Similarities between online vs. physical store layouts?

I often try to make navigating an online store compelling. I wonder how many parallels there are between what to 'show up front' in an online store vs. a physical one. Should inexpensive items be put on a home page and in the online checkout area?

How Stores Lead You to Spend
Displays, Music, Layout Make $98 Pillows, $8 Bracelets Look Like Must-Haves
By CHRISTINA BINKLEY

Santa Monica, Calif.

At the Kitson store here, the $98 Jonathan Adler zodiac pillows in the window and the $4.95 Silly Bandz rubber jewelry in bins at the door have one thing in common: They are bread crumbs on a carefully designed trail into the depths of the store.


Listen: Cute items and store layout go a long way in luring customers to spend, reports Christina Binkley.
Owner Fraser Ross strategically plans his stores' layout to lure in shoppers with quick-hit gifts and guide them to the more expensive fashions and jewelry at the back. "No one wants to buy anything for themselves anymore," says Mr. Ross, adding that "you've got to get them through the door."

Kitson stores are eclectic, up-to-the-minute emporiums of trendy fashion, accessories and novelty items. They make money from fashionistas seeking Elizabeth & James tops and folks who want to shop at the place where Britney Spears bought baby clothes. Kitson counts on holiday sales for half its $30 million in annual revenue.

Right before Thanksgiving, Mr. Ross transformed his 10 stores in Southern California into Grand Central for gifts. He filled them with the kinds of doodads that nobody actually needs but many buy this time of year: a "Call Your Mom" throw pillow, a Betty White calendar, a pair of $395 Diddy Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.


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