Ensuring that your store has strong visual merchandising will make a huge impact on your overall customer experience – and sales.
The term visual merchandising itself can sometimes be polarizing for those who don’t consider themselves to be artistically gifted or have a lot of financial backing. They know VM is important retail terminology, but they are unsure of how to implement its’ strategies in their stores.
Whether you are in the need for brand new retail displays or want to revamp existing ones, we’ve lined up some simple visual merchandising strategies to help you achieve more effective and impactful displays within your store. These elements are applicable regardless of what is being marketed and where the display is located.
Colour is King
Colour can make or break the visual appeal of your display. Colours signify feelings on a subconscious level – green being healthy and fresh while yellow is happy and optimistic. Use colour in your displays to set the atmosphere and speak to your customers; be sure that the colours you choose compliment the merchandise itself.
Contrasting or monochromatic colour schemes often work well – both are intriguing and help to create an eye-catching display. Colour has an incredible ability to attract the human eye, so it is vital that the pops of colour you choose surround the merchandise and do not drag the attention away from what you are trying to sell.
Pick a Focal Point
The second a customer looks at a display, it should be immediately obvious to them what is for sale. If your display is too crowded this selling power may be lost. It is vitally important to create a clear focal point based around the merchandise you are trying to sell.
Take a step back and look at the display from the customer’s point of view – both above and below your own eye level, from the sides, and from the back. The focal point is often placed too high for the customer to see. Consider the size of the merchandise being displayed and how easy it is to view from a variety of angles and heights.
Be a Storyteller
The signage in your display has about 5 seconds to intrigue customers before they walk away. Use your signage to pull the customer in and tell them a story. Three bullet points that clearly indicate what the consumer stands to gain through buying this product will suffice. Remember, you are not writing out every benefit, just the most important, powerful details that can help enable the buying decision.
Maximum Exposure
Displays that are most effectively designed find an impactful way to expose the customer to as much merchandise as possible without overwhelming their eyes. More is more in this scenario; the more physical merchandise the customer can see, the more they are likely to buy.
Store layouts that are circular expose customers to more merchandise than traditional aisles. If your store uses aisles, placing a display in the dead center will force customers to stop and look at the products there when they get to it.
With this rule in mind, make sure to keep displays clean and uncrowded. Sloppy displays that show more merchandise are not better than thought-out, sharp displays with less physical product.
Visual merchandising is a multifaceted strategy that will benefit your customer experience and boost sales. We hope you can implement these quick tips to make your store a memorable shopping experience!
