Walmart: New Retail Design

Wal-mart, the biggest retailer in the world, does not rest on its laurels. A few days ago, I went to a Wal-mart in Newark, Ohio. My very first reaction had me stopping on my feet to see it all, this is different. All of a sudden, I was walking into a much brighter, cleaner, more open store. Everything that I had in my grocery list was visible -well, almost everything. There were bigger signs, lower aisles, wider corridors, 45 degree lanes... definitely a more inviting retail design.

Some time ago, I had read that Wal-mart was moving into a new direction, and would be changing their stores to improve the consumer experience. This initiative was part of their Project Impact model, a new initiative to turn their stores into a quick stop shop with friendlier and cleaner spaces. But how soon would I seeing or noticing the improvements of this retail giant? Soon enough.

On their website, Wal-mart writes: The new layout creates an open shopping environment with wider aisles that contain no product displays. Lower shelving throughout the store creates an improved sightline and directional signage on every aisle helps customers find what they are looking for quickly.

The new design is a responsible factor behind their recent performance improvements. Their inventory turn over has greatly reduced, offering the customer the chance to get what they need without the visual clutter around it. In the current economic downturn and in the middle of pre-holiday season, other retailers must be looking around for new ways to attract customers. Taking a look at Wal-mart's improvements, changing the retail design is one of them.

On my way out, I even had a double-sided receipt, a greener move. Now that the holiday season is about to begin, will we see other stores copying this concept? Or will we soon be seeing a better model?

In the mid time, (an early) Happy Holidays.