The layout of your products in your store has a huge influence on visitor and consumer behavior.
What is shelving?
Shelving store items means arranging and positioning them in such a way as to encourage visitors to buy them. Also known as merchandising or facing, this method makes it quick and easy for customers to find the products they want. Your store's shelves need to be attractive to make customers want to help themselves.
The layout of products must encourage customers to look, touch and find out more, and in particular to buy. Shelving is a key factor in your company's image and customer satisfaction.
It's important for your point of sale to have staff on hand to assist visitors, analyze their behavior and make sure that each shelf contains enough products and is not out of stock. There's nothing worse than a department that looks empty or out of stock.
Are there any ground rules for shelving?
There are some basic rules you need to apply when marking out or shelving your products for each Shelving. For example, don't hesitate to rely on displays to orient the public right from the entrance. On each shelf, you need to indicate essential and compulsory information such as price, name, weight, color, etc., as well as any point-of-sale promotions.
One of the main objectives of facing is to optimize the visibility of each category of consumer goods / merchandise. In toy departments, for example, it's best to place items at children's eye level to create facing. A product on a lower display may escape the notice of grown-ups, but not children. Your sales volume depends on it, and we mustn't forget that a child is also a customer/prescriber. The same applies to the area around the checkout, where you'll need to display shelves of products that attract the interest of shoppers (batteries, sweets, swigums, etc.).
Is there a specific shelving technique?
From one type of product to another, shelving may require specific and varied methods. Within a store or shopping center, the creation of a shopping path is one of the most widely used techniques, and one that is distinguished by its versatility.
Products are aligned and categorized in such a way as to create a purchasing logic. This is the case for a linear arrangement of food products, such as fruit and vegetables, meats and spices. The same goes for telephone articles, followed by telephone accessories on the same line. We can also talk about the association of similar and complementary products. And don't forget to check your store regularly, as they'll be going back and forth between the shelves, and even livening them up if need be.
Which techniques to use for the products you want and the various offers?
You can also place the products customers are looking for quite a distance from the entrance. This way, they'll be able to discover more while they're on the move. This gives you the opportunity to highlight new or less sought-after items in the sales area.
The same technique also applies to promotions and sales. Customers are fond of promotional periods and discounts/sales. Their shelves should not be in the foreground of the store. Consumers will have to take the trouble to follow a pre-defined path to take advantage of them. In fact, they'll pass several departments where they can find products that could be useful to them and that catch their attention.
Point-of-sale advertising is another way of complementing your merchandising. For example, you can place advertising materials near the checkout. A customer will have time to decipher the advertisements and promotions on your point-of-sale while making payment for their purchase.
