Retail Shelving: The Complete Guide for Store Owners
- Published
- By Ty Banks
Retail Shelving: The Complete Guide for Store Owners
When you’re opening a new retail store, renovating an existing location or simply looking for a better way to merchandise your products, choosing the right retail shelving is an important decision.
The right shelving system does more than hold your products. It can help you make better use of your floor space, organize merchandise, create clear shopping aisles and build a more professional retail environment.
For many retailers, gondola shelving is the foundation of the store. Its modular design allows retailers to create wall displays, center-store aisles and end displays while adapting the shelving to different products and merchandising requirements. Systems such as Lozier gondola shelving can also be configured with different shelves, backs, end solutions and accessories.
But not every store needs the same shelving configuration.
In this guide, we’ll cover the different types of retail shelving, how to choose the right system, what to consider when planning your store and how retail shelving can help you get more from your available space.
What Is Retail Shelving?
Retail shelving is a commercial shelving system designed specifically for displaying and organizing products in a retail environment.
Unlike basic storage shelving, retail shelving is designed with product presentation, customer access and merchandising in mind.
A good retail shelving system should help you:
- Display products clearly
- Make efficient use of floor space
- Organize merchandise by category
- Create easy-to-navigate aisles
- Keep products accessible to customers
- Adapt displays as your product mix changes
- Create opportunities for end-cap and promotional displays
Retail shelving is used in virtually every type of retail environment, including grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, convenience stores, pet stores and specialty retailers.
The Most Common Types of Retail Shelving
There are several types of shelving and display fixtures available to retailers. The right combination depends on your store layout, products, available space and merchandising strategy.
Lozier Island Gondola Shelving
Island gondola shelving is double-sided and is typically used to create aisles through the middle of a retail store.
Because customers can shop both sides of the unit, island gondolas allow retailers to merchandise a large amount of product within a relatively compact footprint.
Multiple sections can be connected together to create the desired aisle length.
Island gondolas are commonly used for:
- Grocery aisles
- Liquor displays
- Pharmacy merchandise
- Hardware
- Convenience stores
- General merchandise
Lozier Wall Shelving
Lozier Wall gondola shelving is designed to sit along the perimeter of your store.
Because it is single-sided, customers access the products from the front while the back of the fixture sits against the wall.
Wall shelving is useful for maximizing the usable space around the outside of a store while keeping products organized and accessible.
It can be particularly useful for:
- Higher-volume product categories
- Tall merchandise displays
- Products that need more vertical space
- Perimeter merchandising
- Creating continuous product runs
End Units and End Displays
The ends of your shelving runs are more than just a place to finish an aisle—they can become some of the most valuable merchandising space in your store. Lozier end units, also commonly referred to as end caps, provide retailers with an effective way to showcase products where customers naturally look and shop.
End units can be used to feature promotional products, seasonal merchandise, high-margin items, new products, or special offers. Because they sit at the end of a gondola run, they provide excellent visibility and can help draw customers’ attention to products they may not otherwise notice while shopping the main aisles.
Instead of allowing the end of an aisle to become unused or overlooked space, retailers can turn it into an additional product display that supports both merchandising and sales goals. End caps are particularly useful for rotating promotions throughout the year, giving retailers the flexibility to update displays as products, seasons, and promotions change.
Lozier shelving systems offer multiple end-display configurations designed to integrate with gondola shelving, making it easy to create a cohesive and functional retail environment. Whether you’re outfitting a new store, expanding an existing location, or upgrading your current shelving, Lozier end units can help you make better use of every available inch of retail space.
For liquor stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, convenience stores, and other retail environments, strategically placed end units can help increase product visibility, improve merchandising opportunities, and make your store easier to shop.
When properly merchandised, the end of every aisle can become another opportunity to put the right products directly in front of your customers.
How Do You Choose the Right Retail Shelving?
Choosing shelving starts with understanding your store.
Before selecting a shelving system, consider the following.
1. What Products Are You Displaying?
Your products should influence the type, size and configuration of your shelving.
Consider:
- Product size
- Product weight
- Packaging
- Product quantity
- Product turnover
- How customers shop the category
- Whether products are hung or shelved
- Whether products need special display accessories
For example, a hardware store may have very different shelving requirements than a liquor store or pharmacy.
Lozier offers a variety of standard, wire and basket shelving options designed for different merchandising applications.
2. How Much Floor Space Do You Have?
Your available floor space will determine how much shelving you can realistically install.
Before ordering fixtures, measure:
- Overall store dimensions
- Wall lengths
- Ceiling height
- Entrances and exits
- Windows
- Columns
- Checkout areas
- Existing fixtures
- Required customer aisles
- Accessible routes
Don’t simply try to fit as much shelving as possible into the store.
The goal is to find the right balance between product capacity and customer experience.
3. How Do You Want Customers to Move Through the Store?
Your shelving layout can influence how customers navigate the space.
Double-sided gondolas can create clear aisles and product categories, while wall shelving can utilize perimeter space.
Think about:
- Where customers enter
- Where you want them to go
- Which products should receive the most visibility
- Where promotional displays should be located
- How customers will move between categories
A good shelving system should support your store layout rather than work against it.
4. How Much Product Do You Need to Display?
Consider how much inventory needs to be on the sales floor.
If you regularly run out of shelf space, you may need:
- Additional shelving sections
- Deeper shelves
- More vertical space
- Better use of the base deck
- Additional displays
- Different merchandising accessories
On the other hand, using oversized fixtures for a small product assortment can make a store feel unnecessarily crowded.
5. Do You Need Flexibility?
Retail stores change.
Product assortments change. Promotions change. Seasonal merchandise changes. Your business may also grow.
That’s one of the major advantages of a modular shelving system.
Retail shelving systems such as Lozier gondola can be configured with different shelves and accessories and adapted as merchandising requirements change.
If you’re planning multiple locations, modular shelving can also make it easier to maintain consistency between stores.
Retail Shelving Sizes and Dimensions
One of the biggest mistakes store owners can make is choosing shelving based only on appearance.
Dimensions matter.
When planning a shelving system, you’ll want to consider:
- Shelf width
- Shelf depth
- Overall fixture height
- Base deck depth
- Aisle width
- Distance between fixtures
- Available wall space
Different products require different amounts of shelf depth.
A small packaged product may not need the same shelf depth as larger merchandise.
Lozier offers shelves and decks in a range of widths and depths, allowing retailers to configure shelving around their merchandise requirements.
How Tall Should Retail Shelving Be?
There isn’t one universal height that’s right for every store.
The right height depends on:
- Ceiling height
- Store size
- Product type
- Customer accessibility
- Desired product capacity
- Visual openness of the store
- Your overall merchandising strategy
Taller fixtures can provide more vertical merchandising space, while shorter fixtures can create a more open sightline throughout the store.
For Lozier shelving, standard upright heights are available in a range of sizes to suit different retail environments. Common upright heights include 30”, 36”, 48”, 54”, 60”, 66”, 72”, 78”, 84”, 90”, 96”, 102”, 108”, 114”, 120, 126″, 132”, 138″, 144″ and 96″.
Choosing the right height depends on the products being merchandised, available ceiling height, desired capacity, and how open you want the store to feel. Taller uprights maximize vertical display space, while shorter options can help maintain clear sightlines and create a more open shopping environment.
How Deep Should Retail Shelves Be?
Shelf depth should generally be based on the products you’re displaying and how much inventory you want available on the sales floor. Deeper isn’t automatically better. If shelves are unnecessarily deep, products can be harder to reach and the store can become less visually organized.
The goal is to choose a depth that gives you the right balance of capacity, accessibility and presentation.
For retailers using Lozier TL shelving, a wide range of shelf dimensions is available to accommodate different products and merchandising requirements. TL shelves are available in widths of 2′, 30″, 3′, and 4′, with depths ranging from 7″ to 31″. Available depths include 7″, 10″, 13″, 15″, 16″, 17″, 19″, 22″, 25″, 28″, and 31″. This range allows retailers to select a shelf size that fits everything from smaller merchandise to larger products requiring additional display depth.
Lozier TL shelves can also be positioned flat or at a 17° downslope, providing additional flexibility for product presentation and visibility.
When planning a shelving system, consider both the size of your products and how customers will interact with them. The right shelf depth can help maximize your available selling space without making merchandise difficult to see, reach, or shop.
How Much Does Retail shelving Cost?
The cost of retail shelving depends on several factors, including:
- Type of shelving
- Number of sections
- Shelf dimensions
- Fixture height
- Shelf depth
- Backing
- End units
- Accessories
- Quantity
- New vs. used equipment
- Freight
- Installation requirements
A small shelving project can have very different requirements from a complete new-store fixture package.
If you’re budgeting for a project, the best way to get an accurate number is to start with your store dimensions, product requirements and approximate shelving quantities.
Choosing a Retail Shelving Supplier
The supplier you choose can be just as important as the shelving system itself.
Look for a supplier that can help with:
- Product selection
- Store measurements
- Shelving configurations
- Accessories
- Freight
- New-store projects
- Expansion projects
- Replacement components
- Multi-location rollouts
At Blazer Store Fixtures, we help retailers across Western Canada find retail shelving and store fixture solutions for new stores, renovations, expansions and merchandising upgrades.
As a Lozier authorized dealer, we help retailers build shelving configurations around their budgets, specific products, space and requirements.
Retail Shelving for Your Store
The right retail shelving should do more than hold inventory.
It should help you make better use of your floor space, create organized product displays and give your customers an easy, comfortable shopping experience.
Whether you’re opening a new store, renovating an existing location or expanding to additional locations, the best shelving system is one that fits your products, your space and your plans for the future.
Blazer Store Fixtures supplies Lozier gondola shelving, wall shelving, island shelving, end units and retail display solutions to retailers across Western Canada.
Ready to Start your next Retail Project?
Based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Blazer Store Fixtures proudly serves retailers throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario while shipping Lozier shelving, store displays, and merchandising accessories to businesses across Canada. Whatever your retail fixture needs, you can count on competitive pricing, dependable products, and reliable shipping.