Retail interior design, commonly also known as layout or store design, is the category of design that helps retailers with the positioning of their merchandise, product displays, fixtures, and other in-store elements. The success of a store largely lies in the products sold so there really isn’t a perfect orientation to follow, but it can help you to draw the focus of your customers to merchandise you want to highlight.
The most important thing to consider before you get into designing your store is how you want your customer flow to be like. This takes into consideration the amount of human traffic and the movement patterns of the shoppers that entire your store. By observing and deciding on a kind of customer flow you want to create, you can better organize or reorganize your product displays to minimize dead zones and stagnant inventory. More importantly, your ideal customer flow will also allow you to decide on your preferred store design and layout.
Grid Store Layout
As one of the simplest and most common store layouts, most grocery stores, supermarkets, and pharmacies will utilize this layout. Your merchandise is displayed in uniform long aisles which the customers will weave up and down. This is great for stores with a lot of merchandise across a large range. This will create a predictable traffic flow as well as create a lot of exposure to your products but one of the key concerns is how you organize and group your products. If not done properly, it can not only lead to a rise in customer queries but can also lead to increased frustration when your customers are unable to use shortcuts to navigate to what they want.
Racetrack, or Loop, Store Layout
Also known as a forced-path layout, a loop layout creates a closed route intentionally so that customers are directed and only given the option of taking the desired traffic flow. This means your customers will not be able to browse at will and can also prevent a high traffic turnover. On the other hand, this layout will have the most predictable movement pattern and every product will have maximal exposure.
Free-flow Store Layout
If none of the layouts you have seen appeal to you, just design your own! While this is the simplest way of doing things, it is also one of the most complex as there are so many ways that this layout can go wrong. On the other hand, a free-flow store layout is excellent for small spaces or stores that are irregularly shaped. This might mean that there is less available space to display your products, it is likely to create an interesting and experiential retail experience.
Boutique Store Layout
One way to add order to your free-flow store layout is to adopt a boutique store layout where all your products are arranged by either category or brand. This can help to organize your free-flow store and highlight your desired brand or product categories. More importantly, this type of layout can help with cross-selling and cross merchandise.
On top of merchandise layout, there are so many more considerations like flooring, doors, and other architectural elements. Not only are we an established interior design firm, but Materials Inc. is also privileged to be a wholesale distributor of many specialty architectural products.
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