Mastering visual merchandising

Retail is a competitive business. Even if your product is completely unique, you still have competition. There is always another store down the road or online that is also aiming for your customers' dollars. The days of running a traditional family business lacking any real commercial sophistication are almost over. How you present your store is a very strategic aspect of your business. In a world where you can find identical merchandise in multiple stores, layout and presentation have become key differentiating factors. Going the extra distance with your displays and merchandising can not only impact immediate sales, but can also help you create a unique identity and ambiance that will contribute to building yourself a loyal clientele.

Don’t fall into the trap of viewing merchandising and displays as frivolous extra expenses. This is especially important for small business owners who are just starting up. Today's competitive retail environment means that retailers cannot afford to consider merchandising as 'frills'. There are more choices out there for consumers than ever before, so retailers must continually work at capturing the consumer's attention. After invest money on important priorities such as a high traffic location, great merchandise, quality staff, insurance and advertising, your financial success depends upon whether or not your store measures up to customer expectations. To keep the customers from walking right past your door it is essential that merchandising and displays have a reasonable budget allocated. If you are on a shoestring budget start small, but make sure you include a plan for growth. You don't necessarily have to revamp the entire store; rotating merchandise, updating displays, and changing signage makes customers feel that your store always offers them something new.

In the Beginning…

The main purpose of visual merchandising is to create a logical and visually pleasing environment that will capture consumer attention and translate into increased sales. Retailers must create an environment that attracts the customer, is comfortable to shop in, and encourages the customer to return. The basics of visual merchandising include a clean, well lit store, with products displayed in orderly groupings. However, visual merchandising delves a lot deeper, focusing on the psychology and motivations of the target customer. Your entire store concept must be built around your target customers. You can have the most unique and creative store on the planet, but if it isn’t consistent with what your customers desire and expect, then the effect will be lost.

Visual merchandising requires analysis and planning. Before you begin adjusting the design, display and merchandising of your store, you must have a clear understanding of the image you wish to project, and understand the demographics of the local community. What age groups are represented? What is the average income? What lifestyle do they currently live and/or aspire to? What interests them? Identify the type of individual you hope to appeal to and work out the best way to attract them. Look at competitors within your market to see if there is a void you can fill. Whatever approach you take, understanding who it is that you are appealing to and the message you wish to convey to them, will make your displays more effective and easier to create.

Visual merchandising begins outside your store. Posters covering the door and windows, hand-written signs, bad lighting and shabby displays send the message that your business isn't serious. If your store looks bargain basement, customers will expect bargain basement prices. Poor presentation may lead customers to assume that your product is poor quality as well. Your storefront must build your image and tell the right story about who you are as a retailer. Take a look at your storefront and try to see it as the customer would see it. What do you notice? What is lacking? Make some notes on possible improvements you could make to better achieve the image you want for your store.

Sameness and mediocrity are ubiquitous in most retail store designs today. There is a distinct lack of innovation and creative flair. Too many retailers look at a successful store chain, and then try to copy its look. If you can't separate yourself and be better than the competition, you might as well just go and work for them. You must give the customer as many reasons as possible to shop in your store. If you look the same, or worse, than the competition, then the customer will be less attracted to your store.

Dynamite Displays

Merchandise displays generally take one of these three basic forms:
1. Storefront Window Displays
These usually open on to a street or shopping centre walkway and are designed to attract people passing by that might not otherwise enter the store.

2. Showcase Displays
These typically feature items that are too valuable for display in the storefront, or niche items of high interest to the business's core clientele. These displays are usually located in high traffic areas and are typically multi- tiered product display with a sliding door for clerk's access.

3."Found-Space" Displays
These product presentations that occupy small but usable areas of the store, such as the tops of product carousels.

Storefront windows are best used for sales promotions, new arrivals, high demand items and image-building. Creative and interesting storefront window displays capture customers' attention and draw them into the store. The most successful window designs create a theme, vibe, or “lifestyle” that arouses curiosity. Inspiring product displays show the customer how an item might fit into their everyday life. Customers are more likely to purchase if they can imagine themselves using the product. Try displaying your products in use or in an active position. For example, shoes are often displayed at a tilted angle as it suggests action and movement, making for a more appealing display.

Focal Point & Visual Balance

An overwhelming display or a dreary one can both have the same downfall - lack of focal point. Ask yourself, where do you want your viewer to look? Is there one feature in particular that you want them to notice? If so, is that feature effectively highlighted? Where will the eye travel through the display? Is the focal point at eye level to most viewers?

Strong displays have visual balance. Dark colors appear heavier than light ones and large objects appear heavier than small ones. Position larger, darker items near the bottom of a display, with lighter items at the top to avoid a top heavy appearance. Placing too many items or heavy looking items on one side will also make your display appear unbalanced. Ensure that there is a left to right balance emanating from the focal point of the display.

Merchandising Similar Products Together

Displaying similar products together in a window is called creating an impact window. For example, if you stock an extensive line of bowls, you can create a dramatic presentation by simply stacking them in the window. This type of merchandising in-store presents a visually clean image and makes the best use of the customers' time by making it easy for them to pinpoint where the product is located.

Cross-Mix Merchandising

Displaying a variety of seemingly unrelated products together can create a comprehensive visual story. This type of merchandising communicates breadth of product and educates your customer about merchandise they may be unaware that you carry. Cross-mixing merchandise within a window display can and promote the look of a certain lifestyle for customers to buy into. It encourages customers to visualise how they would use an item and helps to confirm their decision to purchase an item. You can use larger items within your product lines as props for smaller items, and showcase impulse products with demand items. Be sure to place displays featuring cross-mixed products in high traffic areas. Keep your cross-mixed visual merchandising displays sharp and to the point, as the average customer views a merchandise display for just two seconds!

While individual creativity and artistic flair play a major role in merchandise displays, consider the following important principles:

Less is more so know when to stop and don't add too many items.
Group similar, complimentary and/or coordinating products together.
Focus on eye-catching best sellers, hot new items and impulse items.
Effective lighting, motion and complimentary props capture attention.

Successful store windows are changed frequently! You must constantly present a fresh and exciting face. As a minimum, windows should be changed once per month, but changing them weekly is ideal.

Props

Accentuating displays with complimentary props will help maximise sales by presenting an appealing theme. For example, you can promote a "summer holidays" theme by using sand, seashells, towels, sunscreen, sunglasses and a beach umbrella as a backdrop for your display.

Props can be gathered from friends, relatives, markets, garage sales, op shops and discount stores. Unusual and distinctive items such as wire or wooden baskets, old-fashioned scales, vintage furniture, large pots, quirky hats, picture frames and artificial flowers serve as great props. A quick spray paint often gives new life to an aged or weathered potential prop.

Put together a display tool box to keep on hand. By having all of these items in one location it will save time in preparing your displays.

Visual Merchandising and Display Supplies List

Calendar listing of all public holidays and special events
Double sided tape
Fishing line
Glass cleaner & paper towels
Hammer and screwdrivers
Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
Iron with board or steamer
Ladder
Light bulbs (extras)
Nails and screws (assorted)
Notepad, pens, markers
Pins
Props
Rubber bands
Scissors
Sign holders
Stapler & staples
Tape measure
Utility knife
Velcro strips
Yellow pages

Assess All Angles

After you have completed your display, step back and look at it from a variety of angles. Try to view it as a customer would. Remember that very few people will see it standing directly in front of it as most displays are approached from the side and seen from an angle. Observe the direction from which most customers approach the display and make sure that the best view of the display is the one that most people will see. Ask yourself the following questions:

Is your focal point appropriately placed?
Do you need to angle the display to the customer’s viewpoint?
Is signage visible and clear?
Does the arrangement appear balanced?
Does the display interest and attract the customer?
Or does it overwhelm and confuse the viewer?
Is the display bland and unremarkable?
Bear in mind that ultimately the final barometer of a display's worthiness is its ability to sell your products.

Lighting

An often overlooked and underestimated tool available to retailers is store lighting. Lighting your displays properly can make the difference between a display that makes people yawn, or makes them stop and look. Simply changing the type or colour of the light bulbs in your current fixture can make an impressive impact.

Here are a few lighting options to consider:

General Lighting
Illuminates both the merchandise and the traffic path in a store.

Accent Lighting
Accentuates merchandise and is usually designed for adjustability. Most accent lighting is placed to highlight focal displays or other areas of prime selling space.

Task Lighting
Used in work areas, such as under the counter or in a stock room. This lighting is usually fluorescent and should not create shadows.

Lighting can be a costly investment and a complete overhall of the current system may not be feasible for many retailers. However, a good lighting store will have some low-cost options and can give you advice on installing and using them.

The following recommendations can provide you with a good starting point:

If you don't have positionable lights in your key display areas, get some as soon as possible.
Use colour corrected bulbs as improper bulbs make merchandise look grey and shabby.
Make use of spot lights, preferably halogen, to highlight key selling areas.
Displays should not be lit directly from the top as doing so will form unattractive shadows.
Lights should be slightly off to the side and to the front of the display to enhance the three-dimensional quality of the product.
Point your lights where you want your customers to look. If your walls are supposed to show off your products, then flood them with "wall washing" light.
Make the front of your store "glow". A bright storefront is more attractive and is far more likely to be noticed and remembered.
Replace blown light bulbs right away. Customers are definitely not impressed when they notice burnt out bulbs as they walk into a store. It's a sign of neglect and complacency.

Encouraging Impulse Purchases

Impulse purchases are the unplanned purchases customers make on a shopping trip. Savvy retailers maximise every opportunity to sell by aiming to convert customer visits into impulse buys. Point of sale add-ons can generate a significant amount of extra dollars in impulse sales. Think of small items that people usually forget such as batteries, light bulbs, gift wrapping, etc. These small items can be placed near the register to reminder or entice the customer. This is why drinks, chocolates, chewing gum, etc. are optimally positioned at supermarket checkouts. Items with high impulse success deserve great locations in the store and one of the most highly trafficked areas is the counter. It is also the location that offers the most captive audience - a waiting customer. It is the point at which impulse sales are most often made. Impulse products are also well placed in the front of your store, near the demand merchandise, or in the high traffic district between the door and your demand products.

Product Positioning

Successful retailers make the most profitable use of every square foot of costly space in their store. Floor plans, merchandise positioning and suitable displays are all key factors in the most effective use of space. Misuse of space can be as detrimental to your success as poor buying or employing incompetent staff.

Understanding the way your customers shop is valuable knowledge that you can use to help position your merchandise to increase sales. Analyse the current traffic flow of your store and develop a floor plan which encourages customers to shop your entire store, with their attention focused where you would like it to be. By strategically placing demand products and impulse items throughout your store, you can optimise the traffic flow and increase your overall sales. Ensure that your best-selling merchandise is given the most favourable display areas in your store, your "hotspots", which are usually located near the store’s entrance. Take full advantage of them by displaying your newest and most colorful items in these spots, as they will command the attention of shoppers.

If you're testing a new line of merchandise, give it the best chance possible to succeed by placing it in a prime selling area. However, within a short period of time it will need to earn the right to remain in your "hot spot".

These days, many shoppers are busy people. They are more likely to purchase if they can easily find what they are looking for, identify the price, then find the register and check out. Products should be organised in groupings; by item type, color, or any other logical characteristic. Placing coordinating or complementary items near each other makes them more visible to the customer and makes shopping easier.

Customers are prepared to hunt for high demand items, so position them in less valuable spaces. High demand products placed in the rear of the store will pull customers through the store, increasing the visibility of other more impulse-related products along the way. Supermarkets take full advantage of this principle by positioning milk at the rear of the store.

Graphics & Signage

Signs can be used to educate customers about merchandise for sale, announce special promotions or to direct traffic flow through your store. A significant percentage of sales are generated by in-store signage, displays and events; its impact far outweighs any other type of promotional or marketing campaign. Signage is the "silent salesperson" for the retailer and must communicate your store image. Colour, size, type, style, and layout should be consistent. Professionalism is everything in your store and the same holds true with your signage. Avoid handwritten signs at all costs! Make your signs short and sweet as you have five seconds or less to tell the customer what you want them to know. Only display positive signs about your policies. If it's negative, change it! Select wording carefully; saying "Save $15", instead of "15% off" is far more powerful.

Many stores use large posters or photo enlargements in their window displays with merchandise placed near-by. Large graphics should be able to be seen from 5 metres away and be immediately recognisable to passersby. This approach offers a clean dramatic look. Repetition of large graphics in various windows, or throughout the store in various sizes, serves as a reminder of a particular product, creates a dramatic effect, and draws your customer from the window through the store. For example, to promote vases within your store, you could source an impressive photo of beautiful flowers in a striking vase, have it enlarged and place it in the window behind a display of the vases you have for sale. For added impact, repeat that flower vase graphic within your store near the merchandise for sale. Large graphics can suggest a lifestyle or how your products are to be used once purchased. Retailers today often sell merchandise by portraying a dream lifestyle for the customers to buy and take home. For example, a graphic of a family enjoying the outdoors can be placed behind picnic items that you might have for sale.

The process of creating a window using large graphics may seem like a challenging exercise the first time around, but once you have established your sources and become familiar with the process, it will be much easier and the reward will be well worth the effort.

Seducing the Senses

The experience of visiting a store should be comfortable, rich and have impact. Create a sensual experience in your store by paying attention not only to sight, but also to smell and sound.

Reinforce your customer’s sensory experience by using fragrances in your store. Note how every department store around the world positions the fragrance counters on the ground floor across the entrance. Think of how enticing a bakery smells. Doesn't it make you want to buy something? How many times you've walked into a cinema, swearing not to indulge in the warm buttered popcorn, only to find yourself elbow deep in a large box?

Music builds atmosphere. Customers tend to stay longer in environments with appropriate music and if they stay longer, they typically buy more. A relaxed and fun work place will also increase the productivity and morale levels of your employees. Be sure that the music you choose fits the store and the customers. Stores attracting teens should play the lively, modern music, while nature-oriented retailers should use natural, calming sounds blended with classical themes. Avoid radio stations as commercials and newsbreaks are unappealing. CD systems are inexpensive and allow the music to play continuously without the risk of sudden silence. If your budget allows for it, digital music services are the best option.

Whether it is music, product displays, lighting or climate control, everything in the store can impact the customer’s shopping experience. Your customers will remember your store if they heard one of their favorite songs playing and smelled that luxurious frangipani hand lotion at the counter.

Additional Merchandising Tips

An inexpensive tin of paint can be used to paint your fixtures, touch up chips and keep things looking new.
Use fabric or paper under or behind a display to provide an eye-catching backdrop.
Use motion to attract attention. For example, use a scarf and a small fan to add colour and movement to a static arrangement.
To avoid a busy look, stick to a few colours and textures in props that complement your merchandise.
Use magazines and catalogues as a source of adaptable ideas for your displays. A great idea in another store won't necessarily fit your image, yet the presentations pictured may trigger an idea for a fabulous creation of your own.
To give yourself a more hands-on sense of how to display products, while you are shopping, pay attention to the variety of approaches taken by other stores.
Your store's housekeeping must be impeccable. A dirty store says you don't care and indicates that you may not treat the merchandise with respect either. Create a daily checklist of all housekeeping duties to be completed. Dust the shelves. Clean the lights. Remove the clutter behind the counter. Vacuum daily. No smudges. No dust. No grime!

Merchandising Checklist

Are window displays creative, attractive & inviting?
Are all senses appropriately stimulated?
Is lighting effective?
Is all signage clear and professional?
Is the store interior clean, welcoming and comfortable?
Is merchandise presentation logically ordered and appealing?
Is high-margin merchandise placed in high profile locations?
Are demand items positioned at the rear of the store?
Are opportunities for add-on/impulse purchases maximised?
Are displays appropriate for your target customers?
Overall, is the store appearance professional?

For some department stores the term 'visual merchandising' should be elevated to 'display art'. Selfridges in London created these extraordinary window displays inspired by common phrases.

Done a Runner	Alot on your plate

Cecilia Biemann is a freelance writer who has traded on eBay since 2001 under the Username Misseve75. Operating on a part-time basis around a young daughter and part-time university studies, she has maintained bronze PowerSeller status for the past 3 years. She now specialises primarily in classic wearable vintage clothing and intermittently offers a small range of unique new women’s dresses sourced from the United States. To view her current eBay listings please click here

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