Everybody knows that good store design is really only a starting point. If a walk through the doors means entering a slapdash operational environment where stock, staff and service all militate against getting what you want or need, then the design effort has been utterly wasted.

It seems churlish to name names at a time when store staff are under pressure to clear what remains of summer stock. Instead therefore, suffice it to say that what follows refers to a very large DIY retailer of which better might be expected.

Sales are, by their very nature, messy affairs. Rifling through cut-price items in search of the bargain that you might actually want is a ponderous affair, but from a customer’s perspective, may be worth the effort. It is the retailer’s responsibility to make it as easy as possible for the offer to be assessed and this is usually carried out in the form of unambiguous signage and altered tickets on the stock itself.

Imagine therefore picking up something that is advertised on the signage as being half-price, down from £100, and finding when you get to the till that the ticket says £69.99. A member of staff casually informs you that this is not uncommon and that there are loads of missed markdowns all over the store.

Fair enough. Missed markdowns are a retail reality. But to rub salt into the wound by admitting that this is a commonplace is hardly likely to find favour with shoppers. What is perhaps rather worse is that this is in fact rather a good-looking store.

It’s arranged over two floors, has high levels of ambient daylight, easy access and sufficient car parking for even the busiest of days. Much to admire therefore, but everything comes crashing down when flaws of this kind are encountered.

Everybody knows that good store design is really only a starting point. It is generally quite an expensive thing to do, but it is carried out in the hope of attracting customers ahead of the blandishments being offered by rivals. If however a walk through the doors means entering a slapdash operational environment where stock, staff and service all militate against getting what you want or need, then the design effort has been utterly wasted.

Service is one of the pillars of the John Lewis proposition and a quick walk around the new food hall in its Bluewater store shows that while design and displays are indeed good enough to eat, the staff know their stuff. It stands as an example of stock, service and store design all combining to produce a compelling offer. If only the same could be said of this DIY mammoth in south-west London.

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