Store Layout Guide
Design a store that sells more and frustrates customers less.
Last updated: June 2026 (Patch 1.4.0)
Shelf Placement Principles
Layout directly impacts how many customers you can serve and how fast your staff can restock. The most efficient layouts follow a few simple rules derived from community testing.
- •Group by category: Keep snacks together, drinks together, and frozen items near freezers. Customers find what they want faster, and restocking is more efficient.
- •High-profit items near checkout: Since Patch 1.4.0's Product Locator helps customers find products directly, the old "force them to walk" strategy is less reliable. Put high-margin impulse items and best sellers within 2-3 tiles of the register.
- •Leave aisle space: Do not cram shelves together. Customers and staff need room to move. Two-tile aisles minimum.
- •Checkout near the exit: Always place the register close to the door. Long walks to checkout reduce customer patience.
Customer Flow Design
Customers enter, grab a basket, browse shelves, and head to checkout. Your job is to make that path as smooth as possible.
The "loop" layout still works for small-to-medium stores, but Patch 1.4.0 changed why it works. With Product Locator, customers no longer need to wander randomly to discover products — they head more directly to their target. That makes what they see on the path from entrance to checkout more important than hiding essentials at the back.
Impulse Zone
Place small, cheap items (candy, gum, magazines) on a shelf directly next to the checkout register. Customers waiting in line often grab these, adding extra profit with zero extra effort.
Product Locator Era Layout Tips
Patch 1.4.0 added Product Locator highlighting when you pick up a box. Treat this as a layout shift: discovery is easier, so your shelves should optimize route value instead of forcing shoppers through every aisle.
- •Build a main path: Keep the route from entrance to checkout clear, then place impulse products and fast sellers along that path.
- •Move high-margin items into sightlines: Electronics and other low-turnover, high-profit products should sit near the main aisle, not hidden in dead corners.
- •Do not over-optimize for Snap/Grid yet: Patch 1.4.2 notes that placement improvements are still in progress, so avoid rebuilding your entire store around unfinished grid behavior.
Expansion Order
Store expansions are expensive. Expand in this order to maximize return on investment:
- More shelves — Cheapest upgrade. More shelf slots = more products = more revenue.
- Freezer unit — Unlocks frozen foods and ice cream, a high-margin category.
- Floor expansion — Only when your current floor is packed wall-to-wall with shelves.
- Decorations & lighting — Nice-to-have. Upgrade last, after revenue is stable.