Kinokuniya Visual Merchandising & Store Design :
Racetrack Layout (Loop):

Kinokuniya uses a racetrack layout such that consumers are being "forced" to walk through the different section of books from the entrance through the featured section near the entrance and the event section in the middle of the store in order to reach the desired section of books the consumers are looking for. This concept would expose the consumers to the new and featured books of Kinokuniya to the consumers, attracting them to make a purchase from these sections they're walking through, and in order to exit Kinokuniya from the main entrance, consumers have to walk back through the whole line of books again, further enticing the consumers to make a purchase of any of the books featured "along the racetrack".

Usage of Signage & Graphics:

This booth was near the POS counter.

It shows promotional posters and signage on:

- Kinokuniya's privilege card

- Having n eco-friendly kinokuniya tote

- Kinokuniya's store poster

Location signage:

Kinokuniya has large signages hanging from the ceiling so as to aid customers in easily going to the section where they are looking for their items.

Category signages further specifies from the location the type of goods located there.

example:

Location Signage:Design & the Arts

Category Signage: Interior Design

Feature Areas:

Feature areas
Areas within a store designed to get the customers' attention.

Entrances

Popular products were place at the entrance of kinokuniya. e.g Latest publish- storybook (toy story novel after the release of the movie), top selling book, mazagine etc..
Frontal presentations were used at all entrances to attract potential customers

Wall

Kinokuniya also make use of the pillar to display useful information to for cusotmers
(My kinokuniya bag)
(priviledge card)

Books were also display at the wall on th transparent shelf rack like a 3D display to attract customer's attention .

Certain product were place in the glass so as to bring out different atmosphere in kinokuniya.

Check out machine

customer can locate the book at different section by using the check out machine. The machine will provide the shelf no. so customer can easily search for the books without wasting much time and effort.

The machine also provide th map of the store so customer can view the layout of the book store and travel to the right place where they want to be.

Location of Merchandise Categories:
Impulse Merchandise
Japanese Manga is placed near the cashier which is a heavily trafficked area as many book lovers would pass by the section to get to the other side of the store.

Demand Merchandise
Popular Storybooks such as the Twilight Saga or well known literature books that are placed deep inside the store on table-like fixture.

Special Merchandise
Stationery placed inside the right corner of the store with origami whereby few people pass by the area as it is lightly trafficked. Therefore, people hardly pay attention to it when they are searching for books to purchase.

Adjacencies
The complementary products are like writing pad which is placed next to pens/pencils. This encourages Kinokuniya's customers to buy a pen when they want to buy a writing pad for the ease of their convenience.

Merchandise Presentation Techniques:
By Language

Kinokuniya presents their merchandise in terms of language as they place the english books & magazines together in one part, the chinese book section together with the chinese magazines, the Japanese books with the magazines in another corner.
Therefore, they present their merchandise by Language.

By Animated presentation
They provide animated presentation on LCD television screen to show the latest DVD which is available in store. This not only captures the audience's attention but also encourage impulse purchase upon looking at the presentation.
Therefore, they present their merchandise by Animation Presentation.

By Frontal presentation

For Kinokuniya, most of their books are displayed using frontal presentation even on shelves to allow consumers to look at it from a further distance. This would capture the attention of consumers if they happen to look and catch the title of a book. Therefore, it encourages buying with frontal presentation as customers can see it directly.
Hence, they present their merchandise using Frontal Presentation.

Store Atmospherics:

Colour:
The colours used by Kinokuniya in its store layout are mainly blue for Kinokuniya's Logo, white for walls, bright red for shelves, dark brown and black for its shelves.

The store has parquet flooring and the overall mixture of colours used in the store gives the customers a warm and cosy feeling, allowing them to feel more comfortable in browsing through the books.

The dark-coloured shelves help to add a sense of elegance and class, which would affect the customers' image of the store.

The ceiling is white in color, which could be used to allow the store to feel really spacious and the store would also appear brighter, compared to a dark-coloured ceiling.

Lighting:

Kinokuniya has bright lighting in its stores.

The soft white lights that are fixed onto the ceiling helps to light up the store and allow customers to browse through the book.

The spot lights focuses on the both the books and the path leading to the different sections of the store. They have extra spot light shining on books that are placed on the shelves on the wall to emphasize the merchandise.

There are also lights that have paper lamp-shades, and these are located just right above the 'Best-sellers' section, which is then located in the middle of the store, where most human-traffic would be, so that they would be able to notice the classy touch of the lighting and pay attention to the books located in that area.

Done By: Stacie, Jin Jing, Justin, Cynthia, Gerald