STP IN RETAIL

A typical retail store is segmented either as a lifestyle or a value format and the store is positioned accordingly after targeting the right audience. Every retail store may further be segmented within into various verticals, and these verticals are further segmented into departments and sections. Now onceOnce the concept of store format is clear one needs to clearly understand the departments, products and their assortment hierarchy within a store. Understanding product assortmenthierarchy (product mix) is very essential as it helps one to display the products in the right manner and easier to assist a customer buy a product. It also helps one to plan the layout of the store very systematically.
Many retail organisationstores have large number of brands and products within the verticals, like Apparels, FMCG and General Merchandise and are termed as product lines. Apparels which is referred to as Product Line. They offerconsist of shirts, trousers, t-shirts and other products. Therefore, it can be concluded that these stores have a wide product line with different products (shirts, trousers, t-shirts). These various options that are provided are termed as product width. The shirts within the apparel section are further in differentiated by styles, sizes and colours which are termed as the product depth. Therefore, it can be concluded that they have a wide product line with different product lines (shirts, trousers, t-shirts). Product line depth indicates how many product variants are there under each brand/ product line.

· In a retail store the various departments and sections are the segmentation of the entire store done as per customer type
· and the placement of merchandise on the various fixtures based on the layout inside the store are positioning of the merchandise
· and the product width and depth available is again for targeting the various types of customers inside the store.

Store layout:
Store layout should entertain customers to move around the store to purchase more merchandise than they may have originally planned. Before a store is set up the layout of the store is prepared. It involves the elevation plan for placing of fixtures on the walls and the floor; it shows how the walkway in a store should be and how much spacing needs to be given between departments and sections. Store layout is nothing but a Plano-gram of the store. It is similar like a map. It has information related to the sections, the fixtures used, area each section has occupied, which product is displayed where, and so on.

Grid layout: (Courtesy: Retailing Management-Levy and Weitz.)
It is mostly used in small grocery and FMCG store operations. It contains long gondolas of merchandise and aisles in a repetitive pattern. It isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement. Customers are not naturally drawn into the store.

o Racetrack track layout:
The race track layout facilitates the goal of getting customers to visit multiple departments. It is a type of store layout that provides a major aisle to facilitate customer traffic that has access to the store’s multiple entrances. This aisle “loops” through the store, providing access to smaller self contained departments.
The race track layout encourages impulse purchasing.

o Free-Form:
A free form layout arranges fixtures or aisles asymmetrically.Its successively used primarily in small specialty stores or within the departments of large stores. In this relaxed environment, customers feel like they are at someone’s home. Fixtures are likely to be expensive, hence customers are not naturally drawn towards the store. Hence personal selling becomes more important. Theft is higher in such layouts.