Whatever retail store you have, whatever you try to sell (clothes, shoes or even jewelry items), you have to keep in mind one essential aspect – visual merchandising is crucial. Why do we say that visual merchandising is a very important aspect? Well, we have to admit that we live in an era that the most effective message is the visual one. Nowadays, merchandising and marketing strategies gained importance also due to the fact that “the visual” became so powerful.
Visual merchandising is a relatively new concept that refers to that image of a business which encapsulates everything a possible customer sees. This image is created to steal customer’s attention and desire and to make him or her to take action. This “everything” that a customer sees in a store refers both to the exterior and interior. In other words, visual merchandising refers to the way in which a window display is made, how lighting is used, how the products are arranged, so on and so forth.
#1. Important Goals in Visual merchandising
It is no secret that the main goal of visual merchandising is that desire to attract customers and make them buy the products displayed. Visual merchandising goes all the way from the exterior to the interior of a specific store. The customer has to be attracted first by the exterior presentation of the store. In that way, there is a chance that he or she will enter the store and be convinced by the interior presentation and buy stuff.
Visual merchandising is the overall image of the store which has to remain in the people’s mind. Visual merchandising works not only as a retail identity “polisher”, a thing that helps a retail store build an identity, but also a decision “polisher” for the customers. Visual merchandising helps customers making decisions about buying or not a specific product.
#2. The importance of Window Display
Have you ever accessed a website and did not get forward because you did not like the start page interface? Well, the same thing happens with retail stores. If the window display is not right, then the customer will not enter the store.
A store window display has to be attractive because it represents the very first information link to the possible client. A good window display can successfully replace advertising at any time. As important as it is, a window display can also be very tricky.
A good and effective window display can beat the record and attract people into the store in less than ten seconds. The scientific studies tell us that a person spends looking at a window display approximately eleven seconds. Even though you have a big store or a small one, you should not forget one important thing – do not make your window display too crowded.
The best idea is to keep it simple and make sure that the message or the story you want to send with the arrangement of your products gets to your customers. But, if you do have a small retail store, it is good to keep an eye on your window display and change it once in a while. This is a good thing to do because of the fact that the persons who pass by it often, may get bored. New window displays send the message that you always have new merchandise and you know your domain very clearly.
#3. A good life has color in it
It is a well-known fact that people have a liking for colors. Therefore color is an important element in visual merchandising. Different colors can change people’s impression of a window display or even of the overall appearance of a store. Color can also affect the atmosphere of a store and also people’s feelings. Different scientific studies tell us that almost every color has a specific emotional response.
This is an aspect that everyone who has a store should keep in mind. For example, green is considered to be a cool color, which has an easy effect on the eyes. It is also considered to stimulate conversation, give the feeling of time passing quickly and also a feeling of tranquility. Blue, another cool color, can make a room seem cooler and can also calm and relax people. Blue is a color that encourages conversation. Yellow expresses happiness, optimism, intensity, warmth and can boost morale. Red expresses comfort, energy, love, romance, and can excite and stimulate.
#4.The importance of props and fixtures for jewelry stores
Props and fixtures are important for every retail store, but especially for those stores which sell pieces of jewelry. Props and fixtures are used not only for displaying jewelry items, but also for telling a story about those items.
Jewelry props and fixtures can be small leather boxes which can be used to display different kinds of rings, but also different parts of the body made of plastic, such as those in the form of hand or neck, used to display rings and necklaces.
You have to always remember that props and fixtures are important, but not as important as jewelry items itself. Therefore, you have to use props and fixtures carefully, trying to make jewelry items more appealing and not making customers wanting to buy your props and fixture instead.
#5.Light things up
Lighting is also very important when we talk about visual merchandising. It is usually used in window displays and also in display cases to attract people’s attention to a specific item or product. Brightest areas or items will always steal customer’s attention. In this context of lighting, we can talk about at least three types of lighting used in retail stores: primary lighting, accent (secondary) lighting and atmosphere lighting.
#6.Mistakes to avoid in visual merchandising
Instead of a conclusion, we will present you some of the common mistakes occurring in visual merchandising. These refer mainly to: not paying too much attention to detail, selecting poor fixture and props and sometimes too many, displaying too much merchandise or too little, lack of imagination and last but not least, limited or no display budget.
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