How to Master the Art of Visual Merchandising for Your Retail Business
You know that feeling when you wander into a store “just to look” and somehow end up leaving with a bag full of stuff you didn’t know you needed? Well you better believe that none of that is an accident, because it’s not. Actually for a lot of stores, that’s their competitive advantage, making you want more (and getting more) than what you actually came in for. Honestly, that might very well be the biggest and best reason why so many businesses still choose brick and mortar over online.
Basically you have way more self control when buying online compared to a more in-person experience, and yeah, visual merchandising is hands-down one of the reasons too. Now yeah, these look great, but it’s not exactly the only reason business owners do this. Rather, it’s about setting the stage so customers can’t help but stick around, poke through your displays, and, yep, spend more.
Put the Good Stuff where People Can See it
Okay, sure, it’s obvious enough, but still, go ahead and think about it, no one’s bending down to check out something on the bottom shelf unless it’s exactly what they came for. And anything stuck way up high? Well, you can forget it. If it’s not at eye level, it’s basically invisible to most shoppers. So yeah, the trick is simple: keep your best sellers, seasonal finds, or the thing you’re dying to move right where people can see it without trying.
A great example is when grocery stores put cereal right at kid height. They know exactly what they’re doing. You can do the same with your own products, well, minus the sugar rush, of course.
Tell a Story they Want to be Part of
Now, this part might be pretty weird to say, but for the most part, people don’t just buy stuff, they buy the feeling that comes with it (well, usually). So that’s technically why a display that tells a story works so well. But when it comes to this, you’ll basically need to think beyond lining things up in a neat little row. Show how they fit into someone’s life.
For example, if it’s the holiday season, you could make a cute little nook in your store, just something cute, visual, and relatable, like seating, twinkling lights, a throw, a mug, and a card display stand filled with greeting cards that look like they were made for a Hallmark movie set. It’s a cute and fun way to sell the cards while at the same time reminding them of the setting they could be in when they hand the card out.
Let Lighting do the Heavy Lifting
It’s not really something you pay attention to as the shopper, but this is technically something that you tend to see. So, good lighting can make a product look like it belongs in a high-end boutique, while bad lighting makes everything look like it’s been sitting in a dusty back room since 2003. But yeah, the same can be said for color, too. While you technically don’t need to make it explode in color, it does help if it’s colorful enough to stop someone in their tracks.
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