Using retail store traffic patterns to optimize your store layout

Did you know that using strategic layouts to drive specific traffic patterns in retail stores can improve sales by 20–40%? Whether it’s your floor plan layout, strategic product placement or the configuration of your point-of-sale (POS) area, optimizing your store layout and flow will directly affect your customer experience and sales. 

What are retail store traffic patterns? 

Foot traffic patterns in retail stores represent the movement and dwell time of your store visitors. These patterns can be accidental or the result of meticulous retail store layout planning. Signage, layout, and strategic product placements can help you optimize foot traffic patterns and increase conversion rates. 

Read on to learn how retail foot traffic software can increase your conversion rates today. 

4 Common retail store layouts 

Your store’s floor plan can significantly affect how customers navigate and interact with your products. Implementing the best layout for your goals can drive your desired foot traffic patterns, making it easy for customers to find what they need while subtly encouraging them to explore – and purchase – more items. 

Retail Traffic Pattern FAQs 

Depending on your retail store type, you can choose from several retail floor plans, including grid, loop, diagonal, and forced-path layouts.

1. Grid layout

Grids are great for large retailers and grocery store floor plan layouts. The grid layout organizes products in straight aisles and accommodates easy navigation so customers can find what they need. 

2. Loop layout

A loop layout is common in smaller stores like mall clothing stores and boutiques. Customers are led through a loop that highlights all product categories and encourages more exploration. 

3. Diagonal layout

A diagonal layout can improve product visibility and perform well in tech or beauty stores. This orientation tends to optimize store layouts for a more dynamic flow that nudges customers toward featured products. 

4. Forced-path layout

Most notably used by Ikea, this store design all but forces customers to follow a specific path through your merchandise, ensuring maximum exposure to all products. You’ve seen patterns similar to a forced-path store layout in university sidewalk configurations. (However, you can probably recall muddy paths through the grass where students attempted to give the grounds crew data for easier navigation options.) 

Use retail store traffic analysis to identify the best floor plans for retail

Choosing the right floor plan depends on your store’s needs and your customers’ behavior. Retailers like Apple use open, minimalist layouts to invite interaction with their products. Grocery stores frequently stick to grids, making it easier for customers to locate essentials quickly across repeated visits.

Monitoring dwell and movement of foot traffic in retail stores using foot traffic analytics software lets you identify underperforming areas and high-traffic spots. These insights are especially useful for expanding retailers who want to test foot traffic technology across all locations to benchmark capture, conversion, and dwell times for future outlets.

Retail footfall measurement can empower retailers to make smarter, data-driven decisions about store layouts, product placement, and customer behavior.

Leveraging foot traffic patterns for strategic product placement 

How you place products in your store can make a dramatic difference to your sales. We’ve all been in stores where seasonal or high-margin items are front and center, grabbing our attention as soon as we walk in. That’s no accident! Optimizing retail floor space involves strategic product placement that encourages customers to pick up items they might not have planned to purchase. 

Consider these tactics for effective product placement: 

• New and seasonal products: Place these items near the front entrance and high-traffic endcaps to catch the customer’s eye and increase the likelihood of purchases. 

• Bestsellers: These should be in the middle or back of the store, ensuring customers pass other products before reaching them. You’ve likely heard of grocery stores using this strategy for milk. 

• Clearance items: These are usually placed in the back of the store or clearly marked sale areas. In larger stores, clearance items are frequently scattered throughout to encourage more browsing for a larger basket size. 

Retailers looking to optimize layouts should focus on identifying high-traffic areas and positioning their best-selling products accordingly. Use sensory elements like sight, touch, and even smell to create an engaging and immersive shopping experience. By positioning displays that engage multiple senses, you can encourage customers to linger, explore, and ultimately purchase more. 

You can also use conversion rate analysis to help determine which products should be placed closer to loading and POS areas. 

Consider customer dwell time and flow 

Understanding customer behavior is critical to optimizing space management in retail. Retail anthropologist Paco Underhill spent years studying shopper behavior before publishing his findings in Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. 

People (especially in countries that drive on the right side of the road) tend to move to the right when they first enter a store, which explains why many retailers position their most attractive displays and new products on the right side of the entrance. Customers tend to browse in a counterclockwise direction, so designing your store layout to guide them in this pattern can be effective. 

Here are further considerations to help you improve customer experience:

Temperature 

Monitor your store temperature, as overly hot or cold stores can reduce basket size and drive customers away. 

Noise level 

Playing music at an appropriate volume can enhance the shopping atmosphere without becoming a distraction. 

Seating 

When appropriate, providing seating areas can positively impact total customer dwell time, especially in places like children’s stores or bridal boutiques. 

Retail analytics tools enable you to track how customers move through your store and where they tend to linger. This insight helps you make data-driven adjustments that improve the customer experience, increase basket size, and optimize conversion rates. 

Optimize your POS layout 

Your point-of-sale (POS) area isn’t just where customers check out; it’s also a prime space for additional sales. Many retailers place their checkout area near the entrance or exit depending on the layout and type of goods. To optimize layout near your POS experience, ensure your customers have a clear, clutter-free path that also encourages last-minute impulse buys as they make their way to the checkout. 

TJ Maxx, for example, has shoppers navigate a loop that ends at the checkout. This tactic can encourage impulse buying of smaller items and provide a welcome distraction when waiting in line. By using your POS space strategically, you can improve sales without overwhelming customers. Think of it as the last opportunity to make a positive impression before they leave. 

Here are a few more tips for optimizing your POS area: 

Impulse buys 

Place small, inexpensive items like snacks, accessories, or travel-sized products near the checkout to encourage last-minute purchases. Sephora and Forever 21 do this effectively by offering accessories and beauty products in their checkout lines. 

Efficiency 

Ensure the POS area is free of clutter to maintain a smooth flow. Avoid overcrowding the space with too many products, as this clutter can overwhelm customers and create bottlenecks during store traffic “power hours.” 

Accessibility 

In smaller stores, placing the POS near the entrance helps staff manage both checkout and customer service efficiently. 

Retail Traffic Pattern FAQs 

Contact MRI Software today to optimize your store traffic patterns 

Contact us today to learn more about how MRI Software’s foot traffic analytics solution can help you understand customer behavior, boost performance with actionable insights, and benchmark against market trends.