Chapter Fifteen. Detail, detail, detail—the store environment

So, we’ve talked about discovery and theater—now you’re going to need a space to put those things in and you’re going to need to think about how to lay out that space to maximum effect. There are some useful general principles in this but the detail is something you are going to have to work out for yourself, based on those principles. It’s not as tricky as that might suggest, however—if you know what you are (your Big Idea), if you’ve worked out how you are going to deliver discovery, and if you’ve identified your opportunities to create some theater, then you are a good distance toward understanding how to make the physical aspect of the store work properly.

At its simplest, the store fixtures and fittings, signage, colors and windows are there to do a very simple set of things:

1. Tell customers about what you are.

2. Tempt them to come in.

3. Display products nicely.

4. Show off focus and promotional displays.

5. Lead customers through the different ranges.

6. Make it easy to select and pay for stuff.

If you can put a checkmark next to each one of those things and say “Yep, what we’ve got does all of those” then you’re on the money already. Go at each with a lot of honest vigor though—walk through each as if you were a customer. Retail guru Martin Butler has a great expression: “Spend an hour in your customer’s moccasins each day”—he’s right too, you’ll see things differently.

Look and feel

It’s relatively easy these days to create knock-out gorgeous stores at a sensible cost. Especially as manufacturers are often keen to supply retailers with great-looking free, or part-sponsored, display systems. But even if you’re spending your own money, you must match that spend to your Big Idea. A dollar store doesn’t need the same level of quality or design as perhaps a boutique jeweler’s. Equally, stores such as Hotel Chocolat prove that you can achieve classy results on relatively modest budgets (go have a closer look at their fixtures and fittings: They’ve managed to adapt some pretty standard kit and make it look amazing—that’s clever retailing).

Windows

Your windows are your outside communicators and they must be made to work hard for you. So many retailers seem to think this either means filling them with meaningless piles of stock or filling them with a billion confusing messages.

A good window display is critical. It must be welcoming: It must give passers-by new reasons to come in, and it has to be readable in five seconds. New products are great as window features. When I asked the owner of a successful hardware store how he promoted his hot new items, he said “I put them in the window with a great sign on them that says ‘bargain’ and ‘brand-new’ on it. Customers notice the sign. I know they do because they ask me about these new products and then they buy them.” And, of course, seasonal or special-occasion activity must be celebrated in your windows too.

Broadly, your windows can do three things, either individually or in combination. They can do the following.

Intrigue

Abstract but sharply focused images that pique customers” interest. A great example of this can be seen in many AllSaints stores where the main window features rows and rows of old sewing machines. It is a theatrical intrigue, makes people want to know what’s going on, and has the psychological bonus that in customers” subconscious, it suggests tailoring, hand-making, and quality—all of which helps support AllSaints” premium positioning.

Inform

Simple and sharp messages often accompanied by a single product: Sale Now On, Our Best Ever Jacket $99, New Stock Preview. Orange does these very well and change theirs every week. You can do the same using cheap but professional vinyl lettering.

Inspire

A window that gets customers thinking about the store and its contents. Gap had a terrific one recently: three fun spring dresses in the window with a great typographical treatment that just said “Flirty Dresses Are The Key To Spring.” That’s inspiring—it instantly has the customer thinking about ditching the winter blues and jumping into a fun spring wardrobe.

My all-time favorite window is also one of the simplest I’ve ever seen: It’s this understated and fun masterpiece from Paul Smith—you can’t see the shoes. Almost everyone walks over to take a look.

Source: Koworld

Transition zone

This is the area near the door that transfers customers from the outside and then into the store. You have an opportunity here to make or break the customer experience. If the zone is too empty, customers can feel exposed and then reluctant to move further into the store. If it’s too cluttered, that’s off-putting too—instead it should be clear and easy but with things of interest in it to draw people in gently.

You also need to be aware throughout the store, but here especially, of what retail anthropologist Paco Underhill calls the “butt-brush factor.” He noticed that customers hate standing anywhere that puts them at risk of other customers constantly brushing past them. In the transition zone, this effect can be useful because it keeps people moving forward on into the store. In front of displays, though, it can be a problem because you want customers to linger in those areas. When they do linger, they tend to buy more often. Take a look at all the customer flows in your store, from the entrance and back out again, to see where you can make improvements.

Baskets

If yours is a store where customers ever need to pick up more than one item, then you must offer baskets. Customers who pick up a basket nearly always buy something and very often buy more than customers who don’t have a basket. Stores always benefit from having baskets available invitingly on the side edges of the transition zone.

Put the baskets higher up, not on the floor. Perching baskets on a table makes it very easy for your customers to just dangle an arm down and almost absent-mindedly pick up a basket. Doing so will increase sales and average transaction values.

Promotional hot spots

Creative use of promotions is essential. Fill the store with them, show people excellent value, and then make it easy for them to take you up on your brilliant offers. Never allow a promotion spot to go empty: If you have run out of a line, even for just a few hours, get the promotion POS off the floor right now. If you don’t, you will annoy customers who will feel you have let them down.

The ideal promotional hot spots are:

• Visible from the door

• Well lit

• Bristling with stock

• Easy to linger in front of

• Honestly presented

• Clearly merchandised

• Well signed

• Surprising

Promotional product can mean a lot of different things, remember, such as:

• Price offers

• Products we want to showcase because we love them

• New acquisitions

• Seasonal favorites

• Things that go together (preferable with a package price)

• New ideas

• Products in the news

• Hot trend items.

A good tip in a small store is to reserve a space that’s in customers” immediate eye-line when they come in through the front door, and use that to showcase a changing selection. Mark it as such, make it clear, and both regulars and new customers alike will make it their first stop on each visit.

Back wall

Do you remember how record shops always used to feature the top twenty singles up on the back wall? That was so they could draw every customer the right way through the store. The really savvy stores would make it very easy for customers to walk through the middle of the shop to the back wall, so customers would all be flowing down that central aisle. Then when a customer had found their chosen single, they would turn and look for the cash register. This would be placed back up toward the doors. The customer couldn’t easily walk back along the central aisle because it was full of people heading toward them, so they would zigzag through the displays to either side. This zigzagging was brilliant because it meant the customer was exposed to a whole succession of promotional hot spots as they navigated their indirect course.

Cash register

There are lots of arguments over where best to put cash registers. To be honest all have their pros and cons. My preferred position is halfway down one side wall. You can see most of the store from there, queuing can be dealt with neatly and it doesn’t eat into the best selling areas.

Here are the most popular options:

• Halfway down one side—my favorite.

• At the front to one side—makes it easy to greet customers walking in but puts the desk right in the middle of important promotional space.

• In a center island—although islands can break up sight-lines, this can work really well, especially if you are able to have two people working the desk most of the time because the pair can then watch half the store each, giving you full visual cover.

• On the back wall—popular really only because it usually puts staff near back-of-house areas; makes it hard to greet customers and is the shoplifters” favorite option because staff are so far from the door.

Impulse buys

Whatever you sell there will be products in your range that will make great register impulse purchases. In a newsstand, chocolate is an obvious example. Hip clothing stores will put cheap toys and iconic trinkets on the counter. Anything that is attractive, low-cost, and that is physically small will make a great impulse purchase. Vary your selections a little and don’t crowd the area. A few well-chosen items can have a direct impact on increasing your average transaction values. Avoid at all costs the hideously uncomfortable joke of forcing your staff to actively sell these items—staff at WHSmith are made to ask customers if they would like “Any half-price chocolate today, sir?” They hate having to do it and customers are made to feel uncomfortable. It’s pushy and weird.

Sight-lines

Two considerations here are foremost:

1. Can customers see their way around the store?

2. Can you see them?

Customers like to be drawn through your space by the exciting and attractive products and promotions you put in their middle-distance forward vision even as their brains fight to pay greater attention to the peripheral and to movement. They will often miss things that are right next to them unless you lead them right to the spot.

Being able to see customers is important because it makes it easy for you and the team to acknowledge them. It is also vital in reducing shoplifting. If you can see the thief better, they are less able to steal—simple as that.

Signage

Always go for crisp and readable over complex, over-designed, or wordy. Customers just do not have the time or inclination to decipher clever complicated messages. Promotional signage especially should convey a strong bold message in just a few seconds. Ratty signage does nothing for your store—if POS gets damaged, throw it away or replace it immediately.

So, the fundamental principles are covered, but the rest is up to you—exciting times!