Assessment of general locations and the specific sites within them requires extensive analysis.

1.

There are three types of elements in the design of stores:

1. Layout: There are three sorts of layouts used by retailers: grid, racetrack, and free form.

The grid plan features parallel aisles with items on both sides of the aisles.

A racetrack layout is a retail plan that features a main aisle that loops around the store, directing
consumer flow to various departments inside the store. Fixtures and aisles are arranged in an
asymmetric arrangement in a free form style.

2. Signage and graphics: Signage and graphics assist customers in locating specific products, providing
product information, and recommending things or special purchases. Graphics like as photo panels can
help to reinforce a business's image, whilst signage is used to define the location of item categories
within a store as well as the sorts of products available within each category.

3. Feature areas: The placement of feature sections allows retailers to direct people around stores and
affect purchasing behaviour. Feature areas are places within a store that are intended to draw the
attention of customers.

Grid layout is used by the majority of supermarkets and full-service discount stores because it allows
customers to easily discover the product they are searching for while also reducing the amount of time
spent shopping. More Supermarket, Reliance Fresh, and so forth.

2.

The various critera a retailer uses while selecting a general store location are:

1. Economic Conditions:

A big, fully employed population translates into strong spending power and retail sales. Analysts at retail
locations must estimate how long such increase will last and how it will effect demand for products
supplied in stores. For example, if development in multiple industries is not diverse, the area may be
undesirable due to excessive cyclical tendencies.

It is also important to discover which areas are rapidly increasing and why. In most circumstances, places
with a high and expanding population are preferred over those with a diminishing population. However,
some retailers, such as Subway, often go into new strip shopping centers with few nearby households
with the anticipation that the surrounding suburban area will eventually be built up enough to support
the stores.

2. Competition:
The degree of rivalry in a market influences the demand for a retailer's goods. Walmart's early success
was built on a placement strategy that saw the company construct stores in tiny areas with no
competition. It provided excellent items at reasonable costs to people in small communities. Previously,
rural customers had to shop at tiny businesses with limited selections or go to larger towns.

Underserved metropolitan sites provide certain compelling advantages for casual restaurants, including
low competition levels, a big, easily accessible labour pool, and, in some districts, a surrounding market
of consumers with high disposable incomes.

3. Strategic Fit:

Consumers in the retailer's target demographic who are drawn to the retailer's offerings and interested
in visiting its stores are needed in the region. As a result, the neighbourhood must have the appropriate
demographic and lifestyle profile. The quantity and makeup of a community's homes can be a significant
predictor of success.

Party City, the world's largest party supplies company, selects places with a high concentration of
middle-income families with children. Finally, depending on the target market(s) that a merchant is
chasing, lifestyle traits of the population may be significant.

4. Operating Costs:

The cost of running a shop varies depending on location. The closeness of the location under
consideration to other places where the retailer runs outlets also has an impact on operating expenses.
For example, if a store is close to other stores and the retailer's distribution facilities, transporting items
to the shop is less expensive, as is the cost and travel time spent by the district manager monitoring the
business's operations.

The legal and regulatory environment at the municipal and state levels can have a considerable impact
on operational expenses. Some merchants are hesitant to open stores in specific areas because they
believe that state and local governments, the political process of voter-initiated referendums, and a
legal environment that encourages class-action lawsuits result in greater costs.

5. Other Criteria:

Some other characteristics of a site that are considered in selecting a site are

- the traffic flow past the site and accessibility to the site - this can directly effect the foot-fall in any
store.

- parking - the amount and quality of parking plays an important role.

- visibility - this refers to the customers' ability to see the store from the street.

- adjacent tenants - locations with complementary and competing, adjascent retailers attract more
traffic.

- restrictions and costs - this refers to the type of tenants allowed in ashopping centre and the various
operating costs.