Best Practices for Displaying Inventory to Increase Sales

Arranging inventory in a consignment or resale store can increase sales and attract customers, generating revenue that would otherwise be missed. To arrange inventory well, a few aspects need to be considered: the design and flow of a store’s layout, inventory organization and management, and inventory tracking. Here, we lay out research-backed practices that have a proven track record of success in the retail and resale industries—check out other Retail Practices You Should Use at Your Consignment Store here.

Designing the Store Layout and Flow

When a customer enters a store, they need to be guided through the inventory. The guiding principle here is: show customers quality inventory. Create a store layout that makes customers engage with more of your inventory. An efficient store layout will help customers locate and buy the inventory they want and expose them to inventory they might not have otherwise noticed.

Four Basic Consignment Store Layouts

There are basic kinds of store layout designs:

• Grid Layout: This can work for stores that have lots of inventory, especially of the same size. While this is an efficient layout, it lacks a personal and creative feeling. Because this does not create an engaging customer experience, this should only be used when maximizing display space is necessary.

  

• Loop (Racetrack) Layout: This layout is for stores that want to guide their customers through the store, guiding them toward product arrangements and giving them a specific, designed experience of the store.

  

• Free-Flow Layout: This layout is useful for stores with smaller, curated inventories (think of little islands of inventory). It encourages a relaxed exploration of your inventory. Consider angling the displays 45 degrees to increase product visibility and create a “pinball” effect—customers bounce from one section to another

  

• Mixed Layout: Stores can combine elements of all three of these kinds of layouts as they best fit the space and their inventory. 

These basic layouts can be modified like the “pinball” layout mentioned above or the “boutique layout” which is a specific kind of free-flow layout that divides a store into distinct mini-boutiques, showcasing certain items together. 

Different kinds of stores will want to use different kinds of layouts. But for many consignment stores, a blend of the “race-track” and free-flow design is the surest way to customize the customer path to show them specific products along their way through the store and to encourage relaxed browsing.

Inventory Placements and Sections to Increase Sales

Arranging inventory and designing the store layout should be tackled at the same time because they will influence each other. When arranging inventory on the floor, it is best to highlight the best items and group items logically (tops, pants, shirts). This arranging process has three steps:

1. Group inventory logically

2. Divide the store floor plan or "racetrack" into zones

3. Strategically place inventory groups in the zones

By grouping inventory and displaying inventory strategically, customers will be able to find what they are looking for and be exposed to the inventory you highlight. 

When strategizing where to place inventory groups, imagine the store from the customer’s perspective as they travel the “racetrack.” Popular or high-value inventory groups should be placed in high-traffic areas (near the entrance, in main aisles, or at bottle-necks). Research has documented that this simple but powerful strategy can greatly increase customer engagement and sales.

Common Inventory Groups

Stores that specialize in distinct kinds of inventory will group items differently. But these are a few common types of inventory groups that will engage customers and help them find what they are looking for:

• Men's/women's/children's and similar groups

• Clearance or sale

• Designer brands

• Accessories

• New arrivals

• Themed sections (workwear, evening wear, casual attire)

• Vintage or retro

• Sustainable or eco-friendly

These groups of inventory can be placed in key zones and focal points in a store. Note: these groups are also great to highlight on social media—here is another article on Social Media for Consignment Stores.

Unique Store Zones and Focal Points 

As a reminder, zones or focal points are distinct spaces in a store or along the customer's path through the store. Not all zones or focal points are equal. A consignment or resale store will want to pay special attention to a few zones and capitalize on their unique features.

Note: Research-Proven Display Tactics

Before jumping into store zones, it should be noted that there are specific, research-proven display tactics of increasing customer engagement and exploration of a store’s inventory, which in turn increase sales. These are:

• Using mannequins (for numerous reasons, mannequins create very high levels of engagement)

• Color blocking (grouping items by color)

• Lighting/spotlighting (using literal lights)

• Touch-friendly displays (touching fabrics, picking up items)

• Cross-merchandising (putting complementary products together like shoes and socks)

• Clear signage (descriptions like “seasonal hats” or offers like “buy one, get one”)

These display tactics will be mentioned throughout the discussion of zones and focal points. 

Window Displays

This is a critical zone for stores to focus on because when it is designed well it can increase foot traffic. Mannequins in window displays are perhaps the single most effective way to bring passers-by into a store. They can display multiple kinds of inventory (cross-merchandising), customers can imagine themselves wearing items, and they can be lit and color-blocked. While windows are ideal, this zone does not always have to be a literal window.

Stores can use the space in front of their shop in a number of creative ways to attract passersby. If it is not possible to display curated inventory, stores can place signage outside announcing promotions, seasonal inventory, and new arrivals.

Store Entrance

This is a customer’s first impression of being inside the store. Communicate as much as possible—that does not mean pile everything in, but consider what customers will experience. What do they see? What do they hear? What do they feel? This will significantly influence a customer’s decision to stay and shop, or not. 

In this area, it is best to display new and bestselling inventory. New could mean inventory that is trending for that season (winter jackets as the weather is turning colder), newly arrived in the store, or trending items. This tells customers that the store has a curated, relevant selection of inventory. 

Signage and direction is also important. Stores will want to blend guiding customers into other zones with an inviting, open feel. The signage, placement of inventory racks and tables, and displays will ideally serve as an expert tour guide, gently guiding customers to specific attractions while encouraging freedom to explore. 

Power Walls and Promotional Sections

The display window and the store entrance are natural elements that every store has, but power walls and promotional sections are manufactured. These should utilize parts of the store that are highly visible, e.g. the wall on the right-hand side after entering a store. While every section and display of inventory should use some of the tactics mentioned above, power walls and promotional sections need to be prioritized. Mannequins, color blocking, signage, etc., should all be utilized here. 

Power walls and promotional sections are not simply ways to sell the items on display, they are also eye-catching spaces that draw customers to them. While visibility is key, stores should also strategically place these so that customers need to travel through other product sections to reach them. Consider what inventory should be placed in these high-traffic areas on the way to these eye-grabbing sections. 

Promotional sections that are discounted can be especially helpful for clearing out inventory that is close to expiring. This clears out inventory that has not sold and is taking up shelf space; stores will be able to get some profits that they might have missed out on. 

The Checkout Counter

A common inventory strategy (common because it works) is the “impulse buy” items near the checkout counter. An impulse buy item is typically low-cost, high-margin items, i.e. things that customers can easily add to their purchase like accessories, small seasonal items, discounted items, etc. 

Rotating Inventory

By rotating inventory, consignment and resale stores can incentivize customers to return. When customers sense the scarcity of a specific kind of item, it creates an urgency for them to return and shop again. Additionally, rotating inventory creates a novelty excitement. Scheduling inventory rotations around key timeframes will increase the likelihood of customers returning to explore a store’s products. 

When to Rotate Consignment and Resale Inventory

Inventory rotations can be broken down into two kinds: minor rotations and major rotations. Minor rotations include changing the outfit of a mannequin, changing items in displays, and changing inventory on racks and tables. Major rotations are more drastic changes like changing the season and all the inventory displayed on the power wall or promotional section. If dealing with a lot of inventory that will not sell, you can also check out Dealing with "Death Piles" and Excess Inventory.

Minor Rotations

Research shows that regular consignment and resale shoppers visit every two to six weeks, and occasional shoppers every two to four months. This means that stores will benefit from making minor inventory rotations every two to six weeks. These changes do not need to be drastic, but they should be noticeable; a good way to ensure this is by using one or more of the aforementioned display tactics (color-blocking, lighting/spotlighting). It can also be as simple as changing the items in a touch-friendly display section. Customers will sense the scarcity of inventory and feel the novelty of the changes. Basically, they get FOMO. If a store does not have enough inventory to make such regular rotations, rearrangements can serve a similar effect without expiring or moving items out. 

Major Rotations

The most obvious major rotations are seasons and holidays, and these are also the most effective kinds of rotations—you can check out How Your Consignment Store Can Make the Most of Christmas Shopping here. The natural rhythms of the calendar are going to be the best guide as to when major rotations should occur. These are terrific opportunities to rotate the items in one of the unique zones (the window display, the power wall, etc.). Again, research shows that these kinds of inventory rotations and seasonal displays increase customer engagement and spending.

Inventory Management to Streamline Arrangement

If consignment and resale stores want to group products for specific zones, color-block items, organize impulse-buy items, auto-schedule expiring items, and rotate inventory, they will also want to categorize and track inventory to maintain inventory organization with an inventory management system like ConsignCloud.

Organizing Inventory

When processing new inventory, stores can “tag” items with colors, dates, seasons, and more. So if a store wants to begin collecting fall inventory in the summer and plan for a fall powerall, they can tag these items during the intake process and even have that information displayed on the item’s label. This way, when a store wants to make a major inventory rotation at the start of the fall season, they can quickly identify all their items that belong to the “Fall 2024” tag and even have it labeled as “For Power Wall” or “For Mannequin,” thus streamlining the rotation process. This could also be done for minor inventory rotations, with items tagged and labeled as “Rotation A,” "Rotation B," a store could quickly identify and swap displayed items.

Automated Discouting Schedule for Expiring Consignment Items

If stores want to discount items that have been sitting, they can create scheduled discounts that automatically apply when they reach a certain date. For example, when creating the “Fall 2024” tag, they could schedule a discount date. That way, when the fall season starts to pass to winter, all “Fall 2024” items will be automatically discounted at the time of the purchase. 

Recap

To pull everything together, consignment stores can design the layout of their store and display inventory in specific ways to increase customer engagement and increase sales. A recommended layout is a mix of the "racetrack" and free. Next, stores can group their inventory into distinct groups which will be displayed in specific zones in their store. There are uniquely valuable zones that all consignment stores need to focus on: window displays, the store entrance, the power wall and promotional sections, and their checkout counter. Rotating inventory through these zones will keep customers coming back to see what is new. Inventory management software like ConsignCloud can help keep track of inventory groups and inventory rotations.