The Annual Retail Space Allocation (ARSA) study is a joint production of two companies that provide retail insights: Kantar Retail and CROSSMARK.

For many years, our respective clients have requested more information about the specifics of retail store space, current allocations of merchandise, and the direction of store design. The sheer scope and variety of retailing has always made it difficult to find good primary source material that was comparable, metrical, and pertinent to analyzing the retail industry.

With this study, Kantar Retail and CROSSMARK recognize the need for an independent, large-scale examination of retailing space that is repeated over time. The ARSA study achieved this goal through a comprehensive survey of linear base footage and additional relevant metrics for over 650 stores in the United States. 

The report and accompanying data were created to enable trade partners, store designers, and anyone else interested in understanding the details of retail merchandising to learn the basic approaches used by major retailers to their own retail space. Further, it provides reliable in-depth sample retailer-level data for key channels (listed below) to support cross-channel and cross-retailer comparisons.

The timing of this study is significant. In the process of dealing with a recession and a series of other factors, retailers in almost every class of trade have dramatically lowered capital expenditures (capex) for new stores. Instead, they have concentrated on remodeling and revising the stores they already own. Having a firm grasp of exactly what the vector of change is, on a retailer-specific basis, should be of value to anyone interested in aligning to retailer strategies.

Kantar Retail has maintained over many years that the reduction in new retailing outlets is startling. When viewing our database, we see a decline of more than 60% in the amount of new square footage being developed. Accordingly, we see retailers devoting far more time to segmenting stores by location and shopper variations, and altering distribution and sales mix. With this in mind, some of the ARSA data confirm generally held opinions, but there have been a mix of surprises as well.

KEY REPORT DETAILS

Over 650 stores in the United States were surveyed by the ARSA team.  The report includes data on linear base footage, merchandising and fixture statistics, including the number of manned and self-serve checkouts, the type of aisle signage (flat or multi-sided) used and whether the store permitted the use of temporary floor displays.

Channels covered:

- Supermarkets

- Drugstores

- Warehouse Club Stores

- Mass Merchandisers

- Supercentres

Departments covered:

- Dry Grocery

- Alcohol

- Non-Food Grocery

- Frozen

- Bakery

- Dairy

- Meat, Seafood, and Packaged Deli

- Service Deli

- Produce

- HBC

- GM - Hardlines

- GM - Softlines

- Promotional Space

- Prescription (Rx)

- Secondary or Ancillary Businesses contained within the store

Whenever possible, these department definitions adhere to the standard product hierarchy used by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), one of the best-known and commonly used sources of Point of Sale (POS) data and analysis.

Lead author of the ARSA study is Kantar Retail’s John Rand, Senior Director of Retail Insights. Project coordinator is Kantar Retail’s Rema Iyer. Contributing authors from the Kantar Retail analyst team are: Caroline Doyle, Target and Clubs; Mike Paglia, Supermarkets; Robin Sherk, Walmart; and Lauren Story, Drugstores and Clubs. Key contributors from the CROSSMARK team are Joe Crafton, President; Ryan McCoy, Retail Division Manager; Nedra Daniels, Director Client Services; and Don Goralcyzk, Client Services Manager.