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