Visual merchandising is both an art and a science and for retailers that want to focus on improving sales per square footage, it’s something you have to get right. Of course, before you begin, you might be looking at a blank shop display stand. For those that don’t fall into the creative or artistic realm, this can be a difficult hurdle to overcome.
The idea is to make your retail space alluring to both entice customers and encourage them to complete a sale. There are tried-and-tested ways to create a merchandising stand that actually converts and combining this science with some style could mean you’re onto a real winner.
Here’s how you can get started when creating shop display stands that work for your brand.
1. Remember your target customer
Honing in on your target customers takes in-depth market research and studies. You (should!) already know their basic demographics, including income, age and locations, but you need to dive a little further than that.
Knowing about their lifestyles and typical buying behaviours could put you at an advantage when you’re designing in-store visual merchandising.
2. Find your inspiration
There’s a difference between copying and taking inspiration from another brand. Mark Twain famously said, “There is no such thing as an original idea. This is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope.”
Your research should involve checking out your competitors. See what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong. How can you add your brand’s unique stamp and voice to an existing relevant display? Refer to invaluable online resources like blogs, message boards and inspirational sites like Pinterest.
3. Consider all 5 senses
Although you’re creating a visual display, don’t forget that the key to creating an immersive experience is to create a multi-sensory display. When customers step into your store, give all 5 senses something to play with by following these quick tips:
- Sight: Research the psychological implications of colour. Pay attention to lighting, contrast, balance and symmetry to control where a customer’s focus goes. Use visual cues to grab attention and keep it.
- Sound: Carefully select the music you want to play in your store. Slow them down with mellow music or reach out to teenagers with chart hits.
- Touch: Let customers feel and try on the items in your store, so they have the chance to form that connection and that wanting.
- Smell: Modern brands are focusing on scent to encourage customers, by adding particular smells to vents, for example. Smell is a fast link to the brain system that controls memory and emotion, so it could be the reason that someone chooses your brand over a competitor.
- Taste: Perhaps you can only appeal to this sense if you’re a food supplier, but allow customers to try nibbles before they buy for an effective way to encourage sales.
4. Change it up
Consumers get bored if they’re seeing the same thing over and over again. Make sure you keep up with the seasons and switch up your shop display stands regularly to keep your brand current and interesting.
Advertising Industries can create custom shop display stands that convert and are unique to your company, and we have the knowledge to show you other innovative ways to market your brand. Contact us online today and begin the year with engaging and effective merchandising ideas.
