Brands sell an image to consumers through various means, one of the most effective methods is through the store environment. The store environment refers to the store location, layout and instore stimuli. These aspects affect consumers’ perceptions, beliefs and cognitive behaviour. One of the basic store objectives is to get consumers to enter the store. The environment serves an imperative role in the stores selection process. A suitable criterion that a store should follow includes cleanliness, clearly priced labels, friendly staff and well stocked shelves. The store as a whole needs to make a significant and lasting impression. Stores need to ensure space productivity by ensuring all those that enter the store become customers that buy products.
2 STORE LOCATION
2.1 CHOOSING A LOCATION
Choosing a location for your store is a critical step in business planning. The difference between selecting the right or wrong location could be the difference between business failure and success.
Elements that are crucial when selecting a store location is the space that is required along with the amount of storage needed. Depending on the type of product a firm sells, it would require a certain type of location. Convenience goods require easy access, allowing the customer to quickly make a purchase. A mall would not be a good location for convenience goods. This product type is lower priced and purchased by a wide range of customers. Specialty goods are more unique than most products and customers generally won't mind traveling out of the way to purchase this type of product. In terms of cognition, consumers undergo a number of mental processes regarding the store location. A location is usually one of the most important elements customers use in choosing a store.
This is because convenience forms a major part of the consumer’s cognitive decision making. Again, the type of store is paramount in terms of what is convenient for the