Gondola shelving is a staple in retail spaces, capable of supporting as well as displaying rows upon rows of merchandise at the same time. They’re strong, durable, spacious, and basically everything that many stores want in retail shelving. They’re definitely not known for being beautiful or appealing, but if you have lots of products to sell, your inventory greatly overshadows it, making it a shelving option with very hide-able flaws.
Do you need gondola shelving? If you own a store with a lot of space, you definitely should. Big box stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, and other retail spaces with large, open environments call for an aisle system that gondola shelving will work with tremendously. Despite all that we’ve explained about gondola shelving, however, there are right and wrong ways in which they are used in stores. In order to make the most of your inventory as well as the consumer’s shopping experience, here are four additional things to know about working with gondola shelves.
Plan Accordingly
If you need to buy gondola shelving units, a lot of thought needs to go into the layout of your store before you place any orders. Arguably the biggest flaw of gondola shelving is that it’s not flexible; you cannot just arrange your store with gondola shelving in any way you see fit. Gondola shelving calls for your typical, but useful supermarket layout where shelves form a series of rows to create large aisles. The things to consider when ordering gondola shelving include how much inventory do you have or plan to have, how many aisles do you need, and how much empty space are you looking to have. That way, you can determine how many units you need and where each will go. When you set up a store layout with gondola shelving, you need to have a layout that is highly acceptable for both employees and shoppers and one that you are expected to keep indefinitely.
Take Your Inventory into Account
Not all inventory is ideal for gondola shelving. For instance, you might have items for sale like DVDs, video games, frozen foods, and other products in which gondola shelving is not the best place for, so you cannot use gondola shelving just anywhere. Instead, you must see where in your store gondola shelving will be most useful. You should also consider how much inventory you plan to go onto your gondola shelving, and order more gondola shelving than you have inventory for. There will certainly be times in which you’ll ending having more inventory to sell than others, whether for the holidays or special sales. At the same time, though, make sure you have the right amount of gondola shelving that ensures that almost all your aisles are filled with products. Not enough products on shelves can get the impression from shoppers that you don’t sell much or that you’re having financial problems behind the scenes.
Also Buy End Caps
Gondola shelving doesn’t really do much to grab a shopper’s attention at some place inside a store. With the way gondola shelves work, you can only see the majority of products if you are inside the right aisle. Fortunately, there are displays known as end caps, which are fixtures that can display additional products from outside the aisle. Shoppers are able to see these products, and can be used to invite them into the corresponding aisle. End caps do a great job at creating impulse buys throughout the store, as shoppers can have access to products without even having to search for them. Unlike gondola shelving, though, end caps should be restocked with new items every now and then.
Use Visual Merchandising Along with Shelving Of course, end caps aren’t enough to just attract shoppers to certain aisles to find what they are looking for. You will also need visual merchandise to help guide customers. Signage is the most common form of visual marketing, describing what aisles inside a store contain. Signs can be seen from either the main shopping floor to all the way across the building, depending on the location of the sign and the shopper. Lighting, graphics, and other collateral can also be displayed, made to highlight products, give shoppers happy messages, or to simply remind them of what they might need back at home. Stores typically have created their own identity with visual marketing in order to satisfy customers and help them find what they are looking for in ways that are different from other stores.
