Retail Design Consultancy
for the Transaction Zone.

A dedicated team of experts inside Mars Snacking, focused exclusively on the front end of the store. We solve for the shopper, the merchant, and the operator — at once. Most retailers serve one and break the other two. We don't. Backed by the patented Pay Point Optimizer, the proprietary Experience System, and the L.E.A.D. methodology — we own the front end end-to-end, from first conversation to stores live.

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+93%

Top retailer sales lift

97%

PPO model accuracy

8wk

Retrofit payback

$5M+

Invested in proprietary research

The Team

One discipline. One team. One zone.

01 / Who

A dedicated team of experts.

Retail design consultancy focused on the front end. Single-threaded ownership from first conversation to stores live.

Est. 2022 · Mars Snacking · One zone

02 / What

Solve for shopper, merchant, and operator.

Four interdependent stages — Hardware & Capacity, Layout & Configuration, Experience & Fixturing, Space & Shelf Strategy. Most retailers run them in silos. We integrate all four into one system.

Four stages · One cohesive system

03 / How

The L.E.A.D. methodology + proprietary tools.

Learn. Evaluate. Activate. Deploy. Powered by the patented Pay Point Optimizer, the Experience System, VR validation, and our internal design platform.

Four phases · Five proprietary tools

04 / Why

Proof, not projections.

Documented lifts of +39%, +45%, +93% across full L.E.A.D. deployments — measured in real stores, against a seasonality-matched baseline.

Proof, not projections

Formats We Serve

One discipline. Every format.

The front end works differently in a 50,000 sq. ft. supermarket than in a 2,500 sq. ft. c-store. The PPO models, the fixture system, and the L.E.A.D. methodology adapt to both.

Grocery

Full lane mix, SCO concourses, branded fixture runs at scale.

National & regional banner deployments

C-Store

High-throughput small format. Different basket, tighter footprint, faster decision cycle.

Multi-banner fleet rollouts

Small Format

Express grocery, urban concept stores, dollar and fleet retail. Compact lane systems engineered for tight space.

Cross-banner deployments

Specialty

Drug, mass, and category-specific retailers where transaction zone economics drive the format.

Selected partner engagements

Proven Results

Lift you can measure. Outcomes you can defend.

Every result below is from a deployed engagement, measured against a seasonality-matched baseline. Pre-install vs. post-install. No projections.

45–100%

Front-end category sales lift

Range across deployed retailer engagements

136

SCO impulse conversion index

Higher engagement at self-checkout than traditional lanes

+126%

GMROI lift

More than double the profit per dollar of inventory

−40%

Wait time reduction

Through PPO-modeled lane mix

40 wks

Full remodel payback

Time to ROI on a complete front-end remodel

8 wks

Targeted retrofit payback

Time to ROI on a targeted front-end retrofit

Measured against seasonality-matched baselines. Pre-install vs. post-install. Real stores, real shoppers, real numbers.

In Market

Designed by experts. Proven in store.

Every install is the output of PPO modeling, behavioral research, and a pressure-tested design — built and deployed across grocery, c-store, and small format retail.

ShopRite Sunrise — full front-end grocery checkout merchandising deployment

ShopRite Sunrise · Grocery

Front end transformed at scale — every lane, one identity.

Grocery transaction zone design with lit Arrow approach fixture directing shoppers to self-checkout

Self-Checkout Approach

Lit Arrow fixture routes shoppers — works across grocery and small format.

Grocery checkout merchandising — Base Built fixture run with category branding

Base Built Fixture System

Modular run that scales from full lane to small-format counter.

C-store front-end fixture system with branded Snacks and Sweets sections under Engage Thirst and Beverages and Beyond ceiling banners

C-Store · Branded Front End

Snacks, sweets, and wayfinding integrated into a small-format transaction zone.

The Process

From CAD to in-market.

Same store. From current-state plan, through proposed redesign, to rendered preview, to installed reality — the same engagement told start to finish.

The Problem

One broken front end. Three connected failures.

These aren't separate problems. They're a chain. Get the first one wrong and the next two are guaranteed.

01 · Hardware

54%

of checkouts sit underutilized at peak hours.

PPO · 100+ store assessment

02 · Experience

40%

of shoppers experience bottlenecks at checkout.

McKinsey

03 · Revenue

34%

of potential impulse sales are lost at SCO.

Videomining

The Takeaway These aren't separate problems — they're a chain. Fix the first one and the next two follow.

Our Value Proposition

One front end. Three audiences served at once.

Most retailers serve the shopper and break the merchant. Or serve the merchant and break operations. Or serve operations and break the shopper. We solve for all three — at once, and in balance. That's the work.

Merchant

Buyers · Category Leads

Need:Profitability

Increased engagement and impulse sales — higher profits per square foot.

Operations

Store · Field Operations

Need:Efficiency

Data-driven layouts that optimize space, resources, and labor.

Shopper

The Person at the Lane

Need:Convenience

A faster, frustration-free seamless checkout experience.

— The system & the method

The Methodology

L.E.A.D.

A four-phase engagement model. Proven across hundreds of stores. Customized to your data, your shoppers, and your operations — not a packaged template.

Phase 01

Learn

Understand the goal.

Phase 02

Evaluate

Audit, design, propose.

Phase 03

Activate

Build. Prove. Measure.

Phase 04

Deploy

Scale, wave by wave.

The In-Store System

Four interdependent stages. One integrated front end.

Get the first two right and shoppers flow without friction. Get the last two right and the same square footage starts driving revenue. Most retailers run these in silos. We don't.

Hardware & Capacity

The right number of lanes to handle shopper volume — not over-built, not under-sized. Modeled, not guessed.

Driven by · Pay Point Optimizer (patented)

Layout & Configuration

Friction-free paths from the last aisle to the exit — engineered against traffic patterns, sightlines, and store ops realities.

Driven by · Block Model · Floor plan engineering · CAD

Experience & Fixturing

Clean, calm, engaging environments that drive footfall, dwell, and noticeability — regardless of wait time.

Driven by · Experience System · VR validation

Space & Shelf Strategy

Front-end shelf logic and space allocation that converts at the point of decision — engineered to integrate with the assortment delivered by your category partners.

Built on · Shopper insights & behavioral research

Our Philosophy

We don't believe in best-in-class solutions. We believe in a best-in-class process — L.E.A.D. — that customizes to your data, your shoppers, and your operations.

When the four stages align — capacity matches demand, layout drives flow, fixturing guides engagement, shelf strategy converts — the front end disappears and performance rises. We call that Invisible Excellence.

Proprietary Capability

Pay Point
Optimizer.

The reason a TZ recommendation lands different. Our patented predictive engine for front-end hardware decisions — modeling wait time, lane utilization, and shopper flow by pay point type. Turns raw transaction data into a precise diagnosis.

Used in every Evaluate phase. Built on three years of proprietary research, validated against deployed retailer outcomes.

01 / Prediction

97% model accuracy

Validated against deployed retailer outcomes

02 / Inputs

Transaction-level data

52 weeks across all pay point types

03 / Outputs

Wait time & utilization

Modeled by lane type, store, and hour

04 / Use

Hardware sizing

SCO mix, lane count, throughput sizing

Pay Point Optimizer dashboard · interface preview

Differentiated Capabilities

Proprietary tools at every stage.

PPO is the flagship — but it doesn't stand alone. Each front-end stage has its own purpose-built capability. Refined over three years of engagements with leading retailers.

Stage 01 · Hardware

Pay Point Optimizer

Patented analytics engine. Determines the ideal mix of checkouts — balancing shopper satisfaction with operational efficiency.

97% Accuracy · Patented

Stage 02 · Configuration

Block Model

Collaborative design simulation. Workshop layout solutions at scale with the retailer's team in the room — visualizing fixtures and flow in real time.

Real-time Workshop

Stage 02 · Configuration

Store Design Expertise

CAD and SketchUp store-specific layouts. Every floor plan modeled to drive shopper flow, sightlines, and engagement before a single fixture ships.

CAD · SketchUp

Stage 03 · Experience

Experience System

Proprietary fixturing platform. Five fixture families, 41 configurations. Maximizes impulse sales while keeping the front end uncluttered and efficient.

41 Configurations

Stage 03 · Experience

Virtual Reality Testing

VR simulation of front-end designs before installation. Pressure-test the experience, refine fixtures, and validate flow without breaking a single concrete floor.

Pre-Install Validation

Stages 02 & 03 · Platform

Store Design Platform

Our internal system that manages configurations, BOMs, and pipeline across every engagement. The reason we can scale complexity without losing control of it.

Configuration · BOM · Pipeline

How We Engage

We don't run pilots. We prove economics.

Two phases. Same team. From small-scale validation to fleet-wide rollout — engineered from day one to scale.

A Proof of Economics isn't a one-store experiment. It's a small-scale validation, engineered from day one to scale into a fleet — measured against your real numbers, on your real shoppers, in your real stores.

Phase 01 — Validate

Proof of Economics

3–5 stores · 30–60 days measured

We diagnose with PPO and behavioral audit, design the integrated front end, install the proof, and measure against a seasonality-matched baseline. Outcome: a defensible business case, retailer-validated, ready to scale.

Behavioral & dimensional audit
Pay Point Optimizer diagnosis
Designed, built, installed, measured
Retailer-signed results readout

Phase 02 — Scale

Fleet Deployment

Tens to hundreds of stores · Wave-by-wave

Proven configurations cluster into kits. Kits scale into waves. Waves install at the pace of operations. We coordinate manufacturing, installation, QA, and post-deploy measurement — reporting performance back as the fleet grows.

Cluster & kit design across the fleet
Manufacturing aggregated for unit economics
Wave-by-wave install with QA at scale
Monthly performance reporting through deploy

Start to Finish

We're with you the whole way — from the first behavioral audit to the last installed store, and the performance reports that follow.

Insights & Resources

What we've learned.

The proprietary research that informs every recommendation. Published as we earn the right to share it.

18 Studies Completed

$5M+ Invested

Updated Quarterly

Featured Research

Start a Conversation

Real-world solutions.
Revolutionary results.

Tell us what your front end is costing you. We'll start with your numbers, your floor plans, and a 45-minute conversation. If there's a path to a Proof of Economics, we'll show it. If not, we'll tell you that too.

TZTeam@effem.com → See the system Typical first response · within 2 business days