Maximise every square foot: Retail's best defence against rising costs

Author: Declan Hague

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UK retailers are facing a triple cost burden that’s placing unprecedented pressure on profitability. With rising National Insurance Contributions (NICs), increased minimum wages, and rising business tax rates, the cost of doing business has never been higher. At the same time, economic growth forecasts remain sluggish, leaving retailers searching for sustainable ways to protect their margins and remain viable without compromising customers.

One of the most effective ways to navigate these headwinds is by maximising the value of existing retail space. Real estate is one of the largest fixed costs for retailers and optimising it to lift space productivity can help offset rising costs and improve overall business performance. Every retailer allocates space in their stores, the burning question is how to ensure you're truly making the most of every square foot.

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Unlocking the power of truly optimised space

While cutting costs or increasing prices remain options, investing in technology to drive smarter space utilisation provides a sustainable, long-term growth approach that improves overall financial management and delivers a better customer experience. This strategy enables retailers to create compelling store offerings, drive higher sales and margin per square foot, and deliver operational efficiencies that flow to the bottom line.

Here at Scalene, we’re talking to more and more UK retailers who are turning to new technology to achieve outcomes that their existing tools and processes simply can’t deliver.

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Data-Driven, Tailored, and Continuous

Data-Driven Insights

  • We leverage advanced analytics to identify optimal store layouts and space allocations, ensuring every square foot is used effectively to enhance engagement and conversion rates through applied understanding of customer preferences and purchasing behaviour
       

Tailored Solutions

  • No two retailers are the same. Our software and processes support unique needs, ensuring business adoption and maximum impact
       

Continuous Improvement

  • Space optimisation is valuable and essential ongoing process, not a one-time exercise. We implement a cycle of testing, learning, and refining to ensure sustained performance gains over the long term, and timely responses to the changing environment you’re operating in.
     

Real results:

Our clients have experienced significant sales and profit increases and operational efficiencies through strategic space optimisation. By prioritising performance-driven changes, they have:

  • Increased sales per square foot without changing store footprints
  • Improved in-store customer journeys, leading to higher conversion rates
  • Reduced underperforming space, redirecting it toward more profitable categories.

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A smarter path forward

In a high-cost, low-growth environment where retail footfall growth is expected to remain slow, every decision made across all areas of your business is crucial to offer the most compelling shopping experience possible. Retailers who proactively optimise their space today using the latest data science and technology are better positioned to thrive tomorrow – not just stay afloat, living in hope that greater profitability will return – but achieve sustained success.

By turning stores into high-performance assets, retailers unlock new levels of profitability and resilience.

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Want to know more?

We help retailers transform how they maximise sales, margin and productivity from their physical spaces. To learn more please get in touch at info@scalenesolutions.com.

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