Italiano
EnglishVisual merchandising is a retail strategy that makes the most of a product’s aesthetics with the aim of increasing sales.
Visual merchandising can also play a part in the look, feel and culture of a brand. Done well, it can build awareness while increasing brand loyalty. Above all, it can attract customers and close the sale, all on the strength of the aesthetic quality of the retail display.
What are the key components?
The success factors of visual merchandising include the look of the store, signage, lighting, uniforms, menus, point-of-sale material, colours, shapes, textures, packaging, tickets, presentation and the “wow” factor that each of these elements brings together in a store. When these elements combine to show off a brand, they enrich the customer experience, leading to a positive buying experience and higher sales.
Brand experience
Customers need to be able to experience your brand through the visual components that surround your product. For example, an emerging cosmetics brand can show its product best through colourful displays with bold branding and edgy patterns to convey a sense of youth. A conservative cosmetics brand, on the other hand, can use pastels, script lettering and soft images to appeal to a mature audience. These subtle strategies not only bring the brand to a chosen demographic, they also open the customer up to the brand experience. That, in turn, strengthens brand loyalty and increases the chances that the customer will buy again in the future.
Themes
Brands can best carry out visual merchandising strategies by using themes in their displays. Themes tell a story and win customers’ buy-in. They usually accompany the launch of a new product. More importantly, themes allow a brand to reinvent itself with new colours, layouts, typefaces, designs, images and photography when a new product is launched. Theme ideas can range anywhere from colour coordination to product grouping to single motifs and anything in between. There are no rules when it comes to themes, but it is a good idea to consider the store, the season, the new product, the overall look of the brand and how the theme will tie in with any in-store promotion.
Tone
Tone refers to the consistency of your brand across all marketing materials. It can also be described as your brand’s personality or voice. It means conveying the look, feel and wholeness of your brand in every piece of marketing. This means that visual merchandising has to be consistent across all platforms, including in-store displays, your website and third-party websites. This secures the customer’s brand loyalty and also ensures that the brand can deliver. In turn, the emotional connection a customer has with your brand is strengthened.
Packaging can affect a product’s sales
Many consumers believe they are buying products when they shop, but in reality they are often buying the shopping experience. The way products are displayed and promoted can have a strong impact on consumers’ reactions and on the amount of goods sold. By displaying products in an attractive, accessible and effective way, retailers can increase sales and improve their profit margins.
Full coverage
Promoting a product in several places is a key element of sales success. Visual merchandising has to cover advertising, shop windows, store design, and the look and placement of the packaging. By using a consistent visual theme that runs through all these contexts, you can raise awareness of the product in the consumer’s mind and increase the chances that they will buy it. Repetition is a key element in getting a message into the minds of potential customers: repetita iuvant. By presenting a recurring product theme in the front window of a store, in the interior displays and on the product’s packaging itself, you create a powerful and persuasive message.
Seasonal marketing
Seasons offer the chance to develop powerful visual elements that act as cues for consumption. Orange tones and spooky images for Halloween, blue colours and cute animals for Easter, and warm Christmas images of family and home resonate in consumers’ minds because they have been exposed to them every year of their lives. Visual merchandising can take advantage of this familiarity by advertising the right products at the right time of year, connecting visual cues to consumers’ receptive minds.
Staging
Staging is the art of presenting a product in an appealing light. Sometimes this is done literally, by creating special lighting that makes an interior display more attractive. Staging is most evident in TV commercials, where products are idealised to perfection in a way that does not exist in the real world. More elaborate presentation is more common for higher-end purchases such as jewellery or cars. Consumers who are looking for a buying experience as much as the product itself respond well to staging, because it increases the pleasure they take in buying something.
Novelty
While familiar themes and triggers are important in getting consumers to buy, it is also effective to keep an element of novelty in the sales environment. Especially for customers who visit a store regularly, new products or arrangements will catch their attention. Even if only the physical layout of a store is changed while you offer the same products, many customers will respond with renewed interest. When new products are introduced, they should be emphasised by placing them on a prominent display at the front of the store. This will increase their sales, because customers cannot miss them when they walk in.