Your customers’ journey around your store impacts what they buy and whether they return. By placing products prominently and near to others, you can build sales.
If a customer can easily navigate their way around your store and find what they need, they will return. If they leave confused, they are unlikely to come back. Signage and lighting can direct customers to certain products. Categories can be arranged in helpful orders that guide people through your store.
Store layout is not just for the customer. Staff need to be able to move freely to restock shelves and monitor stock without getting in customers’ way. The tills should be a beacon for customers, but also a vantage point for staff. Recreate a shopping journey and see how easy it is to plot a course in your store.
Secrets of success
The IAA selects a Category Star each year that is showing the best thinking, processes and results. Find out what made those that were previously recognised by the IAA stand out to the judges, and what you can apply in your own store by taking a look at the previous Category Stars.
- 2021-22 – Bassett’s Londis Abbotsbury Road, Weymouth
- 2020-21 – Whites Calver, Derbyshire
- 2019 – Day-Today Redburn Road, Prestonpans
Top ideas to improve
Each year the IAA visits and mentors’ retailers that have previously taken part in the programme to help them make simple but impactful changes to improve their profits. Find out what they learned, the results they’ve seen, and what you can replicate in your store!
- 2022-23 – Elco Superstores, Bradford
- 2021-22 – The Tuck Shop, Sawbridgeworth
- 2020-21 – Stop & Shop Express, Macclesfield
- 2019 – Premier Chingford Stores, Nottingham
Take part in the IAA
Take part in the IAA today by completing our online checklist and you can:
- See how your store compares to others and find ways to improve
- Be in with a chance of making the Top 100 and being recognised for your efforts
- Gain access to free marketing tools to help attract more customers to your store
- Invitation to the IAA Learning & Development Festival – to help you take your store to the next level
- Be in with a chance of being selected to be mentored by the IAA in 2023
Supported by the industry to help you
The IAA is supported and funded by industry brands who recognise that retailers want access to free, unbiased support to help them increase profits and improve their stores without big investment.
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