VISUAL MERCHANDISING

Understanding and influencing how shoppers navigate the store

Different layouts can be identified. When choosing one of these layouts, consider various factors, such as efficiency, ease of orientation, and the potential for a layout to make shopping fun for the customer.

While a forced-path layout encourages shopper contact with the merchandise, be careful not to alienate customers by forcing their route. More subtle approaches to influence shoppers may often be more effective. No matter what layout you choose, specify the loop or the main path you would like customers to take through the store. Then think of ways to entice your customer to follow the loop all the way through the store.

Typically, a shopper will first scan the shelves horizontally as they walk down the aisle. Only after they have found the right product category they will start scanning shelves vertically for the specific type of product or brand they are looking for. This sequence – first horizontal scanning for merchandise groups, then vertical scanning for specific brands or products – has important implications for how items should be arranged on shelves. To take advantage of shoppers’ search patterns, similar products should be arranged in vertical blocks and not horizontal blocks. Otherwise many shoppers will have a hard time finding what they need and may simply move on.

Optimise both vertical and horizontal shelf placement to your advantage.

Eye level is buy level

Retail experts divide shelf space into four distinct vertical zones:

1. Stretch level (> 6 ft.). This is one of the less valuable shelf zones. shelves on the stretch думу receive relatively little attention be shoppers. Furthermore, only lightweight product should му placed in this zone to prevent possible injuries. Some modern store fixtures have done away with selves on the stretch level altogether. This decision has the advantage that the store seems airier and less crowded. Because the shelves are shorter, the shoppers’ sight is not blocked. This view can induce more shoppers to visit the back of the store. In spite of these developments, many stores do still have tall shelves because the space above the stretch level is used for inventory.

2. Eye level (4-5 ft.). Remember that shoppers can only buy what they see, and what is in their field of vision receives the most attention. Perceptive retailers have known for along time that products displayed at eye level sell best. This assumption has receives support from research studies using eye-tracking technology. It should be pointed out, however, that placing eye level at between 4 and 5 ft. is only an approximation. A person’s peripheral vision extends 30° from their central focus point in all direction. Consequently, the further away shoppers stand from a shelf, the wider the eye-level zone will extend. When selling products aimed at children, the eye-level zone obviously is located further down on the shelf. As the research has shown, children are considerably more likely to request product purchases from their parents for products placed at their own eye level. Eye level is the ideal zone for placing products with high profit margin.

3. Touch level (3-4 ft.). The touch level is located approximately at the shoppers’ waist height. Products placed in this zone receive more attention than products at the stretch level and stoop level but also receive somewhat less attention that products at eye level. It is still a desirable zone, however, for placing high-profit items.

4. Stoop level (< 3 ft.). Shoppers don’t like to bend down to – in the case of elderly & disabled people – may be unable to bend down. Furthermore, the stoop level is not usually in most shoppers’ field of vision while walking through a store. Consequently, the stoop level is retailing’s equivalent of the boondocks, where low-margin merchandise finds its place. Heavy products are also places in this shelf zone for safety reasons and easier selection by customers.

It should be noted that the placement of products on different vertical shelf zones does not only affect perception. There is evidence that consumers also evaluate products differently depending on which shelf they replaced on. As we already know, products placed at eye level and at touch level receive more attention than products located either above or below these two levels. These two zones differ, however, with respect to how favourably customers judge the brands they find there. Brands placed on a higher shelf are evaluated better than brands placed on a lower shelf (touch level), irrespective of the actual brands. Apparently, shoppers have implicitly learned over time that retailers tend to give the top positions on the shelf to the top brands.

At this point you may be wondering if there is also an optimal horizontal shelf position. After all, it would be useful to know if products receive more attention if they are placed near the centre or at peripheral positions of the shelf. Horizontal shelf zones have also been identified. Merchandise at the centre of a shelf appears to receive the greatest visual attention by shoppers. This placement assumes, of course, that the shoppers stand directly in front of the centre of the shelf, which in most cases is not very likely. A lot seems to depend on where in the store the shelf is located and from which direction customers approach the shelf. Many shoppers don’t walk through an entire aisle. Instead, they may just enter the aisle, search for a particular product, and then leave the aisle where they entered. If many consumers enter the aisle from the same direction, products placed on shelves close to the entrance of the aisle are in a great selling spot because more shoppers pass this section of the shelf than any other and may consequently notice these products more often.