It All Starts With the List

The challenges to store designers today are immense. One thing has never changed, though: Effective store design starts with understanding the consumer mentality. So what’s driving today’s shopper?

It starts, according to a New York Times article, with “the list.” Consumers now are “very disciplined in terms of making sure that they don’t go beyond what they have on their shopping lists,” Kathryn Tesija, Target’s executive vice president of merchandising, recently told investors.

That might be especially true for an out-of-work dad doing more of the family shopping these days. Nobody deviates from a list in hand less than a dad – especially a dad with three small kids in tow who wants to get out of the store as fast as he can.
And then there’s the more-important-than-ever price tag – and the related coupon. At Walmart, reported The Times, lower grades of meat are outselling higher-grade cuts. Ground beef outsells steak, chicken outsells beef, and pasta is growing fastest of all.
Sales of motor oil, filters and tires are among Walmart’s top sellers. “Anything that helps [the consumer’s] car last longer,” John Fleming, Walmart’s chief merchandising officer, told The Times, “because they’re not buying new cars.”

Home Depot said it’s experiencing a spike in basic repair and maintenance products — plumbing items, roofing materials, caulk. And Craig Menear, executive vp for merchandising at Home Depot, told his investors that vegetable and herb sales are thriving because “more customers are opting to grow their own vegetable gardens.”
And people are frequenting the OTC medicine aisles of their supermarkets and drugstores. Those with jobs want to stay healthy for fear of jeopardizing those jobs with too many sick days. Those without jobs may also be without health insurance. So, reported The Times, Walmart says sales of vitamins are robust. So are sales of non-prescription medications – especially sleep aids, pain relievers and antacids.

That all said, what can store design do for today’s shopper? For starters, at least give them enough good lighting so they can see their shopping lists, labels, coupons and price tags.