Shop layout – Academy in Action with Pladis

The facts

• Name: Rishi Patel
• Shop: Premier Newsbox
• Location: Bognor Regis, West Sussex
• Size: 700sq ft
• Staff: Three full-time, two part-time

The IAA’s Louise Banham and Pladis’ Hena Chandarana, joined Rishi Patel at his Bognor Regis shop to help him improve his customers’ journey.

Rishi’s challenge:

Rishi wants to find out how he can better organise the shop to create a clear journey for his customers.

Rishi says:

“I’m looking forward to getting some ideas from the IAA today on how we can improve our shop layout. The shop is an awkward shape – we have more space that we aren’t using, but if we incorporated it into the shop it would mean there would be quite a few blind spots. If we could get our shop layout right, I think we could double our sales.”

IAA advice:

1. Arrange categories to guide shoppers through the customer journey

The layout of the shop could be improved to maximise sales. The chillers are hidden at the back and the front is a mix of seasonal items, and biscuits. Hena recommends bringing fresh and chilled to the front to increase visibility.

“Make the most of this space so categories work harder,” she says. “Move fresh and chilled to the front, introduce meal deals and encourage additional spend. Next should be impulse lines (biscuits, confectionery and snacks) followed by ambient grocery and frozen food at the back of shop”. Rishi agrees this layout could work.

“Soft drinks account for 10% of sales, from a one metre display. It could be even higher if we brought it to the front.”

Action: Order fridges to be able to move drinks to the front of the shop.

2. Make your layout work for you

Rishi and his staff get behind events like Easter, creating competitions for shoppers. They also get a lot of tourists over the summer picking up barbecue lines.

But with the exception of the end of one aisle dedicated to Easter eggs at the back of the shop, they aren’t making the most of seasonal opportunities. 

Hena suggests using a fixture at the front of the shop, which is currently stocked with slow selling cakes, as a seasonal display that changes throughout the year. “Your Easter eggs need to be more prominent than they are,” she explains. “Because there’s more space in this area, people will be more inclined to browse. This fixture could drive impulse purchases.”

Action: Move seasonal lines to a more prominent position to drive impulse purchases.

3. Review and improve your shop layout

There’s signposting for various sections of the shop, but not all of it is immediately visible, and because the shop doesn’t have a natural flow, Hena suggests using more signage to guide people around.

She points to a handwritten sign Sue has created that suggests buying custard to go with dessert and says more can be done to guide customers through the shop and increase purchases. “Sue and the team have great relationships with customers, so there’s an opportunity to stand out and be more personal in their messages that guide customers around,” Hena says.

Rishi agrees. “I’d definitely like to have better signage,” he says.

Action: Use personalised signage to guide customers on their journey around the shop.

Partner advice:

“Rishi has lots of potential to have some quick, easy wins. There are also some medium-to-long term changes that require more investment and time, but all are doable.

“Rishi and Sue can make the front of the shop work much harder, it’s prime space for impulse lines, seasonal events, as well as cross category meal deals for passing trade should the chilled space be moved.”

Steve Stafford & Helen Tagliarini, Field Sales Representative & Territory Development Manager, Wrigley & Mars Chocolate

Your action plan:

• Go to betterretailing.com/IAA to download the free tools to improve your shop
• Call 020 7689 0600 (Option 3) to find out how you can take part in a future visit from one of our partners

• To benchmark your shop, download your free digital copy of the IAA’s Retail Profit Guide.

Our retail toolkit is packed with useful tools and resources to help you grow your sales and profits, including the Retail Profit Guide.