SHELF OBSESSED

Choosing Shelves For Retail Merchandising

Posted by Robert Walthall on Wed, Feb, 21, 2018 @ 09:30 AM

choosing_shleves_for_retail_merchandisingThink you can just set up some gondola shelving, plop some merchandise on it any old way, and you're good to go? Think again.

Readying merchandise for display to make it attractive to customers (so that they'll be drawn to it and be encouraged to buy) requires some forethought and planning on your part; you should carefully choose the specific shelving used for retail merchandising based upon the products you're displaying.

Most retail shelving components are meant to work together so that you can mix and match to create unique displays. You'll also utilize floor space most efficiently while you present your merchandise attractively to customers.

Types of shelving for retail merchandising

Look at some of the most common retail shelving systems available and how you might use them for retail merchandising:

Slatwall backed retail shelving

Shelving units that utilize slatwall backs and floating shelves let you reposition shelving instantly; you don't need brackets to hold shelving when you use slatwall backs, and you can also combine shelving with baskets, hooks, or other shelving fixtures to create displays of merchandise when merchandise is oddly sized or otherwise difficult to display or house on a shelf. Slatwall backed retail shelving is generally meant for lighter items.

Gondola shelving

This ubiquitous workhorse can be configured in just about any way you wish; it's sturdy and meant to house heavy items, and you can leave it in place for as long as needed. Gondola shelving units do more than house and display merchandise. They can actually form the basis of your store layout; you can set them up and break them down easily so that you can change your layout whenever you need to.

Gondola shelving is most often used as the mainstay of retail shelving. You can create displays with gondola shelving, but it's most commonly used as the anchor in various departments; gondola shelving is what you most often see when you peruse a particular store's contents aisle by aisle.

End Caps

End caps are usually paired with gondola shelving. They are placed at the ends of gondola shelving units as temporary displays for sale, seasonal, or high-volume items for best visibility. You can also use end caps to expand the available merchandise display or storage space on a gondola unit when the addition of an entire extra section of gondola shelving is not necessary. End caps are meant to easily blend into existing gondola shelving and usually don't stand out as separate shelving components. As with gondola shelving, end caps are sturdy, heavy duty, "all-purpose" retail shelving options that can handle heavy merchandise, too.

Wall Units

Wall units let you place retail shelving along empty walls of your store; they have adjustable  shelving so that you can place shelves at different heights to visually break up displays and create the illusion of space. Creating this type of visual variety also keeps products visible to customers, since products with static and stationary placement can ultimately become invisible.

Wall End Display Units

Similar to end caps paired with gondola shelving, wall end display units are paired with wall units to expand existing wall unit space a bit, when an entire wall unit section is not needed. You can also use slatwalls or pegboard with both wall end display units and wall units to hang hooks or baskets, and/or to use floating shelves to customize each retail shelving display to your exact specifications.

Make full use of the retail shelving components available to create and recreate merchandise displays over and over again. Doing so will keep your products visually enticing to customers, thereby boosting sales.

Choosing the Best Design for Your Retail Shelving

Topics: retail shelving

Don't miss an article!

Best Practices to Improve Your Pharmacy Shelving

Join Us Online