What you need to set up shop

The ultimate guide to display and storage solutions for new retailers.

PART 2: RETAIL EQUIPMENT

About Shopfitting Warehouse.......................

The First Steps To Opening Your New Shop..

Choosing The Right Retail Equipment...........

Customer convenience..................................

Baskets...........................................................

Trolleys...........................................................

Choosing The Right Display Equipment........

Clothing Displays...........................................

Hangers and Hanger Stackers.......................

Mannquins, Busts and Body Forms................

In Store Accessories.......................................

Store Security.................................................

Store Fitting Recommendations....................

Final Thoughts...............................................

Connect With Us............................................

References & Resources.................................

Contents

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Whether this is your first store opening or you are branching out into a franchise, the thought of an empty shop can be incredibly unnerving – especially if you already have your merchandise all prepared and ready to be displayed without the means to do so.

When thinking about fitting your store it is recommended that you consider the best ways to promote your products, brand and also how to create the right shopping experience that is both memorable and simplistic. In part 1 of this guide we looked at the furniture, fixtures and fittings required to create a well-structured retail space.

This User Guide will explore the most crucial pieces of retail equipment that you will need in order for your shop to begin to take shape and will also offer a number of tips on effective visual merchandising.

Shopfitting Warehouse, born from Drakes Display has over 130 years of experience in providing all of the equipment needed to set up your own shop – from shop fittings and display units, right through to compulsory retail accessories such as coat hangers and signage to facilitate your customers throughout the shopping process.

Distributing to the UK and EU, they make the purchasing and delivery process as seamless as possible, so that you can focus on making your business as best prepared for your customers as it can be.

If you wish to learn more or make an enquiry you can visit the Shopfitting Warehouse website at www.shopfittingwarehouse.co.uk or visit their Distribution Centre at 11-13 Bridge Street, Bailie Gate Industrial Estate, Sturminster Marshall, Dorset, BH21 4DB.

About Shopfitting Warehouse

The First Steps To Opening Your New Shop

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This is a vital in-store shopping accessory for customers looking to make a smaller series of purchases from your shop.

Consider the size and shape of items in your store. Use thick handle baskets for added comfort. Avoid wire mesh baskets if your products could slip through the gaps. Consider the colour of your baskets to match your shop and branding.

Choosing The Right Retail Equipment

Baskets

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Customer ConvenienceSatisfaction and convenience are two of the most important aspects to setting up and running a shop. Where possible it is vital that your customers are supplied with the right accessories to accommodate them in their purchasing process .This means that access to baskets, trolleys and carrier bags that enable them to explore your shop and pick up items for purchase along the way should always be available to anyone entering and leaving your store.

There are various sizes of trolleys available. Consider the size of your store and the size of your products before you purchase. Your products may not warrant a full-size trolley, or your store aisles may be too small for larger trolleys.

Some trolleys also have child seats. Is it common for your customer demographic to have children with them while shopping at your store?

Trolleys

If you have numerous lines of apparel to display across your store, there are a range of display solutions available to you. When deciding on the equipment to display your clothing items, consider:

Choosing The Right Display Equipment

Strong in-store visual merchandising is essential to grabbing your customer’s attention and influencing their purchasing behaviour. Once you have decided on the furniture, fixtures and fittings for your retail space (see part 1 of this guide), you must decide what further equipment you will use to display your products on the shop floor.

Clothing Displays

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Once your customers have purchased a number of items from your store, they will need an effective way of carrying them home.

That said, carrier bags can serve a much larger purpose than simply assisting customers in carrying their purchased goods out of the store. If you choose a brand appropriate colour scheme or design with your business name and de-tails on it, a carrier bag becomes a way of promoting your shop outside of its premises.

Carrier bags are generally available in paper or plastic and come in a variety of colours and sizes. Think carefully about the merchandise that you offer when choosing bag styles.

Carrier Bags

Would the layout of your establishment allow the use of a 6ft long clothes rail, or would square garments stands be more suitable?

The size and shape of your store

If space is limited but you have much to display, consider 2 tiers clothes rails or racks.

How many clothing lines you need to display

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Extra tall clothes rails or racks may be required for long dresses, and extra heavy items may need the extra support of a reinforced heavy duty clothes rail. If you are selling childrens clothes, perhaps a junior rail would be suitable.

The size and weight of the items

Consider the types of accessories you may need to display and how they can be displayed. Hats for example can be displayed on millenary arms, whereas bags may require a display arm and boxed items may require shelving or baskets.

What accessories you may need to display

Does your brand and store look lends itself to the industrial styling of wire shelving, the classic clothes rail, or a modern chrome garment stand?

The style of your store and brand

If your displays need to be moved easily on the shop floor or to and from a stockroom or warehouse, invest in a display that has castor wheels for easy mobility.

Will there be a need to move displays around

Clothes rails and wire shelving are easily assembled and dismantled for flat storage, so they are perfect for sales where the additional displays are only required at certain times of the year.

Will there be a need for additional displays for sale periods

To keep your clothing products free of creases and easily removable from racking units, it is wise to invest in plenty of hangers.

These also make a great complimentary accessory for your customers once they have made a purchase if they wish to use it at home. If you plan to give your hangers away, you may wish to avoid buying premium lotus wood hangers, though these do look much better on display.

Hangers and Hanger Stackers

Chrome Hanger Stacker

Deluxe ½ Torso Mannequin on Stand, Female, Gloss White

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Consider the types of hanger your garments require. If you are a services establishment such as a hotel, you’ll want hangers that can’t be stolen. If you sell suits, you’ll want large hangers with trouser bars, and consider whether the style of your store demands metal hangers or wooden hangers?

Also, don’t forget a Hanger Stacker, which are very handy to keep shelving units tidy and the shop floor clear of loose hangers which will not only prevent mess, but keep your shop floor safe too.

Why not display your new styles or best-selling outfits on a mannequin? A visual representation of how a particular outfit looks like altogether can go a long way in persuading a customer to make a purchase.

Mannequins, Busts and Body Forms

Similar to the full scale mannequins, the bust and body form products available provide your customers with a great visual overview of underwear, beachwear and accessories that are on sale.

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In Store Accessories

Regardless of what you sell, any space where customers are invited will require literature displays to promote offers and products instore and to passers-by.

Literature Displays

Marketing material is essential to keep your brand in the front of the consumer’s mind. If you are offering leaflets promoting your product range, latest offers or a mailing list subscription, consider a freestanding leaflet holder which will offer more leaflet space, or leaflet dispensers that can sit on a counter top or hang on slatwall or gridwall.

Marketing Material Dispensers

Poster holders and snap frames are essential for great promotion in store, whether it’s promoting a BOGOF offer, directing attention to a particular product or highlighting a call to action.

Poster Holders and Snap Frames

Take your in-store promotions outside. Outdoor signs will grab the attention of anyone walking by and could increase your footfall considerably if you’ve got something to shout about.

Outdoor Signs

For smaller items either in boxes or exposed, dump bins can be a great display mechanism near your point of sale. While customers queue to pay, dump bins can easily tempt them to add low cost items into their basket.

Dump Bins

Queue ManagementIn busy periods it’s best to keep your customers organised and queuing in an orderly fashion. rope barriers and retractable barriers can keep your shop aisles clear so that other visitors will not be obstructed when browsing your store. They can also be used to avoid meandering queue lines forming or even establish separate lines for each cashier.

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Displaying products on higher shelving or even reaching stock in the stockroom can be a dangerous task without the right resources. Kick step stools are lightweight and therefore easily transportable around the store. They can make all the difference in preventing staff or customer accidents and injuries while trying to obtain hard to reach products or areas.

Make sure to store your kick stool away when not in use to avoid people tripping over it or trying to use it themselves without supervision.

Kick Step Stool

It is possible that as a shop owner you will encounter theft. High shelving units and only a few members of staff can reduce your ability to monitor what is going on in your store. By using security mirrors, you and your staff can keep an eye out around the shop to prevent incidences of theft that might occur. Some may even try to pay with forged money leading to a loss in profit for your business, so we’d always recommend using a counterfeit money detector pen The pen can be rubbed across a suspected fraudulent note and if this results in any ink smudging, the pen has identified a fake bank note, which you can then refuse for payment.

Another top tip for staff is to hold any bank note to a source of light and check if the Queen’s face appears at the centre to ensure it is genuine.

Store Security

Rope barriers also create a premium look and feel for your establishment. Consider using them to contain a la carte or smoking areas, or to separate high value items from busy areas.

Make use of two tier rails to display full outfits that are on promotion, including any accessories.

By now you should be more aware of the types of retail units, equipment and accessories required to ensure that your store is fully prepared for customers. The next step in the shop fitting process is to decide how you will organise the layout of your store to best utilise the space available. Below is a list of recommendations to help you arrange the products detailed in this user guide around your store.

Take a pen and a piece of paper and map out the store’s layout: where you are going to position your clothes, shoes, mannequins, literature displays and the rest of your purchased retail equipment.

Using your design, try to anticipate the typical customer journey in your store to make the most of promotional areas for new and best-seller products.

For security purposes it might be a good idea to find any blind spots within the shop and position your mirrors accordingly. Make sure that shop assistants that are working behind the till are able to see down aisles and entrances to the storeroom clearly.

Set up the queuing area using your rope/retractable barriers to avoid any ob-structions or congestion in the store.

Place mannequins and literature displays in the store window to effectively dem-onstrate to shoppers what your business has to offer.

Store Fitting Recommendations

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Position baskets and trolleys at the front of the store for customers as they first walk in.

Place your hanger stackers behind the till and have staff fill these throughout the course of the day, otherwise you may encounter problems with the safety and appearance of your store.

Mirrors should be added to certain areas of the store for customers to preview what the clothes/shoes look like on them before they buy.

Provide staff at the tills with the counterfeit money detector pen and test on all notes used as tender.

This guide has outlined the necessary items that you will require to set up your shop. Moving forward, there are several decisions to be made about what equipment is right for the layout and nature of your store, so be sure to carefully consider your options before making your final purchases.

Look out for the next guide from Shopfitting Warehouse that covers retail accessories: with everything from boxes and containers to information signs.

Final Thoughts

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Ensure that all products are hung on hangers and displayed correctly on clothes racks and rails.

Things to consider when fitting out a shophttp://www.tradingpost.com.au/research/commercial/shop-fitting-made-easy/

Visual merchandising and displayhttp://www.fairchildbooks.com/ext/resources/instructor-resources/PDF-pre views/0843-Sample.pdf

Product images from www.shopfittingwarehouse.co.uk

If you want to keep up-to-date with Shopfitting Warehouse, why not follow us on our social media accounts?

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Connect With Us

References & Resources

Facebookfacebook.com/ShopfittingWarehouse

Twittertwitter.com/ShopfittingWhs

Pinterestpinterest.com/ShopfittingWhs

You can also read our blog for further tips on setting up your shop.