{"id":2218,"date":"2018-03-28T16:17:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T16:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=2218"},"modified":"2024-04-25T03:05:55","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T03:05:55","slug":"traffic-flow-patterns","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/chapter\/traffic-flow-patterns\/","title":{"raw":"Customer Shopping Behaviors","rendered":"Customer Shopping Behaviors"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Describe customer shopping behaviors and traffic-flow patterns<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nWe\u2019ve talked about store layout\u2014that is, how your store is physically constructed to serve the customer. Now we\u2019re going to talk a little bit about customer traffic-flow patterns, or how your customer walks through the store.\r\n\r\nRemember that customers can only buy the merchandise they see. If your layout doesn\u2019t encourage them to move past the merchandise you have on display, they aren\u2019t going to buy it. Or, as they say in retail, you won\u2019t see sales conversion for those products.\r\n\r\nThis is a good time to remind you about those customer behaviors we discussed in the last section:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoppers enter and almost always turn right, walking counterclockwise<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoppers avoid upper and lower floors, they like to shop the floor they entered on<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoppers hate narrow aisles<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoppers need to \u201corient\u201d themselves before starting to shop the store<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAny part of your store layout that doesn\u2019t serve these four customer behaviors in mind is going to fail you.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s take a look at a store layout and a heat map of its traffic flow.[footnote]Ebster, Claus &amp; Marion Garaus.<em> Store Design and Visual Merchandising: Creating Store Space that Encourages Buying<\/em>, Figure 1.5[\/footnote]\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignnone wp-image-3692 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2986\/2018\/03\/18190350\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-18-at-12.03.11-PM-230x300.png\" alt=\"heat map of a store's traffic flow\" width=\"230\" height=\"300\" \/>\r\n\r\nIt appears this store is mostly a grid format, with a little free form or \u201cmixed layout\u201d going on near the entrance to add some visual interest. Is this layout working for the retailer? Let\u2019s take a look at those customer behaviors and see if all of their shopping layout needs have been met.\r\n\r\nDoes this store allow for counterclockwise walking? It does! In fact, it doesn\u2019t give the customer any choice, turning left would be walking into the storage area of the store. They have to go right.\r\n\r\nDoes this store have upper and lower floors? It\u2019s hard to determine from this drawing. We\u2019ll say no.\r\n\r\nDoes this store have wide enough aisles? It would appear not! Look at the area that\u2019s circled. The fixtures there are set quite close together. And the heat map shows that customers aren\u2019t going back there. The merchandise the retailer has displayed there is going unseen by customers (and is therefore not purchased).\r\n\r\nDoes this store have a \u201ctransition zone\u201d? It absolutely does. The area right after the entrance is open and clean, and the first fixtures aren\u2019t for another few feet.\r\n\r\nThis quick analysis lets us know that the retailer\u2019s customer traffic flow through the store isn\u2019t what he hoped in certain areas, and he\u2019s maybe not converting as well as he could be. We know that customers aren\u2019t going back there because they don\u2019t want to shop in tight spaces, so traffic flow could be improved by removing a fixture and making the area easier to walk through.\r\n\r\nIn the next section, we\u2019ll study some examples of store layouts and how a retailer can leverage those layouts to influence customer traffic flow and increase sales conversion.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Questions<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/50c1167c-2758-4568-9374-4414e573edfa\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe customer shopping behaviors and traffic-flow patterns<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>We\u2019ve talked about store layout\u2014that is, how your store is physically constructed to serve the customer. Now we\u2019re going to talk a little bit about customer traffic-flow patterns, or how your customer walks through the store.<\/p>\n<p>Remember that customers can only buy the merchandise they see. If your layout doesn\u2019t encourage them to move past the merchandise you have on display, they aren\u2019t going to buy it. Or, as they say in retail, you won\u2019t see sales conversion for those products.<\/p>\n<p>This is a good time to remind you about those customer behaviors we discussed in the last section:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoppers enter and almost always turn right, walking counterclockwise<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoppers avoid upper and lower floors, they like to shop the floor they entered on<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoppers hate narrow aisles<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shoppers need to \u201corient\u201d themselves before starting to shop the store<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Any part of your store layout that doesn\u2019t serve these four customer behaviors in mind is going to fail you.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at a store layout and a heat map of its traffic flow.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ebster, Claus &amp; Marion Garaus. Store Design and Visual Merchandising: Creating Store Space that Encourages Buying, Figure 1.5\" id=\"return-footnote-2218-1\" href=\"#footnote-2218-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3692 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2986\/2018\/03\/18190350\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-18-at-12.03.11-PM-230x300.png\" alt=\"heat map of a store's traffic flow\" width=\"230\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It appears this store is mostly a grid format, with a little free form or \u201cmixed layout\u201d going on near the entrance to add some visual interest. Is this layout working for the retailer? Let\u2019s take a look at those customer behaviors and see if all of their shopping layout needs have been met.<\/p>\n<p>Does this store allow for counterclockwise walking? It does! In fact, it doesn\u2019t give the customer any choice, turning left would be walking into the storage area of the store. They have to go right.<\/p>\n<p>Does this store have upper and lower floors? It\u2019s hard to determine from this drawing. We\u2019ll say no.<\/p>\n<p>Does this store have wide enough aisles? It would appear not! Look at the area that\u2019s circled. The fixtures there are set quite close together. And the heat map shows that customers aren\u2019t going back there. The merchandise the retailer has displayed there is going unseen by customers (and is therefore not purchased).<\/p>\n<p>Does this store have a \u201ctransition zone\u201d? It absolutely does. The area right after the entrance is open and clean, and the first fixtures aren\u2019t for another few feet.<\/p>\n<p>This quick analysis lets us know that the retailer\u2019s customer traffic flow through the store isn\u2019t what he hoped in certain areas, and he\u2019s maybe not converting as well as he could be. We know that customers aren\u2019t going back there because they don\u2019t want to shop in tight spaces, so traffic flow could be improved by removing a fixture and making the area easier to walk through.<\/p>\n<p>In the next section, we\u2019ll study some examples of store layouts and how a retailer can leverage those layouts to influence customer traffic flow and increase sales conversion.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Questions<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_50c1167c-2758-4568-9374-4414e573edfa\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/50c1167c-2758-4568-9374-4414e573edfa?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_50c1167c-2758-4568-9374-4414e573edfa\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-2218\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Customer Shopping Behaviors. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Freedom Learning Group. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-2218-1\">Ebster, Claus &amp; Marion Garaus.<em> Store Design and Visual Merchandising: Creating Store Space that Encourages Buying<\/em>, Figure 1.5 <a href=\"#return-footnote-2218-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":62559,"menu_order":7,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Customer Shopping Behaviors\",\"author\":\"Freedom Learning Group\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"3f71fa22-c6fc-4824-83ff-50e27d2e5db4, 2da46508-f0d7-461f-b3e8-0d98f6ef2549","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-2218","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":2203,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62559"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6520,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2218\/revisions\/6520"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/2203"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2218\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=2218"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-retailmanagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=2218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}