How Much Shelving Does My Shop Need?

How much shelving a shop needs is a linear-metre question, not a furniture question. Independent retailers usually search it because an empty unit looks large and a catalogue bay looks small. The useful number is metres of facing that match the SKU list and still leave a walk — for shops of about 20–80 square metres in Thailand, not for a supermarket gondola plan.

Count selling-floor area first, not lease area. Then decide what must sit versus what must hang. A clothing boutique and a cosmetics shop with the same square metres do not share a shelf schedule.

Linear metres, not “some shelves”

A linear metre of shelving is one metre of wall (or island face) that holds product, regardless of how many tiers sit on it. Three tiers on one metre are still one linear metre of facing and three metres of shelf board. Capacity is the board; the plan is the facing.

For a first draft:

1. List categories that sit (fold, boxed, bottles, bags on decks) versus hang.
2. Estimate how many SKUs must be on show, not in the back.
3. Give each sitting SKU a facing width (a carton, a fold, a shoe).
4. Sum those widths. That is the facing you are buying, before you add empty “design” gaps.

If the sum exceeds the two long walls, you do not need a centre gondola first — you need a tighter edit or a back room. What a 40 sqm boutique needs keeps most depth on the perimeter for this reason.

Starter bands by shop type (planning only)

These are ranges to start a conversation, not a quote and not a guarantee.

Tiers: two or three on a boutique wall is usual. Four supermarket tiers in a 40 sqm fashion shop hide the top and the bottom from a short customer and look like a minimart.

Island gondolas add facing fast and steal walk. Under 50 sqm they are usually the wrong first lever.

Depth and the product

A 200–250 mm shelf is a facing for cartons, minis, and folded tees. A 350–400 mm shelf is bags, shoes, boxed kits. Deeper than that in a small shop is a storage shelf pretending to be merchandising. T-shirt display wants shallow fold or hang, not a grocery deck.

Beauty bottles walk off deep shelves. Use risers and lips — they are part of the metre you bought.

Walls first, then islands

Perimeter linear metres are cheaper in walking space than a gondola. Put sitting product on slatwall shelves or wall decks along the two long walls. Add a feature table for the campaign. Add an island only if the SKU math still fails after the edit.

How to plan a layout that sells puts this after the decompression zone and the cash wrap — not before.

We do not convert these metres into baht. Finish, brackets, lighting and installation move the number. Compare a wall package with shelf counts, not a single board price.

Common mistakes

• Buying bays until the room feels full. Full is not the target; shoppable is.
• Same depth everywhere. Shoes and serums are not the same object.
• Ignoring hang. Fashion “needs more shelving” when it actually needs hangrail.
• Centre gondola to hit a metre target. You hit the target and lost the shop.
• No back room. Facing becomes storage.

What to send

Shop type, selling-floor size, what sits vs hangs, and wall lengths in millimetres if you have them. Thai or English. We will turn that into shelf linear metres and hangrail on one schedule — not a guess from an empty photo.

Buy facing that matches the list, then stop

If you are opening a shop in Thailand and you do not know how much shelving to order, send the shop type and the size. We will count sitting SKUs into linear metres and keep the walk — one written quotation, Thai or English.