Last mile retail – 5

Displays connects products categories with contexts

Store design is a means of creating long-term competitive advantage versus other retailers.

Once a customer crosses the threshold of the store, the retailer has to „bring‟ him to closer to the
product and brand displays, and convert him into a shopper by nudging him into evaluating
merchandise. Design plays a role at each step of this shopping journey. Reflect on your last
shopping trip to a supermarket or an apparel store. Did you browse all the aisles or fixtures of the
store? Doubtful. Sorenson1suggests that an average shopping trip to a supermarket covers only
25% of the store. Looking at this data in another way, the retailer „lost‟ a potential opportunity to
sell goods displayed in 75% of the store. Reflect again on your store visit. Did you spend time
examining all the merchandise in the visited areas of the supermarket? Not really. You focused
on what you needed and what caught our eyes. A good store design encourages customer
movement through the store, increasing time spent inside the store, and motivating / enabling
merchandise evaluation through productive displays. To use the language of retail, store design
improves the „conversion‟ of customers to shoppers, and the „conversion‟ shoppers into
consumers. Store design also influences both the fixed and variable costs of retail operations.
The impact on fixed cost as depreciation is direct and visible. The long-term impact on sales
productivity and operational costs is less obvious, embedded in the opportunity cost of lost sales
and increase in tasks of the retail staff to keep the store displays filled and in pristine condition
during store operational hours.

The ideas that undergird the development of a retail design and layout are based upon how
customers „see,‟ „understand,‟ and „interpret‟ product categories and brands in the store,
influence of product and brand displays on consumer behavior through the store, engagement
and interactions of customers with displays, and tasks of the retail staff in working the supply
chain.

As described earlier a retail store is a tangible manifestation of the intent of retailer, his
„communication‟ to his targeted customers through a collection of products and brands in an
ambience. The store design determines how well the message gets across to consumers. At a
rational level, do the customers understand the logic of the products, categories, and brands
displayed, and at a more emotional connotative level, do the customers „identify‟ with the brands
based upon the lifestyle, and image depicted in the store. If the consumers understand and
identify with the product and brand presentation, and merchandise organization and store layout
seems logical, they get to know where to find products in the store, then they use store signs and
paths to find the products that interest them in the store.

1
Sorensen, Herb. (2003). The Science of Shopping. Accessible at http://www.sorensen-
associates.com/insights.html#WP
At a rudimentary level a retail store is a collection of product offerings arranged to give meaning
to customers. The first step in developing a store layout is to understand the logic that forms the
basis of defining and creating product categories by answering the following questions:

 What is a category?
 What is the meaning of a grouping of categories?
 What is the thinking behind presenting categories at the store?
 What does a display do? How?

What is a category in retail?

Table 1 has four photographs of a cell phone retailer. Clockwise the top left photo is the display
of Sony Ericsson phones, top right are cell phones classified for use based on functionality in this
case business. Bottom right is a display of „fashionable‟ phones based on physical
characteristics. Bottom left photograph shows two displays, one classified as essential (basic
features) and the other as multimedia.

Table 1 Different approaches to cell phone displays

a) Display by brand b) Display by cell phone use

c) Display by cell phone functionality d) Display by cell phone appearance

A category of products in retail is an agglomeration of products using some common theme or
attribute. The definition of the category identifies the basis by which products can belong to or
be excluded from the category. In figure 1-a brand name „Sony Ericsson‟ is the basis of
presenting a cluster of cell phones on the display fixture. In figure 1-b the same product cell
phones are presented based on their features that enable the phones to be used as business
phones, the functionality becoming the categorizing and differentiating feature. An important
characteristic of the categorizing process is that the feature that creates the cluster also serves as
a means of differentiating one cluster of similar products from another cluster. The products in a
category should be perceived as „homogenous‟ on the criterion with a certain amount of
„differentiation‟ across other similar product categories. A cell phone that is classified as
„essential‟ in figure 1-c will have all the basic features like voice communication, and messaging.
A „business‟ cell phone will have all the „essential‟ features and have additional features that will
skew the overall functionality of the phone towards business e.g. emails, and office applications.
The criterion which serves as a means of differentiating products in one category e.g. „essential‟
may not be important in another category e.g. „business.‟ Consider another example. Kitchen
utensils can be grouped either by brand, as is often seen in a department store environment like
Macy‟s or J C Penney, or their functional use, as is seen in Walmart or Target. The department
stores „believe‟ that their customers visit them because of their brand promise and start their
buying process brand-first; compare brands before products. The superstores believe that their
customers follow a buying process that starts with the functionality of the product; their promise
is quality at a low price, and not brands at a cheaper price.

The utility of the categorization process is manifested in the way it eases the customer choice
process. In the cell phone example a brand-oriented customer will find functional displays
(Figure 1-b, c, and d) tedious. He will take time to understand the logic of display and then may
have to crisscross across displays comparing products, brands, and features. Categories in retail
should be based upon identifying steps and basis of consumer choice process.

How should categories be displayed?

Retailers display products in categories and the category-structure, the way categories are laid
out in the store, their proximity or distance, and presentation, is a cue in triggering consumer
behavior inside the store. I use fashion as a category to show how this idea can be implemented.

Fashion categories can be developed around gender, style (classic versus trendy, etc.), brand, and
function (formal, casual, and sportswear, etc.). The buying of clothes is not a stable and pre-
defined process. Each shopper does it in his own way. At a macro-level it can be visualized as an
outcome of „interaction‟ between the shopper and display presentation, of the „imagination‟ of
the shopper about „how‟ the product will appear when draped, and his own self-identity or
„perception‟ of self vis-à-vis what fashion means to him. A retailer displays a piece of clothing
but the customer mentally transforms the piece from the shop context to his own „identity.‟ Shop
floor is a place where „fashion‟ is interpreted by each shopper from his perspective. The job of a
retailer is to create a presentation that assists or enables the „interpretation.‟ Table 2 shows the
display of Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Ralph Lauren introduced the idea of „lifestyle‟
merchandising, of showing products in a context that seeks to evoke the aspirational brand
lifestyle. Ralph Lauren stores create an English club ambience, with Mahogany panels and
leather sofas, etc., or the Polo lifestyle. Tommy Hilfiger targeted a younger hip-hop multi-
cultural customer, offering similar products as Ralph Lauren, slightly cheaper but with a fashion
edge. The in-store visual is more contemporary looking with the signature “Tommy White”
walls. Both Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger have used visual cues drawn from social
experiences, „English Club‟ and „Zest‟ in casual fashion to visually position their brands at the
store because the context of the brand identity and customer identity is the larger society.

Table 2 Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger

Tommy Hilfiger 2 Ralph Lauren 3

The starting point of fashion categories is gender, with clothes for the two genders displayed
separately.

After this obvious choice the retailer can then either create areas for each brand, made distinctive
by use of special fixtures, graphics, flooring and lighting (like Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren
shown in Table 2), or can create a more generic fashion display area that stocks all the products
and brands without a strong visual separation. When the customer sees a distinct brand area with
its own visual identity, the products and the context creates an image in his mind of what the
brand owner considers a meaningful association of brand and image. See Table 3 for examples of
Shop-in-shops in Saks. In the generic display the different brands are seamlessly interlocked and
any differences the customers discern are based upon visual presentation of the brands using

2
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/fashion/28CRITIC.html
3
http://theshophound.typepad.com/the_shophound/ralph_lauren/
 Table 3 Shop-in-shops in Saks 4

Table 4 M&S generic clothing displays are shown 5 6

4
http://www.paulpelssers.com/category/new-store-openings/page/3/
5
http://www.gands.co.uk/page/news/marks_spencer_witney_october_2009/63,0,1,0.html
6
http://www.trimorya.com/en/project/detail/marks-spencer-retail-store-dybenko-st.-petersburg
mannequins / graphics / photos to give character to the product commodity. See Table 4 where
photos of Marks & Spenser generic clothing displays are shown. Marks & Spenser have their
own brands like Per Una, Portfolio, Autograph, and Classic that they use to create a degree of
visual separation at the store level through signage and graphics, not as sharp as the shop-in-shop
using completely different architecture - fixtures, flooring, lighting, and ceilings.

Planning a collection of categories

My first design assignment was for a department store in Dubai. I was confronted by many
questions - How to arrange the brands and categories in the store? Was there a logic I could use?
Should I develop the layout from the retailer or customer perspective? Will these two
perspectives give the same result? Do consumers „understand‟ the structure of the store layout
structure, does it communicate meaning, and if yes, how and what? How do I evaluate different
layout options?

None of these questions have obvious answers. And the questions have recurred as I have
worked on designs of specialty stores, cafes, and supermarkets, and implemented the store
designs of some big international brand names. Prevalent dominant advice on store layout, based
on a premise that customers who shop in an entire store buy more than those who shop in only
selected areas, emphasizes „manipulation‟ of customers by „pulling‟ and „pushing‟ them into
different areas of a store by using the layout and displays. This is an oversimplification of ideas
guiding retail store design. Retail store layout is a multifaceted issue. It has to integrate and
balance often divergent retailer and customer perspectives; a retailer wants to a customer to be
„guided‟ and stay „trapped‟ in the store whereas the customer wants „quick-shopping,‟ and
doesn‟t like feeling „entrapped.‟ Also retail layouts are grounded in the type of retail business
and the principles of store layout applied to supermarkets with 40,000 skus and library-style aisle
displays may only be simplistically applicable to department stores and specialty boutiques with
customized fixtures and 1,000 SKUs trying to portray a unique image to customers. Retail store
design also has fixed investment implications - it is difficult to change once executed, and
impacts operations and productivity long term.

I develop „retailer logic‟ to category layout attempting to balance store functionality, store
image, and customer issues. Emphasis is on four issues – how does a retailer decide product
category placements on the shop floor, which categories should be placed contiguously, and does
it make a difference for the retailer and the customer. I first use examples of supermarkets and
then of department stores.

A retail store is where customer and retailer perspectives have to match. For customers food
shopping is considered as a chore even though it is focused on the family and is a sub-conscious
expression of filial love. At a prosaic level customers define two „wants‟ from a food shopping
experience - convenience and rapid shopping. This constrains the supermarkets from laying out
the store following the traditional principles of store layout, and „shepherding‟ customers
through. If they did this they would have a high number of inconvenienced customers.
Supermarkets have challenges of their own. They face increased competition and margin
compression pressure. The need of higher margins has impelled supermarket diversifications into
prepared foods. This has triggered the emergence of one-stop shops, the supercenters, where a
customer can get a wide range of product categories under one roof. It is common to see cafes,
specialized bakeries, and international cuisine outlets integrated with supermarkets. This has
impacted supermarket layouts. Increasing product categories have required retailers to creatively
rework store layouts to make shopping pleasurable, giving customers a new reason to linger in
the store.

Supermarkets have begun to use all three generic retail layout strategies – grid, free flow, and
boutique – in store design. Figure 1 presents the store map of Wegmans and Wholefoods Market.

Figure 1 Store maps of Wegmans and Wholefoods

www.wegmans.com
 http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/sanmateo/store-map-2/

The two dimensional store maps don‟t do justice to the size and scale of these two supermarkets.
See photos in Figure 2 (yet to be accessed). The store map suggests that the supermarkets use a
free flow approach to fixture layout in some departments like produce, deli, and cheese. The
„random‟ fixture layout presenting a variety of products resembles a street market. It is visually
attractive, encourages browsing and draws customers deeper into the „innards‟ of the store. The
layout strategy is also a function of the product being presented. Fresh produce and prepared
foods are non-standard and require „touch and see‟ before purchase. As varieties of cheeses
increase visual presentation and sampling requires closer customer interaction during purchase.
For bakery products olfactory factors also come into play. Supermarket layouts are increasingly
creating in-store environments in residential neighborhoods that replicate the feel and ambience
of farmer markets to evoke a perception of freshness in minds of customers. This strategy is
reinforced in the adoption of boutique layout strategy within the supermarket by creating
individual specialty shops within the supermarkets – the market café, wokery, the sushi bar, and
patisserie. See photos in Figure 3 (yet to be accessed). The choice of boutique layout option in a
supermarket environment has strategic undertones. When a supermarket begins to sell prepared
foods its competitive space increases and includes food restaurants because customers can
choose between visiting a stand-alone restaurant or the supermarket. For customers to choose
supermarkets over more traditional alternatives supermarkets have to create perceptions of
serving products comparable or superior in terms of quality, taste, and variety. The boutique
layout, distinctive and aesthetically appealing, with live cooking and accessible chefs, evokes
both a separation and integration with the supermarket; separation from the normative image of
supermarkets, products sold in the shop-in-shop are different and superior, and yet integrated
using freshness and quality ingredients. Supermarkets use grid layout of fixtures for product
categories like grocery, non-food, and frozen. Parallel aisles utilize space effectively and create
maximum opportunities for exposure of merchandise.

Layout Categories Retailer perspective Consumer perspective

Efficient space utilization,
Grocery, frozen, and effective merchandise Consumer choice of packaged
Grid
non-food presentation and economic products
engineering
Product categories require
Attractive merchandise
Free Flow Produce / deli „see, sample, touch, and
presentation
select‟ by customers
Need to differentiate from Is within supermarket so fresh
Prepared foods,
Boutique traditional supermarket ingredients and has specialist
bakery, butchery
quality chef – quality and fresh

The functionality of such a differential store layout strategy for different categories adopted by
supermarkets is supported by analogous research on consumer perceptions of shop-in-shops and
islands for a category like apparel.7 Shop-in-shops or separate islands within larger stores are
perceived by customers as signals of „quality, „distinctiveness,‟ and „assurance,‟ and were
preferred for product categories like clothing where „uncertainty‟ of quality and purchase „risk‟
is high not unlike specialty prepared foods in supermarkets. For other products like health and
beauty where brand name is often an important factor in consumer choice-making customers
preferred products displayed on fixtures with brand names. See photos in Figure 4. This has a
direct influence on store design. Consumers tend to emphasize the utilitarian value (such as
convenience) when they shop for household and some grocery items, but to focus on hedonic

7
Hart, C., and Davies, M. (1996). The location and merchandising of non-food in supermarkets. International
Journal of Retail & Distribution Management. Volume 24, Number 3, pg. 17–25
value (such as fun) when they shop for books, perfumes and fashion. Thus, a grid layout that
works well for a household section may not be suitable for an apparel section in a store. 8

Retailers have to adopt a deliberate strategy to category and merchandise placement in the store.
The strategy is developed based upon how he wants consumers to travel through the store, how
he wants customers locate, evaluate and choose categories and brands, and how he wants
customers feel at a psychic level to merchandise layout. A word of caution; merchandise layout
is not an exact science, is done once and remains fixed forever. Layouts evolve. Retailers tweak
store layouts till they achieve desired space productivity goals.

Figure 4 – Brands used on Supermarket displays in some categories

Three generic store layout principles, the principles of circulation, coordination, and convenience
guide the development of store layouts.

Reflect on your last visit to a supermarket. Did you visit each and every aisle? The top image of
figure 5 shows a layout of a supermarket and the bottom figure shows customer movement
through the store. The darkest shading indicates high traffic whereas some aisles scarcely get any
customers. Left to their own devices, consumers would prefer to shop around the perimeter of
stores and, consequently, these areas tend to be more congested than central aisles. Congestion is
intensified at major centers of attraction, e.g. delicatessen and fresh foods, which are placed
around the store perimeter to enable easy servicing. The principle of circulation identifies how
merchandise grouping can facilitate traffic flow throughout the store by encouraging circulation
of the customers through the different departments.

8
Floch, Jean-Marie (1988). The Contribution of a Structural Semiotics to the Design of a Hypermarket,
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 4 (3), 233-52.
The principle of coordination focuses on arranging merchandise to promote „complementary‟ or
„coordinated‟ sales based upon a premise that combining goods in space is „suggestive‟ to
customers and „induces‟ them to consider presented options – locating slow selling merchandise,
that which the retailer wants to „push,‟ with fast-selling merchandise will create a momentum
affect.

Similarly the premise of the principle of convenience is to develop store and product layout
based upon the shopping convenience of customers. Small format convenience stores epitomize
this principle where customers can get in and out very fast.

Let us examine how these principles are reflected in actual supermarket layouts. In both
Wegmans and Whole Foods, customers enter either through the produce or the freshly prepared
foods departments. The displays, fixtures, and aisle spacing „pulls‟ customers inwards, and
„guides‟ them to follow a racetrack (in Whole Foods) or the rear aisle (in Wegmans) around the
store periphery. Wegmans and Whole Foods differ in the positioning of the freshly prepared
foods; Wegmans creates an exclusive area with seating whereas Whole Foods integrates the
prepared foods area with the store race track periphery. Figure 6 is the layout of Carrefour
hypermarket in Dubai and Walmart in the USA. Carrefour has placed produce, bakery, butchery,
and prepared foods on the left corner of the 100,000 sq. ft. store. The main entrance is towards
the right side of the store through the hard goods section along a walkway that displays
promotional merchandise. Customers are constrained to use the three main aisles in the center of
the store from right to left to reach the fresh and frozen sections of the store. Carrefour has a
secondary entrance, with a narrow three foot walkway, towards the left of the store. Walmart has
two entrances. It places the produce, grocery, bakery, and deli on the right of the store. One store
entrance has direct access to this section. The soft and hard goods in Walmart are laid out around
a race track.
 Figure 5 Circulation efficiency of supermarkets 9

9
Larson, Jeffrey S., Bradlow, Eric T., and Fader, Peter S. (2004). An Exploratory Look at Supermarket Shopping
Paths. Accessible at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/papers/1293.pdf
 Figure 6 Layout of Carrefour

Produce,
Entrance
Bakery,
Butchery

Layout of Walmart 10

10
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24778615@N08/4904858624/
The supermarkets are designed to draw customers into the fresh produce with „forced‟
circulation imposed on customers through butchery, fishery, deli, bakery, dairy, and frozen. In
contrast hypermarkets, much larger in size than supermarkets, have created destination corners of
the store where all these departments, are clustered. Hypermarkets also have wider aisles (rear,
middle and front for Carrefour, and race track for Walmart) when compared with supermarkets.

Role of store design in influencing in-store consumer behavior

The physical design of store space does influence human behavior in the store. Customers are
influenced by store features like lighting, music, design and décor, etc. Different elements of a
store evoke diverse emotions and perceptions in customers and these impacts the time they spend
in the store and how comfortable they are while shopping. The pragmatic retailer is keener on
understanding the impact of store design on in-store circulation and consumer-product
interactions. Research gives limited guidance on „how‟ design of retail stores influences in-store
shopper behavior. 11

Every customer entering a store has a purpose. It can range from focused intent - „I need to buy
product X,‟ or a more open-ended orientation - „I want to browse.‟ Figure …captures the
different influences on a shopper as soon as he crosses the threshold of a store.

Design Attractive visual displays

visual
considerations
Store layout - product locations

Customer intent Signage - understand where is

Design what
or task
orientation spatial
considerations Way-finding

Comfortable acesss
Power displays
Promotional strategies

11
Lam, Shun Yin., (2001). The effects of store environment on shopping behaviors: a critical review. Advances in
Consumer Research Volume 28, eds. Mary C. Gilly and Joan Meyers-Levy, Valdosta, GA : Association for
Consumer Research, Pages: 190-197.
The in-store shopper behavior, outcome of shopper task orientation, is influenced by features of
store design and power displays near the store entrance. Store design has two characteristics,
visual and spatial. Visual characteristics encompass the visually attractive aesthetic design
features built into the store design. Spatial design elements comprise store features that enable
customers understand „where is what in the store‟ and identify how to get there. Complementary
to aesthetic considerations of visual design, spatial design focuses on more prosaic issues like
simplicity of layout to ease understanding of locations of brands or product categories, width of
corridors and aisles, and way-finding.

Research in a supermarket and an electronic store suggest that shopper intent appears to be the
driver of in-store travel and location of product category or brands are effective in „explaining‟
consumer movement inside stores, whereas spatial considerations „predict‟ circulation and
product-shopper interaction. A strong power display of promotions, the action alley of Walmart
or the entrance street of Carrefour that display promotional merchandise, have a weak influence
on „pull,‟ they don‟t pull people into the store or increase „circulation‟ within the store but are
correlated with purchases as a shopping outcome.

Gil, J., et al.12 (2009) researched shopper movement and behavior in a supermarket.
Supermarkets and hypermarkets are designed for „guiding‟ customer movement, exemplified by
clearly discernible wider main aisles, and for customer interaction with products, epitomized by
store entrance leading directly into produce and deli departments, and often the peripheral layout
of specialty departments like bakery, butchery, and diary. They found that shopper choice of in-
store travel paths appeared to be an outcome of the shopping mission of customers moderated by
spatial considerations, the locations of products in the store and the ease with which customers
can identify product locations. The observed shopper behavior a result of the „purposeful‟ nature
of supermarket shopping, the simplicity of store layout, and shopper awareness of product
locations based upon prior store visits. Customers were using wider aisles more for access but
with limited interaction with products along the way.

Garip, E., et al.13 (2009) studied the additional influence of in-store marketing strategies on
consumer circulation and purchase behavior inside an electronics store. The location of product
categories within the store was a dominant influence on circulation and product interactions. In-
store marketing was influencing purchases and not circulation.

Shopper typology and store design

12
Gil, Jorge., Tobari, Eime., Lemlij, Maia., Rose, Anna., and Penn, Alan., (2009). The Differentiating Behaviour of
Shoppers. Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium. Edited by Daniel Koch, Lars Marcus and
Jesper Steen, Stockholm.
13
Garip, E., and Unlu, A., (2009). Can We Measure Consumption? Proceedings of the 7th International Space
Syntax Symposium Edited by Daniel Koch, Lars Marcus and Jesper Steen, Stockholm.
In-store circulation is an important factor for a retailer and it is strongly influenced by the
shopper intent or shopping task orientation. Gil, J., et al.14 (2009) classified five shopping
mission typologies that were manifested in different in-store shopping behaviors (Table…).
These five categories can be compressed into more manageable generic categories (Table …)
applicable to most retail environments that may be used as input guidelines for store design. The
specialist and explorer categories of table … were merged into destination and browser
categories respectively.

Table…Consumer categorization from supermarket research

Consumer characterization Number (%) Observed shopping behaviour Shopping outcomes

of customers
The Specialist 19 (4) Shoppers who focus on a few Product interactions less
products, interacting with them for likely to result in purchases
a long time.
The Native 161 (35) Shoppers make a long trip visiting Product interactions
only relevant aisles. with products are likely to
result in purchases
The Tourist 101 (22) Fast moving shoppers, who prefer Low conversion ratio
main corridors but don‟t go far looking more than buying
from the entrance
The Explorer 67 (15) Shoppers making the longest trips, Long interactions with the
going everywhere more than once products and buying a lot
The Raider 113 (24) Fast shoppers, both in moving and High conversion
making decisions, with clear
preference for main corridors,
going far into the store if necessary

Table…Generic consumer categorization for store design

Consumer Expected shopping behavior
characterization
Browsers Open-ended and flexible in-
store routes
Shoppers making the longest
trips, going to the targeted
Destination product categories and
spending time to explore other
product categories
Raiders Time constrained fast shoppers
What will pull them Shopping outcomes
deeper into store
Visually attractive cues
Low – grab something
Convenient low they like
congestion walkways
Clear signage, displays,
location and buying Higher conversions
assistance
Convenient access
High conversion
Clear signage and
displays

14
Gil, Jorge., Tobari, Eime., Lemlij, Maia., Rose, Anna., and Penn, Alan., (2009). The Differentiating Behaviour of
Shoppers. Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium. Edited by Daniel Koch, Lars Marcus and
Jesper Steen, Stockholm.
Where should which department be?

Contrast the layouts of Carrefour and Walmart. Carrefour requires customers to traverse the
entire store to reach the produce, deli, bakery, and freshly prepared meals whereas Walmart is
designed to give customers direct access to the gives the same departments.

The store design is an outcome of assumptions that the stores make about their customers. Both
Walmart and Carrefour being hypermarkets draw a higher proportion of „destination‟ shoppers.
Carrefour has taken a design strategy of giving very wide main walkways, nearly 5-7 m wide,
lined with promotions, which eliminates the psychic cost of the extra walk to the fresh section.
Fresh is a relatively new category for Walmart. It already has the destination customer. To attract
the new weekly or daily customer for fresh products, it needs to give access convenience to
customers categorized as „raiders.‟ The store layout, placing the fresh and grocery sections
directly in front of the entrance, makes the internal movement convenient for the new customer.

Clustering categories

How does a retailer go about designing the layout of product categories? A retail store design has
many stakeholders – the targeted customers and shoppers, the retailer, the designer, and
suppliers. The retailer has to balance the needs and expectations of the four stakeholders to arrive
at a design. The retailer has to remain objective and temper his own expectations in the design
process. A skewed emphasis on any stakeholder has detrimental consequences. Jashanmal, the
department store in Dubai, often overemphasized wholesale brands of the parent company
(kitchen appliances, luggage and writing instruments) by giving them in-store prominence
undermining the brand identity of the retailer as a home-ware retailer (kitchen, dining, and linen
specialist) with long-term impact on store productivity.

Floch (1988) tracked the development of a hypermarket design starting with customer
perspectives. The hypermarket zoning that emerged is shown in figure ….. Some salient
observations - consumers wanted angled aisles, dry goods contiguous with fresh produce, textiles
contiguous with cold drinks, cleaning materials near the entrance, all the fresh and prepared
foods categories at the rear, and angled aisles. Retailer tests each layout decision using three
criteria - space productivity and yield considerations, circulation (pull of a product category
based on frequency of purchase and presence in shopping basket), and visual attractiveness. In
the final layout of the hypermarket angled aisles disappeared because of they are inefficient; less
linear meters for same floor area for displaying merchandise. Dry goods, drinks, and groceries
were clubbed together. Cheeses, delicatessen, and frozen were made adjacent to the fruit and
vegetable displays, and pushed towards the back to increase circulation. The apparel, shoes, and
toys were positioned to attract customers entering the hypermarket. Overall layout was similar to
the Carrefour of figure 6.
 Figure … Store layout based on consumer discussions

How do layout design considerations change when designing department stores and a specialty
stores?

Traditional guidelines for developing „effective‟ store layouts are based upon principles of
„attraction,‟ „exposure,‟ and „impulse‟ with the goal of increasing sales per square foot.
Attraction focuses upon enticing customers into the store by communicating the store
positioning. Retailers do this by locating a collection of merchandise that is symbolic of the
store, referred to as the lead-off department, near the entrance. Customers become browsers as
they circulate within the store. They are pulled into the store by exposure, by locating famous
brands and desired categories along store peripheries and at noticeable locations. And browsers
become shoppers as exposure results in increasing sales through impulse buying. The
assumptions being that the customer can be „led‟ and „guided‟ by the retailer and the location of
a brand and category should be based upon sales goals of the brand and category. The efficacy of
a layout is based upon the visibility of the brands and categories to customers, the attractiveness
of their presentation to browsers, and the resulting sales performance. This approach is
simplistic. Consumers cannot be led and guided. When in a store a customer is in public space
and his behavior is his control. A retailer can at best give him cues and signals.

A retail store just doesn‟t house products. Architecture has configurative properties. Store
architecture and layout, the configuration of brands and categories, communicates meaning to
customers. This strategy is exemplified in the selling of fashion and cosmetics. A fashion brand
presents an image to customers. Customers perceive an image and identify it with their self-
image. This process doesn‟t occur in isolation. Many brands are attempting to communicate their
brand identity and messages to customers. At the store level the conceptual ideas of brand
identity and differentiation acquire a tangible dimension. To concurrently achieve identification
with a brand image, and differentiation of the brand image from other brands, store level stimuli
like visual merchandising, and physical proximity or distance from other brands become
important.15 The way goods are laid out in a store serves to characterize and categorize them; the
retail store serves to „frame,‟ „structure‟ and „describe‟ the categories and brands. The presence
of brand or category in a collection and its relationship with its proximate neighbors
communicates a message to customers. A presence of Levis jeans in a Walmart16 and Brooks
Brothers17 has different meanings for customers. A store frames what it contains. The collection
of categories and brands communicates the store positioning; the store is saying that the brands
in the store are „coherent‟ and the excluded brands don‟t belong here, lack a unifying thread or
consistency. The location of brands within the store, their visual merchandising and presentation
are visual stimuli to communicate messages and create a perception in a subtle way. The spatial
arrangements within the store, the relative positioning of the brands and categories, is a means of
distinguishing and defining the categories and brands, the relative structuring of the brands and
categories.18 The total image created by the inter-connections amongst brands enables customers
to „decode‟ the subtle message. The locating of brands in physical space enables „structuring‟ or
positioning of the brands, the „ranking‟ of the brands in the perception of customers.

Locating categories

How do the connotative characteristics of architecture influence retail design? Let us examine a
department store design. The starting point of a store design is the list of brands and categories.
From the perspective of a customer situated inside the store at the entrance, the store design must
provide him physical and visual vistas to enable him discover what lies where by simultaneous
perception and comparison of brands and categories.

Department stores are mostly designed with the perfumes and cosmetics category located near
store entrances, and the layout of perfumes and cosmetics department uses a free-flow format for
customers to walk right into the department. When I was starting out in retail I was told that this
layout was predicated by brand considerations, that the brands wanted the up-front locations. The
typology of layout of this category, brands presented in exclusive islands with strong attractive

15
Guedes, G., and Soares, P. da Costa. (2005). Branding of Fashion Products: a Communication Process, a
Marketing Approach. Procceedings odf the Association for Business Communication 7th European Convention, May
2005.
16
http://www.walmart.com/browse/Men/All-Bottoms/Signature-by-Levi-Strauss-Co/_/N-
8vlcZ1yzp7caZ1yzmmmk?ic=48_0&ref=414192+4292474636+4292594794&catNavId=133197
17
http://www.brooksbrothers.com/IWCatSectionView.process?IWAction=Load&Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1108
18
Koch, Daniel. (2009). Architectural Fashion Magazines. Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax
Symposium. Edited by Daniel Koch, Lars Marcus and Jesper Steen, Stockholm.
branding and staff-intensive nature of this trade, served to attract and entice customers early in
their in-store journey through eye-contact. At a personal level I was surprised at such a layout.
The design strategy was counter-intuitive. Perfumes and cosmetics is a product category that is
consumed in privacy and yet is designed for sale in public eye. So why were the products located
in the most public of spaces in the store? The answer lies in the brand identity and image that the
brands seek to present to customers. During store layout design brands were extremely finicky
about where they were being allocated space in the layout, and who their neighbors were. During
discussions brands appeared to be using adjacency and distance from a prominent brand like
Christian Dior to self-assess their relative brand positioning in the physical space. The final
layouts of the perfumes and cosmetics departments clearly suggested that the top-end brands like
Christian Dior, Shiseido, Clinique, Guerlain, Lancôme, and Helena Rubinstein ended up being in
a cluster spatially separated from the second cluster of brands like Hard Candy, Bobby Brown,
Elizabeth Arden, Lancaster, Cover Girl, La Prairie, and Maybelline.

This exemplifies the importance of characterization of cosmetics during the purchase process.
Cosmetics are essentially commodities. Once used no other person can know what brand has
been used. They brands lose their symbolic identity and meaning in use. It is for this reason that
brand owners of cosmetics are keen to present and sell their ware in most public of all spaces, so
that the impact of product and brand image communicating identity and character of the buyer is
operative rather than of pure utility to the user. Cosmetic brands take differentiation to the
extreme when they open stand-alone stores. They become exclusive and no longer depend upon
a relational positioning and identity.

Other product categories like accessories, wrist watches, jewelry, writing instruments, and
sunglasses also serve as objects of communication of identity in addition to their functional
utility. These categories are also usually found in crowded areas of department stores.

The men and women departments are often separated through sequencing and / or separated on
different floors. Children departments are differentiated from adults. Men‟s fashion is usually
deeper within a store. The location of men‟s fashion products cannot be explained by the retail
ideas of „attractor‟ and „impulse,‟ that is by locating the department closer to the store front sales
may not be influenced by impulse buying. Similarly home departments like bed linen, tableware,
and bathroom utilities are located deeper inside the store. The further one has to move into a
store, the more effort it takes, and the less likely one is to end up there by chance. This implicates
purpose, intent, and decisiveness of the customers who reach deep into the store. This requires
knowledge, awareness of categories and brands present, to motivate consumers to make the
effort to reach the departments and categories.

The structure of relative positions of categories and brands is formulated in the space to show
how the component parts relate to one another. Emphasis is on separation for creating a
distinctive identity, and retaining a contiguous character based on the consumer need the product
serves, how it is used or consumed, or in the way the product is purchased. Some of the factors
that retailers use in locating categories and brands are gender (difference between buying styles),
status (attractiveness of brands and commitment of effort to buying), privacy (in the buying
process), and brand (exclusivity), etc. This can also be exemplified based upon departments and
categories that serve the needs of a home like bedroom (linen, duvets, blankets, etc.), bathroom
(linen and accessories, etc.), kitchen (tools, utensils, etc.) and the dining table (China, glassware,
and cutlery, etc.) may be separated for distinctiveness, and yet be in close relational proximity.
Similarly in the men‟s fashion department or category „street‟ and „tailored‟ branches of men‟s
fashion are usually separated albeit in close proximity. Koch (2009)19 gives an example of a suit
department of one a department stores where the staff indicated that their customers were very
satisfied with the personal service they received, and the calm pace of the department dependent
on lack of customer flow.

In practice

Choices that confront a retailer in own brand stores like Marks and Spencer - How should
fashion brands be presented in a cluster? How should fashions, trends, styles, etc. be presented
and structured?

The question of store positioning - do customers come for the brands or categories? Does the
retailer seek to present a bouquet of brands or categories as differentiation?

Some stores are designed to present by giving each brand an opportunity to present itself with
distinctive spaces within the category, as a shop-in-shop with flooring, fixtures, lighting and
signage that clearly identifies the brand. A customer shopping the category experiences each
brand separately. Marks and Spencer is an own brand store and stocks only its own brands. It has
created its own sub-brands within categories to cater to different customer segments. In the
women‟s fashion category it has brands like Autograph, Classic, Indigo Collection, Limited
Collection, per una and Portfolio. They present their cluster of brands together in the category
women‟s fashion. The presentation is not like a shop-in-shop. Flooring and lighting are generic
to the category. The brands are distinguished with signage and displays. The products on
displays are distinctive, representative of the brand characteristics and positioning, and
„communicate‟ intended differentiation. The shopper moving through the category seamlessly
and effortlessly moves through the brands within the category.

19
Koch, Daniel. (2009). Architectural Fashion Magazines. Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax
Symposium. Edited by Daniel Koch, Lars Marcus and Jesper Steen, Stockholm.
Customer coming for the value-proposition of Marks and Spencer is aware of the quality
standards of M&S, trusts the store brand name and his shopping style is category-centric.

The M&S approach, contrasted with the brand-centric approach, spotlights the difference
between categorizations and characterization in retail store design. In the example of cosmetics
or high-end fashion the cluster of name brands retain their distinctive store level identity and
evoke an image or character of the store, whereas in a store like M&S the retailer has to present
the categories and products to evoke an image and identity of the taxonomy of the store in the
minds of shoppers. Figure xxx distinguishes the brand-centric and category-centric approaches.
As the retailer strategy shifts towards category-centricity the role of in-store displays to
communicate messages to enable customers form an image and identity of the store taxonomy
increases. Ikea has many categories in the store. To effectively communicate it‟s positioning

Figure …. Retailer choice and role of displays in evoking store image and taxonomy

Arranged as shop-in-shops (Saks,

Macy's)
Brand-centric
Arranged as brands within categories (J
Retailer choices C Penny)
of store design
based on store
positioning Categories with own sub-brands
(Walmart, M&S)
Category-centric

Categories (Gap, Trader's Joe, Ikea)

message to shoppers it presents its products in-use; a living room in-store display draw products
from multiple categories and mimics a real living room. For example the dining table will
simulate a real dining table with dinnerware, linen, cutlery, glassware, runners, napkins, and
lamps. This enables customers to visualize the appearance of their home using Ikea products and
realize the scope of product offering of Ikea.
How does this change in the brand centric approach? A brand owner has three goals – enable the
brand image to be presented, a brand is known by the company it keeps so the proximate brands
should be comparable and consistent so as not to indirectly communicate a dissonant message,
and the brand should be conspicuous in the company of its contemporary brands. Brands achieve
this in space through interplay of next-ness and distance. A brand display should be in the right
context comprising of its peer brands. The brand display should be distinctive and its boundaries
separated, at a distance from its neighbors to show differences. And yet the neighboring brand
should be visible to draw upon the perceptual value of association evoked in the customers. In
the example of cosmetics brand islands exist within a general category. The islands are
connected and different at the same time. The brands dictate locations and by managing the
spatial arrangements the brands communicate similarities and differences amongst the brands, a
concurrent homogeneity and heterogeneity, and the category called cosmetics emerges with its
own sub-categories. Brands like Dior, Clinique, Lancôme, Helena Rubinstein, Shisheido, and
Guerlain belong to the luxury cosmetics group. Brands like Elizabeth Arden and Lancaster
constitute the extreme end of the luxury category whereas Hard Candy, Bobby Brown, and MAC
comprise a trendier category group. Revlon, Cover Girl, and Maybelline are classified as the
mass market category.

Apparel can either be arranged by brand, with each brand allocated area that is demarcated by
distinct boundaries, the distinctiveness accentuated by different flooring, fixtures and visual
contexts and imagery, or displayed in a shared area that has common flooring and display
fixtures, where the boundaries of brands are indistinct, barring for signs and visuals atop the
fixtures e.g. shirts or suits or sportswear of different brands on proximate fixtures, separate yet
close. In both the display types the category of men‟s apparel will have all constituents of the
category mix e.g. suits, shirts, jeans, sportswear, and underwear, together.

Boundaries and display strategies create visibility and differentiation. Distance is suggestive of
meaningful difference of the brands displayed whereas proximity and merging of boundaries is
evocative of brand and product similarity.

Store design, status, and price attributions

Ambiance of the store is a means for the retailer to communicate and connect the social class or
status aspirations of the store and its target customer group. High end brands are usually located
in spacious surroundings suggestive of a correlation between spaciousness and status assertion of
the brand. They present merchandise in customized display fixtures in exclusive spaces. The
presentation is slightly discrete, often away from the aisle. They show fewer pieces on the floor
or use more space for each item displayed. They use graphics, mannequins and props to visually
define the brand in use. Every complementary feature of the displays, like hangers, is
customized.
Customers too develop perceptions about merchandise when they see product displays. They
extract meaning from characteristics of displays and attribute „meaning‟ to displayed products
and brands. Three features of displays that serve as cues are – how brands are displayed, the
distinctiveness of display boundaries, density of merchandise visible on the floor, and usage of
special or customized display units. The thumb rules customers use to convert observations to
perceptions are acquired through experience. Customers attribute price perceptions when they
see merchandise on the shop floor; products displayed compactly and closely are perceived as
„low‟ priced whereas low shop-floor merchandise density is felt as „expensive.‟ Similarly
products on elegantly merchandised displays with special fixtures and props are perceived as
expensive, whereas the same products on basic fixtures are sensed as cheaper.

How to do store design – case of Apple