Zoning

There are three main areas in the sales room:
- entrance area;
- cash desk area;
- The main customer flow area.

Entrance zone

It is important to have an unoccupied space just outside the entrance to the shop, ranging from two steps to several metres, depending on the format of the shop.

Shoppers need a transition space, an adaptation zone. It is where the shopper's attention shifts from what was around them on the street to what is going on in the shop.

Next, the entry area houses goods that encourage the visitor to buy something right now. This is an area of sales, special offers and seasonal goods that are attractive and reasonably priced.

Checkout area

One of the most profitable places in a shop. This is where a lot of impulse purchases are made. While standing in line, customers have enough time to peruse the products on the racks within the checkout area.

Traditionally, impulse purchases have included sweets, chewing gum, magazines, cigarettes, lighters, razors, batteries, various small household, and other products.
The aim of the shop is to influence the decision of the visitor to make a purchase. Particular attention should be paid to the positioning of goods on the shelves, with the largest items placed just below eye level, the smallest and most popular items at eye level or above.

The main customer flow area

The most important area in the sales room. The success of a shop depends on how effectively it is organised.

In most shops, customer flow is directed counter clockwise around the perimeter.

Firstly, the main flow area should be visually highlighted. The aisle should be wider than the others to emphasise that it is the main flow area. For example, it can be highlighted by markings on the floor and signs. This gives shoppers a sense of orderliness and relieves them of the responsibility of choosing their own path. The larger the shop, the more prominent the main shopping route should be.
Most shops have one main customer flow. Bigger shops, over 3-5,000 sq m, may have two or more such zones.

Secondly, customer flow is organised by placing different assortment groups of products in specific areas of the sales floor.

It is necessary to identify the products that attract the majority of shoppers. These products are called flow-forming products. The route visitors take around the shop should be able to increase the amount of purchases, i.e. go through as many assortment areas as possible. Many factors need to be taken into account when designing a route: product proximity, type of demand, product presentation, sales area visibility, advertising placement, and navigation.

Let’s look at the classification of product groups and their locations in the hall.

Everyday goods

These are the daily necessities most customers are looking for every day.

For a grocery supermarket, these are deli meats, vegetables, dairy products, bakery products. For the clothing shop, it is knitwear such as jumpers, T-shirts and jumpers, casual trousers and skirts, and jeans. For the building materials shop these are dry mixes, paints, wallpaper and glue.

These product groups should be located on the outer perimeter of the sales floor, far from the entrance, forming what is known as a 'golden triangle', a space whose corners comprise the shopping area, the entrance area and the checkout area. On the way there, we force shoppers to look around the entire sales floor and make unplanned impulse purchases inside the golden triangle.

When placing product groups, the logic of collaborative consumption is also important. When a shopper feels the need to buy one product, they are more likely to take others that satisfy a similar need. For example, many people buy expensive alcohol and chocolate for the holidays, so it is better to place them side by side.

Goods with a recurring demand

This group of goods stands out mainly for grocery shops.

These include, for example, canned goods, cereals, sugar and other durable goods.

For shops in other product areas, instead of this group, goods of targeted demand are allocated. That is, such goods, for which customers come specially, look for them, choose them and are unlikely to buy just walking into the shop. Goods in a building material shop are sanitary ware, flooring, tiles, doors. In an appliance shop, all large appliances (fridges, cookers, washing machines and dishwashers), video equipment (TVs, home cinemas). For a clothing shop, it's a business suit, coat or fur coat, for example.

These items are better placed in the centre of the hall, drawing customers' attention to new products or special offers with highly visible POS materials.

Impulse goods

These products are not usually planned for purchase, so they are placed in the "hot" areas of the sales floor: at the entrance to the sales area; in the areas with the highest shopping flows; in the cash desk area. This is where they catch the eye of the majority of shoppers, encouraging them to make impulse purchases.

In consumer electronics shops, these can be extension cords, chargers, batteries, car holders for phones and tablets, cases and bags for digital devices.
In grocery shops it's chewing gum, sweets, drinks, newspapers and magazines, batteries and disposable razors, flowers, and any small items at a special discounted price.

In some cases, the organisation of the main customer flow may not coincide with the perimeter of the shop: if the shop presents mainly targeted goods and few impulse goods (tools, auto parts, building materials). In this case, a layout with the main aisle in the central part of the shop with side aisles away from it may be applied.

Priority locations on the sales floor

These are determined according to the path that most shoppers take.

Priority locations are in the three main areas of the sales floor: the entrance area, the main customer flow area and the checkout area.

These areas have a much higher shopper footfall than the colder areas - internal aisles between shelves, dead-ends and pockets.

For most shops, the beginning of the customer flow is a higher priority. For example, when a person buys groceries, they immediately put the item that caught their eye in the shopping cart, and then, due to fatigue and the fact that some purchases have already been made, their attention is dulled. Similarly, the beginning of the shelf will be a hot zone.

When choosing non-food items - clothes and shoes, household appliances - on the contrary, shoppers believe that the fun is yet to come. This is why shoppers focus their attention on goods located in the second third and at the end of the customer flow or racking.

Additional selling points

Extra points of sale for fast-moving or high-turnover items should be provided because they make a purchase more likely.

These points of sale should be kept separate from the main points of sale and from each other. Otherwise, the point of sale becomes an extension of the main point of sale and serves only as a place to store additional products.

In addition, products must not be moved from the main point of sale to the secondary point of sale. At the additional place of sale, they are simply duplicated. Otherwise, a regular customer won't find it at the usual point of sale and won't make a purchase.

Let’s look at zoning and space allocation in the sales area using a grocery supermarket as an example.

The wall to the right of the entrance is considered the winning area of the sales floor. It is the beginning of the route for almost all shoppers entering the shop. It is the right wall that creates the first and most vivid impression of the shop. The right wall is traditionally used to display fruit and vegetables, and in large format shops, non-food items, so that before convenience goods, customers first pass by appliances, crockery and bed linen that were not planned to be purchased. On the way to the right wall, just after entering the shop, impulse goods such as novelty items or special-priced goods are placed on the right-hand side.

Rear (long) wall of the sales floor

The second most important wall. If the right wall is used for fruit and vegetables, the back wall is used for meat and milk. These departments are used as 'anchors', forcing customers to walk through the entire sales floor and make additional purchases, including impulse purchases, along the way.

Left end wall

This is the third most important section of the sales floor. It's where the sales floor walks end and where the amount of money customers expect to spend on their purchases ends. This is where daily necessities such as milk and dairy products, bakery, bread should be placed.

Centre of the hall

This is the space for groceries and delicatessen items. This is an area where shopping flows are not too heavy. Shoppers first inspect and buy goods located at the right end wall, then walk through the grocery to the "anchors" of the back wall. After passing them, they return to the grocery, but not to the centre, and only look around the few outermost racks.

Corners of the sales floor

Normally, shoppers round corners at a brisk pace unless there are particularly eye-catching items on sale there. The best use of a corner area is to place small departments there that customers see immediately and recognise: the tea department, the delicatessen department. It is effective to place food preparation departments in corners, such as grilled chickens, kebabs, baked goods and so on. In this case, appetising smells attract customers.

An example of shop zoning created with GreenShelf

In today's market, shops are forced to look for solutions that increase traffic and loyalty. It's not enough to just sell products, you have to create a special atmosphere for shopping.

We hope that the general principles of layout and zoning outlined in this article, applicable to any shop format, will help professionals in their search for optimal solutions.