 1975). Apart from these factors, much of what drives us as customers is a desire for pleasure derived from shopping experiences. Our basic need for survival has been long taken care of and customers’ desires have shifted from being merely adequate for survival to consuming for pleasure (Blythe & Sethna, 2016). A customer goes through series of emotional responses while shopping which dictate weather the customer found the overall journey of the store satisfying or not. Closer examination of these emotional responses can also help in evaluating the success or failure of layout strategies. These responses give an insight on what strategy encourages customers to browse more through the store and boost store performance.

‘Arousal’ can be defined as the measure to which a customer feels excited to explore and browse more

Emotional responses in customers, automaticity and customer satisfaction

There are three main positive emotional responses in customer which dictate and influence their shopping behaviour (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974). These three responses are pleasure, arousal and dominance (PAD Model). These are responses generated by a pleasant store experience whereas an unpleasant store environment and retail experience leads to avoidance behaviour (Donovan, Rossiter, Marcoolyn , & Nesdale , 1994). These emotional responses can be understood in detail as: 1.4.1 The PAD Model (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974) stated that three basic emotional dimensions, Pleasure, Arousal and Dominance, provide a general description of emotions, generated by stimuli in an environment.

‘Pleasure’ is considered as the measure to which a customer feels happy or satisfied with the retail environment and shopping experience. More the degree of pleasure, more are the chances that a customer will come to the store again. This also helps in promoting the store better and attract more first time customers to the store.

‘Dominance’ is described as the degree to which a customer feels unrestricted or in control of the situation. Often this emotion is triggered by ample product examination space and number of options provided to the customer while shopping like customization, etc.. For example, when given choice or freedom to customize or curate products themselves, the customers often feel a sense of control and dominance which encourages them to take charge and browse through more product (Mehrabianoptions. & Russell, 1974) hypothesize that combination of these emotional responses governs a customer’s approach/acceptance and avoidance response in any retail environment.

32 product range than intended for in a shopping trip, often leading to impulse buy behaviour. For example, store designed to have a sense of discovery during the shopping journey often make the customers feel more “aroused” and curious to explore the entire store and not just the intended aisles.

‘Approach responses’ imply that happy or pleased customers react positively to the retail environment and indulge in impulse buy or browsing behaviours. Whereas, ‘Avoidance responses’ on the other hand are characterized by an aversion to the retail environment like not browsing the entire store, abandoning a shopping trip in the middle due to extensive crowding, avoiding certain zones due to narrow aisles, etc.. (Petermans, Cleempoel, Nuyts, & Vanrie, 2009).

1.4.2 Automaticity

In case of loyal customer base of brands with uniform store layouts, customers have been observed shopping for intended products with reduced effort and minimal conscious control spent in locating or browsing for the product as they are already aware through repeat movement on where their product of choice is located. Such a behaviour is known as automaticity. Automaticity affects the performance of promotional situation factors and reduces the probability of impulse buy in customers (Alba & Hutchinson , 1987). Fig 1.13 - The PAD model

33 1.4.2 Customer satisfaction As established by (Oliver, 1993) customer satisfaction is directly linked to sales generated by any store and hence can be used an index to evaluate the performance the store. To simply put it, customer satisfaction is higher when there is a higher level of “pleasant” [a measure from the PAD model (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974) ] store environment and may lead to better or increased sales. Stores with lesser pleasant environment may result in generating avoidance response/behaviour in customer, ultimately limiting product-customer interaction and cutting chances of impulse buy behaviour.

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02 Department Stores 2.1 Introduction to department stores 2.1.1 Origin of department stores 2.1.2 Evolution of department stores 2.2 Department stores in India 2.2.1 Spencer Plaza, Chennai 2.2.2 Akbarallys, Mumbai 2.2.3 Current retail model 2.3 Mono-brand vs. Multi-brand stores 2.3.1 Mono-brand department stores 2.3.2 Multi-brand department stores

• Specialty

36 02

“Department store, retail establishment that sells a wide variety of goods. These usually include readyto-wear apparel and accessories for adults and children, yard goods and household textiles, small household wares, furniture, electrical appliances and accessories, and, often, food.” (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica) . All these departments of product categories are placed under one centrally functioning retail organisation with each department often working as an independent unit in itself. Due to a vast product range, department store as often sub categorised by the nature of the product and/or by the general price range offered. A few of them are: stores department stores merchandise stores stores

The innovative role of the later nineteenth century department store has become a commonplace of historical discussion. Department stores have been credited by many historians as the beginning of large format retail stores by bringing multiple categories of products under one roof. Once seen as the symbol of modernity, department stores, since the inception of this retail typology have grown manifolds and can be categorised into separate formats (Crossick & Jaumain , 2019).

• Apparel

Department Stores

• General

2.1 Introduction to department stores

• Discount

Jonathan Glancey, an honorary member of the Royal institute of British Architects says that the title of the first ever department store belongs to Harding, Howell and Co.’s Grand fashionable magazine, London. Established in 1796, this store was divided into 4 departments for furs and fans, hats, jewellery/clocks and haberdashery (Glancey, n.d.). Based on other literatures, the first ever department store is said to be the Bon Marche, Paris. From there, John Wanamaker carried the learnings forward and introduced the concept to the United States by purchasing a freight depot in his native, Philadelphia and populating it with his selection of products by different retailers. He has also been credited for the invention of price tags and aggressive shopping campaigns for his future chain retail stores (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica).

Fig 2.1 - Bon Marche, Paris, 1869. Fig 2.2 - Bon Marche interiors, Paris, 1869.

2.1.1 Origin of department stores

The origins of department stores can be traced back to European countries back in the 19th century. Due to the sudden growth in population and concentrated cities being formed paired with developments of better transportations and electricity being harnessed, there was a need and a possibility of forming a new retail format of the time: The department store.

It has also been suggested that the inspiration for the department store layout and spatial planning was the Great Exhibition of 1851 itself (Glancey, n.d.).

2.1.2 Evolution of department stores

Many of the initial department stores like John Lewis and Whiteleys were established by drapers who understood the rising fashion and control taken over by middle class women as consumers. Many sources credit this consumer group for the rise and trend of department stores from mid-19th century onwards (Crossick & Jaumain , 2019).

2.1.2.a Marshall field’s: the customer is always right and only so many shopping days till Christmas Starting as a dry goods retail company in Chicago, the department store rose quickly in terms of revenue and loyal customer base. This store was famous for its separate divisions based on customer bases. People were offered products in smaller quantities and loose units as well as on whole sale basis for smaller merchants. Marshall Field’s is also attributed for extensive store advertising like window displays. In its earlier days, the store focused on showing just the interior of the retail areas through its windows but then made a change to curating careful visual merchandising in the windows. The master minds behind this store, Harry gordon Selfridges and Marshall Feild himself also came up Fig 2.3 - Marshall Feild’s “great hall” Interiors, Chicago, 1910. Fig 2.4 - Crowds gather to see Marshall Feild’s Window display

39 with now globally used slogans like “the customer is always right” and “only so many shopping days till Christmas”. The store was also equipped with rudimentary ways of community building areas like tea rooms as the store focused on female customers and wanted to be a place which could make shopping become a social activity. Paired with targeted advertising and smart campaigns, the store was also Chicago’s first and only store which was designed to be a one stop shop for all. It had different floors and divisions based on categories of dry goods of the time. This store is seen as one the major defining sites about what a department store is and grew to become a chain functioning across America. In 2006, the brand was acquired by Macy’s and this store was converted into a Macy’s flagship store.

The master behind the success of Marshall field’s, Harry Gordon Selfridge felt that London department stores lacked the competitive retail spirit like the stores of Paris and America. He felt that there was a need and a demand for such a store in the market and thus, found his new department store: Selfridges (Woodhead, 2007). Not only did this store harbour every aspect of what made Marshall field’s so likeable by the American customer, it went a notch up by opening over a hundred departments under one roof. These departments were all equipped with their own layouts depending on the product sold. Other than retail departments, this store also harboured restaurants and cafés to become the ultimate social hangout spot for all and an attraction for movies, launching it into the pop culture of the time (Glancey, Selfridgesn.d.). gave a new dimension and meaning to what a department store can be. Being ahead of its time, this department store focused on not only selling goods and being a shop, but to be a shopping playground where customers can be inspired and explore shopping as a positive, social activity (Selfridges , n.d.). This department chain is still in business under the same name and has expanded its business since into other cities like Birmingham and Manchester.

2.1.2.b Selfridges: the revolution

Fig 2.5 - Selfridges as a key location for the shooting of BBC’s comedy show, “Are you being served?”

2.1.2.c Schocken department store: the modern department store When Bon Marche in Paris was offering its Art Nouveau charms for the customers and defining “the department store” experience in its own way, the Schocken brother, successful German retailers decided to go the other way in Germany. This department store focused on providing customers with a new taste away from the traditional retail experience. With airy and light interiors, this department store focused on creating photogenic spaces filled with environmental graphics, a common approach seen today. This store was later destroyed by the Nazis who came into power in 1933. In 1935, Peter Jones department store came up with a design which was heavily inspired by the Schocken department store. This design approach won the favour of the modern customer because of its minimal interiors and lighter space with ample space for comfortable movement (Glancey, n.d.).

Fig 2.6 - Schocken department store, Stuttgart, 1924.

Department stores in India

Fig 2.7 - Westside department store

Retail sector in India can be divided into organised and unorganised retail respectively. Organized retail consists of retailers and manufacturers registered under sales and income tax department, thus, retail formats like department stores, chain stores, hypermarkets, etc. fall under this category. With unorganised retail sector taking up to 90% of the market presence in the Indian context, organised retail is still in its initial stage but has seen tremendous growth in the past few years (Juneja, n.d.). Starting from the year 1939, there has been attempts by the Indian government to promote organised retail chains like the public distribution system and kendriya bhandars where a variety of merchandise could be sold under one roof for fair prices. This can be seen as the start of department store retail model in India (Menon & Maram, 2014). There is very literature to be found on the origin of department stores in India. Some suggest that the Spencer Plaza in Chennai’s Anna Salai area is the first ever department store to enter the Indian markets where are other studies suggest that Akbarally’s is the first due to both being established during the same time in different regions of the country.

2.2

42 2.2.1 Spencer Plaza, Chennai When opened to the Indian customer in 1895, Spencer Plaza was not only the first department store India but also the biggest in south Asia. This store housed over 80 different departments. Built during the British raj in India, the store was then known as the Spencer & Co. Department store and took heavy inspiration from its European and American rivals in terms of zoning, floor division, layout and VM strategies. Constructed in the Indo-Saracenic style, this site was also used as a major attraction for foreigners and locals alike. The department store, due to booming business was then converted into a shopping mall in 1985 (Venkatraman, 2017). Fig 2.8 - Spencer Plaza,1895. Fig 2.9 - Spencer Plaza, present day.

2.2.2 Akabrallys, Mumbai Now a 10,000 sq. ft. multi brand department store showcasing men’s lifestyle products, Akbarallys dates back to 1897 and has been termed as the “first department store in India” by many literatures. The brand started off as a drug store and quickly converted itself into a department store brand to fill the gap left open by the retreating British brands. Akbarallys soon became a retail chain in Mumbai and served all types of goods for all age groups. These stores were known as the “one stop shop” in Bombay and had a monopoly in the market due to their variety and customer service. These stores, similar to spencer plaza took inspiration from their European and American counterparts too (Sriram, 2016). One notable difference between Akbarallys and Spencer Plaza is the size. Instead of showcasing all product range under one roof on different floors, Akbarallys resorte to acquire smaller stores all around the city as a chain brand.

Fig 2.10 - Akbarallys, 1897. Fig 2.11 - Akbarallys, Present day.

promotionsFrequencyof and

To study the current Indian scenario for department store, store managers from best performing west zone mall stores of 5 big retail chains were interviewed. From the information obtained from these interviews, a common zoning strategy followed by all seems to be zoning based on brand performance to attract more walk-in customers. These stores also tend to focus more on creating a streamlined layout to make shopping time lesser and the process more streamlined for the customers. Layouts are usually revised on a bi-yearly basis. Brand name Store USP Revision period for layoutVMand sales

Priority in mall store Priority in standalone store Changes in store pandemicdesigndueto Lifestyle Multi brand + checkoutSelf-counterscheck-outSelfstrategies,VMstreamlineduniformsub-brands,private Based on store and sub manceperforbrand End seasonof festivals+ ofplays,windowthroughpromotionsnicatingCommudisEasecustomer traffic strategiesandstorefrontfootfallAttractingformat,storeUniformviaVM VM displaysandwithtedwerechangesseasonalalternatemised,comprogiesstratewereomitalongpropspower Pantaloons Multi brand + updatesproductfrequentstrategies,linedstreamuniformsub-brands,privateVM formancebrandbasedBi-yearly,onper End motionsbrandIndividualFestivals,season,ofpro ofplays,windowthroughpromotionsnicatingCommudiseasecustomer traffic strategiesandstorefrontfootfallAttractingformat,storeUniformviaVM minimumandstoremadechangesNoasarearentis

44 2.2.3 Current retail model

“Retailers in India are moving their products around with regularity but maintaining sufficient predictability. The idea is to bring chaos so that the buyer is softly pushed to wander around a little more, but not to the point of draining out his/her patience that he or she walks out. The new strategy is that the shopper may find comfort in chaos particularly one who lived in urban India. Usually, the regular buyer showcases instances of automaticity and browses the store with a definite path and a purchase wish list.” (Goswami & Gupta , 2012)

45 Big Bazaar strategiesuniformproducts,FMCGincludingsubprovatebrand+MultibrandsVM revisionMajor ev ery 5 formancebrandbasedchangesminorbi-yearlyyears,onper motionsoverallofcombinationyearpingoverlappromotionsMultipleallround,brand+pro tionspromonicatingCommuand affordability customerfastenablingstorefront,widethroughpaced flow via layout promotionsandproductstoprioritysecondstores,‘next-gen’throughsub-brandsPromotingFMCG No pandemicbeforejustupdatedwereaschangesmajorstoresthe Westside areacirculationwidersub-brand,forandlayoutdistributedevenlysub-brandsstorebrandSinglewithVMevery Based on store and sub manceperforbrand End seasonof festivals+ Ease customerof traffic by widerprovidingaisles strategiesandstorefrontfootfallAttractingformat,storeUniformviaVM wearofPromotionrevision,Layoutwestern Shopper’s Stop Multi brand + strategiesVMstreamlineduniformsub-brands,private brandbasedBi-yearly,on End motionsbrandIndividualFestivals,season,ofpro ofplays,windowthroughpromotionsnicatingCommudiseasecustomer traffic by en’sries+accessoclubbingwomsection strategiesandstorefrontfootfallAttractingformat,storeUniformviaVM formance.brandbasedrevisionLayoutonperTable 2.1 - Brand-wise data on functioning of department stores in malls.

Fig 2.12 - Max department store Fig 2.13 - Lifestyle department store

Department stores can be broadly classified into mono and multi brand store. Both categories have number of differences ranging from spatial quality, product and sub-brand zoning, VM strategies, etc..

2.3 Mono-brand vs multi-brand department stores

2.3.1 Mono brand department stores

In contrast to mono brand stores, multi brand stores often cater to independent brands and manufacturers more than their in-house sub brands. Manufacturers of these private brands have very little or no control over the customer service and in store customer user experience (Dale, 2017). The owners or managers of such stores are often bound contractually with private brands they showcase in terms of VM and Layout needs of the brands, giving them lesser creative control over the retail environment in their stores. Layout and zoning strategies in such stores also largely depend upon the brand performance and brand image of each private brand as a lot of walk-in customers are attracted to such stores in search of their prefer brands.

2.3.2 Multi brand department stores

Mono brand stores are often owned by the manufactures and function for the sole purpose of stocking the manufacturer’s own line of products. These stores can have sub-brand under the main brand and have a greater creative freedom. Mono brand department stores have the opportunity to formulate marketing strategies unique to their brand. They also have the freedom to design their own layouts and VM strategies and can choose to keep them uniform for their sub-brands too. Such stores are usually located in prominent areas and offer a huge variety of products this approach helps them position themselves better and uniquely in the minds of their intended audience. Such stores are useful for showcasing the brand’s image, position and values to its target audience(Dale, 2017).

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03 Layout Strategies 3.1 Anatomy of a store layout 3.1.1 Twilight zone 3.1.2 Decompression zone 3.1.3 Power display 3.1.4 Point of sale 3.2 Types of store layouts 3.2.1 Grid layout 3.2.2 Racetrack layout 3.2.3 Boutique layout 3.2.4 Free-form layout 3.2.5 Spine layout 3.3 Layout strategies adopted by departmentstores 3.3.1 Grid + spine layout 3.3.2 Grid + loop layout 3.3.3 Boutique + grid layout 3.3.4 Boutique + free-form layout 3.4 Layout strategies in application 3.4.1 Contextualisation3.4.2Curation3.4.3Exclusivity3.4.4Simplicity

03 Layout Strategies

According to (Kotni, 2016), main characteristics of a store layout that can be used to understand customer behaviour in stores can be listed as the following:

• Store front design: store entrance and the decompression zone

• Access to staircase, escalators and/or elevators.

In physical retail stores, it is important that the store follows a uniform strategy for the segregation and placement of its product for the ease of browsing and proper traffic flow in the store.

• Product examination and shopping space: trial rooms, customer help desk etc..

• Positioning of POS

As discussed earlier in chapter 1, all these factors contribute directly to the level of consumer satisfaction. Better the store layout and streamlined the journey, more is the consumer satisfaction with in-store shopping experience (Elbers, 2016).

• Security check cabin

• Movement space: shopping aisles

When a store is crowded with customers, some shoppers may or may not avoid the store depending on their personality and expectations from the store. Similarly, when a store is crowded with VM and other fixtures, a customer may or may not like the retail atmosphere generated. The outcome of this phenomenon known as perceived crowding is dictated by a mix of the customer’s likes, dislikes and personality and the kind of layout and spatial zoning they encounter while shopping (Gogoi, Effect of store design on perceived crowding and impulse buying behaviour, 2017).

• Arrangement of fixtures: VM layout strategies

3.1 Anatomy of a store layout

3.1.1Twilight zone According to Underhill in his book Why we buy, the area or pocket of space where busy shoppers are walking towards the store is very less effective in conveying its idea or marketing strategies through its window display or store front. Of course the customer has already seen the storefront and grasped an overall idea of what the store is about but the details of what is in the display is often missed. This area is called a “twilight zone”. To treat a twilight zone can be a task for any retailer as the zone has to tackle issues like low visibility, wrong scale, message being too lengthy or too vague. A larger part of the twilight zone being the way it is also is dependent on store location. If it’s a free-standing store or street facing, customers often battle the heat, rain and other elements of nature to get into the store or the exhaustion and boredom of crossing and cutting through traffic, parking lots etc.. These factors increase agitation and desperation to just get into the store more; whereas if a store is situated in a temperature controlled, well managed mall, the customer may be taking a leisure stroll and will spend more time looking at the store front.

Allocation of space for packing and delivery of Store exit

All retail layouts, based on the existing well-established studies have certain zones where customers tend to behave in a certain way these zones are namely the twilight zone, decompression zone, power display area, store layout and point of sale (Underhill, 2009). These zones have been names such based on which part of the retail journey they are situated in, how consumers tend to move around them and how can they be used in terms of product display. These zones help us in quickly analysing any case study and map how the consumers are interacting with retail solutions implemented to tackle these zone, varying brand to brand.

51 •

•

The term “layout design” or “store layouts” specifies the relative zones of departments and arrangement of fixtures in a retail store (Kotni, 2016). Layout de signs can be placed into different categories based on the geometrical spatial pattern they form.

Zoning strategies for different product categories

goods •

Fig 3.1 - Location of twilight zone

3.2

After the twilight zone when the customer has entered the store, they usually don’t come to a complete halt but rather need more time and physical space to mentally enter the retail environment (Underhill, 2009). The zone which the zone which takes care of this phenomenon is called the “decompression zone”.

1.3.1.d Point of sale (P.O.S) Point of sale is simply the place where the customer ends their retail journey if they find and have decided on what to buy. To put it in a straight forward way–it’s the billing counter of any brick-and-mortar store. This place is important to be placed carefully not only to ease the customer’s pain of way finding and then waiting in the checkout line, but also because this is the place for “impulse buying”. Counters of small products in the vicinity of checkout counters which

Fig 3.4 - Location of P.O.S

Now that the customer is inside the store and has been given an opportunity and space to enter the retail environment both physically and mentally, retailers usually like to make sure the customer knows what the brand has got to offer in a bold, clear and curated manner. This is achieved through a “power display” or a “power wall”. The goal of a power display is not to sell but to make customers consider the products. (Underhill, 2009). Not only does the power display sell the idea of the brand but also acts as a visual barrier to slow customers down. Usually, elements of a power display cannot be dismantled by the customers to take to the billing counter and act solely as in store promotion of products (Morgan, 2016).

1.3.1.c

Fig - Location of decompression - Location of power display

Power display

1.3.1.b Decompression zone

Based on the theory by (Stilley, Inman, & Wakefeild , 2010) studies on where to place store promotions and other props have shown that displays near the store entrance are well received by the customers but they tend to forget about it once they move on with their store trip (Sigurdsson, Saevarsson , & Foxall, 2009). With this information it is safe to assume that customers tend to forget all early visual merchandising due to the fact that they would like to browse first what they came in expecting to find. As a solution to this phenomenon, Underhill offers a few simple solutions like placing brand promotions and props before the actual product. Or have a sales representative greet a simple hello to the customers.

Figzone3.3

Makes inventory control easy for retailers: grids are divided with keeping different product categories and subcategories in mind, making it easy for retailers to monitor the VM density at all times and restock it to desired amounts when needed.

Uses maximum floor space: traditionally, grid layout uses rectangular fixtures with fit into corners of most store fronts and leave the least number of dead spaces between fixtures, making it the most economical strategy. Can be implemented using standard fixtures, making brand uniformity easier to achieve: since large format store chains usually have a mix of all typologies of retail formats (neighbourhood stores, mall stores, standalone stores), they need to design fixtures that can fit into the context of any of these formats. By finalising a grid layout strategy, brands make sure that their standard fixture design can fit in most space planning scenarios. Thus, maintaining the uniformity between stores and maintain a unique and singular brand image.

3.2 Types of layout strategies

53 sell accessories or small necessities are a successful way of diverting customer’s attention from longer wait lines and also increases sales at the same time, hitting two birds with one stone ( (Ebster & Garaus, 2015).

3.2.1 Grid layout

An all-time favourite and most preferred layout by large format stores, grid layout consists of a repetition of shelves parallel to each other making a literal grid (Ebster & Garaus, 2015). This layout is preferred by retailers because –It allows customers to shop efficiently and quickly: by creating a grid, the navigation process becomes easier for intended customers as they have the option of walking only in sections where their desired product can be found.

It is noteworthy that various researchers have found this layout to fit customer shopping behaviour the best, making the overall experience more satisfactory for shoppers and keeping the footfall fast paced (Elbers, 2016). Consistently moving traffic through these Fig 3.5 - Diagram of grid layout

Fig 3.6 - Diagram of angular grid layout

3.2.2 Racetrack/loop layout

3.2.1.a Angular grid layout

A racetrack layout, used by stores with small carpet

3.2.1.b Herringbone layout

Similar to grid layout, herringbone layout is utilised when the store space is narrow and linear. Advantages of using a herringbone layout can be: Feasibility: this store layout is very useful for stores which have a large variety of product but lesser area to showcase. With grids on either side of the main aisle, this layout helps in optimizing and minimizing the aisle space and maximising product display in smaller footprint. Requires lesser investment in VM: this layout is adopted by warehouse style stores as they can use standardised rectangular fixtures and stack them on top of each other. Since the product density is quite high, the perceived product price is considered to be reasonable and affordable. Retailers do not need to get creative and more in the designing extensive VM Itfixtures.should be noted that this layout does not offer great visibility to the end of the secondary and tertiary aisles, making corners susceptible to theft.

54 stores ensures that there is a balanced of adequate perceived crowding: the store has a good number of customers shopping to make it look like a desirable place to browse through but also doesn’t have people crowding in one spot, discouraging customers from shopping in selective aisles.

Fig 3.7 - Diagram of herringbone grid layout

As the name suggests, angular grid layout is a grid layout with linear VM fixtures placed on an angle. This variation of the grid layout offers: Better visibility: since the secondary aisles are placed on an angle, there is better visibility which increases customer vs. product interaction. Increased customer movement: Due to better product visibility, customers are triggered with different types of impulse buy tendencies which encourage browsing behaviour.

Concise and precise product division making product navigation easier for customers: taking forward the previous point, better VM visibility makes navigating the store for intended product easier. It also helps in generating reminder impulse.

Economic utilisation of store area: This layout strategy utilises the corners of the store efficiently, leaving lesser room for dead spaces.

Increase in impulse buy: as customers browse through the store more, their customer-product contact increases and they tend to spend more time in the retail environment, customers tend to get influenced and encouraged to buy more products than intended.

This layout is also known as the shop in shop or alcove layout. Used as one of the oldest strategies by department stores like Akbarallys, multi-brand stores tend to use this layout as it provides creative freedom to personalise all “boutiques” making them unique and have a brand identity of their own. Often, VM fixture are used to create the alcoves or boutiques to separate brands or sub-brands from one another. This layout offers: Curiosity: as all alcoves offer unique brand identity, customers feel motivated to browse through more departments.

3.2.3 Boutique layout

The following can be considered as advantages of racetrack layout (Elbers, 2016)Easy overview of entire store: Since this layout is used for smaller store formats, there is usually no VM hindering the view of the store as a major percentage of VM density is concentrated towards the partitions.

Opportunities to cross-merchandise: through Fig 3.8 - Diagram of racetrack/loop Figlayout3.9 - Diagram of boutique layout

55 area, consists of one main aisle and other aisles around It. All aisles are usually compartmentalised according to the product categories. The goal of this layout is to guide the customer through the entire store and maximize the product vs. customer interaction.

Easy to standardise VM strategies for the entire store: due to similar VM on all corners and faces of the store, less variation in VM fixtures is required.

Encourages unplanned purchases and promotes impulse buying: since customers tend to browse more through such stores, the customer-product interaction increases which triggers various types of impulse buy tendencies in them.

As the name already suggests, free-form layout consists of unstructured VM strategies that complement each other. This can be a mix of other forms of layouting strategies or something new altogether, this form emphasises more on brand experience and ease of browsing. This layout is usually chosen by apparel or lifestyle brands as they aim to make customers spend more time in their stores (Elbers, 2016). Through this layout, the following can be achieved-

Fig 3.10 - Diagram of free-form layout

56 zoning and pairing similar or complementary brands next to each other, customers can be provided with a sense of dominance with more options to mix and match, this tends to encourage them to browse and buy more products than intended.

3.2.4 Free-form layout

Helps creating more immersive, non-repetitive shopping experience: as there is a combination of VM strategies involved in creating this layout, there is less reputation which makes the store experience more unique. Makes customer feel less rushed and encourages them to spend more time in the store: This layout has numerous serpentine path ways combined with VM strategies that may hinder the customers’ vision. Such a combination makes the store have a sense of discovery which often slows the customer down and browse more.

3.2.5 Spine layout

A spine layout of a serpentine main aisle which branches off to secondary aisles, leading up to different departments of the store. Typically used by store with larger area and a linear site, the main aisles run from the front of the store towards the back, often leading up to the POS or the exit to another floor of the store. This layout strategy is especially helpful in navigating customers from one point to another in stores with repetitive VM and uniform visual hierarchy. Some major advantages of this layout strategy are-

Fig 3.11 - Diagram of spine layout

•

Scope for creativity: Even through spine layout is usually consider an extension of a grid layout, there is a scope of creating micro layouts using different strategies for departments branching off from the main aisle, helping in make the store more visually interesting.

It should be noted that even though in literature these layouts are described independent of each other for the sake of distinct categorisation, in real life they are executed on site as a combination of one another based on what fits best according to product categories and site constraints (Kotni, 2016). Since department stores are usually large format retail stores and require uniformity in VM across their other chain stores, they often combine layout strategies to fit the site context and maintain uniformity at the same time. The following can be categorised as commonly found layout Grid + Loop layout Boutique + grid layout Boutique + free form layout

Effective use of space: This layout is also an effective strategy to use space with the added advantage of better mobility.

3.3 Layout strategies adopted by department stores

Better visibility of VM: Departments branching out from the main aisle tend to face it as customers approach the departments using it. Because of this phenomenon, there is better visibility of departments and in extension, the products offered in each department. VM strategies usually do not compete with each other for visual dominance.

•combinations:Grid+Spine

•

Encourages browsing: Due to a very prominent main aisle, customer walking through this layout tend to walk the entire length of the aisle.

•

58 3.3.1 Grid + Spine layout • Useful for department stores with linear site constraints. • Department stores with huge carpet area on each floor can benefit from this strategy as the layout will promote people to browse the entire floor. • Useful for department stores with multiple floors as the main aisle can be used to navigate people to the exit for other floors. • Can help lead people to covert location of POS of exit by utilising the main aisle as a guide. Fig 3.12 - Diagrams of grid + spine layout

59 3.3.2 Grid + loop layout

• Due to loops being formed, the store has an opportunity to use the VM visual hindrance to its advantage to create a sense of discovery and an interesting journey around the store.

• This layout can provide better navigation as the floor can be used as a guide to reach to areas like trial rooms, POS, exits, etc..

Fig 3.13 - Diagrams of grid + loop layout

• Due to increased navigation, this layout eliminates the concerns of corners not receiving adequate visibility.

• Useful for relatively smaller, non linear store footprints as it helps customers go around the entire store in loops and navigate through different segments.

60 3.3.3 Boutique + grid layout

•

• Useful for multi brand stores, can provide a sense of discovery for each brand in the store but also easy navigation in each boutique. Can be used to design the spatial zoning for the store as a grid like zoning can help in easy navigation for the customers. Such a layout can help in creating a balance between retaining crowd and managing in-store traffic as the boutiques will encourage customers to spend more time in the store but the grid layout in each boutique will help customers browse quickly and efficiently. boutique + grid layout

Fig 3.14 - Diagrams of

• Useful for multi brand stores, can provide a sense of discovery for each brand in the store and help in retaining the crowd for a longer period of time in each boutique.

3.3.4 Boutique + free-form layout

• Contrary to the outlook towards department stores, such a layout has the possibility of creating immersive and curated experiences, thus converting department stores into flagship stores for the brand. This can be useful in creating a unique brand positioning and showcasing the brand values and ideals through the customer experience provided. - Diagrams of boutique + free-form layout

Fig 3.15

• As each boutique will be unique from each other in terms of VM and layout strategies, this approach can help in creating a loyal customer base and encouraging more walk-in traffic.

Brands try to come up with unique zoning and layout strategies to make a separate place for themselves in the consumers’ minds. Not only are these layouts, combined with VM strategies supposed to make the process of shopping easier and efficient, but also memorable. Often in line with the latest retail trends, these strategies are designed in a way that a customer gets a pleasant shopping experience that is unique to the brand. This ensures that the customers associate the brand with at least one experience that they seek and are provided with by the brand and only by that particular brand. This way the brands can have a recurring, loyal and sustainable customer base.

Contextualisation refers to the process of taking a situational or cultural aspect by a retailer into a composition or a layout meant to incite a reaction from the customer. Building up on probable emotional responses of the target audience, contextualisation attempts to influence the interpretation of communications related to purchasing decisions for the advantage of the retailers (Teufel & Zimmermann, 2017). Fig 3.16 - POS layout of Big Bazaar department store. The store identifies itself as a large format department discount store.

3.4.1 Contextualisation

3.4 Layout strategies in application

Contextualisation often helps retailers and brands make a personal connection with the customers and communicate their brand ideals and values better. This technique does not intend to change interpretation of the brand in the customers’ minds but to intensify emotions. For example, a brand with a promise for best bargain prices may have environmental graphics placed everywhere suggesting ongoing and upcoming sales. The layout strategy would be one that encourages customers to move faster and tries to show a larger variety of product with increased concentration at once. POS and point of sale would suggest a faster transaction process with multiple exits to the store to streamline the in-store customer traffic. - Product display from FabIndia experience store. The brand identifies itself as a Indian handicraft lifestyle brand.

Fig 3.17

The word “curation” can be taken as a euphemism for what is usually an attempt to use algorithmbased evaluation of purchase history to position a new package of offerings as customer service and care. Curations have a direct impact on the zoning and layout strategies in a store as they represent the interests of the retailers and the customers equally. To representing the customers’ interests, curations try to place best performing product categories at strategic locations to attract more customers and boost sales. This ensures better traffic towards under performing or new product categories which may lead to organic advertising and better sales. These curations are temporary and keep changing frequently according to the latest consumer trends. Retailers often treat curations as temporary disruptions to enhance the relatability and continuity of their brand’s identity with a temporary contrast of variety which helps in keeping the excited for a fresh shopping experience on every visit (Teufel & Zimmermann, 2017).

As informed by various store managers in table 2.1 many Indian department stores revise their product curation bi-yearly based on brand performances and sales data.

Fig 3.18 - Product display at Akbarally men’s. The store recently transformed rebranded itself into a men’s exclusive brand.

64 3.4.2 Curation

The form of exclusivity that is relevant to retailing is brands being emotionally inclusive by offering a taste of exclusive product range to all.

This strategy is used to fold in customers who seek to buy products which are viewed as an envy. By being inclusive and allowing the middle-class customer in the “inner circle” this strategy seeks to attain customer satisfaction in the form of loyalty programs and added incentives from recurring customers as a way of saying “thank you” from the brand (Teufel & Zimmermann, 2017).

Fig 3.19 - Sudden product scarcity and break and continuity makes the new product range at Nike’s look exclusive.

This can be achieved by curating zones with a different layout and lesser product density from the rest of the store. Using a different VM strategy and a sudden break in the layout with a different strategy may also make a product feel exclusive, successfully driving more customer traffic towards the range.

3.4.3 Exclusivity

Reducing complexity is a genuine design mandate that aims to make the use of products and processes as simple as possible for the user. Shopping experience should be easy to understand as customers find it more practical. The desire for simplicity in retail finds its roots from the Japanese philosophy of zen as an act of liberation from overload, dependency and over saturation. A simple store layout helps lower customer frustrations and enhances the feeling of dominance. As the customer feels like they are in charge of their personal space in the retail environment, they tend to feel encouraged to browse more which may lead to a boost in sales. Due to increased ease of navigation, customer may also feel encouraged to browse through non intended product sections which may increase impulse purchases.

3.4.4 Simplicity

Stores can achieve simplicity by adopting a combination of layout strategies which increase the store visibility and allow the customers to move more freely without getting disoriented.

Fig 3.20 - VM, EG and Layout strategies in Westside department stores are simple to align with their “see it, buy it” brand ideology.

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04 Case Studies 4.1 Why Westside 4.2 Introduction to Westside 4.3 Layout strategies applied 4.3.1 Layout strategy adopted by Westside, Mumbai 4.3.2 Layout strategy adopted by Westside, Ahmedabad 4.4 Methodology of case study 4.5 Westside, Mumbai 4.5.1 Site approach 4.5.2 Site analysis 4.5.3 Floor-wise analysis 4.5.1 Customer Mapping 4.5.1 Site approach 4.6 Westside, Ahmedabad 4.6.1 Site approach 4.6.2 Site analysis 4.6.3 Floor-wise analysis 4.6.1 Customer Mapping 4.6.1 Site approach

Westside fits this criterion as it is a large format departmental store that is well established and well known all over the country. Being an old brand, Westside has a pre-established brand identity which may or may not influence customer behaviour inside the store, affecting the customer path and shopping behavioural pattern. They have a wide range of products paired with a wide price range, thus bringing in customers with various aspects of product selection and shopping in mind such as for bargain deals, latest fashion, quality products, etc.. Being a single-brand store, Westside showcases their own labels covering Fig 4.1 - Brand logo

4.1 Why Westside

The store or brand chosen must be a large-format departmental store.

• The brand should be well known and the store should be well established and fully functional to ensure a high footfall and a substantial sample size of customers for data collection.

The theoretical framework built in the previous chapters of this study have helped identifying and setting parameters for deciding upon a case study. These parameters can be listed down as follows:

70 04

• The store or brand should have a wide variety of lifestyle products to ensure a diverse footfall in the store falling under various consumer profiles.

•

Case Studies

• It should be a single brand store with sub brands or labels to ensure uniform layout and VM strategies across various stores of the same brand and for the collected data to be influenced by private marketing strategies as less as possible.

71 a large variety of product range to compete with other brands in the market. Such a selection makes sure that the case study is free from obligations that come with displaying products from other brands like private seasonal promotions, starkly varying environmental graphics and visual merchandising, different micro layouts, etc.. Being in control of their own labels gives them full creative control over their products, as well as their stores and they can employ their own visual merchandising strategies to display their products, which also helps in collecting data and measuring the success matrix of the in-store label performances independent from factors like personal label/subbrand image.

When narrowing down to selection between typologies of Westside stores available, standalone stores were preferred over stores in malls, as standalone stores have to focus on attracting customers to the stores using their own visual merchandising strategies and they tend to focus more on unique brand sensitive layouts rather than fitting into similar looking stores and carpet areas. Thus, ensuring the chosen sample of customers that shop here are there because of the brand image and in-store retail product variety (which will be helpful in measuring automaticity behaviour) whereas in a mall, the mall itself attracts customers with the promise of multiple stores and products, promoting more browsing and window shopping than intent.

Fig 4.2 - Current visual touchpoints by the brand.

The brand started as a female’s fashion brand by opening its first flagship store in the late ‘90s in the Hughes Road precinct of South Bombay. During its earlier days, Westside sold the newest fashion item of the time- the kurti- under the same brand name of Westside, hence starting as a female oriented brand. Since then the brand has gradually increased its product range, currently making it lifestyle brand with something to offer for all age groups. They have over 22 in-house labels that retail apparel for men, women and kids, footwear, accessories, cosmetics and home products. (Tata Group, 2019) Westside has positioned itself as a private label with 97% of their brands being in-house, with a few excep tions in their beauty and cosmetics range. On their website, westside.com, they state that their vision is to“Design and deliver fashion brands that are authentic trusted for trend, offer exceptional value and sell it in an environment that offers an overall experience” (Westside, n.d.) Their customer promise is “First Price. Right Price. With a collection that’s selfassisted, curated with fashion solutions highlighting incredible value and edited monthly launches. We are famous for Our Point of View as it comes alive through our backwalls & ‘See It Buy It’. The tables drive Seasonal Statement Lines that excite with style and value. Our service is efficient, our space is easy to navigate and our returns policy is simple and customer friendly.” (Westside, n.d.)

Introduction to Westside Westside is a lifestyle brand that was established in 1998 as a part of the Indian retail company Trent Limited, under the Tata Group. It is a large- format departmental store, currently with over 200 stores in various cities across the country. Westside contributes to around 96% of Trent’s revenue.

Refer to table 4.1 for full range of labels offered by Westside.

72 4.2

Westside markets itself as a moderately priced store, arguing that having their own brands allows them to design their products from scratch and bring new lines to customers faster. They largely work on two seasons: summer-spring and autumnwinter, but there are acute changes made to the styles during the season too. The apparel and inner-wear contribute to around 79% of the sales, while their footwear, accessories and home brands make a smaller Accordingcontribution.tothebrand, Westside stores are designed to give a ‘fashion theatre’ experience with statement making stores. Striking window and in-store display, exciting store ambience and convenience of shopping are some key parameters that the stores highlight. (Tata Group, 2019) - Labels offered by Westside and their categorisation

Table 4.1

74 4.3 Layout Strategies

4.3.1 Layout strategy adopted by Westside, Mumbai The layout strategy adopted by the store is a spine + grid layout. Strategy A To fit the context of the site and utilise the linearity, a spine layout has been chosen as when compared to compartmentalising, a spine layout gives more visual contact with products from across the store too, promoting better opportunities to navigate the entire floor space. It also makes it easy to for customers to locate escalators, thus inviting them to explore other floors. It also makes locating trial rooms and POS easier, eliminating any chances for confusions or disorienting the customers.

Westside stores across country tend to use an amalgamation of two major layout strategies, for the ease of explaining the concept, we shall be naming them layout strategy A and layout strategy B. Layout strategy A is formed to curate the movement pattern with optimized in-store traffic which is usually decided by keeping in mind the site context and what would allow the maximum store area to be easily accessible and visible to the customers. Layout strategy B is always a grid layout. One main grid of zones for labels, divided by the layout strategy A, and then micro grids similar but slightly different to cater for each label.

Fig 4.3 - Spine layout strategy used for main aisles on ground floor

Since the labels are located on either side of the spine pathway, there are not a lot of sharp or invisible corners in the store, making sure that most products remain in the primary or secondary visual cone of the customers.

Fig 4.4 - Main

All labels have been allotted area spanning across three columns according to the strong grid of columns already present on the site, this forms the main grid for the entire store. All the labels then have been assigned the types of VM strategies optimum to display their products and then assigned grids accordingly. Most labels have tried to follow square or rectangular grids but this is not necessarily true for all, some labels have been assigned linear areas or corner spaces and hence need have a need to break the grid wherever Tonecessary.breakthe monotony of the grid and the signify the change between labels, the grid has been subtly broken in places by placing different VM strategies. Even within the grid, there are instances where same VM strategies are placed adjacent to each other with a change in orientation. This helps in keeping the VM visually interesting but preserve the grid simultaneously. grid for zoning on ground floor

Strategy B

76 Fig 4.5 - Micro grid to place the fixtures on ground floor Fig 4.6 - Breakpoints in layout on ground floor

Strategy A

The layout strategy adopted by the store is a Loop + grid layout.

The site chosen for the store in Ahmedabad, Shyamal region is a square footprint with approach to the upper floor on one side of the store. Since the footprint is square and the store area is much smaller compared to the Mumbai store, the main strategy here is to promote traffic evenly towards all corners of the store. Hence, a guided loop layout has been used here with customers free to complete the from either direction. This strategy promotes customers to enter the store from one direction and exit the store from the other direction, hence maximising the customer-product interaction which helps in increasing browsing behaviour in customers. This strategy also allows customers to orient themselves in different directions frequently and create more visibility for products placed in the corner of the store or behind other VM.

Fig 4.7 - Racetrack/loop layout strategy used for main aisles on ground floor

4.3.2 Layout strategy adopted by Westside, Ahmedabad

All labels have been given area proportionate to their product range and size. Some labels seem to have wider aisles than other and product density differs slightly across labels. Similar to the Mumbai store, All the labels have been assigned the types of VM strategies optimum to display their products but have little variations in the grid followed other than the Sinceorientation.thezoning of labels here has been broken into smaller parts due to a primary loop, combined with different orientation; There are fewer breaks in the grid. Fig 4.8 - Main grid for zoning on ground floor

78 Strategy B Similar to Westside Mumbai, the columns present in the site help position the broader zoning but do not govern the amount of area allotted to each of them.

79 Fig 4.9 - Micro grid to place the fixtures on ground floor Fig 4.10 - Breakpoints in layout on ground floor

• Social situation: Accompanied or lone shopper

• Impact of VM strategies on customer traffic flow. Types of footfalls found in the store have been categorised on the basis of gender of the customer, their social situation (accompanied or alone) and their day of visit (weekday or weekend). This categorisation helps in figuring out the impact of customer profile on their shopping patterns.

This approach helps in identifying the impact of layout strategies on customer behaviour and derive inferences and learning outcomes from the same. These subcategories are:

• Their age range, gender

• Chronological path followed

• Observations based on zoning strategies: placement of labels, trial rooms and point of sale.

In order to establish a database of customer pathways standalone stores from the best performing cities of the Western region were chosen which are Mumbai and Ahmedabad. These stores are different from each other in terms of the store area and the layout strategies used. The Mumbai store is bigger than the Ahmedabad store and houses more products. The layout used here is a spine + grid layout, whereas the Ahmedabad store uses a looped/racetrack + grid layout. The customer profiles seen in both the

• Amount of time spent shopping

• Impact of macro and micro-layout strategies adopted in store on customer traffic flow.

Zoning and layout strategies play a role in directing the customer towards the product, ensuring that customers have the opportunity of experiencing maximum product contact. But a major factor in the decision to purchase lies in the product quality itself, over which designers have little to no control. Thus, the parameters used to map customers and their behaviour towards the store layout and visual merchandising strategies are product interaction and pause points. The study is based on the following visual and behavioural observations:

80 4.4 Methodology of case studies

• Pause points to interact with product display

From the data collected on the above-mentioned parameters, observations have been segregated into subcategories with respect to layout strategies.

Table 4.2 - Tabular comparison of the two locations chosen 4.5 Westside, Mumbai 4.5.1 Site approach Situated at the 148 MG road, commuting to Westside is an almost effortless task. The store site can be easily located from the all directions on the road and is well connected and reachable with help of public and private transports alike. Due to its proximity to Jehangir art gallery, Elphinstone college and other prominent tourist and corporate locations, this store is an ideal shopping choice for first time visitors, tourists, regular customers and window shoppers alike making the sample pool of customers to map almost homogenous.

81 cities are different based on the store location. The standalone stores follow the latest format that has been implemented in the recent few years. To check variations in behavioural patterns of customers, data was mindfully collected separately on weekdays and weekends.

Fig 4.11 - Westside, Site facade and store front Fig 4.12 - Site approach

Westside follows a very rigid format of floor wise zoning to streamline and divert traffic according to target audience. This helps them in maintaining optimum store traffic at all times and not deter any customers due to excess or slow-moving traffic even during weekends and promotions. Aligning with their “see it buy it” brand ideology, the zoning strategy is mindful to keep clear distinction in broader product category with multiple options labels to choose from within. In this store, the ground floor exclusively focuses on women’s labels, first floor focuses on a mix of women’s and men’s labels and the second floor focuses on kid’s labels and homeware collection.

The chosen Westside store location in Mumbai is situated in the Kala Ghoda district in South Bombay. The store is located inside the Army and Navy Building- a neo-Gothic style building that was first built in 1891 and rebuilt after a fire in 1896. The neighbourhood is full of commercial buildings built in a similar style and is one of the most famous districts in Mumbai. (Sanyal, 2021) The store takes up two whole floors- the ground and the first floor, and almost half of the second floor. The structure of the building retains its historic essence by exhibiting a large, cylindrical column grid that is prominently seen on the façade, as well as inside the building. While the outside reflects on the city-specific architecture style, the inside of the store is consistent with the latest style adopted by Westside across the country. Each floor is nearly a double heighted volume and the column grid is evidently seen and is an unmistakable part of the store ambience. The double height of the floors allowed the store to play with the volume on the ground floor. This Westside location is a unique one, as the store has partnered with Starbucks and has the coffee joint’s entrance from inside the store on the ground floor. Since the store area is huge, this partnership is logical as it serves as an accommodation for guests accompanying customers while they shop. Westside itself is not known to have such accommodations in any of its stores.

4.5.2 Site analysis

The first-floor houses women’s ethnic wear and men’s apparel, accessories and footwear. The second floor has the infant and children’s wear, accessories and the home products section.

4.5.3 Floor-wise analysis

83 Fig 4.13 - Floor-wise distribution of in-house labels

Starting from the façade, the ground floor has 7 arched openings out of which three openings in the middle are used as - a specially designated access for disabled people and regular accesses with a separate entry and exit point. Remaining openings have been repurposed into window displays for their latest collections.

4.5.3.a Ground floor

The Starbucks café is located on this floor with only the entrance visible and the café space itself not taking up space in the store- it is situated outside the store layout. This space is often used by people accompanying customers while they shop.

Fig 4.14 - Ground floor layout, NTS

The floor is divided into two volumes: a double-heighted volume as soon as one enters, where they house their current best-selling labels Nuon and StudioFit* (verify with manager). The rest of the floor is a single-heighted volume which houses other women’s western apparel labels, followed by lingerie, loungewear and footwear labels are located at the back of the store. The layout is more or less a spine layout combined with grid layout - main path along the centre of the store, the cash counter at the back and the labels branching off and having their own smaller grid layouts. The distribution of floorspace for labels is influenced by the column grid- each label approximately taking up the space between three columns, hence giving an equal visibility to all labels.

The main pathway leads straight to the escalators and the cash counter is placed behind them.

4.5.3.b First floor

The only way to access different floors inside the store is through escalators and an elevator, though the elevator is situated hidden from the main retail area and is meant to be used by the staff and disabled customers. The escalator brings one to the rear area of the first floor, hence inverting the customers’ orientation and direction as compared to the ground floor. The entire first floor is divided into men’s and women’s sections along the length of the floor, attempting to divide traffic into half according to target audience for each section. The landing has power displays indicative of the section they lead to on each side- the men’s on the right and women’s on the left. The layout of the floor is such that there is a spine layout in each section, both leading up to the POS situated on this floor. The floorspace and chronological product category distribution of labels is similar to that on the ground floor- apparel brands as soon as you enter the floor and the men’s loungewear, foot wear and accessories to the other side. The cash counter on this floor is located to the front of the building, just off the women’s section, making it the last destination in the shopping route, similar to the ground floor. This entire floor is double heighted with no raised levels in between and the column grid is evidently seen throughout the entire floor.

Fig 4.15 - First floor layout, NTS

4.5.3.c Second floor With similar orientation as the first floor, the carpet area of the second floor is nearly half of the other floors. This floor has the kid’s section and the home products section divided along the length of the floor with the kid’s section to the right and home products to the left. The layout in the kid’s section is a spine layout combined with micro grids for each label, whereas the home products are arranged in one large grid layout. There are power displays on the landing indicative of which section they lead to. The cash counter is located in the middle of the floor here and unlike other floors it is visible from all sides of the entire floor.

Fig 4.16 - Second floor layout, NTS Common site observations • The double height entrance to the store allows them a large decompression area in which they can display their best-selling brands luxuriously. The product displays here are evenly spaced out and display all the products to the customers at a glance.

• The central path leads customers straight to the escalators, behind which the cash counter is situated on this floor. This encourages customers to go upstairs and explore the store, as the cash

• The rest of the floor is elevated and spine layout of the store offers a view into the store from the entrance, because of which they can see into the rest of the store without major obstructions and hence view all the products displayed.

• The cash counter on this floor is located in the opposite corner from the escalators, hidden from immediate view. This encourages browsing customers to go to the second floor.

The large area on the first floor allows for two spine layouts that give a view of all the products in the men’s and women’s sections at a glance, which helps the customer in their shopping as they can recall the products, they saw on their first impression while they venture further into the section.

• The use of environmental graphics is limited and mostly appears at the landing or near the label logo.

• Difference in shopping patterns of a lone shopper vs. an accompanied shopper

• Difference between shopping patterns of women vs. men

• The second floor has a smaller area. Since there are two different layouts being followed to display products of extreme size variations, the space looks imbalanced. There is no buffer space between the sections, which makes for a rather abrupt transition.

• Difference between shopping patterns on weekday vs. weekend

•

4.5.4 Customer mapping To study the impact of layout strategies on consumer behaviour, this study will derive inferences from observations made by tracing customer paths of a sample size of 30 people, using the methodology outlined in section 4.4. The data collected will then be curated into the following categories to draw comparisons between different situational factors –

87 counter is not directly visible to signal the end of their trip.

• The large volume of the space combined with the large area gives the impression that there are a large number of products.

• All floors have a medium product density towards the entrance to the floor and the density increases as customers move further into the floor.

88 4.5.4.a Consolidated customer paths Fig 4.17 - Floor-wise consolidated data: customer behaviour mapping

89 Table 4.3 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from consolidated customer mapping data. Observations Inferences Learnings

Trial rooms near the better performing labels have better traffic. Customers associate trial rooms with their immediate product displays. Trail rooms need to be placed at regular intervals in between different zones. Layout

Men’s labels should be near women’s labels, they can be incorporated in lesser store area too.

Placement of POS can boost path.productsinteractionscustomerwithduetoforced

Women’s Indo western apparel labels on first floor has distributionhomogenousoftraffic compared to women’s western wear labels on ground floor. Zoning of complimentary labels merchandise.opportunitiesincreasestocross Mix and match creates a sense of dominance in thoroughly.toencouragingconsumers,themexplorethelayout

Suggested width for primary aisles = 1800 Secondarymm aisles = 1500 mm to 1200 mm Tertiary aisles = 1200 to 900 mm

Zoning

VM Customer traffic decreases gradually towards the back of the store on each floor. Due to repetitiveness in VM and EG, consumers tend to ignore similar looking VM after a while. VM has to be interesting by creating different combinations and consistency.

There is more traffic near the wall product displays as compared to stand alone displays. Customers are better attracted to merchandisingvisualwith more visual product contact. Visual heirarchy helps in creating more visual contact with VM, hence increasig product/ customer contact.

On first floor, women’s labels receive more traffic compared to men’s labels. Women are primary target audience for the store with men often accompanying or being the secondary target audience.

Customers do not seem to be interacting well with impulse buy counters near the point of sale on every floor. Impulse buy counters may not be successful due to reasons like, VM being below the eye level, low wait time at POS, price range of products, etc..

There is more customer traffic on the primary aisles compared to secondary aisles. Consumers prefer walking on wider aisles and tend to avoid navigating through narrow aisles.

There is very less traffic in the corners of every floor. Awkward/abrupt use of space theconsumersdiscouragesfromexploringproductsinthatarea. abrupt break in continuity avoidancegenerratesbehaviour.

Kids’ section on the second floor has more traffic than home ware section. Compared to home ware products, customers prefer to browse through kids’ labels, giving an insight on the brand image in consumers’ mind. Point of sale promotes more traffic to nearby VM Placing point of sale at the end of the floor helps completing a loop for customers.

90 4.5.4.b Weekend vs weekday customer paths Fig 4.18 - Floor-wise weekend data: customer behaviour mapping

91 4.5.4.b Weekend vs weekday customer paths Fig 4.19 - Floor-wise weekday data: customer behaviour mapping

Zoning

Placing well performing brands upfront and in between encourangeperformingmoderatlylabelscanmore traffic to all zones of the store.

Comparing between women’s labels, ground floor receives more traffic on weekends where as first floor receives more traffic on weekdays. As labels on ground floor are designed to cater to a younger target audience, it can be inferred that a larger younger target audience visits the store on weekends where as older target audience visit the store on weekdays. Most the weekday crowd also exhibits some level of automaticity, as they ignore similar VM on the ground floor and head straight for the first floor for the intended product.

92 Table 4.4 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from weekend vs weekday customer mapping data. Observations Inferences Learnings

Brands should place labels upfront according performanceto and intended audience.target

Kid’s labels receive more traffic on weekdays compared to weekends. Kid’s labels are perceived as intent buy products by the customers.

Weekend traffic is more homogenously spread across the store whereas weekday traffic is directed towards certain zones.

On weekends, labels placed towards the front of the store receive more traffic, whereas on weekdays the traffic is more betweenhomogenoustheotherlabels.

As there is an increase in the number of window shoppers on weekdays, browsing customers tend to not browse through the entire store due to repetitive layout where as genuine customers browse thoroughly through more labels.

Customers tend to showcase browsing behaviour on weekends where as more intended customers shop on the weekdays. Placing best performing labels behaviour.encouragesupfrontbrowsing

93 4.5.4.c Accompanied vs Lone customer paths Fig 4.20 - Floor-wise Accompanied customer data: customer behaviour mapping

94 Fig 4.21 - Floor-wise lone customer data: customer behaviour mapping 4.5.4.c Accompanied vs Lone customer paths

On first floor, women’s traditional wear brands receive good traffic from lone customers. Products in traditional apparel labels are big and heavy, making them slightly inconvenient to browse through and try them on. It can be inferred that products which need extra efforts to browse through or interact with often discourage the customers in their shopping behaviour, hence generating avoidance behaviour.

2. Since lone customers are comfortable in browsing narrower aisles too, they provide better traffic. Labels require wider aisles to invite through.customersaccompaniedtobrowse

1. Kids' labels are seen as social shopping products.

Accompanied customers interacted more with apparel labels. Social shoppers are attracted towards the brand best for their apparel product range. Apparel brands need to be placed first as they attract more footfall and encourage browsing behaviour.

Zoning Lone customers preferred interacting with home ware products over kids’ products and vice versa.

customers.productVMaislemoreproductHeavier/complexrangeneedsassistance,widerwidthsandbetterstrategiestoeaseexaminationby

Layout Lone customers explored narrower aisles too whereas widercustomersaccompaniedstucktotheaislesmostly.

95 Table 4.5 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from accompanied vs lone customer mapping data. Observations Inferences Learnings

All lone customers were women Men are the secondary target audience for Westside. Typically product range for primary target audience covers more store area and VM density. Accompanied customers exhibit greater browsing behaviours than lone shoppers. Shopping as a social activity promotes browsing behaviour. Social shopping brands should incorporate spatial needs of all target audience groups to promote browsing behaviour.

Customers tend to avoid narrower aisles and often feel discouraged from browsing through narrower aisles when accompanied. Wider aisles promote browsing behaviour.

Misc. There were a slightly greater number of accompanied shoppers than lone shoppers. Westside is perceived as a social shopping location since it caters to a wide variety of target audience.

96 Fig 4.22 - Floor-wise Female customer data: customer behaviour mapping 4.5.4.d Female vs male customer paths

97 Fig 4.23 - Floor-wise male customer data: customer behaviour mapping 4.5.4.d Female vs male customer paths

Layout Male shoppers interacted with labels for pre-teen children the most on the second floor. Kids’ labels received equal attention from either party of accompanied shoppers. Social shopping brands should incorporate spatial needs of all target audience groups to promote browsing behaviour.

Table 4.6 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from female vs male customer mapping data.

Wall displays for men’s products offers nothing additional in terms of product interaction as compared to table displays and racks, hence female customers did not feel the need to walk all the towards the displays. It can be inferred that, in order to excite a customer to travel farther than their intended path, VM should offer them additional information about the product.

VM strategies should offer different experineces in terms of product interaction to attract customers. Accompanied male shoppers tend not to interact with products from women’s labels.

Misc.

Female shoppers exhibit almost equal traffic on all floors. Female shoppers find more options appealing to them on each floor. Brands should place products appealing to primary target audience on each floor to generate evenly spread traffic and maximize product interaction.

While interacting with products from men’s labels, female shoppers tend to not go till the wall displays.

Zoning

Observations Inferences Learnings

There are more female customers than male. Customers perceive westside as a female centric brand. Brands should place labels upfront according to primary target audience to promote awareness.shoppingwindowandbrand

99 4.6 Westside, Ahmedabad 4.6.1 Site approach Westside, Shyamal is located on the 100 feet ring road and can be easily seen adjacent to the main road on arrival. Since the building is located near the crossroads, it is extremely accessible through public transport and has parking provisions for private transport too. This store is located in a target market catering to the urban neighbourhood surrounded by competing brands like Pantaloons, Zudio and Koyo, thus inviting a mix of window shoppers and intended buyers to the store. Due to its proximity to residential areas, this location also receives a higher traffic of accompanied shoppers as compared to lone shoppers. Fig 4.24 - Westside, Site facade and store front Fig 4.25 - Site approach

4.6.3 Floor-wise analysis

Similar to the layout strategy adopted in Westside, Mumbai; here too Westside follows a zoning layout specific to different target audiences based on factors in gender, age group, etc.. In this store, the ground floor focuses on women’s’, kids’ labels and homeware section. The first floor focuses on a mix of women’s and men’s labels.

100 4.6.2 Site analysis

The Westside store location chosen in Ahmedabad is a standalone store located in the Shyamal region in Ahmedabad. It is located in a newly built commercial building situated in a commercial area. There are standalone stores of many other brands, as well as competing brands in neighbouring buildings, making this neighbourhood a newly developed commercial area. The store has two floors: a ground floor and a first floor. The space in which the store is located is a standard, commercial space. The front façade of the ground floor is a glass façade which has been converted into a window display that shows the inside of the store. Instead of having mannequins as their window displays, they have the products on the product displays acting as window displays and have placed a few screens showcasing models for their products at regular intervals. There is only one entrance to the store located in the middle of the façade. The store is located on the bottom floors of a mid-rise building and hence there are large, rectangular columns inside the store. Each of these columns has been cladded with a floor-to-ceiling length mirror on all four sides.

101 Fig 4.26 - Floor-wise distribution of in-house labels

4.6.3.a Ground floor

102

Fig 4.27 - Ground floor layout

The women’s apparel starts from the right side of the entrance and continues along the right side of the loop. On the left side of the entrance is the kid’s wear section, which continues on the left side of the loop. The footwear, lounge wear, lingerie and home sections are towards the back of the floor. Like in the Mumbai store, the kid’s wear and home products sections are juxtaposed with each other with the kid’s section leading straight into the home section at the rear end of the floor. The central part of the loop is divided unequally among woman’s apparel and the cosmetics and cash counter. The cash counter here is placed in the centre of the layout, albeit a bit to the rear end of the floor. The escalators are placed to the left from the entrance and are visible from there.

The ground floor houses women’s western apparel, lingerie, women’s lounge wear, women’s foot wear, kid’s wear, cosmetics, accessories and the home products section. The layout is a looped + grid layout, with central circulation happening in a loop form while the labels have smaller grid layout of their own. Although it is a looped layout, there are no elements that can force customers to take a certain path as the products are starkly segregated according to gender and age group, making different target audience take routes best suited for them. Right at the entrance is a power display of mannequins and behind it is their current best-selling brand, Nuon.

103

•

The entrance to the first floor is to the side of the floor. This floor houses the entire men’s section and the women’s ethnic wear section. The layout here is also a looped layout which has seemingly been split down the middle into the men’s and women’s sections.

4.6.3.b First floor

• The display system used to showcase Nuon products is a standalone version of the wall displays used at Westside. Because of this, the view into the rest of the store is cut off and customers can only see the women’s wear, kids section and the escalators.

The women’s section starts from right in front of the escalators and continues towards the rest of the floor, while the men’s section starts from right next to the escalator and continues to the rear end of the floor.

The store has a moderately sized decompression zone in which there is a power display, but the power display is almost ignored by customers as they barely spend time to look at it.

• The lounge wear and home products section at the rear end of the floor are almost not visible due to the other sections that come before them.

The central part of this looped layout is occupied by men’s wear on one side and women’s wear and the cash counter on the other side. The cash counter here is also placed in the centre of the layout, but near the rear end of the floor.

Common site observations

Fig 4.28 - First floor layout

• Difference between shopping patterns on weekday vs. weekend.

• The presence of mirrors on the large columns makes the store look bigger. However, this is misleading to customers as the reflections make it seem like there are more products. The mirrors also interfere with way-finding, as they do not indicate the presence of a column.

• Difference between shopping patterns of women vs. men.

• On the ground floor, there are fewer displays near the trial rooms so as to accommodate for people waiting to use the trial room. On the first floor, the trial rooms are located in alcove like spaces and have a lot of product displays near them. This results in a crowded area when there are more customers.

• The only seating arrangements in the store are three single stools in the footwear section. Due to lack of seating arrangements, people who were waiting were sitting in the base of the mannequin stands.

• Difference in shopping patterns of a lone shopper vs. an accompanied shopper.

104

• The location of the cash counters did not offer them much space for customer queues. Thus, when there are more customers, the area near the counters is crowded, which prevents customers from passing through this area.

The density of products is even throughout the store.

•

4.6.4 Customer mapping To study the impact of layout strategies on consumer behaviour, this study will derive inferences from observations made by tracing customer paths of a sample size of 30 people, using the methodology outlined in section 4.3. The data collected will then be curated into the following categories to draw comparisons between different situational factors:

105 4.6.4.a Consolidated customer paths Fig 4.29 - Floor-wise consolidated data: customer behaviour mapping

Customers are evenly attracted to different kinds of visual merchandising in their choice of labels and products. Since the store has wider secondary aisle widths compared to other branches, customers do not seem to show preference over VM strategies. Wider aisles encourage customers to reach out to different VM strategies, encouraging more customer traffic.

Suggested width for primary aisles = 1800 Secondarymm aisles = 1500 mm to 1200 mm Tertiary aisles = 1200 to 900 mm Compared to the Mumbai store, traffic in corners of the store is better received but still less. This store has better curated corner conditions but still receive lesser traffic; it can be inferred that customer do not show tendency to make sharp turns while browsing and tend to move towards products in their primary or secondary vision cone. Stores should create a gradual journey to each sub section as customer traffic gradually decreses from primary to tertiray vision cone.

106

Women’s Indo western apparel labels on the first floor have distributionhomogenousoftraffic compared to women’s western wear labels on the ground floor. Zoning of complimentary labels matchmerchandise,opportunitiesincreasestocrossmixandcreatesasense of dominance in consumers, encouraging them to explore the layout thoroughly. Mix and match creates a sense of dominance in thoroughly.toencouragingconsumers,themexplorethelayout

Unlike the Mumbai store, customer traffic is decreased to the back of store due zoning strategy – labels placed at the back of the store usually receive lesser traffic than labels placed in the front of the store.

Position of encouragesPOScustomers to complete an entire loop around the store on each floor. Position of POS helps in making customers walk through unintended ailses hence creating customerproduct interaction which may help in browsing behaviour and future purchases.

Observations Inferences Learnings

Trial rooms on the first floor do not receive much traffic. Due to the covert location of the first floor trial room, customers are not able to locate and utilise them. Trial rooms need to placed in a well identifiable zone to promote better product interaction.

Customer traffic decreases gradually towards the back of the store (with respect to orientation starting from floor access) on each floor.

Zoning

Placing well performing brands upfront and in between encourangeperformingmoderatlylabelscanmore traffic to all zones of the store.

POS should be loctaed such that it allows entry and exit paths to be different and encoutage more well spread traffic in the store.

Layout There is more customer traffic on the primary aisles compared to secondary aisles. Customers prefer walking on wider aisles and tend to avoid navigating through narrow aisles.

On first floor, women’s labels receive more traffic compared to men’s labels. Women are the primary target audience for the store with men often accompanying them or being the secondary target audience.

Misc. Kids’ section on the ground floor has more traffic than home ware section. Compared to home ware products, customers prefer to browse through kids’ labels, giving an insight on the brand image in consumers’ mind.

107 Table 4.7 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from consolidated customer mapping data.

VM Customers do not seem to be interacting well with impulse buy counters near the point of sale on every floor. Impulse buy counters may not be successful due to reasons like, VM being below the eye level, low wait time at POS, price range of products, etc..

108 4.6.4.b Weekend vs weekday customer paths Fig 4.30 - Floor-wise weekend data: customer behaviour mapping

109 4.6.4.b Weekend vs weekday customer paths Fig 4.31 - Floor-wise weekday data: customer behaviour mapping

Kid’s labels receive more traffic on weekdays compared to weekends. Kid’s labels are perceived as intent buy products by the customers.

Placing well performing brands upfront and in between encourangeperformingmoderatlylabelscanmore traffic to all zones of the store.

Customers tend to showcase browsing behaviour on weekends where as more intended customers shop on the weekdays. Placing best performing labels behaviour.encouragesupfrontbrowsing

Weekend traffic is more homogenously spread across the store whereas weekday traffic is directed towards certain zones.

Brands should place labels upfront according performanceto and intended audience.target

On weekends, casual wear labels for men and women receive more traffic, whereas on weekdays the traffic is more homogenous between the other labels.

As there is an increase in the number of window shoppers on weekdays, browsing customers tend to not browse through the entire store but look through the best performing labels instead.

Most the weekday crowd also exhibits some level of automaticity, as they ignore similar VM on the ground floor and head straight for the first floor for the intended product.

Men’s labels experience an increase of traffic on weekends. Secondary target audience tend to accopamy primary target audience on weekends.

Comparing between women’s labels, ground floor receives more traffic on weekends where as first floor receives more traffic on weekdays As labels on ground floor are designed to cater to a younger target audience, it can be inferred that a larger younger target audience visits the store on weekends where as older target audience visit the store on weekdays.

110 Table 4.8 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from weekend vs weekday customer mapping data. Observations Inferences Learnings Zoning

111 4.6.4.c Accompanied vs lone customer paths Fig 4.32 - Floor-wise accompanied customers’ data: customer behaviour mapping

112 Fig 4.33 - Floor-wise lone customers’ data: customer behaviour mapping 4.6.4.c Accompanied vs lone customer paths

All lone customers were women Men are the secondary target audience for Westside. Typically product range for primary target audience covers more store area and VM density.

Layout Lone customers explored narrower aisles too whereas widercustomersaccompaniedstucktotheaislesmostly.

Customers tend to avoid narrower aisles and often feel discouraged from browsing through narrower aisles when accompanied.

Misc. There were sampletwovisitingaccompaniedmostlyshoppersthestorewithonlyloneshoppersinasizeof30.

113 Table 4.9 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from accompanied vs lone customer mapping data. Observations Inferences Learnings

Wider aisles promote browsing behaviour. Lone customers exhibited additional browsing behaviour into labels with no intent to buy. Due to smaller store size and better visual proximity between labels, lone customers felt encouraged to browse additionally between aisles and labels they had no intent to buy from. Proximity between sub zones promote browsing behaviour.

Westside is strongly perceived as a social shopping location since it caters to a wide variety of target audience.

114 Fig 4.34 - Floor-wise Female customers’ data: customer behaviour mapping 4.6.4.d Female vs male customer paths

115 Fig 4.35 - Floor-wise male customers’ data: customer behaviour mapping 4.6.4.d Female vs male customer paths

Misc.

Layout Male shoppers interacted with labels for pre-teen children the most on the ground floor. Kids’ labels received equal attention from either party of accompanied shoppers. Social shopping brands should incorporate spatial needs of all target audience groups to promote browsing behaviour.

Observations Inferences Learnings

Zoning

While interacting with products from men’s labels, female shoppers tend to not go till the wall displays.

VM strategies should offer different experineces in terms of product interaction to attract customers. Accompanied male shoppers tend not to interact with products from women’s labels.

Table 4.10 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from female vs male customer mapping data.

116

05 Conclusion 5.1 Conclusions

118 05

This study explored the impact the of spatial organization on customer behaviour in department retail stores. The focus was on understanding what customer behaviour is and factors affecting the same. Various factors were derived from selected literatures and then segregated into three categories – spatial, marketing and emotional. This structure helped in identifying different methods to map the customer behaviour. The study also shed light on the origin and evolution of department stores in India and abroad to give a quick over view and set the base for identifying key differences between mono-brand and multi-brand department stores.

In order to study the impact of spatial factors on customer behaviour the study also focused on connecting marketing and emotional factors of a retail environment with respect to spatial factors and identify how spatial factors are used to translate brands’ ideologies to trigger emotional responses in targeted audience. Key observation was that brands have the freedom and power to subtly showcase their brand ideology through manipulation of spatial density and organization to give their brand a personality the target audience can relate to. Some of these “personalities” being – exclusive, simple, relatable, etc..

In the case studies, it was found that Westside uses combination of spatial organization strategies to achieve optimum usage of store area with respect to site constraints and maintain brand uniformity simultaneously. Customers were discreetly observed to identify the effect on store performance due spatial organization. The mapping process was spread across weekends and weekdays to cover a wider sample group for both the sites. Collected data was

Conclusions

5.1.1 Customers prefer wider aisles

• Suggested width for tertiary aisles = 1200 to 900 mm 5.1.2 Customers follow where the eyes lead

119 then segregated into categories derived using Belk’s taxonomy of situational factors to study behavioral changes between different customer groups. Through this study, the following learning outcomes can be drawn –5.1 Conclusions

As observed in almost all cases, it can be inferred that customers tend to avoid narrower aisles and feel more comfortable to browse through wider aisles. It was also observed that lone customers are more comfortable in browsing through narrow aisles whereas accompanied customers stuck to the main aisle. In Westside, Mumbai, there were many chunks of product displays which were not browsed by customers due to them being displayed in a very concentrated manner indicating that narrow aisles lead to lesser customer-product interaction. It can be concluded that, to create a uniform traffic throughout the store, it is crucial to create easily accessible aisles.

Based on observations from case studies:

• Best performing labels should be placed upfront near the access of the store to attract more customers.

• Suggested width for secondary aisles = 1500 mm to 1200 mm

Customers in Westside, Ahmedabad seemed to not browse the extreme corners of the stores even though they were spacious and well curated as compared to the Mumbai store. It was observed that customers tend to browse what they see in their primary or secondary vision cone and often ignore the rest unless they are looking for something specific. A gradual shopping journey if preferred more. Based on observations from case studies:

• Suggested width for primary aisles = 1800 mm

Non retail functions should be placed in spaces where customers tend to browse less for shopping but can still navigate easily (Usually corners and back of store).

120

Product categories should be organised such that pathways lead towards them gradually. This can be achieved by creating loop layouts and/or providing level differences in the store for a better visual contact with the rest of the store.

5.1.3 Customers move towards intended product Unlike implications from selected literatures, it was observed that customers do not simply drift any side of the store upon entrance. In a store like Westside, customers tend to drift towards intended product. Since Westside has very distinct segregation of product categories, it was observed that intended buyers went into sections where they could find their intended product whereas window shoppers browsed broader sections based on their preferences. It was also observed that some customers exhibited automaticity as they already knew where to find their intended product and showed little to no interest in browsing through products from non-intended sections.

•

• Avoid creating areas with abrupt/sudden or ill curated change in visual language. Customers usually these areas. (Empty wall with less VM, ill curated corner spaces, etc..)

• VM strategies should have a visual hierarchy and breaks in intervals to make way finding easier and the retail space visually interesting.

•

• Product categories should be organised such that pathways lead towards them gradually. This encourages people to browse more and indulge in impulse buying.

Based on observations from case studies:

5.1.4 Monotony kills arousal In both the case studies it was observed that customers tend to not browse through the entire store, specially to the back of the store. Clubbed with factors like label segregation and placement of products, many customers do not feel encouraged to browse ahead when there is no sense of discovery or something new. In aisles which had longer display

121 of similar VM strategy and similar product category, customers got bored quickly and did not feel a need to browse through different labels resulting in more concentrated store traffic only towards the front of the store.

• Trial rooms should be placed in regular intervals to break wait lines and stagnant traffic.

5.1.5

5.1.6 Cross merchandising generates arousal In both case studies it was observed that female indo western section had homogenous distribution of customer traffic. When compared to other similar labels, it was found that indo western labels have been organised such that there is better possibility for customers to mix and match products from different labels to assemble outfits themselves. It can be concluded that cross merchandising handed more freedom for the customers to be interactive with the product, increase the Dominance-arousal-pleasure triggers in them which encouraged customers to browse more and spend more time in the retail environment.

• POS can be placed such that it allows entry and exit paths to be different. This encourages more interaction and better traffic flow in stores.

Positioning of POS and trial rooms Since most of the traffic is concentrated towards the entrance of every floor in both stores, it was observed that customers only travelled till the back of the store to access POS or trial rooms, indicating that the most profitable area to display products is near the entrance and all non-retail functions can be organised in less profitable spaces. It was also observed that customers did not make much efforts to locate trial rooms in more covert spaces and instead preferred witing in front of more visible trail rooms. It can be concluded that non retail functions have to be organised such they do not take up more profitable spaces in the retail space but are still easy to locate and access to promote traffic towards all amenities offered by the store. Based on observations from case studies:

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06 Appendices iv Glossary v Bibliography vi Image references Images and figuresTables

Automaticity is the quality or fact of being performed involuntarily or unconsciously, as a reflex, innate process, or ingrained habit.

Customer is a person who walks in and interacts with physical retail and may or may not be the end-user of the product they choose to buy from the store.

Department store is a large shop stocking many varieties of goods in different departments.

Arousal is the measure to which a customer feels excited to explore and browse more product ranges than intended for in a shopping trip.

Atmospherics are the controllable characteristics of retail space which entice customers to enter the store, shop, and point of purchase.

Dominance is the degree to which a customer feels unrestricted or in control of the situation. Impulse buying is the sudden and immediate purchase of a product without any pre-shopping intention. It occurs after shoppers experience an urge to buy, and is often spontaneous without any hesitation.

Consumer is someone who is the end-user of the product. The consumer doesn’t need to be the one who has bought the product from the store.

124 iv Glossary

Decompression zone is the area where a customer will transition into the retail environment and give them a chance to adjust to the new visual and audio of their surroundings.

Situational factors influencing customers are external factors usually outside of the control of retailers and designers. Storefront is the front side of store customers entering the shop front.

Twilight zone is the area or pocket of space where busy shoppers are walking toward the store is very less effective in conveying its idea or marketing strategies through its window display or storefront.

In house labels are the store brands or in-house brands are brands owned by a retail store & are termed as Private Labels

Mono-brand stores are those which sell products only from a single brand and may or may not have in-house labels under the same brand.

Power display is a visual display of the products at the entrance of the store to advertise the brand and its products.

Theoretical framework is the structure that can hold or support a theory of a research study.

Pleasure is the measure to which a customer feels happy or satisfied with the retail environment and shopping experience.

Point of sale (P.O.S) is the place at which a retail transaction is carried out.

125

Retailer is usually a person, company, or brand who sells goods to the public in a shop.

Visual merchandising is a marketing practice that uses floor plans, color, lighting, displays, technology, and other elements to attract customer attention.

Multi-brand stores are those that sell products from more than one brand.

Window shopping is an activity in which a consumer browses through or examines a store’s merchandise as a form of leisure or external search behaviour without a current intent to buy.

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.

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131 Fig 1.11 – Betanchur , K. (2021). Increased Instore traffic due to seasonal promotions at Barron’s department store. [Photograph]. Bussiness Insider Mexico. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Field%27s#/media/Chicago,Figbon-marche-in-paris/thearchitectureprofessor.com/2020/06/26/6-10-the-MARCHÉinteriors,Figcom/2020/06/26/6-10-the-bon-marche-in-paris/Retrieved1869Figenvironments.emotions&Fig[Diagram],Figenvironments.emotions&Fig[Diagram],Figfriday-emails-ads-2021-11/companies-retailers-send-12-times-more-black-https://businessinsider.mx/1.12–Belk’smodelofsituationalfactorsbyauthor.1.13–Petermans,A.,Cleempoel,K.V.,Nuyts,E.,Vanrie,J.(2001).PADModel[Diagram].Measuringincustomerexperiencesinretailstore1.14–Belk’smodelofsituationalfactorsbyauthor.1.13–Petermans,A.,Cleempoel,K.V.,Nuyts,E.,Vanrie,J.(2001).PADModel[Diagram].Measuringincustomerexperiencesinretailstore2.1–Larson,G.R.(2020).BonMarche,Paris,[Photograph].THEBONMARCHÉINPARIS.fromhttps://thearchitectureprofessor.2.2–Larson,G.R.(2020).BonMarcheParis,1869[Photograph].THEBONINPARIS.Retrievedfromhttps://2.3–MarshallFeild’s“greathall”Interirors,1910.[Photograph].Retrievedfromhttps:// File:Marshall_field_interior.jpg Fig 2.4 – Crowds gather to see Marshall Feild’s Window display [Photograph]. Art & Design Chicago. Retrieved from https://interactive.wttw.com/artdesign-chicago/marshall-fields Fig 2.5 – Selfridges as a key location for the shooting of BBC’s comedy show, “Are you being served?” [Photograph]. BBC. Retrieved from Figjpgthe-department-store/media/aubs_700-lr_gfw4w0w.com/culture/bespoke/story/20150326-a-history-of-https://www.bbc.2.6–Schockendepartmentstore,Stuttgart,1924.

132 [Photograph]. BBC. Retrieved from com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Max-store-1.RetrievedFigAkbarallys%20mainjpgarticle22961024.ece/alternates/FREE_730/thehindubusinessline.com/migration_catalog/RetrievedFigEDCsZEfXsAYOrmo.jpg:largeRetrievedFigplaza.jpgsmart/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/800px-spencers_RetrievedFig400,resizemode-4/53710299.jpgthumb/msid-53710299,imgsize-40465,width-RetrievedFig00465b8048c3%2F339299798.08%2F58aa6f32-56f0-442b-95bd-assettype.com/bloombergquint%2F2019-Bloomberquint.Figjpgthe-department-store/media/schoken_700-lr_rlzl47d.com/culture/bespoke/story/20150326-a-history-of-https://www.bbc.2.7–Westsidedepartmentstore[Photograph].Retrievedfromhttps://gumlet.2.8–SpencerPlaza,1895.[Photograph].fromhttps://static.toiimg.com/2.9–Spencersplaza,presentday.[Photograph].fromhttps://img.theculturetrip.com/1440x/2.10–Akbarallys,1897.[Photograph].fromhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/2.11–Akbarallys,Presentday.[Photograph].fromhttps://bloncampus.2.12–Maxdepartmentstore.[Photograph].fromhttps://i0.wp.com/www.indiaretailing. jpg?fit=681%2C400&ssl=1 Fig 2.13 – Lifestyle department store. [Photograph]. Retrieved from com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/lifestyle.https://i1.wp.com/www.indiaretailing. jpg?fit=640%2C400&ssl=1 Fig 3.1 - Location of twilight zone [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.2 - Location of decompression zone [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.3- Location of power display [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.4 - Location of P.O.S [Diagram], by author.

133

store-at-a-glance_0.jpg02066e5f98/2:3/w_720,h_1080,c_limit/akbarallys-https://assets.gqindia.com/photos/5cdc35fb306c1cmen’sstoreFiguploads/magazine/5a534512e4aba.jpgfranchiseindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/https://3.18-ProductdisplayatAkbarallymen’s.Therecentlytransformedrebrandeditselfintoaexclusivebrand.[Photograph].Retrievedfrom

Figeditor/2020-01-13/1578884194.jpghttps://www.retail4growth.com/public/uploads/3.17-ProductdisplayfromFabIndiaexperience

Fig 3.5 - Diagram of grid layout [Diagram], by author. Fig 3.6 - Diagram of angular grid layout [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.7-Diagram of herringbone grid layout [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.8-Diagram of racetrack/loop layout [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.9-Diagram of boutique layout [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.10 - Diagram of free-form layout [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.11 - Diagram of spine layout [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.12 - Diagrams of grid + spine layout [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.13- Diagrams of grid + loop layout [Diagram], by Figauthor.3.14 - Diagrams of boutique + grid layout [Diagram], by author. Fig 3.15 - Diagrams of boutique + free-form layout [Diagram], by author. Fig 3.16 - POS layout of Big Bazaar department store. the store identifies itself as a large format department discount store. [Photograph]. Retrieved from store. The brand identifies itself as a Indian handicraft lifrstyle brand. [Photograph]. Retrieved from

134

Fig 3.20 - VM, EG and Layout strategies in Westside department stores are simple to align with their “see it, buy it” brand ideology. [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://lh3.googleusercontent.com

Fig 3.19 - Sudden product scarcity and break and continuity makes the new product range at Nike’s look exclusive. [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/564x/7c/09/

Fig 4.1 - Brand logo. [Photograph]. Retrieved ground floor [Diagram], by author.

Fig 4.4 - Main grid for zoning on ground floor [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.5 - Micro grid to place the fixtures on ground floor [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.6 - Breakpoints in layout on ground floor [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.7 - Racetrack/loop layout strategy used for main aisles on ground floor [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.8 - Main grid for zoning on ground floor [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.9 - Micro grid to place the fixtures on ground floor [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.10 - Breakpoints in layout on ground floor [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.11 - Westside, Site facade and store front [Photograph], Retrieved from Asmita Talukdar a3825-army-navy-building-mumbai-iconic-bombay-https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/for

a3/7c09a3be4e515108713951f205eff165.jpg

Figjpg?v=1651226848WS_DM5_1920x1100_72x-100_1024x1024.com/s/files/1/0266/6276/4597/files/29th_April_[Photograph].vFig81d1-5119f87bfef7.png?v=1605964743files/ezgif.com-gif-maker_316c42d2-0897-40bc-https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0266/6276/4597/from4.2-Currentvisualtouchpointsbythebrand.Retrievedfromhttps://cdn.shopify.4.3-Spinelayoutstrategyusedformainaisleson

[Diagram],FigfromFigjpgwp-content/uploads/2021/10/update_10-2-768x576.https://shilpgroup.com/4.25-Siteapproach[Photograph],Retrievedgooglemaps4.26-Floor-wisedistributionofin-houselabelsbyauthor.

Fig 4.27 - Ground floor layout [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.28 - First floor layout [Diagram], by author.

Fig 4.20 - Floor-wise Accompanied customer data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.21 - Floor-wise lone customer data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.22 - Floor-wise Female customer data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.23 - Floor-wise male customer data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.24 - Westside, Site facade and store front [Photograph], Retrieved from

Fig 4.19 - Floor-wise weekday data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author.

135

Figgothic-structure/4.12-Site approach [Photograph]. Retrieved from google maps Fig 4.13 - Floor-wise distribution of in-house labels [Diagram], by author.

Fig 4.14 - Ground floor layout, NTS [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.15 - First floor layout, NTS [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.16 - Second floor layout, NTS [Diagram], by Figauthor.4.17 - Floor-wise consolidated data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.18 - Floor-wise weekend data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author.

Table 4.3 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from consolidated customer mapping data [Table], by author.

Table 4.4 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from weekend vs weekday customer mapping data [Table], by author.

Fig 4.34 - Floor-wise Female customers’ data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author.

Table 4.1 - Labels offered by Westside and their categorisation [Table], by author. Table 4.2 - Tabular comparison of the two locations chosen [Table], by author.

Table 4.5 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from accompanied vs lone customer mapping data [Table], by author.

Table 4.6 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from female vs male customer mapping data [Table], by author.

Fig 4.35 - Floor-wise male customers’ data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author. Tables Table 1.1 - Literature review [Table], by author.

Fig 4.30 - Floor-wise weekend data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author.

Table 4.7 - Observations, inferences and learning

Fig 4.29 - Floor-wise consolidated data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author.

Table 2.1 - Brand-wise data on functioning of depart ment stores in malls [Table], by author.

136

Fig 4.32 - Floor-wise accompanied customers’ data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author. Fig 4.33 - Floor-wise lone customers’ data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author.

Fig 4.31 - Floor-wise weekday data: customer behaviour mapping [Diagram], by author.

137 outcomes from consolidated customer mapping data [Table], by author. Table 4.8 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from weekend vs weekday customer mapping data [Table], by author. Table 4.9 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from accompanied vs lone customer mapping data [Table], by author. Table 4.10 - Observations, inferences and learning outcomes from female vs male customer mapping data [Table], by author.

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2% SIM IL A RITY IND EX 1% INTERNET SO U RCES 0% PU B L ICA TIO NS 1% STU D ENT PA PERS 1 <1 % 2 <1 % 3 <1 % 4 <1 % 5 <1 % 6 <1 % 7 <1 % 8 <1 % 9 <1 % Sp atial o r gan isatio n str ategies in d ep ar tmen t sto r es ORIG INA LIT Y RE PORT PRIMA RY S OU RC E S docplay er. net Internet Source www. archi-new. com Internet Source S ubmitted to Univ ersity of the Arts, London Student Paper S ubmitted to Univ ersity of Essex Student Paper S ubmitted to S tudy Group Australia Student Paper www. britannica. com Internet Source autodocbox. com Internet Source pt. scribd. com Internet Source S ubmitted to C S U, Pomona Student Paper

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