Store Aesthetics - Best Practices

In a typical purchase decision process, customers evaluate desired parameters and place certain brands in their consideration set. Once that’s done, a lot of customers visit retail store to come down to a final choice. Hence, retail store is a very important interface of the customer with the brand. Apart from the right stock & visual merchandizing, it is equally important to invest time and attention on the aesthetics of the store. This is where the two parameters Layout Planning & Hygiene Maintenance comes into play.

Retail store requires comprehensive interior & layout planning. Part of that planning is developing effective retail layout strategies. Each retail store needs to address basic strategy concepts, monitor customer response to any strategy, and make changes accordingly to improve sales.

• Walking Space - The aisles must be wide enough to accommodate traffic flowing in both directions and allow for sufficient navigation space for customers.
• Flow - The layout of your retail store should allow customers to enter from the front and be encouraged to walk to the back of the store. This increases the amount of time that the customers spend in the store and boosts the chances of buying more products.
• Eye Level - Putting products at the proper eye level will help to improve visibility of products and which will ultimately result in better sales.
• Display Cases - Display cases serve several important functions in the layout of a retail store. Expensive product can be put in a lighted display case to draw attention to it. The display case also acts as a countertop customer interaction area for convenience.

Cleanliness is a very basic feature which customer expects in any retail space. It's maintainence might not increase sales but the absence typically results in a sour experience for the customers, inducing them to not visit the retail store again. In order to take care of cleanliness, a cleaning routine should be designed that not only addresses all the areas but gives extra attention to high traffic areas as well.

From store hygiene point of view, the following points must be focused upon-

• Store should be adequately lit highlighting the products categories and its display.
• Store temperature should be maintained at a comfortable level for the customers.
• The navigation space should be free of any clutters to provide obstacle free path for the customers.
• The products categories should be segregated and the categories should be properly called out.

 Keeping a clean and hygienic store is about more than just appearance. It raises the trust & confidence of the staff in the brand’s values and makes the customer feel that the brand cares.