Store Layout Simulation and Optimisation
Objectives
The main objective is to "improve shopping experience":
- Reduce congestion
- Save time for customers
- Increase impulse purchases
- Increase cross product sale
Simulation Strategy
Visual Representation
- Establish an encoded representation
- Display store layout
- Use customer checkout data to display high density purchase locations
- Assess the distribution of hot and cold spots in the store
Top-down approach
- Estimate High density customer flows by linking most popular locations
- Optimise (Minimise or maximise) the length of "most popular customer path"
- Optimise the distribution of hot / cold spots
- Bottom-up simulation
Simulate customer movements using their shopping lists (from checkout, handscan),
Observe emerging congestion patterns in the store,
Derive Customer Path Densities by adding all customers footprints,
Optimise Store Layout with a view of customers (customer type and time) in mind.
Optimisation Strategy
Optimise Store Layout so that it will satisfy multiple objectives:
- Minimise Congestion,
- Maximise Impulse Purchase Opportunities
- Maximise Cross Product Sales
- Maximise time saving for purchasing other items