Space Planning: The Hidden Influence of Store Layout on Retail Performance
A new report from One Door and GlobalData offers direct insight into what consumers expect when shopping in stores — and it’s not the trendiest product or the most artful display.
According to the research, in-store shoppers want two things: Accessibility and organization.
Today’s consumers demand a seamless shopping experience where they can:
- Easily navigate aisles and find what they need
- Discover new products without frustration
For large retailers, space planning is the foundation of this breezy experience, serving as a critical element of visual merchandising.
However, according to the recent study, 73.4% of consumers are not completely satisfied with current visual merchandising standards.
This report details a serious — and costly — disconnect between retailers and shoppers.
While customers expect seamless shopping, retailers across all store types — luxury, mid-market, discount, and needs-based — are not meeting these promises.
Consumers’ Top Shopping Priorities: Accessibility & Organization
More than anything, shoppers want easy access to the products they love and an organized store to leisurely browse for new products.
But, that’s not often the case.
Retailers are leaving billions of dollars on the shelves by not prioritizing accessibility and organization.
In fact, it’s costing US retailers a staggering $125 billion in sales over the past 12 months.
Visibility and Product Accessibility
33% of consumers said hard-to-find products were the top merchandising frustration. And no, they aren’t talking about out-of-stock items. This new data highlights a critical challenge for retailers: visibility and accessibility.
This particular merchandising challenge disproportionately impacts mid-market stores, a category that includes popular mall retailers, such as Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Crate & Barrel, Sephora, Ulta, and Dick’s, as well as mid-tier department stores like Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Dillard’s.
In the past year, almost 40 million shoppers left a mid-market store due to hard-to-find products.
The cost of this store abandonment? Over $8 billion in lost sales.
Because customers consistently prioritize ease of access and product visibility over other considerations, it’s vital that retailers, especially mid-market stores, do the same by:
- Maximizing limited space by allocating shelf and floor space based on product popularity and seasonal trends
- Standardize space utilization across stores to improve consistency in the shopping experience and localize layouts
- Improving aisle navigation to create intuitive pathways for shopping, reducing “blind spots” where products are overlooked
- Eliminating wasted space by optimizing the use of every square foot to better showcase products without overcrowding
Organizational Product Display
About 23% of consumers were frustrated by disorganized displays, making haphazard presentation one of the highest points of contention for shoppers.
This particular merchandising challenge also impacted mid-market stores more often than other store types.
In the past year, 24.5 million shoppers left a mid-market store due to disorganized displays, costing these everyday retailers over $5 billion.
According to the study, these store navigation challenges frustrate shoppers who expect convenience and efficiency, especially when shopping for non-discretionary or bulk purchases.
These organizational deficiencies are responsible for abandoned purchases, reduced time in stores, and smaller cart sizes.
Organizational Store Layout and Ease of Aisle Navigation
10.6% of shoppers cited confusing store layouts as a top merchandising frustration.
When stores are cluttered or poorly organized, customers struggle to navigate them, leading to negative in-store shopping experiences and lost sales opportunities.
This particular merchandising challenge is most pronounced in discount stores, which often attract budget-conscious shoppers who expect efficiency and ease.
Example stores include TJMaxx, Marshalls, Ross, Primark, H&M, Forever 21, and similar chain retailers.
In the past year, nearly 13 million shoppers left a discount store due to confusing store layouts, costing discount retailers over $1.5 billion.
The frustration caused by cluttered and hard-to-navigate stores is especially acute among younger shoppers aged 25-34. This demographic is accustomed to the intuitive design (and seemingly endless product inventory) of e-commerce retailers.
When this group of shoppers encounter disorganized physical stores, they’re more likely to leave without buying anything or to turn to online alternatives, where they know convenience is just a click away.
To combat these challenges, retailers can:
- Ensure that their omnichannel retail strategy is executed flawlessly
- Invest in technology, like One Door, that integrates visual merchandising and space planning to optimize store layouts with precision and efficiency
The Cost of Poor Merchandising: The $125 Billion Challenge
To gain insight into how imperative proper merchandising is (and how space planning has a direct correlation), download GlobalData and One Door’s latest report, The Cost of Poor Merchandising.