Store Floor Plans – arrange your store to increase use

Start the process of designing a new store floor plan by asking yourself and your staff a few questions.  Here are some questions you might consider:  In the realm of our competitive environment, who are we? What do we do better than the guys we’re competing against? What do we sell that is unique and therefore gives us a competitive advantage? Who are our customers and what store floor plans will appeal to them? These types of questions help you gather facts and can help you confirm, invent or rediscover your business.  

In addition to introspective questions, historical data is also valuable when contemplating a new store floor plan.  The book Discovery-Based Retail discusses the importance of examining floor space, its productivity and also the inventory held in various departments in relationship to that productivity.  This ratio between departmental sales and inventory is a productivity measure that can help determine the departmental dimensions that will maximize the profit generating capabilities of your entire store’s sales space.  

With questions answered and data gathered, you can begin to address the physical characteristics of your building and begin to map out your store floor plan.  The purpose of a good store floor plan is to influence your customers’ buying behavior. A good store floor plan does this by guiding customers though the store and exposing them to the products and categories you want them to see.  For example, if you see your business as a high-end hardware store or home center you might want your store’s floor plan to direct your customers to the home décor, cabinet show room or seasonal departments first. You would thereby maximize their exposure to these higher profit producing products.

Store floor plans really are a first step to significant profitability improvement.  Once in place a well designed store floor plan can help you feature products, create additional sales opportunities and insure that you put your inventory dollars in the locations where they will be most effective. 

Interested in store floor plans? Then get your copy of Discovery Based Retail today!