Store Design

1) The first point made by Gladwell is pertaining to the aspect of the natural human walk and how stores can effectively use it to their advantage. There are many natural, predictable actions that a walking human takes such as walking on the right, walking faster past uninteresting buildings, looking to the right when entering a store, and taking time to adjust when entering a new location. Each of these facets can be used to the advantage of a store when properly understood. Location is everything; window visibility, the decompression zone, and adjacent stores are all important factors in a store’s natural appeal.
Next, Gladwell focused on interior design of the store. It is crucial that the customer feels comfortable while in the store, giving him/her adequate time to browse and indulge in as much as possible. The layout must also consider the shoppers’ other senses, especially touch/feel. When a shopper is invited to touch, hold, and try on clothing they are more likely to be enticed by the product. Overall, it is important that everything in the store be inviting to the customer, they must feel welcome, comfortable, and free to browse without distraction. The longer they are in the store the more they will buy.
Gladwell next stressed that stores cannot make shoppers conform to their wants, rather the store must conform to the shoppers’s wants. It seems that when stores try to manipulate their customers it doesn’t last long, the customer always comes out on top. A grocery store may have the cookies on the bottom shelf for young children to see, but soon the cookie aisle is completely avoided. The redesigning of cosmetic counters is another great example of conforming to buyers’ needs. As of recent, working women don’t have the time to ask a clerk for help, therefore the clerk must be able to get to the potential customer rather than waiting for her.
Gladwell then went on to talk about a company’s ability to predict, based on research, what certain people want. By very carefully collecting data, they are almost magically able to predict what certain people are looking for. In a community there is always a person or group of people whose opinions on are greatly trusted, people go to them for help. It is the thinking of these people that must be understand by retailers as their word is taken in high regard by the rest of society.
Shopper demographics is the next subject on Gladwell’s mind. Each shopper, male or female, young or old, has different preferences in store appearance. In order to effectively draw in and keep in a potential customer those preferences must be recognized. A store must point out its target audience and then attend to their wants. While considering the wants of customers the store is given a chance to manipulate the consumer a bit. If a store can construct a desirable setting/set-up for its customers, why not put the most lucrative items in the back? Force the customer to look at everything and maybe even make an impulse purchase one their way to their destination.
2) To me the idea behind a stores design is very subconscious, and for good reason. It is crucial that a store hide these elements of manipulation as best they can, or else the customer will feel, well, manipulated. Now that these factors have been brought to my attention and I look back on previous shopping experience, I do see how I’ve been manipulated, often without my knowing. Despite my new found knowledge, I think it will still be difficult to keep from falling victim to stores’ manipulation. Everything just makes so much sense; when I go shopping I need something and I know exactly what it is, but if on my way there I see something I want, there’s a good chance I might grab that too.
3) 1. Exterior Design/Location
2. Entrance phase of store
3. Product placement throughout store
4. Meet needs of gender, age, personality, etc. demographic
5. Understand wants of customers, adjust to those, and then take advantage (i.e. product placement)