Page 231 - DMGT550_RETAIL_MANAGEMENT

Retail Management

Notes 4. Most of the UK’s largest retailers have a huge investment or asset tied up in their store
portfolio. It is therefore in their interest to keep a high level of customer traffic moving
through the store in order to maintain an adequate return on that investment. Good use of
design in stores helps keep customers interested in store-based shopping. When consumers
have a high level of choice, they will visit places where they feel comfortable inspired and
even entertained. Customers are nowadays more design literate; the plethora of interior
style media offerings has created a body of consumers that are not willing to tolerate
badly designed and poorly decorated space. Competitive threats from home shopping
means that the store environment has to have something special to offer, and international
competition can also force retailers to pay more attention to their selling environments.
Spanish fashion retailers Mango and Zara, who use clean-cut and modern store interiors,
have been able to threaten domestic retailers in the UK middle-market women’s clothing
sector.
Store design has always been used to reinforce other elements of a retail strategy.

Example: Plush carpeting and marble used in a store denotes high-quality merchandise
and may suggest a high-price positioning. Strip lighting and dump bins for merchandise brings
the word ‘bargains’ to mind. However, as retail markets mature, the design of retail space is
increasingly being used as a means by which strategic aims are reached.

Example: In 2001 Safeway introduced a new store design to reinforce their position as a
good-value fresh and quality grocery retailer. Wood panelling, slate tiling and pendent lighting
were used in the wines and beers section to create the impression of an upmarket wine cellar;
baskets and barrels were used in the fruit and vegetable section to give the impression of
‘market freshness’ and chalkboard signage to foster the impression of good prices.
It is these small details that help to refocus the attention of the shopper onto revised core values,
providing a struggling grocery chain with a new lease of life to compete against other forceful
players in the market (Atkinson, 2001).

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:

1. The main objective of the store layout is to maximize the interface between ........................
and ........................ .
2. A ........................ floor plan is most suitable for a clothing store.

3. ........................ floor plan is the most functional store layout.
4. Most of the UK’s largest retailers have a huge ........................ or asset tied up in their store
portfolio.

5. Store ........................ has always been used to reinforce other elements of a retail strategy.

Task Discuss about Space Management.

13.2.1 Space Management

There are essentially two ways of presenting merchandise in a store. The first is to place or stack
a product on some kind of fixture; stacked merchandise can be neatly arranged or, as in the case

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