Need for Right Product Placement
How to Place Products
When the shopper comes through the door, they are sizing things up as they walk the first several feet of the space. What kind of feelings crop up for them? Is it crowded, too expensive-looking, or too cluttered? Whether or not they acknowledge it, they’re getting an impression of what their trip will be like. Here it comes how to place products. For this reason, it’s best to avoid bombarding them with offers, signs, and huge displays right at the entrance. They’re more likely to be processing the overall experience, rather than scrutinizing what’s right under their nose. From there, they will veer right. Let that sink in: the first displays they actually take in will be through the entrance, and to the right. It’s helpful to enter your store as a customer and experience this; they may not be seeing what you are. What does the right front area of your retail space look like? Is it a jumbled hook display? Or are there items of seasonal interest? Well-organized stock on sale this week only? This is your first chance to entice them into dropping something in the cart.
Access and Interest
We all see them. The super slow, curious shoppers who inspect everything, the person on a mission who is power walking through the aisles, and the individual moving at a regular pace, neither too mindful nor rushed. Every single one needs to be accommodated with a path. Does the layout, or progression, of your product placement make sense? Do people have to backtrack, walking through space they already shopped, to get to the next aisle or display? If so, they’ll want to leave the store sooner. Shopping should convenient, if not pleasurable. Bearing in mind that walkways must flow through the store, consider what may stop them, and how to cleverly position this near the flow of traffic without obstructing them. If your space is typically crowded and you need to give shoppers a wide berth, use retail sign holders to introduce a display and say, “Excuse me, you may want to divert your attention this way!”. Points of interest are most often items that can’t be found within the aisles. They can, however, be indicative of what one can expect from that aisle, drawing in shoppers who didn’t plan to go down that row.
Sales Conversion
Of course, every store will need to configure its own layout. But if you can hold off on selling until the customer is well inside, make products on the right look appealing, allow them to walk the store in a manner that makes sense, and always offer something interesting along the journey, you’ve nailed the art of excellent organization and placement.
