No matter what product retailers provide, it takes some extra effort to make it stand out. Unless your shelves are lined with talking items, the merchandise isn't going to sell itself. That's where visual merchandising comes in. The arrangement of your store, the visual appeal of display fixtures and the overall atmosphere all contribute to the customer's experience. The goal of visual merchandising is to not just make products stand out but to also engage patrons in a meaningful way that makes them want to buy the product. Find out how visual merchandising can make even the least attractive items stand out:
Make it fun
As humans, we search for things with which to identify. A successful retailer makes that easy for his or her customers, creating a story, setting the stage and engaging patrons in the experience.
Visual Merchandising Store Design contributor Faith Bartrug used bring-your-own-container stores as an example of how visual merchandising can be extremely effective. Making products in package-less stores stand out is especially difficult since they don't come in bright, shiny or attractive containers. Instead, she urged retailers to make the experience of shopping fun for patrons. Specifically, she suggested incorporating interactive scales, perhaps a dog scale with a tail that wags higher every time more weight is added. Not only would this give customers a good laugh, but it's personal. Plenty of people own dogs and can relate to a happy puppy.
Presenting products effectively
Straight rows of shelving units can be mundane, allowing customers to pass by product after product without truly seeing them. Decorated retail display fixtures are one way to solve this, breaking up the monotony of shelving units and allowing certain products to stand out. While the presentation itself provides some variety in visual merchandising, if it's done effectively, it can contribute to more than just getting a product noticed – a good display can make items sell.
Specialty Retail Report offers several tips to consider when setting up a display. Color is a crucial element for both grabbing attention and developing the identity of a store. Retailers should incorporate two main colors and one accent color that represent the store's image.
Props can also be used to tell a story about the product and the retailer. The actual products, though, should be arranged in a visually appealing way. Place large groups of the same item on the display or create a pyramid formation out of several types of products.
With a few simple visual merchandising strategies, you can make any product stand out.
