Four Retail Shelving Fails That Will Make You Lose Money

The retail shelving in your store is ubiquitous, always there. It's also your first and best line of defense against poor sales, as long as you know what you're doing.

These are four retail shelving fails that can make you lose money – unless you fix them.

You don't have gondola shelving set up in a specific layout

Did you know that you can use the gondola shelving in your store to establish your layout? There's really no need to do anything else, in most cases. A layout that doesn't work with and speak to customers' shopping tendencies can cost you in the checkout line.

Set up your gondola shelving so that you create a footpath around your store that goes counterclockwise. When customers come into your store, they will generally first look left and then walk right. This footpath should be wide enough to allow traffic both ways, and should allow customers to break off, browse departments, and then return to the footpath when they're finished.

Most importantly, the footpath will "direct" customers to see every department and any requisite displays as they meander through your store. They don't realize they are being directed; they just think they're having an enjoyable shopping experience (which they are). What this does, though, is that it entices customers to spend more time in your store and to buy more, which means more profits for you.

You're not using the proper retail shelving for the merchandise in question

Use the right types of retail shelving to display specific merchandise. Gondola shelving, for example, is for heavy items. Slatwalls are similar to gondola units but are sleeker, more mobile, and lighter. These versatile shelving units have floating shelves, bins, faceouts, baskets, and waterfalls, all of which can be used to display lighter weight merchandise like clothing or jewelry. The right retail shelving makes every piece of merchandise more attractive.

Your merchandise is disorganized and/or not attractively presented

By all means, use your imagination when you set up your displays – the more creative, the better, generally – but your first rule should always be that customers can find what you have to offer. After that, a well-developed display will draw customers to your merchandise so that they'll be more likely to buy.

Take care that your merchandise is neatly organized and easy to find. Use appropriate accessories like hooks and bins for smaller merchandise and waterfalls or faceouts to display clothing or jewelry so that customers can actually see it. If necessary, make sure you use focal lighting or that the area in general is well lit so that customers won't have to strain to see what you have to offer.

Your retail shelving and fixtures are outdated or out of place

If you run a vintage shop, there's a certain ambience that comes with using vintage fixtures as well. However, even then you should stay away from mediocre industrial shelving. Your retail fixtures and shelving should match your overall decor. You can certainly mix and match old with new fixtures and shelving; create an eclectic look that's uniquely yours. Just make sure the shelving and fixtures you use enhance rather than detract from merchandise displays.

Do you offer top notch merchandise, but find that it's not selling for some reason? Your retail shelving may be to blame. Set up your gondola shelving to make sure you've got the proper traffic pattern throughout the store, make sure customers can see – and be enticed by – what you have to sell, and make sure your retail shelving is as attractive as the merchandise you offer.