Product placement | In-store movement of customers
Today we would like to examine how the movement of buyers influence product placement. Probably, you have noticed that you need to go through the household departments first, in order to reach the food section in the store. Such store layouts are certainly not accidental and are designed to make the buyer spend more time in the store, while going to the desired product place and choose other products.
What are the basic laws of customer movement and how can this help for your product placement?
1) Movement direction matters
Shoppers usually move counterclockwise, therefore most entrances to the store hall are on the right. Items placed on the right side of the store will be noticed more.
2) Traffic distribution
Shoppers mostly move on the periphery of the store hall and avoid the middle of the store. As a result, there is a greater flow of them in the edge passages.
3) Try to avoid store corners for your product placement
Nevertheless, shoppers tend to overtake and not visit store corners, so goods displayed in such places will receive significantly less attention from shoppers than on ordinary shelves.
4) The right planogram for placing your items
Shoppers look to the right first and take the goods with their right hand, therefore it is the items on the right shelf that will be noticed first by buyers. Read more about planograms here.
5) The pace and the product placement
Shoppers also tend to walk around stores at different paces. First, they go at a faster pace, then the pace slows down, and finally accelerates again. However, we already know that the entrance to the store concentrates the flow of shoppers. Therefore, the goods placed in it must grab the buyer’s attention in order to stop the buyer at the very beginning of their shopping.
6) Choose the first floor for your product placements
If the store is on multiple floors, shoppers tend to visit the hall on the second floor less frequently. If the main product stand is on the second floor, you should also focus on additional product displays on the first floor.
Understanding and getting to know customer flows is important not only for the store owner but also for the supplier. Only by knowing the flows of customer movement, it is possible to negotiate the most favorable places for your product placement in the store. Even more important are additional layout locations. Such displays may only look fair and attractive, but if the place is not easily reachable, the promotion will not help achieve the desired sales results.
When visiting stores, our team not only maintains planograms and goods on the shelves. We always seek to help and advise hall staff on additional or stock layouts. Want to know more? Contact us.
Sources: „Store Layouts and How They Drive Sales“ Matthew Hudson
„ASORTIMENTO PLANAVIMO ĮTAKA PREKIŲ IŠDĖSTYMUI PARDAVIMO VIETOJE“ Inga Liniauskaitė