Small Grocery Store Layout: 5 Mistakes That Cost You Sales

Your grocery store’s layout has the power to make or break your customers’ shopping experience. 

A well-designed floor plan and attractive displays will encourage shoppers to explore all your aisles and products — but a cluttered, confusing layout will result in empty carts and lost sales. 

So, how can you create the perfect small grocery store layout? Let’s dive in and explore five common mistakes grocers make, plus our top tips to avoid them.

Why Does Your Grocery Store Layout Matter?

Designing your grocery store’s layout isn’t just about maximizing space — it’s also about maximizing your customer satisfaction and profits. 

Let’s look at a few goals to keep in mind when building out your grocery store’s interior. Your layout should: 

• Welcome customers into your store and invite them to explore all of your aisles
• Guide them to the products on their grocery lists
• Encourage them to add additional items to their shopping carts and baskets

In other words, your grocery store’s layout acts as a silent salesperson, directly impacting your customers’ shopping behaviors and driving revenue. 

While your shoppers’ experience should be your top priority, your grocery store layout should also work for your team’s maintenance plan. Ensure there’s adequate space to keep your aisles clean, shelves neat, and displays well-stocked. 

What’s standing between your store and the perfect layout? Let’s look at five mistakes to avoid when designing your small grocery store floor plan — and what to do instead. 

1. Narrow Aisles

If you’re working with a small space, it might be tempting to pack your store with as many products as possible. 

However, cramped conditions cause cart traffic jams and shorten the amount of time customers are willing to spend in your store. As a result, they’ll spend more time navigating your aisles than exploring your offerings. 

Narrow aisles also mean you can’t restock during your busiest hours, leading to empty shelves, frustrated shoppers, and lost sales. 

To avoid these issues, ensure there’s adequate space around your store’s perimeter and in between your aisles. Ideally, two shopping carts can comfortably pass by each other. 

If you’re struggling to create enough space, consider investing in slimmer, taller shelving units. This will free up valuable floor space and provide vertical space for product storage. 

2. Inadequate Signage

Inadequate signage leads to unnecessary stress for your shoppers. When they can’t find their go-to items, they’ll waste time searching or leave without what they came for. 

That’s why we recommend investing in overhead signage to serve as a roadmap for customers, helping them find everything on their shopping list. Make sure your signage design matches your grocery store’s branding and uses a clear, large font for easy reading. 

Shelf labels are another crucial type of signage to help customers browse your offerings. Without them, customers will struggle to learn about your products and find options that fit their budgets. 

If your grocery store shelf labels need an upgrade, use your point of sale (POS) system to generate and print custom barcode shelf labels, or consider investing in electronic shelf labels. 

3. Confusing Departments and Categories

Improperly grouping items in your grocery store’s layout can confuse customers and cost you sales. 

For example, let’s say a customer has coffee grounds and coffee filters on their shopping list. If you place these items in different areas of your grocery store, they might forget the grounds or the filters — leading to a smaller basket size. 

Instead, create product categories and displays with cross-selling in mind. Consider what products complement each other and where customers will expect to find them. Here are a few more examples: 

• Place toppings like sprinkles and syrups on an endcap near your ice cream freezer
• Display single-serving chips and cold drinks near your deli department’s sandwich counter
• Put chips and dips on the same aisle

Thoughtfully designed departments create a more convenient shopping experience for customers and subtly encourage them to add additional items to their carts. 

4. Stale Displays

Stagnant displays lead to stagnant profits — which is why you should regularly refresh your grocery store’s layout. 

Set aside time quarterly to evaluate your current floor plan and experiment with different product placements. Don’t forget to ask your team for ideas! Since they’re constantly answering customers’ questions and helping them find products, they can help you identify areas for improvement.  

Regularly updating your grocery store’s layout might sound like a lot of work, so let’s look at three creative ways to keep things fresh: 

• Designate a display for seasonal products: Keep a centrally-located display available for exciting new seasonal items, like pumpkin-flavored treats in the fall and holiday desserts in the winter. 
• Promote a recipe of the week: Curate a selection of products to make a delicious meal to inspire customers every time they visit your grocery store. Print flyers with the recipe to take this idea to the next level! 
• Take advantage of your checkout counters: Your checkout counters are the perfect place to display impulse items like cold drinks, candy, and snacks. Regularly update these displays to showcase exciting new flavors. 

This flexible approach will help you continue meeting customers’ needs and introducing them to new products. 

5. Theft-Prone Product Placement

Our final piece of advice is to be extra careful when displaying commonly stolen items. 

Shoplifters do their best work in hidden corners of your store — which is why placing high-value items like alcohol and cosmetics on isolated aisles can increase the likelihood of theft and shrinkage. 

Instead, position high-theft items closer to your checkout counter or within view of staff members. This will deter potential thieves and make it easier to spot suspicious behavior. 

Run Your Grocery Store Like a Pro With IT Retail

Let’s recap our top tips for a stellar grocery store interior: 

• Ensure customers have enough space to comfortably navigate your store
• Use overhead signage and proper shelf labels to help customers find items
• Design your grocery store departments with easy navigation and cross-selling in mind
• Refresh your displays regularly — especially your seasonal and impulse items
• Place high-value, commonly stolen items in the most visible areas of your store

However, your layout is only one ingredient for grocery store success. To keep the shelves perfectly stocked, your checkout lines short, and your product selection fresh, you need the right POS system. 

IT Retail includes all the features you need to process transactions quickly and accurately, manage perishable inventory, build customer loyalty, and grow your grocery store. 

Plus, our team of grocery industry experts is available 24/7 to help you reach your goals. 

Take IT Retail for a spin by scheduling your live, personalized demo today.