Page 34 - DMGT553_RETAIL_STORE_MANAGEMENT

Unit 2: Different Layout & Designs

Notes
Install cameras, CCTVs to have a closed look on the customers.
Instruct the store manager or the sales representatives to try and assist all the
customers who come for shopping.
Ask the customers to deposit their carry bags at the entrance itself.

Do not allow the customers to carry more than three dresses at one time to the trial
room

2.3.1 Design in Non-store Retailing

Although non-store retail formats place some significant restrictions on the use of design in the
selling environment, innovative approaches have often paid off as a source of competitive
advantage. For example, when NEXT launched their NEXT Directory it was unlike anything
customers had previously encountered in the UK home-shopping market. The format was more
like a coffee-table book than a catalogue, with hard covers and a much higher proportion of full-
page spreads than used by other mail-order retailers, and the bold and neutral corporate identity
of the stores is clearly reflected in the pages. Early editions even included small swatches of
material to allow customers to get a ‘feel’ for the garments prior to purchase. The catalogue was
aimed at a more up-market customer than the typical mail order catalogue profile, with a
narrowly targeted, all retailer-branded range of products.
Physical Materials in store Designing: For store-based retailers a store’s physical layout is an
important component in creating a retail experience that will attract customers. The physical
layout is more than just deciding in what part of the store to locate products. For many retailers
designing the right shopping atmosphere (e.g., objects, light, and sound) can add to the appeal
of a store. Layout is also important in the online world where site navigation and usability may
be deciding factors in whether of a retail website is successful.

2.3.2 Principles of Store Design

Before we move on to understanding the components of store design, we need to understand the
principles of store design. Given that the ultimate aim of the retailer is to bring the customer to
the store and creating an environment which makes the customer to the store and creating an
environment which makes the customer come back, it is necessary to keep certain basic principles
in mind while creating the store environment. These may be termed as the principles of Store
Design which do draw from the Principles of Design but also from sense of what makes a store
shopable.
1. The first principle of store design is Totality. The entire store has to be conceived as one
unit which draws upon the retailer’s very reason for existence, i.e. his vision and mission
statement. Who does the retailer seek to be and which is the target audience that he seeks
to tap. At the same time the type of merchandise to be retailed in the store and its price
points have to be kept in mind. The entire store, right from the store entrance to the type
of fixtures used to display the merchandise has to come across as one entity – this is the
principle of totality
2. The second principle is of focus wherein while aspiring to create beautiful places for the
consumer to shop in, the retailer should not forget that the primary focus within the store
has to be the product or the merchandise. While in a store, a customer should feel
comfortable he should not be awed by the ambience of the store, achieving sales is the
primary step towards being sustainable in the long run.

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