Store design involves five key elements: exterior, interior, fixtures, merchandise, and people. The exterior includes entrances, architectural features, and windows. The interior comprises ceilings, walls, floors, and lighting to house fixtures and merchandise. Atmospherics like aromas, sounds, colors, lighting, textures, and temperatures are used to create an atmosphere. Store layout, product presentation, fixtures, displays, and space allocation must all be strategically designed to maximize customer traffic and sales.

1. STORE DESIGN
A store design can usually be considered as a
combination of five key elements.
1.The exterior
2.The interior
3.Fixture
4.Merchandise
5. people
these all should be designed in a longer term
frame work.
The way these changing elements impact on the
store means that some degree of flexibility needs to be
build into design.

2. The exterior
• The store entrance, the architectural features of
the building and windows.
• The contribution of these parts of a store’s
exterior to an overall design can vary in
impotence according to the type of store format
and the product s on offer.
For eg. Super stores, Hypermarkets and category
killers rarely use window displays, but have bold
fascias and easy to access entrance.
A key consideration for retailers is the need to be
accessible for all members of the society.

3. The interior
• The interior of a store can be viewed in a similar way
to living apace. It comprises ceiling, walls, flooring and
lighting, but instead of furniture a retail outlet houses
fixtures for presentation of merchandise.
• In choosing the material used for interior, retailers
have to consider the type of product being sold, cost,
store traffic, health and safety.
– For eg. For food retailer it needs to be easy to clean and
hygienic.
– Fashionable retailer will place more emphasis on less
expensive and fashionable materials.

4. Atmospherics
• Creating an aura or an atmosphere can include the
use of different aromas, sounds, colors, lighting,
textures and temperatures.
• Aromas : bread, coffee, chocolate, floral pine.
• Sounds : popular music, classical music, voice
(announcements, shop radio)
• Colors :
neutrals-black, grey, white
– Warm colors - red, orange, pink, yellow,
– Cool colors – blues, pale greens,
– Earthy colors – brown, greens, orange

5. • Lighting –
– Cool lighting – blue, bright
– Warm lighting – orange, yellow, pink,
– Spot lighting
– Sculptural lighting - in alcoves, behind panels.
– Illuminated paneling and signage.
Texture – shiny and smooth, metallic, textile, wood,
stone, brick.

6. The strategic role of store design
• It is being done to keep a high level of customer
traffic moving through the store in order to
maintain an adequate return on that investment.
• When customers have high level of choice, they
will visit places where they feel comfortable,
inspired and even entertained.
• Competitive threat from home shopping means
that the store environment has to have
something special to offer and international
competition also force retailers to pay more
attention to their selling environment.

7. Retail web site design
• Retail web sites follow a set formula, this moves from opening
page, to company information, to categories of products available,
then open up to pages of tiny product photos that can be clicked on
for a closer look, finishing with a ordering facility.
• But it does not provide much opportunity for differentiation.
• The successful website needs to balance visual interest with ease of
navigation and use.
• The whole attraction and competitive advantage of website
shopping is based on convenience, and so reminding the customer
of the frustration incurred in store shopping such as not able to
locate items or waiting is bound to cause shopper dissatisfaction.

8. Visual Merchandising
• Visual merchandising is concerned with the presenting products to
customers with in the retail space.
• Now it includes choice of store layout the method of product
presentation, the choice of fixture and fittings, the construction of
display, and the use of point of sale material.
• Fashion and home furnishing retailers have always devoted
considerable resources to display products in a visually appealing
way, whilst grocery retailers are much more concern with space
efficiency.
• This function may get done by a team of regional visual
merchandise professionals but their centralized approach may
prevent the retailer from adapting to local themes, preferences and
competition in the visual merchandising activity.

9. Store Layout
• The layout used will be dependent on the width
and depth of the product range, the nature of the
product categories sold, the type of fixturing
used and the constraints of the layout is to
maximize the interface between customer and
merchandise.
Types –
Grid layout – fixturing in a shelving format (the
gandola), separated by aisles through which
customers flow.

10. Fish bone layout - grids are angled rather
than straight; however, space utilization is
less.
Freedom layout – a less systematized and can
accommodate a wider variety of fixturing.
Boutique layout – when high level of personal
selling is required, the customer can be
surround with merchandise, or store may be
divided into ‘service stations’ where a
customer and sales person can sit to gather to
discuss the purchase.
or merchandise can be hide behind the
counter in case of high value items.

11. Product presentation
• There are two ways of presenting merchandise in a
store.
The first is to place or stack a product on some kind of
fixture;
The second way is to hang the product; either directly
onto a hanger, or onto a prong, using some kind of
specially designed packaging.
This is being done to enhance the visual appeal of the
merchandise, for eg. Clothes are often presented
according to color themes, and greeting cards are
according to end use. Other techniques include
grouping according to price, technical features and
size.

12. Fixturing
Fixture Merchandise Presentation
Shelves home accessories stacked
Gondola grocery staked
Railing clothing hanging
Four ways clothing hanging
Round stationery bubble packed
Bins/baskets small products dumped
Tables gifts placed

13. displays
• Fixturing is generally concern with the housing of
merchandise in what is sometimes termed as ‘on
shelf’ displays. This is a routine display of goods
from which customers are expected to make
their purchase.
• ‘off shelf’ or feature displays are used to create a
visual impact with the merchandise, or to show
how the product might be used.
• This might also be used to introduce and
promote new products or to support supplier
promotion or trade fairs.

14. • Fixturing is generally concern with the housing
of merchandise in what is sometimes termed
as ‘on shelf’ displays. This is a routine display
of goods from which customers are expected
to make their purchase.
• ‘off shelf’ or feature displays are used to
create a visual impact with the merchandise,
or to show how the product might be used.
• This might also be used to introduce and
promote new products or to support supplier
promotion or trade fairs.

15. Space allocation
• Allocation of space to products within a retail
outlet links the designed selling environment to
the financial productivity of the retail space.
• Space management has to consider
• long run objective – market positioning, and
customer loyalty.
• Short run objective – stock turn, sales and profit.
• The usual method for measuring retail
performance is according to the amount of sale
(or profit) generated by given amount of space.
Sales per square meter.