Fashion Promotion
Visual Merchandising
Objectives:
Explain the importance of visual merchandising
Describe the two main areas of store layout
Summarize the aspects of merchandise presentation
Describe the components of in-store displays
List the advantages, disadvantages, and types of window displays
The Importance of Visual Merchandising Visual merchandising is
the physical display of products in the most attractive and appealing ways
Purposes are to sell products and promote store image
Should always try to be different, new, and creative
The Importance of Visual Merchandising Provides information Gains attention 3 dimensional & real The extra $ spent on visual
merchandising is usually quickly returned in additional sales.
Store Layoutinterior arrangement of retail facilities
Selling areas (75%-80%)
– Where merchandise is displayed and customers interact with salespeople
– aisles, counters, fitting rooms, merchandise fixtures, displays
Sales support areas– Customer
services and all other operations
– restrooms, cashiers, gift wrapping
Floor Plan – drawn to show selling floor vs sales support areas
Store Layout
Grid layout– One or more main aisles with secondary
aisles intersecting– Efficient use of space, good sight, security,
uninteresting atmosphere Maze layout
– Free-flowing, unbalanced placement of fixtures; allows shoppers to weave through displayed merchandise
– Interesting but selling space is lost See handout
Merchandise Presentation
The ways goods are hung, placed on shelves, or otherwise made available to customers
Shoulder-out– Only one side shows
Face-forward– Hanging garment so
full front faces viewer
Types of Fixtures Most common types
of fixtures – Bins– C-rack or half-circle– Four-way, quad, or
four-arm– Rounder– Showcase– T-stand, two-arm, or
two-way– Wall-standards and
brackets– waterfall
Showcase
Interior Displays
Displays should:– Stimulate product
interest– Provide information– Suggest merchandise
coordination– Generate traffic flow– Remind customers of
planned purchases– Create impulse sales– Enhance the store’s
visual image
Interior Display Locations
Should be chosen to maximize merchandise exposure– Just inside store
entrance– At entrances to
departments– Near cash/wrap
counter– Next to related items– By elevators and
escalators– At ends of aisles– Open-to-mall areas
Displayed Merchandise
Should be current Represent styles and
lines Should be well stocked In demand New (inform customers
of what is available) Encourage additional
purchases Promote current theme Look good on display
Grouping Displays
One-category groupings– Highlight a specific kind of item
Skirts, children’s dresses, holiday sweaters, shoes– Line-of-goods displays, “vendor statement”
Related groupings– Ensembles or coordinates– Showing customers that more than the feature item is
needed– Tennis outfit + visor + racquet + balls + bag
Theme groupings– Particular setting, event, holiday– What is the difference between one-category grouping &
theme grouping?? What would be in one and not the other Variety or assortment
– Unrelated items all sold in the store– Lower-priced retailers
Lighting
Overlighting – washed out Underlighting – not effective Floodlighting – ceiling lights to
direct light over an entire wide display area
Spotlighting – focuses on a specific area, targeting items
Pinpointing – narrow beam on a specific item
Props
Functional props physically support or hold merchandise– Mannequins, stands,
pedestals, screens, panels, or forms
Decorative props– Used for mood or
attractive setting– Artifical flowers, bicycles,
seashells Structural props
support and change displays– Boxes, cylinders (usually
hidden)
Decorative and functional prop
Signage
Variety of signs may be used to inform customers– Counter signs– Posters– Hanging signs– Banners– Flags– Elevator cards– Easels
Might include prices, sizes, styles, features, store logo, etc.
Display Evaluation
Effective sales appeal? Coordinated with store
ads? Help to locate goods? Signage legible and
easy to understand? Signage gives best
selling points? Draw customer through
store? Clean and neat? Changed frequently?
Window Displays
First contact customer has with store
Can stimulate curiosity
More opportunities to sell merchandise– Can be expensive to
design, set up, and maintain; need props, staff, and space
– Another problem can be glare of glass
Types of Display Windows
Enclosed– Full background– Ramped, elevated, or
shadowbox Semi-enclosed
– Partial background Open
– No background, open to store interior
Island– 4-sided glass, often
in lobbies
Enclosed window; full background
Do You Know . . .
How might displays in a discount store differ from the displays in a more expensive apparel store?
What criteria would you use to select merchandise for display in an island window?
PICK ME!!!
Things you should know.. Most aisles are 3 feet a part. In
more expensive stores, they may be 4 feet a part.
The DownShift Factor The faster you walk, the more
your peripheral vision narrows and the longer it takes to slow down your shopping speed
What we know… Humans walk like they drive.
Decompression Zone-empty area inside the store. Never put anything of value in that zone.
Invariant Right Theory
Upon entering a store the shopper will invariably and reflexively turn to the right.
What we should do… Customer interaction with any product
or promotion displays in the Decompression Zone will increase by at least 30% once it’s moved to the back of this zone, and even more if it place to the right.
Butt Brush Theory
“Brush, bump or jostle a woman on the behind when she stopped to look at an item and she will bolt.” Malcom Gladwell of Paco Underhill’s Butt-Brush Theory.
What we should do is wide the aisles.
Getting your Customer to Buy More..
The chances that shoppers will buy something are directly related to how long they spend shopping.
How long they spend shopping is directly related to how deep they get pulled into the store.
What you should do…
Place destination categories in the rear of your store. This forces the customer to go deeper into the store.
Tables Invite Touching which leads to unplanned buying.
Keys to Increasing Impulse Items Sales… Adjacent to register and “within
reach”
Adjacent to destination products
Flexibility to change the mix of impulse items frequently