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Store Displays That Sell

Is your retail space doing all it can do to help your bottom line? The way your store displays are arranged and executed can make a big difference in the sales your store enjoys. Here are a few hints gleaned from a variety of sources.

Designing your store layout and displays is part art, part science, since an aesthetic sense is required but there's also been a lot of research done that is helpful.

Begin with your target customer. It will help tremendously if you know your target customer inside and out. You cannot be all things to all people unless you are Walmart and even they skew to the low income side of the ledger. So who is your target customer? What is the predominant age group? What is their education level? What is there income? What is their lifestyle? What are their tastes? If their tastes are upscale, your displays shouldn't be rustic and "down-home." If you are unsure, you may be able to use the reporting from your point-of-sale system to help you create a profile.

Use All Five Senses. Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell and Taste can all be used to one degree or another to enhance the customer experience. And EXPERIENCE is, more and more, what brick-and-mortar retail is about and its major advantage over online retail.

• SIGHT: Light, color symmetry and focus are all elements of visual merchandising that should be considered. Where do you want your customers to look? How do you want them to feel because of what they see?
• SOUND: You may be playing music in your store. Musical taste is very subjective. It may just be background, but it may also be a subconscious irritant if your music is of a style that doesn't fit your customer profile. Also, mellow music will slow people down, causing them to browse and perhaps buy more.
• TOUCH: Here is where your brick-and-mortar store naturally shines. You have an advantage the Amazon's of the world don't have: your customers can handle the merchandise! If your products come hermetically sealed, open one for display so your customers can get up close and personal.
• SMELL: There's actually a science called "Scent Marketing" which analyzes customers' reactions to the scents while shopping. They may be less aware of the smells around them than they are of the music, but there's a reason why real estate agents bake cookies in a house before an Open House; people associate smells with emotions and memories, both important factors behind brand choice.
• TASTE: This one may only be relevant if you're selling food and drink, but letting the customers sample the merchandise is as important as letting them try on clothes if that's your product.

Grouping to Multiply Sales. There's a reason why grocery stores put the jelly with the peanut butter and the dip on the chips aisle: people think in terms of products that go together and how they will use them. Think also of the many online retailers with the people-who-bought-this-also-bought" feature. How can you use this to your advantage with your products?

Use Lighting to Establish Mood and Focus. Do your products call for a bright, airy environment or are they better suited to a more dramatic atmosphere? Is your lighting harsh and hard or have you thought about where light should be directed to guide the customer to what you want them to seeand whether it is warm and inviting or cold and subconsciously off-putting?

Vary Your Emphasis. Changing the contents of your window displays and main product displays often also helps your customers feel like something is happening and they can't ignore you quite so easily. It also allows you to test differing approaches and see how your customers respond.

Resources:

• Pinterest (Duh!)
• Shopify
• Design Retail
• Smart Retailer

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