Page 55 - DMGT552_VISUAL_MERCHANDISING

Visual Merchandising

Notes
Example: The emergence of several apparel factory outlets within a short stretch on the
Delhi-Jaipur highway, at Mahipalpur market in Delhi, is driven by this factor. Stores carrying
specially goods that are complementary to certain other kinds of shopping goods may desire to
locate close to the shopping goods stores. In general the specialty goods retailer should locate in
the type of neighbourhood where the adjacent stores and other establishments are compatible
with his or her operation.
Cost factor in location decision: Location decision on cost consideration alone is risky. Space
cost is a combination of rent or mortgage payment, utilities, leasehold improvements, general
decoration, security, insurance, and all related costs of having a place to conduct business
operations. Traditionally, the retail community placed great importance on owning the place
since this was considered prestigious in the business community. However, there are many
periodic retail markets in India, which operate on particular days of the week. The retailers
operating in these periodic markets keep shifting from place to place and do not own any
property; instead they pay a small rental for their setup in each market. This supports their
model of selling goods at very low margins. With the emergence of new forms of retail formats
such as franchising, malls, and department stores the dependence on rent or lease is increasing.

Competitor’s location: The type and number of competitors is another important factor. The
presence of major retail centres, industrial parks, franchisee chains, and department stores should
be noted. Intense competition in the area shows that new businesses will have to divide the
market with existing businesses. If one is not might reconsider that particular location.
An excellent location may be next or close to parallel or complementary business that will help
to attract customers.
Ease of traffic flow and accessibility: These two factors are more important to some businesses
than others. Consider the nature of the business you are planning to open and your potential
customers. Retailers selling convenience goods must attract business from the existing flow of
traffic. Studying the flow of traffic, noting one-way streets, street widths, and parking lots, is
hence important.

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Caution The following factors have to be considered: parking availability, distance from
residential areas or other business areas, traffic congestion, side of street, width of street,
part of the block, and neighbours. Evaluate how accessible the site is for walk-in or drive-
by traffic as well as the amount of pedestrian traffic and automobile traffic that goes by the
proposed location.
Parking and major thoroughfares: Parking is another site characteristic that is especially a cause
for concern in densely populated areas. When evaluating the parking that exists at a retail site,
there are two considerations, parking capacity, and parking configuration.

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Caution There are several ratios that are generally used to determine the adequacy of a
parking lot. While different ratios exist for different types of retailers or service providers
the ideal ratio for food stores is in the magnitude of 7-8 cars per 1,000 square feet of food
store. This means that a 10,000 sq. ft. food stores would have an ideal parking lot that could
accommodate between 70 and 80 cars. Parking lots are generally designed on the basis of
400 sq. ft. per car.

Thus, the ideal parking ratio for a food store is about 3:1 or 3 sq. ft. of parking space for every
square ft of store. However, it should be noted that an ideal ratio hardly ever exists in real life—

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