What are your shelving design options?
If you are in the process of shopfitting your store and considering your options, you are in the right place. In this post we offer a quick guide to selecting an appropriate shelving design. We give a brief overview of the available shelving systems and consider their advantages and disadvantages.
Shelving design options for your store
When it comes to an shelving systems, there is no shortage of available options. If you want to have an efficient shelving design, you need to carefully consider each option. There are various things you need to take into consideration in the process. The list includes the available floor space, the overall layout and design as well as the shelving strategy. Keeping these things in mind, let us see what shelving systems you can choose from.
Generic and boring? Gondola shelving and design
The first shelving system you might be thinking of is the so-called gondola shelving. Gondola shelving is commonly used in retail stores and shops, mainly due to their versatility and resistance. This former property is extremely important from a design perspective. You can mix and match pieces of various shapes, sizes and colour to adapt to the overall shelving design of your pharmacy or store. This means that they are easy to adapt to the overall design and to the products you wish to display. Besides this, you can also use gondola shelves to create and recreate an efficient floor-plan. Without careful consideration, however, gondola shelving can become very generic and boring. So if you decide to use this type of shelving, do it with taste and creativity. Complement them with the right accessories and choose the right finish to give your shop a unique feel.
Add end caps for an efficient design
If you want to make sure that you do not end up with a boring and monotone shelving design using gondola shelves, do not forget to add end caps. They blend in nicely with the existing gondola shelves in your store and can be a nice complement. You can add end caps to the end of an aisle to display temporarily available products or ones that are in high-demand. This gives customers the ability to discover new products in a tactile way and gives the products on display a competitive edge. End caps are especially useful if you need more display space, but you do not want to add an entire gondola section.
Thinking about an alternative? Consider slatwall shelves and panels
If you are not sure about gondola shelving units, slatwall shelves and panels can be a good alternative. The main advantage of slatwall panels is that they do not take up a lot of valuable floor space. You can fix them to existing walls of leave them freestanding, which gives greater in-store mobility for your customers. Similarly to gondola shelves, slatwall panels are easily customised, allowing you to easily adapt to any type of product or need. You can use a wide range of floating shelves which are easily snapped into place using the available slats. This gives slatwall panels a competitive edge when it comes to shelving design. Not only can you opt for floating shelves of different colours and materials, but you can also quickly and easily change them to spice things up a bit from time to time. The main disadvantage of slatwall panels and shelves is that they are mostly meant to hold lighter items.
Are wall units incompatible with modern shelving design?
While gondola shelves and slatwall panels are the first things you might consider when it comes to choosing the appropriate shelving design, do not forget about wall units either. Wall units are less mobile and far less versatile than the shelving systems we discussed above. Nonetheless they can be extremely useful if you want to fill an empty wall in your store to visually break up the space. They contrast nicely with slatwall panels and gondola shelves and ensure that your products remain visible. Wall units come is a wide range of colours and materials. This way they can fit nicely with the shelving design you wish to choose. Moreover, depending on the material, wall units can be quite durable and sturdy.
Wall end display units
Similarly to end caps, you can use wall end display units to complement your wall units. Doing so you can expand the existing space without compromising too much floor space. You can use wall end display units to showcase new and exciting products and to promote impulse buys. By adding hooks, baskets or slatwalls you can significantly improve the shelving design of your store.
Display tables, countertop fixtures, baskets and racks
While gondola shelves, slatwall panels and wall units are the backbone of an efficient shelving design, you might also want to think about other options when it comes to displaying products that are only seasonally on offer, or when you want to capitalise on impulse and last-minute buys of your customer.
The best solution for these situations is to go for tabletop fixtures, baskets and racks. They are a nice addition to the existing shelving systems and can be a focal point for products you most want your customers to see. If selected and used properly they can nicely complement the shelving design implemented in your store. Do not forget about them.
Additional considerations for efficient shelving design
As you can see, there is no shortage of alternatives when it comes to shelving design. While we have briefly discussed the main aspects when it comes to choosing the appropriate combination of shelving systems, there are a few things you also need to keep in mind in the process. Thus, you need to consider the types of products you will want to display, and how likely they are to change. Also, do not forget that customers need space, so make your choice with the available floor space in mind.
From a design perspective however, the most important thing is that the type of shelving system you choose fits in well with the overall design and ambience of your store. Do not forget about versatility and customisation either. Will you want to change the layout and design from time to time? If so, try using gondola shelves or slatwall panels. What matters in the end is that you make your store stand out from the rest. Be creative, be different.
Still not sure how to choose the right shelving design for your store? No worries. Vision Shopfitters, a London-based shopfitting company can help. Working with several manufacturers, we design and build highly customised shelving systems to maximise sales and customer satisfaction. Contact us for more details.
