How To Choose The Right Retail Shelving

When it comes to choosing shop shelving, there are five main questions you need to ask yourself. Is the shelving? … 

1. Strong
2. Versatile
3. Modular
4. Easy to assemble
5. Simple to adjust

Why? Because retail environments need to be able to adapt and change – sometimes quickly. It’s not just about updating your displays to keep the look of the space fresh for customers; it’s also about having the freedom to quickly adjust the units so you can move stock around and highlight your hero products.

This means strong, modular shelving that you can swap around in just a few minutes offers the best value for money.

We understand how busy retail environments work, which is why our super-strong, solid steel Retail Shelving unit is the best place to start building your modular system.

Our reinforced shelves are sturdy and have a high load capacity, so they can withstand the heavy, day-to-day use that commercial shelving requires.

It can seem a little daunting when you’re planning out the best way to use a space, but our units come in a huge range, from single ‘ready-made’ units to multiple bays or ‘Create-Your-Own’ using a choice of components to stylise your personalised shelving system. Retail shelving is available as Wall, Gondola and corner units, so it is easy to find something that will fit neatly and professionally while maximising the use of your shop floor.

Our retail shelving also uses the standard 50mm pitch system, which means they are compatible with existing shelving used throughout Europe.

Do you need angled shelving for easy viewing of the same height products? No problem. Or the option to add a perforated back panel for Euro hooks, to hang packets and small boxed products? Easy.

And while we offer all our retail shelving in Jura White (RAL 9001), Silver (RAL 9006), Dark Grey (RAL 7015) and Black (RAL 9005) as standard, why not ring the changes? We provide the shelving in more than 30 custom RAL colours, ideal if you want to complement your branding.

Cleaning and sanitising have never been more important, and with retail shelving it’s high-gloss, smooth and top-quality finish, not only ensures it is built to last, but it is also easy to keep clean. Use a damp cloth to keep dust-free, or for simple clean-ups, use a soft brush manually or attached to a vacuum cleaner.

The Right Shelf for the Right Space

It doesn’t matter how big or small your retail space is, if it is well planned out, you can display a surprising amount of goods, whether perishable or packaged food and bottles in a supermarket, deli, or greengrocers, or from homewares to medical supplies, and from clothing to sports shops.

First thing to decide is if you are going to have Single-Sided Wall Bays or Double-Sided Gondola Bays – or a combination of them both. You can choose a single bay or use multiple bays side by side that form a run of shelving across the wall or in the middle of the floor.

One thing to note, whether using a gondola bay – a free-standing unit with shelving on either side – or a wall bay, you will need to complete your retail shelving system with an end of run, which is an additional upright and base leg that ensures the shelving is finished off neatly.

Each gondola bay is supplied with one upright and two base legs, so you’ll need a gondola end of run, which is an additional upright and two base legs. End bays come supplied with two uprights and two base legs.

Pre-set runs of bays are available to purchase with these finishing components already included, so you are set to go, knowing everything is in place.

Next step is to decide on your choice of back panels: plain, to be used with or without shelves, slatwall, to accommodate slatwall hooks, or perforated, for use with Euro hooks. The beauty of our retail shelving is that you can mix and match to suit your changing product ranges.

Finally – EPOS ticket edges or kick plinths. EPOS tickets come in choice of lengths and colours, which you can match to your units or select a brand colour for your pricing and promotions to really stand out.

Kick Plinths provide a vital safety and decorative element to the bottom of your units’ base. The rubber profile strip offers a seal between the unit to the floor, preventing customers tripping under the unit while keeping the space between the two, clean and clear. We have a huge range of accessories, including risers and dividers, to keep your stock firmly in place and in its own zones, respectively. Clip strips are perfect to hang a column of packets or smaller merchandise from the side of units and work great as spotlight item for the impulse purchases.

Illuminate your displays with 100W LED shelf lighting. Low-wattage, cost-effective and with up to 50,000 running hours, it’s a simple installation to make your products genuinely take centre stage.

Components are also available for when you need to add extra shelves and uprights to allow you to easily to expand or change your system.

Measuring Up

Make sure you choose the height, width and base depth that best suits your space. For wall shelving, begin by measuring your available space, allowing for any obstructions, windows, doors, etc.

Ask questions such as, would a certain height of unit provide enough room for your merchandise? Would a smaller height look lost on the wall, or does it warrant the taller size? Is the width of the space restricted, so having a taller unit would provide the added storage space you need? Are your products aimed at children, so the lower height would be more appropriate?

There are two widths: 1,000mm and 1,250mm per unit. Therefore, when connecting units, you will need to think in multiples of these sizes. However, it you are creating your own, or linking a few ready-made kits, you can mix widths for a more specific dimensional system. Depth for all wall units is 500mm.

With that in mind, you can then decide on the number and depth of shelving you would like, if you are including shelves in your system set-up. You can use shelves all the same depth from top to bottom, or you can stagger them, so you have narrow shelves at the top and deeper ones at the bottom. With shelves available in depths of 200mm, 250mm, 300mm, 370mm, 470mm, 570mm, 670mm and 770mm, there is ample opportunity to be creative with your shelving displays.

The versatility of the units also means the shelf brackets can be set straight or at a 20° or 35° incline. You may find that your displays make better use of sloping shelving, and that’s where this incline functionality comes into play.

For gondola shelving, like the wall shelving, has panels that come in a choice of plain, slatwall and perforated styles. As previously mentioned, when buying separate units, the end of run needs to be accounted for.

They are ideal for creating eye-catching, easy-selection, centre-aisle shelving displays and form part of a traditional and professional style of shop shelving.

Layout

Whatever the size of your store, it’s important to draw up a detailed plan of your floor space so that you can maximise your stock (and your profits) and ensure your customers can find products in a logical and easy way. Creating a planogram is a good idea; this is a visual diagram or sketched plan that provides details on the placement of every product in a retail store.

Benefits of a planogram are

• Easy identification of the best visibility areas of your shop space
• Optimising shelf space for the merchandise you have on sale, and how much space is required for each product line
• Best placed selling potential to every square foot of retail space
• Satisfying customers with a better visual appeal- monitoring this process for their behaviour to predict future sales
• Tighter inventory control and reduction in out-of-stock items
• Easier product replenishment and instant visual guidelines for your staff
• Allowing for cross-sell product positioning
• Ability to create more striking and effective displays, items that need to be touched and felt at arm’s length

How you lay out your floor dictates the customer experience and the overall look and feel of your shop. Reviewing your planogram will give you the measure of sales, your range, customer behaviour and business growth, thus leading to extension of merchandise, storage, and premises.

If you’re selling groceries, speciality foods, homewares, hardware, books or toys, a grid plan could work best: not only does it maximise the space, but there are also plenty of opportunities to add end displays for promotions. The grid layout style is created by a series of parallel aisles and displays and guides customers around easily letting them find what they are looking for with ease.

   

You could also consider a loop plan, which makes best use of wall shelving around the edges of your shop, with island shelving in the middle and helps lead customers on a specific route. A diagonal display generally gives staff greater visibility of customers as it offers more open space. Made up of diagonally placed multiple islands with an aisle in between. Ideal for technology and electronic goods, beauty, and luxury brand stores.

For showrooms, furniture stores and home décor, a layout most suited is a forced-path plan, so guiding customers around the journey of your entire store and not missing anything on offer.

   

Of course, there’s nothing to stop you from doing a combination of floor designs - just make sure every centimetre is not wasted because an empty space eats into your profit margins.

Another vital consideration is the best place to put your checkout - is the most natural position at the end of the store, once customers have been guided all around the aisles? Would you prefer to be closest to the front window or door? Or perhaps the back of the shop is best, as it is closer to the stockroom or changing rooms?

There’s certainly no one-size-fits-all solution to this, so look at your plan carefully to see if your customers will have the most positive experience when it comes to layout and journey.

Your store layout obviously dictates how customers travel, but it’s important to consider your display.
Think about your hero products:

●  How visible are they, and should they be focal points? Stand in different areas of your shop and see how these displays look from those vantage points.
●  Can the customer get to them easily?
●  Is there appropriate signage?
●  Can you make the display stand out by adding props or creating a scene, such as a room layout or a complete outfit with accessories?
●  Could you highlight some shelving sections with good use of spotlights?

Assembling Your Units

We offer a quick turnaround on orders, which means you will be ready to build your units in no time. Thankfully, you don’t need an engineering degree to assemble our retail shelving units – it really couldn’t be simpler, and the only tools you’ll need are a rubber mallet and a spirit level to make sure everything is even.

Of course, all of our retail shelving units come with an easy-to-follow assembly guide, but you can also access them online, or for a quick overview, see below.

Need a helping hand?

There’s such a huge choice when it comes to ordering shelving, so if you aren’t sure what would work best for you, Contact our expert team to offer bespoke help when it comes to planning spaces and choosing the right products.

Visit our Knowledge Base, where you’ll find plenty of information about products and how best to use them.