Feature areas are designed areas within stores meant to attract customers' attention and guide them through the shopping experience. The document lists and describes eight common feature areas: entrances, freestanding displays, cash wraps, end caps, promotional aisles or areas, walls, windows, and fitting rooms. Each area serves a specific purpose like introducing customers to the store environment, highlighting products, or allowing customers to try items on. Together, thoughtful use of feature areas can optimize customers' shopping journeys.

1. Feature Areas
Created by: Lacey Bierle
and Jade Riesland

2. Feature Areas
• Retailers can guide customers through stores according to
the placement of feature areas
• Feature Areas are areas within a store designed to get the
customer’s attention
• Feature Areas include:
1. Entrances
2. Freestanding displays
3. Cash wraps
4. End caps
5. Promotional aisles or areas
6. Walls
7. Windows
8. Fitting Rooms

3. Entrances
• Often referred to as the “decompression zone”
• Customers are adjusting to the new environment

4. Freestanding Displays
• Fixtures or mannequins located on aisles designed
primarily to attract customers attention and bring them
into a department.

5. Cash Wraps
• Also known as point-of-purchase (POP) counters or
checkout areas
• Used to display impulse items
• Discount and extreme value retailers and category
specialists use centralized checkouts at the front of their
stores
• Department stores have traditionally placed cash wraps
off the main aisle within each department

6. End Caps
• Displays located at the end of an aisle.
• Retailers use end caps to display:
– Seasonal
– Temporary
– Promotional Items
– High-Margin Items

7. Promotional Aisle or Area
• A space used to display merchandise that is being
promoted
• Some stores that use promotional aisles or areas
include:
– Walgreens
– CVS
– The Gap

8. Walls
• Retail floor space is limited
• Merchandise can be stored on shelving and racks and
coordinated with displays, photographs, or graphics
featuring the merchandise.

9. Windows
• Can be an important component of the store layout
• Window displays can help draw customers into the store
• Provide a visual message about:
– the type of merchandise offered in the store
– the type of image the store wishes to portray
• Should be tied to the merchandise and other displays in
the store

10. Fitting Rooms
• Crucial space in which customers decide whether to
make a purchase.
• Fitting Rooms must be:
– Large
– Clean
– Comfortable