As part of my Semester Thesis Project, we conducted a participatory research to explore the smart-space design avenues for retail environments in Urban India. This project was completed under the guidance of Prof. Pradeep G. Yammiyavar, Department of Design, IIT Guwahati. The need to undertake this research was felt with the ever-growing footfall and increasing spending capacity of the Indian consumer within limited space. As a result, we intend to understand the design parameters considered by shopping malls and marts to layout their merchandise. The activity conducted to understand the trade-off between maximizing profit along with high consumer satisfaction required store managers to create a custom layout of a store given a set of merchandise and limited area. Findings of the exercise reveal that the parameters affecting space layout and product display fall under the umbrella of architectural norms & constraints, marketing strategy and consumer behavior. These insights helped in identifying and iterating on several smart space design opportunities for urban retailers with limited display space.

1. Exploring design avenues for smart retail space in India
Project Guide: Prof. Pradeep Yammiyavar
Semester Thesis Project|Department of Design
Arushi Singh | Mdes |134205006

2. Project Proposal
Study of existing models
Background Research Research + Data Collection Study on Layout, Management & Traffic, Interviews, Contextual Inquiry, Study Customer Behavior in Indian Context Conduct Experiments to understand factors affecting retail design layout Data Analysis , Creation Of Heuristics, Ideation
APRIL MARCH
FEBRUARY
JANUARY
Timeline

3. Aim Objectives To study and analyze shopping w.r.t. parameters like space, vision, movement in a retail environment.
To decipher the relationship between the various parameters.
To maximize in store communication for ultimate shopping experience.
To develop solutions to cater to the growing customer base.

4. Understanding Need
SPACE
MERCHANDISE
FOOTFALL

5. Methodology Understanding the Retail Environment & its challenges Grouping Problems and Issues
Attempt to design a layout solution Simulate walkthroughs using 3D software
Testing and User feedback
Literature Study, Ethnography, Documentation, Experience Learning

6. Big Bazaar: A Study
•Grid display
•Easy Movement
•Attractive Family of Fixtures Footfall: 1000(normal days) 5000(on occasions) Display: Crocodile bins Peg hooks Bins Special zonal Displays Layout Third Floor(Not to Scale)

7. Crocodile Bins
Peg Hooks Bins
Shopping Guides
Special ambiance and displays in specific zones

8. Vishal Mega Mart:
A Study
•Decent Quality in Cheap Price
•Extensive use of Bins
•Very less moving space Footfall: 700 to1000(normal days) 5000 and above (occasions) Displays: Bins(big, small, ramp)(height: 3ft) Gondola Racks(height: 8ft) Layout Ground Floor(not to scale) Ramp bins
Gondola Display large bins

9. HUB Mall: A Study
Layout First Floor mart(not to scale)
•Maximum products in small area
•Limited stock
•Smaller aisles Footfall: 300(normal days) 1000(on occasions) Display: Gondola displays (wall display, height: 7ft Central display, height: 5ft) Peg Hooks

10. Observation Line of Sight Systems of Display
Flow
Management Personal Space
Ambient
Environment

11. Experiment:
Aim: To understand the parameters influencing the designing of store layouts by store managers Task: Store Managers and Visual Merchandisers were asked to layout a given set of merchandise categories in a fixed area for Guwahati City. Fixed Parameters: Area shape and size, Merchandise Broad Category, Store Entry/Exit Variable Parameters : Merchandise line up within categories, cash counters

12. Set up
Food
Home
Fashion
Vegetables and fruits
Furnishing
Women's wear
casual
Chocolates and candies
Luggage
formal
Beverages
Home fashion
party
Staples & Pluses
Utensils
night wear/ inner wear
Frozen food
Personal care
packaged food(FMCG food)
Home care
Men's Wear
casual
Crockery
formal
Gadgets
party
Electronics
night wear/ inner wear
Toys and games
Fashion Accessories
watches
Stationery
belts
Plastics
sunglasses
Beauty
Kids wear
Set up for the experiment comprised :
•set of Merchandise line up. Under the Broad Categories of FOOD, HOME and FASHION(they were color coded yellow, blue and pink respectively), 4 cash counters
•Area Board with given Entry and Exit
Merchandise

13. Experiment Sample 1:
Mukesh Sharma,
General Manager,
HUB Mall
Floor Area: 8281 sq. ft.
Broader Merchandise categories: FOOD, HOME, FASHION

14. Free Flow & Grid Layout
Experiment Result 1

15. STATEMENT/ACTION
INFERENCE
Beauty, Party wear, gadgets placed near entrance
The front facing zones are aesthetically appealing and attractive
Singular Entry/Exit is preferable
Single Entry/Exit gives better safety and less manpower for handling
Women’s wear is kept near the entrance
Women form a large number of customer base
Kids wear is near women’s wear
Mother’s usually shop for children
Electronics and luggage/travel are near to men’s wear
Men prefer browsing through gadgets and other bulky items
Wanted to keep toys and games near to kids wear but space didn’t permit
All products targeted at a particular customer are clubbed together
Cafeteria is facing outside
Gives a better view of high street. Customer can chill can shop all together.
Casual wear is placed so that it blocks the trial room
Trial room is always hidden in a corner or elsewhere from general view
Trial room is near to innerwear and night wear section
People don’t like to carry innerwear and night wear and walk to trial room
A separate area is defined for trolley movement
Customer’s wouldn’t wish to carry bulky trollies inside the complete store. In fact, in the apparel section only shopping bags are used if necessary
Home fashion and furnishing is close to women's section
Women shop for these merchandise
End caps are used for promotions
End caps are eye catching as they are close to where the customer takes a turn thus making it imperative to glance at it.
If a product is not available at the warehouse and a regular customer is asking for it, it is brought from the market immediately
For smaller stores, flying customers are lesser than the regular ones, it is thus imperative that the customer retentively is maintained

16. STATEMENT/ACTION
INFERENCE
Our focus is not primarily toward VM, yet we do keep it in our priority
The Indian Consumer is yet to understand Visual Merchandising
A lot of customer come and try and purchase the merchandise online
E-Commerce poses a severe threat to the retail industry
A lot of merchandise currently in the market arrives in North East late.
Regional limitations in providing the customer the best experience
There are major labour issues in the region because of which the supply chain is often disrupted
Regional limitations in providing the customer the best experience
We know our clientele personally
It is important to give a personal touch to maintain customer loyalty and retentively.
We choose the product line keeping the customer in mind
The Customer’s taste and needs will determine the merchandise in the store
We keep maximum products on the shelves so that the store communication is maximum
Larger merchandise on display has a positive effect on the customer buying behavior
We often get complaints that a particular flavor of jam or pickle is missing
Indians are very particular about the merchandise they wish to buy
As we interact with our customers on a regular basis we get a fair idea of the current buying trends
It is important to be aware of the latest products and be at the same frequency as your customer
New product launched are often given end cap regions as they attract maximum attention
New products need to be highlighted
The products with larger packages and bigger labels(like cornflakes) are kept on higher shelves so that they are visible
Product packaging influences the planogram.

17. Experiment Sample 2: Shyam Kumar Singh Store Manager, Big Bazaar Floor Area: 8281 sq. ft. Broader Merchandise categories: FOOD, HOME, FASHION

18. Experiment Result 2 Grid Layout

19. STATEMENT/ACTION
INFERENCE
First higher margin products were laid out
To make a profitable business in a small place a tradeoff is needed in terms f rate of sales and profit margins on a product
Woman’s apparel is kept near entrance
Women form a large number of customer base
Consumer Service Desk(CSD) is kept near the entrance
Gives better access
Chocolates and candies are nearer to the entrance in high visibility
Low cost impulse goods are placed near the check out counters
Gadgets are kept near entrance
Customer enjoy glancing through gadgets in display
Beauty /accessories placed near entrance
These have attractive displays and are often impulse buys
Cash counters are away from the entrance
This reduces accumulation of crowd near the entrance.
Home fashion/ Furnishing is given a priority over other home category merchandise
These products have larger margins
Kids wear is near women’s wear
Mother’s usually shop for children
Chocolates and Beverages are kept near the entrance
Often customers enter the store and feel like eating

20. Experiment Sample 3: Priyamboda Konwar Visual Merchandiser , Sohum Shoppe Floor Area: 8281 sq ft Broader Merchandise categories: FOOD, HOME, FASHION

21. Grid Layout
Experiment Result 3

22. STATEMENT/ACTION
INFERENCE
Focal Point is made near the entrance
The customer is attracted to enter the store and check out merchandise
The customer will move in CW direction inside the store
The circulation is considered CW in the Indian Scenario.
Men’s wear is kept before women’s
Men usually don’t look around so it is advisable to make their goods easily accessible
Kids wear is near women’s wear
Mother’s usually shop for children
Crockery, gadgets placed near entrance
The front facing zones are aesthetically appealing and attractive
Stationery & Toys are clubbed together
They are usually shopped for children by their parents
Women’s wear is close to crockery and utensils
Women are the primary customers of both merchandise
Home furnishing is preferred over fashion
In this context, It gives better margins
High priced garments are in focused display
They are usually more attractive and make good profits if sold
Sohum has shop in shop designs
Shop layouts and planograms depends on the brand policies
The brands are swapped to prime locations if sales are falling
Location in layout majorly affects sales

23. Inferences:
Parameters influencing store layouts Store shape and area Profit Margins of product Product Footprint Footfall Rate of sales of products Business model
Warehouse and storage
Circulation Area Offers and Promotions Packaging Impulse Purchase Aesthetic Appeal of merchandise display Product Bulkiness Pilferage & Leakage
Cross merchandising
Target Customer Seasonal Merchandise Accessability of products Checkout and payment zone Fixtures Irremovable facilities Customer Behaviour
Regional Influences
Trolley Movability Market Trend Circulation Direction Store Security Customer Comfort Ambient illumination Ambient sound
Ambient smell
Signages and Store Communication Category of Merchandise

24. Affinity Diagram: Footfall Warehouse and storage Circulation Area Space Design
Store shape and area
Product Footprint Product Bulkiness Pilferage & Leakage ambient illumination ambient sound ambient smell Accessibility of products
Checkout and payment zone
Fixtures Irremovable facilities Trolley Movability Circulation Direction Store Security Customer Comfort Category of Merchandise
Profit Margins of product
Rate of sales of products Business model Offers and Promotions Marketing Packaging Cross merchandising Target Customer
Seasonal Merchandise
Market Trend Category of Merchandise Psycological Behaviour Offers and Promotions Packaging Impulse Purchase Aesthetic Appeal of merchandise display
Target Customer
Seasonal Merchandise ambient illumination ambient sound ambient smell Customer Behaviour Regional Influences Market Trend
Signage's and Store Communication

25. Dependency Matrix 33x33 KEY (scale of 0 to 9) Strong Dependency (>6 to <=9)
Medium Dependency
(>3 to<=6)
Low Dependency
(>0 to <=3)

26. Factors influencing store layouts(Macro level) Mapping dependency of X on Y
Factors wrt customer , store managers
Store shape and area
Profit Margins of product
Product Footprint
Footfall
Rate of sales of products
Business model
Warehouse and storage
Circulation Area
Store shape and area
1,8
NA
Purchase appropriate property
Shelf space for each product is determined by store area
How close the the storage surplus can be replenished easily
Profit Margins of product
3,7
Determine a profit making B-plan by choosing appropriate merchandise. Profit per unit area
NA
Eg. Vishal’s profit margins are low they make bulk profits
Expensive and exclusive pruducts will not be in the warehouse
Product Footprint
4,5
Determines volume of product line
Product Footprint decreases as Profit Margins increases
NA
Footfall
4,8
Determines the crowd handling capacity
Improve footfall to increase sales
As footfall increases more product needs to be stocked on the shelves.
NA
Rate of sales of products
2,7
Volume of products on display and in the warehouse
Increase rate of sales for merchandise
NA
Business model
1,4
Business strategy & merchandise line up
Manupulate business model to gain max profit
NA
Warehouse and storage
0,7
Display area & surplus handling capacity
Low profit low sales products may not be stocked
NA
Circulation Area
6,5
NA
Circulation may be manupulated to increase impulse purchases
NA

27. Customer's Perspective Profit Margins of product Strong dependency medium dependency weak dependency Product Footprint
Footfall
Rate of sales of products Business model Warehouse and storage Circulation Area Offers and Promotions Packaging Impulse Purchase
Aesthetic Appeal of merchandise display
Product Bulkiness Pilferage & Leakage Cross merchandising Product Bulkiness Seasonal Merchandise Trolley Movability Customer Behaviour
Accessability of products
Fixtures Irremovable facilities Checkout and payment zone Irremovable facilities Regional Influences Category of Merchandise Market Trend
Circulation Direction
Product Bulkiness Store Security Customer Comfort ambient illumination ambient sound ambient smell Store shape and area
ER Diagram:
Customer’s perspective

28. Store Manager's perspective Strong dependency medium dependency weak dependency Product Footprint Packaging Profit Margins of product
Warehouse and storage
Rate of sales of products Business model Pilferage & Leakage Offers and Promotions Circulation Area Footfall Impulse Purchase
Aesthetic Appeal of merchandise display
Product Bulkiness Cross merchandising Target Customer Seasonal Merchandise Accessability of products - Checkout and payment zone Fixtures
Irremovable facilities
Customer Behaviour Regional Influences Trolley Movability ;;; Category of Merchandise Market Trend Circulation Direction Store Security
Customer Comfort
ambient illumination ambient sound ambient smell Store shape and area ER Diagram: Store Manager’s Perspective

29. Profit Margin(increasing)
Rate of sales(decreasing) purchased in week/month/year
Home fashion
Candies and chocolates
Furnishing
Beverages
Electronics
veggies & fruits
Gadgets
processed food
Luggage & Travel
frozen food
Beauty
staples & pluses
Fashion accessories
Personal Care
Crockery
Stationery
Utensils
Home Care
Toys & Games
Plastics
Women's apparel
Utensils
Men's apparel
Crockery
Kid's apparel
Toys & Games
stationery
Women's apparel
Plastics
Fashion Accessories
Home Care
gadgets
Personal Care
Kid's apparel
Candies and chocolates
home fashion
Beverages
furnishing
veggies & fruits
Men's apparel
processed food
beauty
frozen food
luggage
Approximate Rating of Merchandise Value in terms of sales Environment Dependency matrix

30. Area : 2000 sq.ft.
High Street All-in-All Store
Target Customer: Women
USP: A one stop shop for women
Layout: Mix of grid and free flow layout
Merchandise Line up
Food:
Cafeteria
Processed /Beverages/Staples/(only some time of the month)
Home:
Home Fashion
Fashion:
Women’s Apparel
Sample Layout Entry/Exit Trial Rooms Women’s apparel Transit Displays Home Fashion Cafeteria
self rendered image

31. Accessories
Plan

32. Fashion Zone self rendered image

33. Choice of merchandise
Reason
Home Fashion
Has good margins. Can be displayed all across the store
Women’s Apparel
Always in demand, women are great shoppers, cafeteria and home fashion would also do good sales
Cafeteria(Permanent)
It will be a one stop for a gang of girls to come and chill
Processed Food
On transit wall can be replenished as per need Area Distribution: Food 10% Fashion 50% Home 40%

34. Aarti goes to the superstore for her weekly shopping. She loves burbon biscuits, but she doesn’t find it in the store, so next time she goes to another store for shopping Two shoppers are moving in the opposite direction they get stuck at a narrow passage. Other people coming from behind also become a part of this jam. Scenarios: Scope of solution 1.
2.

35. 35 Tania only uses silky shampoo of brand X, she is unable to find it in the front row of the displayed merchandise so she digs deeper in the shelf to find exactly what she needs. But in the process she drop a lot of other merchandise A store employee is refilling the shelf with biscuits. A customer walks past and want to see the products on the shelf. But she cannot as there is no space to move and chooses to walk away without purchasing . 3. 4.

36. Solution Scope SMART SPACES
EFFICIENT SHELVING
TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION

37. Ideation Morphing Store Seasons Time of the day Shop in shops Offers
Sensory Appeal
Aroma
zones Lifestyle zones Customer Comfort EFFICIENT SHELVING Decrease product footprint Space saving shelves Shopping inventory
Virtual Stores Smart shelves SMART SPACES Fixed/ transforming Zones TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION

38. = #1 Creating Artificial Volume : mirrored shelves or real life posters

39. The basic idea is to reduce the amount of space a product consumes on a shelf, thus reducing its footprint.
Thus we need to create an artificial volume of the product to make more sales. Customers wouldn't find it appealing if only few merchandise is displayed
The stock that is sold everyday can be stocked on the shelf while the surplus can be in the warehouse.
Advantages:
Less shelf space consumed.
Disadvantages:
If rate of sales are high it will need replenishing frequently.
self rendered image
“Jo dikhta hai wo bikta hai”

40. #2 Reducing Storage Space Combining the warehouse in display stock self rendered image

41. Advantages:
•No space consumed by store employees for refilling
•Simple mechanism low on maintenance
•At a time a small amount of product is always visible to the customer
•Fresh stock is loaded at the rear and new old stock is consumed from the front Disadvantages:
•Small section of store space is wasted.
•Difficult to use for bulky products Similar mechanism for circular bottle prone to breakage

42. Conclusion
A heuristic was developed to understand the interdependency of various parameters influencing retail design.
The influence of parameters was studied varying them.
Designers can follow these heuristics to satisfy the needs and requirements of store managers and users alike.
The relationship between consumer behavior and economics was drawn.
The derived heuristics were checked by attempting a sample design layout.

43. Future Scope of Work
The is a vast scope of taking the findings of the report further.
•A model can be developed by taking a larger sample and by further authenticating and validating the findings.
•Some concrete ideas can be generated to solve the space crunch being faced by the smaller retailers.

44. References Books: Barry Berman,Joel R. Evans, Mini Mathur.Retail Management.Pearson Publication Paco Underhill.Why We Buy.Simon & Schuster Publication Martin Lindstorm.Buy-ology.Business Books Rama Bijapurkar.We are like that only. Penguin Books A J Lamba.The Art of Retailing.Tata McGraw Hill Tony Morgan.Visual Merchandising.Laurence King Publishing Viklma Barr, Katherine Field.Stores: Retail Display and Design.PBC International Inc. Swati Bhalla, Anuraag S.Visual Merchandising, Tata McGraw Hill Education Ernst & Peter Neufert, Architect’s Data, Blackwell Science Lynne Mesher.Retail Design, AVA Publishing Luis C.Mejia, Mark Jeppi, Effect of merchandise space allocation on retail sales in enclosed shopping centers

45. Journal Papers: IBM/NRF Store of the future survey,2003 Indian Retail: Time to change lanes, KPMG 2009 Norm Borin, Paul W. Farris , James R. Freeland, 1994, A Model for Determining Retail Product Category Assortment and Shelf Space Allocation Debasidh Mukherjee, Hemant Kalbag, 2011, The case for Compact hypermarkets in India Karla Martin, Ash Notaney, Johan Sauer, Marcelo TauThe New Scarcity of Retail Space How “Smart Allocation” Is Changing the Landscape. Masao Ohta, and Yoshiyuki Higuchi,Study on the Design of Supermarket Store Layouts: The Principle of “Sales Magnet”, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology Vol:7 2013-01-26 Zac Anesbury , John Dawes , Rachel Kennedy ,Magda Nenycz-Thiel , Supermarket Shelving: A Conceptual Paper on the Value of Shelf Position PEDRO M. REYES, GREGORY V. FRAZIER, Initial Shelf Space Considerations at New Grocery Stores: An Allocation Problem with Product Switching and Substitution References

46. Websites: http://www.psfk.com/publishing/future-of-retail-2014 Accessed on 6th Jan’14 at 1000hrs http://www.ricksegel.com/blog/?Tag=Visual+Merchandising Accessed on 20th Jan’14 at 1700hrs http://hbr.org/special-collections/insight/the-future-of-retail Accessed on 20th Jan’14 at 1700hrs http://www.visualretailing.com/ Accessed on 15th Feb’14 at 1000hrs http://www.ricksegel.com/ Accessed on 18th Feb’14 at 1900hrs http://www.iqmetrix.com/ Accessed on 25th Feb’14 at 2000hrs http://retaildesignblog.net/ Accessed on 3rd March’14 at 1200hrs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail_design Accessed on 5rd March’14 at 1400hrs
References