Understanding Shopper Behavior
Implies That a rather outdated notion suggests that the modern shopper knows exactly what they want and is always in a hurry. While time is precious, people aren’t automatons and do not love to rush. I have observed that shoppers, even the most intentional ones, crave pleasurable retail experiences.
Sure, they pop out for milk sometimes. But often, it’s a moment of escape and connection. The choices and behaviours a shopper displays are never motivated solely by one factor. Their choices are influenced by multiple things like shelf life, price point, nutritional information, time of day and other environmental factors.
My experience tells me that the design of a retail environment can actually impact all these elements - comfort can lengthen browsing times, clear communication can clarify ambiguities and create connection and attention to small details can be quite an incentive for purchase. Years ago, I would have said shoppers simply buy products based on subconscious cues - like aroma or sound or colour. Today though we’ve got far more conscious shoppers who are more aware of convenience strategies designed to gently nudge shoppers toward certain decisions rather than others.
And so those nudges aren’t working as planned anymore. It seems like there is so much uncertainty about why shoppers behave the way they do but there is no doubt about one thing. To make meaningful connections with people today that lead to conversions - retailers must go beyond conventional thinking about consumer behaviour and adopt creative in-store strategies crafted for a new generation of buyers who’ve mastered retail sales techniques and tactics.
Key Principles of Effective Store Layout
The most common misunderstanding in fashion retail is that the store layout really doesn’t matter. People will come in, see some things they like, and leave with their new buys. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
There’s a lot of research and planning that goes into making a store shopper-friendly. To no one's surprise, the science behind it takes key psychological principles into account to influence a consumer’s buying habits. The art of visual merchandising, for example, understands that shoppers need something to look at as soon as they walk in - so most brands create an entry display showcasing their products for this exact reason.
This can be used to highlight new collections, seasonal pieces, or even best-selling ones that are somewhat often purchased together. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to increasing sales. Store layouts are unique to each one - there are theories such as the right-turn bias and back-to-front design - and every store uses a mix of these in their own way.
For one, it’s imperative to always keep things well-organised and categorically displayed so your customers know where to find certain items. Besides this, all shoppers appreciate a nice ‘window zone’ where they can step out of the hustle and bustle of shopping to look at themselves in a mirror. Some stores even go as far as to set up lounge areas for companions who accompany people shopping.
Sort of. It gets fairly tricky when it comes down to choosing what works best for your store. Whether you want your customers to be confused by putting up more displays at eye level or keep all the racks lower so there’s more space to walk around depends on how you want them to experience your brand while shopping.
Get creative with themes based on holidays or seasons - it keeps your store fresh and interesting while giving shoppers another reason to come back.
Layout Change #1: Streamlined Aisle Design
When you picture what most businesses do with aisles in their retail store, you’re probably picturing a maze. Labyrinthine aisles are no fun for shoppers who just want to get from point A to point B. Most of us have seen people standing by the edge of an aisle, looking lost and confused.
That’s why streamlined aisle design is so important in retail spaces. Customers don’t like to feel like they’re being led around by the nose, so if you can, avoid creating a winding path of products. Instead, opt for shorter and wider aisles that encourage free-flowing movement between each section. The last thing you want is customers having to squeeze past one another in your store, unable to reach the products they actually came in for.
Of course, this isn’t always easy to achieve - especially when it feels like every inch of your space needs to be filled with products or displays. In smaller stores, where space is limited or you have large products that take up more space than a dress on a hanger would, it can be even more difficult to get this right. But the reality is almost never that customers value space - if they don’t have space to browse and move between sections easily, they’re not going to enjoy shopping at your store.
Wide aisles are less about following trends and more about human nature. No one wants to be boxed in and forced to shuffle past other shoppers at a slow pace - especially not if they’re in a rush. Sort of.
Layout Change #2: Strategic Product Placement
Shops spend an awful lot of money putting expensive stock in the window, or at the front of the store. Unfortunately these are often the least likely to sell. They become what is called 'visual merchandising', not 'tactile merchandising'. They create an enticing feeling but lack functionality.
When you actually look at sales data it's often those products that sit quietly somewhere halfway through the store, hanging on a rack or folded on a table that do really well. These are also the products with less monetary outlay from your store and that can turn over more frequently. This also ensures people keep coming into your shop looking for it because they know you'll have new stock each time. Knowing how people interact and walk around stores can be tricky though as there are a few basic behaviours we can rely on but some spaces don't lend themselves well to this so it's important to sometimes test how different products sell when moved around within your store before making a permanent change to one section.
Putting your most sold product in a specific part of your shop will help attract more customers deeper inside which gives you more opportunities to sell other items too. This creates better product placement and doesn't leave big spaces empty too so it works both ways - encouraging customer movement while ensuring strategic stock sits in strategic locations.
Layout Change #3: Enhanced Checkout Experience
Upgrading your checkout area can be a bit nerve wracking. So many things could go wrong - bottle necks, queues, misplaced products. What's most important to remember, though, is that people don't want an elaborate or 'big' checkout experience, they want a pleasant and seamless one. The reality of the matter is that less is more when it comes to most things - including your checkout.
Keeping your team stress free and happy goes a longer way than keeping your customers happy - after all, happiness is contagious. A staff member who is calm and at ease with their surroundings will make for a customer who leaves feeling the same way. Now, this isn't to say you shouldn't pay any mind to the customer.
Or the store itself for that matter. Make sure your POS system is kind of up-to-date and ensure you're keeping only the most essential add-ons nearby for easy upsell in the form of small baskets placed around for access and movement. You might still get it wrong sometimes, but having enough staff helps with this too. If you've got a large enough store and product range to have dedicated cashiers - do it.
This makes for an even friendlier shopping experience as customers feel like they're being seen and prioritised on their way out.
Measuring the Impact of Layout Changes
What a lot of people get wrong is thinking measuring the impact of their layout changes is all about watching sales. Anyone can see sales go up or down. More or less.
That’s not measuring. Not effectively at least. There’s so much more that goes into it.
The idea is to measure shopper flow but not just with sale numbers and profits, but through physical, quantifiable data – the actual flow, not what you hope is happening. This means you’d have to stick around and observe shoppers in your space after you’ve made those changes. What are they doing. Are they buying more or less.
Are they spending more time in your store than they did before. You could look at where they spend most of their time in your store now compared to before. Is it the same.
Is it different. Has shopper behaviour changed at all. Are people more satisfied now.
This is a bit trickier than one might think because you might not always be able to get hold of those numbers and it might take a while to gather all of it anyway. You can’t observe every single person coming into your shop because you’d probably look like a bit of a psycho standing in the corner watching everyone, which could be a major turnoff for some shoppers as they’re already hyperconscious being at another store physically rather than online. So, what should you be doing to measure instead. Well, there are almost never quite a few things you could try – surveys, A/B testing, feedback loops and heat maps for example (if that’s something that could work for your shop).
All of these help to collect data on shopping experience and behaviour along with maybe even giving customers an incentive for providing that data. At the end of the day, you want as much engagement and conversation as possible so when you engage with them, they’re more likely to keep coming back and to buy from you again – especially if you show them you care about improving for them.