Product placement is a key aspect of good merchandising.
The position of a product in a store can determine whether it gets noticed by customers, how easy it is for them to locate, and how it fits into their experience of shopping in that store.
This means that merchandising is about more than just putting products onto shelves. It’s about ensuring products are arranged in a specific way, to create the desired retail environment.
Why does Product Placement matter?
Not all products will be looked at equally by customers as they browse a store. Customers will walk through the store, look at various things, compare products, and focus more on some parts of the store over others.
Product placement can help to ensure this happens.
Shelves can be set up so that popular products are easy to find, new products are highlighted, or customers are encouraged to notice products they might otherwise miss.
Looking at how Customers Move around a Store
It helps to know how customers move around a store before you decide where products should be placed.
A store has entrances, main walkways, cross points, displays, tills, and areas that customers visit often. All of these elements can impact the way customers move through a store.
Looking at these factors can help to identify the most noticeable areas of a store, and the products that could do well in those areas.
Eye Level Positioning
Placing products at eye level is an important part of merchandising because it makes it easier for customers to see the product if it is in a convenient position.
But eye level isn’t always the best place for every product.
It comes down to the type of product, the behaviour of the customer, the size of the product, the format of the store, and what you’re trying to achieve with merchandising.
Placing Products Next to Each Other
Products can also be placed together based on how they relate to each other.
For example, products that are bought together can be displayed close to each other. This makes it easier for customers to see how the products fit together and may encourage them to buy both.
This also makes it quicker for customers to find the products they need.
Creating contrast
Some products can be made to stand out by using contrasting colours, sizes, packaging, signs, and displays.
But too much contrast can make a store look messy.
It’s important to strike a balance between highlighting the products you want to promote and ensuring the whole store doesn’t become a visual mess.
Displaying Promotional Products
Promotional products can be given special positions in a store.
The end of aisles, dedicated display units, and entrances can be used to showcase specific products or seasonal products. Make sure any placement is done for a purpose, not just to put more products on display.
Store Layout
Placing products goes hand in hand with how a store is laid out. A product may have a good spot, but if nobody walks through that part of the store very often, the item might not get enough attention anyway. This is why all merchandising choices should take into account how shelves, displays, aisles, and other parts of the store fit together.
Placing Products With the Customer in Mind
Good merchandising should make shopping easier. A shopper should know where things are and where to go next. They should be able to compare similar products. And they shouldn’t feel lost. Placing products well helps with this, because it brings order to a retail space.
Common Errors in Product Placement
There are several pitfalls that can undermine the effectiveness of your merchandising efforts.
Too Many Items in One Space
Having too many items crammed in one area can cause a customer to miss certain products entirely.
Grouping Categories Incorrectly
If similar products are all over the place, without any explanation for why, shoppers may end up spending a lot of time looking for them.
Having Different Themes Everywhere
Putting different themes in different areas may look messy and confuse the shopper.
Not Accounting for How Customers Shop
Just assuming you know how customers shop, without any real data, can lead to incorrect placement choices.
Utilizing Data to Optimize Placement
Data can help you improve your merchandising strategies. You can look at sales figures, customer traffic, inventory turnover rates, and more to assess your strategies. For instance, you can compare your sales performance before and after changing the placement of a product to see if that position was effective in achieving your goals. Data doesn’t take the place of your eyes, but it can give you additional information to help you make more informed choices.
Experimentation
You don’t necessarily have to stick with one plan. Merchandisers can try different layouts, product assortments, display locations, or promotional setups and see how the sales change. Try small-scale tests to find out what works for your store and your shoppers.
Conclusion
Product placement is a key component of merchandising. It involves taking into consideration a product’s visibility, store layout, customer flow, and buying habits. However, the objective isn’t just to put products where they’ll be seen; rather, the focus is on helping shoppers navigate the store, find the right products, and understand their relationship to other items.
Every shelf has a function, and every product location impacts a shopper’s experience.
The MerchCrest program allows students to study the fundamentals of product placement, visual merchandising, store layout, and product presentation.