by John Stanley

I talked about the importance of signage in increasing sales in my April article, Playing the Trust Game. In this article I want to talk about one position in a store that can generate a lot of money for you. Every store has what is called a “Power Location.” It is generally about four steps into the store.

Imagine you are a customer walking into a store for the first time. You go through the front door and in the first four steps you take into the total environment, this is what is called the “transition zone.” Once you have taken in the environment, you focus on the first display in front of you. This is the power location.

Merchandising experts will tell you that you can achieve at least a 540 percent increase in turnover at this location. This means that instead of turning the product once somewhere else in the store, you can turn it 5.4 times quicker in the same time period. This is why suppliers love this location. It still about having the right product in the right location at the right time and at the right price; but, it is also about how you build the display.

Building a power display is a combination of science and art. Ideally the display should be circular; you are creating a roundabout that can slow customers down with this shape and make them linger longer. The display ideally should be two arms lengths across. This may be difficult with furniture and you may need to create a bigger display, but do not make it too wide, otherwise you could lose sales.

In building a traditional display, for example, with cans of food, the principle is the product should be displayed to make a cone shape with the middle of the cone displaying full shelves of merchandise to passing consumers. In practical terms, this is between the belly button and chin on an average-height consumer. The stocking level should go from full to half-full to full. This is all down to individual consumer perception. At the halfway level, some customers will tell you it is half full while others will tell you it is half empty. Your role as a display merchant is to please all customers.

Displays should be left in this position based on how often the average customer walks into the store. If you leave the display there too long, the customer will get bored. And a bored customer is not going to be spending customer.

All power displays must have a sign, use the principles of sign writing we discussed in my recent article on signage.

Power display locations are the most important place in the store, and you should be negotiating to have that space for your product.

John Stanley (CSP) one of the top 10% of speakers in the world today, is an acclaimed retail consultant and author of several marketing, customer service and retail books including the best seller “Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know.” Website http://www.johnstanley.com.au