Learn to Heat Map!

If you really want to see how your store looks and works for your customers, try this exercise: 

• Do a rough sketch of your store, with the sections marked out, the aisles, the cash wrap, etc. (See diagram.)

• Make multiple copies to track customers at different times of the day and on different days

• As each customer comes into the store, track their movements. Which way did they turn when they entered? Where did they stop? For how long? Did they pick up and examine merchandise? Did they pause and then move on?

Very quickly you will see a pattern and discover things about your store layout, merchandise, displays and, most importantly, dead zones 

Check out this great Heat Map from Amber Lovold of Politics & Prose in Washington, DC