How To Use Corner Shelving

Corners in shops can tend to be dark, awkward areas that get neglected by customers and shop-owners alike, but they don't have to be!

By using corner shelving, you can really make the most of your shop corners. These units are free standing and are angled to slot into the corner as a continuation of your shelving, leaving you free to put products on the shelves as normal! Available in a range of different sizes, these versatile display units can be used for any products for an effective display. We have a variety of units ranging from 1.8 to 2.1m tall, with base widths from 300mm to 570mm, giving you options of how wide you want the unit and how tall. Depending on your products and customer base, it is worth considering how high you want to place your products and whether you need a wider base to display products that may not sit so well on narrower or higher shelves.

When filling your corner shelves, it's a good idea to put popular, frequently bought items in the corner as it then draws people down your aisles, meaning they are exposed to more of your products and more likely to make impulse purchases as they pass by.  

Be sure to use enough lighting in the corners to make sure your products are well lit, it's no good leaving your products in the dark! Lighting can make all the difference, so use it carefully and illuminate those products to get them flying off the shelves. 

Your Store Decor

Decorating a store is very, very individual and of course depends on the sort of shop, the sort of products you sell and the size of the premises, not to mention the budget you're on. So when it comes to decorating and dressing up your store, you need to bear in mind your target audience and think creatively. 

For the general shop theme, colours set tone and mood in a shop, so bear in mind the type of atmosphere you want to create. Research colours and effects, for example, red and orange in a food shop can promote a feeling of hunger, whereas pastel hues and whites can be calming and relaxing, which is ideal in a shop selling bath salts and spa products. Spend time considering the mood you want in the store and carefully select your colour scheme. 

Creating eye catching displays are a great way of drawing a customer's attention to a product that otherwise they would have glossed over. Such displays need a clever use of colour (but not too many different ones) otherwise the overall look will be tacky and childish (unless, of course, you are advertising children's products!). So pick your colours carefully and use them to brighten your shop and create focus points to attract customers to a particular promotion or sale. 

The good thing about our units at Shelving4Shops is that they are versatile and re-usable, so you can rework it each time you need a new display. Pegboards are fantastic for promotions as they are so easy to work with and are quick to amend or rearrange when you need to change over a product or advertise a special deal. They are also ideal for hanging items, such as necklaces or signs, for example, and give a bigger space to create really eye catching displays. Don't forget the minor details either, such as the finishing touches. Whether it's a particular piece of artwork behind the counter or a bowl of sweets for customers to help themselves to, it's the small touches will get your store remembered.

All About Us!

Shelving4Shops was born under the supervision of parent company Shoptek UK Ltd. Shoptek are one of the leaders of the market, in the sourcing and reselling of supermarket shelving and shop equipment. 

Shelving4Shops goal was to provide a high quality, suitable and affordable alternative when used shelving was not available, giving our customers options when it came to fitting out their shops. We have over 15 years of experience within the retail shelving sector, which we use to give you the best service possible when you are dealing with us. Our team has a wealth of knowledge to help you build up, match or add to your current system. We also can offer advice on the best shelving for your particular retail area, advising on how best to utilise and maximise your display and space available. 

We have a vast network of contacts working on the ground within the world's major manufacturing centres. We are constantly on the lookout for new, stronger, more reliable and cheaper equipment, to update and expand our selection that we can offer our clients. We know that kitting out a shop with all the right equipment is an expensive business, so we try and source the most cost effective equipment to help you make your business work. We source as much used shelving as we can to give our customers the choice of helping the environment and reduce outgoings, recycling is great but can be expensive, so we try and do as much as we can to help you save money!

Shelf Risers and Dividers

When displaying your products it is important to really think about how you want them to come across. For example, just think of the January sales, our lasting memory of them tends to be chaotic, messy and a fight to ever find anything! So when it comes to display, it's best to make sure customers can see the products they're after and keep them looking neat and orderly. This also makes it easier for you as a store owner to see when products are running low on the shelves and replenish them, making keeping track of sales simpler. 

Our shelf dividers make your shelves neat and tidy, keeping products apart so they are easy and quick for customers to pick up. Shelf risers sit at the front of your shelves and prevent items from falling off onto the floor. Damaged products never sell and cost you money (and time if they make a mess!) so it's worth making sure your products are secure. Shelf risers keep your shelving looking smart and are essential, whether your shelf is flat or tilted. These accessories come in either chrome or acrylic, so you can choose which is the best look for your store. Epos ticket strips attach to the shelf risers to make sure prices and information are easy to see, so customers know exactly what they are buying and how much each item costs. Customer's don't like having to search around or ask for the price of products and are more likely to leave and take their business elsewhere, so make sure you clearly label each and every product.

Shelving accessories really do serve as an affordable option to efficient display and promote your products, optimising your available shelving space and offering the best shopping experience for your customers.

Light Up Your Products!

Two important studies, conducted in late 2013, looked into retail lighting and how it affected customer behaviour in stores. The first study examined the extent to which lighting influenced consumers' subjective preferences and looked at three areas - the window, the store and shelving displays.

With a window display, people preferred vertical lighting, which make products stand out more, and it was noted that the colour rendering was not such a factor here. When coming into the actual store though, brightness was not so much of an issue and instead it was evident that people preferred warm lighting and moderate brightness. At around 3,000k and 4,000k people are at the most comfortable and this comfort diminishes if the lighting goes above this. 

The study found that varying the lighting was also significant, for example, changing the colour of the lighting at certain times of the day or when a specific promotion was on. Smart design of the installation can encourage people to follow tracks around a store and you can use that to get people deep into your store. When it came to shelving displays, it was evident that people preferred more lighting here, as naturally they wanted good light to be able to see products clearly ahead of purchasing them. 

The second study used eye tracking technology to monitor people's instinctive reactions to different lighting schemes and where their eyes looked. The most significant finding was that people's eyes were drawn naturally to areas of contrast, where dark and light areas overlapped, rather than the most brightly lit areas. Another interesting conclusion to note was that people were drawn to products that were at head height, showing that anything above or below that is often overlooked. To draw more attention to these it's worth using dynamic lighting to change the brightness, or these products need raising to face height. 

When the findings were tested in a store in Hamburg, it was concluded that people's eyes were instinctively drawn to areas where the lighting was active and were more attracted to blue lighting, over any other colour. 

To put the findings to good use, it's worth thinking about the colours and the brightness used in your store. For example, use lighting to draw people towards your shelving and think about using active or blue lighting to highlight unloved areas of your shop.

Spice Up Your Store

Think of your convenience store as a blank canvas. There is so much potential to make your store stand out to get your store talked about and attract more customers. You can develop your own theme and really get creative to draw customers into your store and get those products flying off the shelves.

To start with, why not draw up a floor plan to get an idea of how you want your store to look and to be laid out? Make sure your aisles are not too narrow and there is plenty of lighting as people don't like to be in spaces that feel claustrophobic! Remember, you can use gondola shelving to create your aisles. Shelving4Shops has a range of different heights (from 1.4m to 2.1m high), so have a think about how high you want your aisles to be. Something to bear in mind when deciding on product placement is that people are more likely to take notice of products that are face height, so for things that are above or below, it may be worth investing in some quality lighting to make sure lower or higher products get noticed. Also make sure your customers know what the prices are, so take a look at Shelving4Shops shelf barkers to make sure they have all the information they need to make a purchase. 

There are loads of great store design ideas to take inspiration from. Vintage themed stores are increasingly popular, as are retro colours such as pastel blues, yellows or reds. You can always pick up vintage furniture and quirky decorations at charity shops, for example, so keep an eye out and get creative and inventive! Remember that although decoration costs time and money, the return will be worth it. Unique, stand-out stores really get talked about and people will make the effort to come specifically to your store if they've heard it talked about! 

Pegboard Gondolas

Pegboard Gondolas are ideal for using to create aisles when you need pegboard as opposed to shelving. Pegboard Gondolas can also give the impression of more spacious aisles, even though they have a good sized base of 370mm, they don't have the shelves jutting out into the aisle. Here at Shelving4Shops we have a range of different height Gondolas, including 1.4m, 1.6m, 1.8m and 2.1m high units. 

Pegboard Gondolas are perfect for creating aisle displays for displaying products that don't sit particularly well on shelves or that you want to highlight, so with pegboard you can really maximise on their features and promote them, giving customers a better view of the product. You can create some truly fantastic displays, so think outside the box and get inventive! Remember to use different heights, as the hanging hooks are removable, so you can literally put them anywhere, creating really eye catching and interesting displays. They are also ideal for making sure long, hanging products don't get tangled, for example, necklaces or leads. 

Shelving4Shops also has a range of pegboard wall bay units, so you can make the most of the wall space by putting these pegboard units right up against them. Again this gives you great opportunities for displays whilst really optimising on the space in your store.