Shopping centre logistics

Shopping centre customer flows

EP-Logistics conducts research on customer flows in department stores and shopping centres. In a customer flow research all customer flows in a store are explored and information is discovered on what are e.g. the annual, daily and peak hour customer flows. The customers are comprised of motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and people visiting by public transport.

The dimensioning of lifts, escalators and parking lots is based on this information and also information on car, customer and shopping cart flows is received to assist further planning.

Product logistics of a shopping centre

In a shopping centre there are dozens of operators, both shopkeepers and delivery operators. The coordination of all product deliveries is a very demanding challenge. Majority of deliveries are done in the early hours, especially of the perishables that are delivered to grocery stores, restaurants and coffee shops.

In addition to these, the deliveries of apparel, sports goods, household appliances and other items belonging to various different categories have to be taken care of. Shopping centre logistics is comprised of many different entities and it is the foundation of smooth operation and cosyness of a shopping centre.

The phases of planning

Research on product logistics

  • Research on material flows
  • The amount of service traffic
  • Scheduling of the deliveries
  • Routing of the material flows in shop premises
  • Delivery batch sizes

Operational planning

  • Layout planning
  • Simulation of material flows
  • Dimensioning of lanes for service traffic
  • Dimensioning of service lifts

Completion of the phases described above results in a complete and clear logistics plan of a shopping centre that architects or constructors can use for a basis of their work. For more information please contact Mr. Petri Niemi.