Destination Departments

In big box stores, “destination department placement” is the strategy of putting high-demand items far from the entrance, so customers have to walk past everything else to reach them.

This is also known as “back-of-store anchoring” or “traffic-driving destination placement.” Wordy bunch, those big box designers.

The classic big-box-store example is consumer electronics. Everyone in the family likes checking out the latest gadgets, music, and games. On the way to a destination department, consumers pass through the entire building. And buy some other things they didn’t originally come for.

Museums can use the same strategy. In that same sentence, just replace “department” with “exhibition,” “consumer” with “visitor,” and “buy” with “experience.” Like this:

On the way to a destination exhibition, visitors pass through the entire building. And experience some other things they didn’t originally come for.

At the Louvre, the Mona Lisa is a destination exhibition. Visitors come knowing they want to see it, and they’ll cross the whole museum to find it. Along the way, they discover many other artworks.

Here’s the thing:

Whatever your Mona Lisa is, try to put it as far from your main entrance as you can. (And never in the lobby.)

Visitors won’t mind making the trek, and they’ll see more of what you offer along the way.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:
Destination department placement. A well-known retail design strategy that places high-demand items deep within a store to draw customers to them, so they pass many other areas along the way. In museums, this approach can be borrowed to guide visitors to destination exhibitions, so they encounter many other offerings along the way.