Retail Space For Lease: How Much Room Do You Really Need?

Opening a store? Don't overdo it on rental space! Our guide will help you figure out just how to size out that perfect retail spot for your biz. Start getting smart about space needs today!

Now you're picturing that dream retail store: all the bright colors of the displays, the sea of eager customers, and smooth flow of sales. But back to the reality check: Either it's a space that's stifling and fraying or too wide too much drains away. Finding just the right place is a constant trial. 

The lack of room hinders growth, too much creates losses. This will be the guide in defining your most accurate ideal retail space by including considerations of inventory, customer movement, operational requirements, and industry values. All these will guarantee your friendly, balanced, efficient environment within which your business can succeed as it grows into the future.

Assess Current and Future Needs for Inventory 

Basis of Ascertaining Retail Space-Evidence Needs: Are Inventory Needs Today and Tomorrow What indeed: If not just what you have, but what you anticipate needing.

Take Inventory of Your Existing Stock

Compute space required by present inventory: Measure current stock in terms of length, width, and height of products as well as any required shelving, racks, and storage containers: Document this information also very carefully.

Example: If you sell clothing, measure the racks' widths and depth for folded items. If you sell books, calculate the linear feet of shelf space required for your current inventory.

Include room for growth and expansion: Do not plan just for today. Consider projected future sales increases and potential additions to product lines. A good rule of thumb is to add a buffer of 20-30% to the amount of space needed today for inventory.

Provide more space for new product lines or future seasonal offerings in your establishment. A seasonal gift store, for example, is likely to have additional inventory during the holidays.

Identify Your Ideal Product Display

Your method of displaying products determines how customers will experience an environment and how much potential they can tap into for sales.

Consider the size and layout of your product displays: Different types of products need various display formats. For cloth, you may need to have mannequins and display tables, while for electronics, you may have to create areas for demonstrations and interactive displays.

Visual merchandising is very critical. Plan to display in a way that looks appealing and draws customers in. Plan for the height and accessibility of the displays so that they can be used by all customers. A high traffic area and the checkout; they need to have space: High-traffic areas include entrances, exits, and checkout counters. It prevents congestion and promotes smooth processing of customers through the area.

Space in the checkout area must allow for queuing, bagging, and payment processing. Impulse purchase displays can be nearby to maximize its sales potential.

Greatly Calculate Your Customer Traffic and Flow

An important part of establishing a comfortable and high-efficient shopping atmosphere is your knowledge about your customer traffic count and movement pattern.

Estimate Your Average Daily Foot Traffic

Historical records or industry-average figures can be used for estimates: If you have an existing business, an examination of your sales figures and counts helps in estimating average daily foot traffic. For new businesses, it is intelligent to research the industry averages for similar retail stores within the area. 

For example, a boutique in a busy downtown area is bound to witness more foot traffic compared to a specialty store located in suburban locations. Gathering data from the local chamber of commerce or retail association proves handy.

Adjust for seasonal variations: Retail approaches are frequently impacted by seasonal fluctuations in customer traffic. Therefore, it is necessary to plan for peak seasons like holidays or sales events to allow for increased customer volume.

Consider, for example, that a toy store will witness increased customer traffic during the holiday season, while a beachwear store will be benefiting from increased sales during the summer months.

Design for Efficient Customer Flow

Chart logical traffic routes that run through your store: Create a layout that allows customers to traverse the store in an organized and intuitive manner. No bottlenecks and no dead ends.

Consider the customer journey from entrance to exit. Your store layout should strongly encourage customers to browse its whole areas.

Space out customer movement in concert with browsing: Your customers should never feel rushed through your store. They need to be, indeed, encouraged to roam freely but should never be blockaded by congestion.

Aisle widths should allow for several customers and strollers to pass through comfortably, while enough space should be left around displays to allow customers to browse and interact with products.

Buffer Additional Operating Needs

Factor in Areas Set Aside for Back-End Functions

Storage, inventory management, and employee areas: Planning should consider areas for storage, inventory management, and employees. This includes areas for stock, offices, training rooms, or break rooms and restrooms. 

There has to be enough storage to manage the inventory so that the floor area is not cluttered. The employee areas should be comfortable for effective productivity so that the morale will be high.

For example, a restaurant needs a kitchen space, storage, and employee areas, whereas a small clothing boutique may only require a small back room for storage and employee breaks.

Consider Future Growth and Scalability

Have an appropriate provision for future expansion in your place as the business expands: You may want to consider expanding your retail space as you grow in business. If that is the case, you should probably consider a lease option that would offer future expansion or excellent flexibility in reconfiguration.

Avoid signing a lease that limits your ability to expand: review the lease agreements carefully to avoid those that will limit your ability to expand or modify your retail space.

Negotiate lease terms that allow future expansion or renewal options.

Identify the right retail space size.

Use Industry Benchmarks as a Start Point

Average square feet per customer: This is perhaps where the industry benchmarks can start helping in determining how much retail space you need. For example, many retail experts advocate allocating in a range of 10-15 square feet per customer.

Square footage per product category: Each category of product typically occupies a different amount of space. For example, furniture stores occupy a great deal of space when compared with jewelry stores.

Refine to Suit Your Unique Business Needs

It has to be a perfect fit for your business operations: The ideal space for a retail outlet is actually subjective and very specific to every retail business. The ideal consideration here is your target market, product mix and the induced experience you want to create for customers.

Strike a balance between efficiency, customer experience, and future growth: Aim for balance in good measure - between efficiency, customer experience, and future growth. Don't sacrifice customer comfort for savings, but don't spend unnecessary money, either.

Concluding 

Just being "just right," retail space has careful marking for planning that pays off to the building of an environment where customers can shop full of provision for all the traditional comforts while also ensuring that it augurs well for the business itself.

Ready to find the perfect retail space for your business? Work with a commercial real estate expert to assess your needs and identify the ideal property.