A high-volume furniture chain noticed that certain parts of their showroom consistently underperformed. Even during peak traffic periods, some sections were practically ghost towns while others were congested to the point of hurting the customer experience.

• Dead Zones: Large areas of the store were chronically empty, despite housing profitable categories.
• Bottlenecks: Popular displays created chokepoints where customers felt rushed or skipped products entirely.
• Inefficient Product Placement: High-margin items were often placed in low-traffic areas, while entry points showcased low-ticket goods.
• Customer Fatigue: The store layout encouraged long, winding paths with little rest or engagement — customers often left before exploring the full assortment.

Leadership knew they were leaving money on the table. They wanted a data-backed redesign that would keep customers moving naturally through the entire store, increase dwell time in high-value areas, and lift overall conversion rates without adding more salespeople.

RBA Global approached the problem with a blend of retail analytics, behavioral psychology, and visual merchandising expertise.

Heat Mapping & Path Analysis
We conducted in-store traffic studies using both observation and sensor data to identify cold zones, high-density clusters, and common exit points. We then mapped the most common customer paths and where they were breaking off prematurely.

Strategic Product Relocation
High-margin, high-attachment items were moved into natural traffic flows, often just before decision points where customers slowed down. Low-ticket or commodity products were repositioned to the periphery, freeing up prime space for profit drivers.

Engagement Anchors
We introduced “pause points” — interactive vignettes, digital screens with customization options, and rest-friendly seating areas — in previously underperforming zones. These gave customers reasons to linger and re-engage.

Decongesting Hot Spots
Best-selling displays were split into multiple, smaller showcases spread throughout the store. This reduced bottlenecks, improved accessibility, and increased the likelihood of multiple product exposures.

Sightline Engineering
We lowered fixture heights in certain areas and opened up key visual corridors so customers could see more of the store from multiple vantage points, encouraging exploration.

The transformation was as much about how customers moved as it was about where they ended up spending money.

Dead Zones Became Sales Zones
Within weeks, previously neglected areas began generating meaningful sales. By moving profitable but overlooked categories into the natural customer path, these sections went from afterthoughts to consistent contributors. Associates noticed more opportunities for conversation in these areas, leading to upsells that simply weren’t happening before.

Bottlenecks Disappeared
Spreading high-demand displays across the floor eliminated the “traffic jam” effect. Customers no longer felt the need to skip sections just to escape congestion, and associates could give proper attention without feeling rushed.

Higher Dwell Time in Key Areas
Engagement anchors worked exactly as intended — customers lingered longer, interacted more with the displays, and had more natural openings to consider add-ons like rugs, lamps, or protection plans. Even small-ticket categories benefited, as the increased pause time encouraged impulse purchases.

Improved Conversion Without More Staff
Because the layout now guided customers more effectively, associates could focus on selling rather than constantly repositioning themselves to find customers. This efficiency translated into higher conversion rates without expanding payroll.

A Store That Feels Bigger and More Inviting
By engineering sightlines and reducing visual obstructions, the store felt more open and navigable. Customers explored more of the assortment simply because they could see more of it, and the “maze” feeling that had previously drained energy was replaced with a sense of flow.

The end result was a showroom that worked with customer behavior instead of against it, a space that encouraged exploration, balanced traffic naturally, and created more selling moments per visit. For leadership, it was proof that floor design isn’t just an aesthetic choice, it’s a direct driver of sales velocity and customer satisfaction.