Shopfitting

Shopfitting refers to the industry of furniture for retail environments. Retailers use shopfitters to fill in their stores with displays and merchandising and stocking systems needed to make the business profitable.

A shopfitter is a firm that will design, supply and install fittings for retailers. The shopfitting industry is normally sectorized: there will be shopfitters specialized for Food and Grocery retailers, then shopfitter specialized in Electronics Retailers, then those one working with Architects for Fashion retailers and so on.

The shopfitter usually deliver a package to the retailer: a multitude of products sourced from different manufacturers. In the case of a food retailer this means sourcing refrigeration, shelving, counters, checkouts, signs, graphics from different suppliers and giving this 'package' as one entity.

Big retailers with large budgets to spend will deal directly with the manufacturers of the shopfitting systems, since they have internal design offices. Shopfitters will be used a service suppliers for installations and site developments. Manufacturers of store equipment may also provide some design and installation services.

Systems

Shopfitting system' refers to a product range made to satisfy the needs of shopfitters and ultimately retailers for display and merchandising goods. A shopfitting system can be adapted from combinations of standardized components for a particular retail application. A manufacturer would normally launch new shopfitting systems on a 2-year basis. Leading manufacturers would offer design oriented systems, followers would re interpret them making the display solution achievable with as many as existing items as possible, hoping that retailers will choose their product because cheaper.

Shopfitting system are usually connected to a "modular" concept, meaning that each items has more than one use. This economically goes into the rules of "network", where one element has the value of three, if added to another element, because 1x1=1 but 2x2=4: an extra items designed and compatible with others, has very high value.