Would you like to know how to plan the perfect visual merchandising? Here’s our guide: Visual Merchandising applied to Retail: 5 first steps to succeed with your marketing and design skills, without the need for courses!
The art of window dressing is far behind: it is no longer enough to take care of the aesthetics of your business. In the shark pond that the business ecosystem has become, visual merchandising promises to increase your billing.
But what does Visual Merchandising have that traditional window dressing does not?
Easy: if you design beautiful window displays, you will earn some compliments; but if you control visual merchandising, you will increase your sales significantly.
Without further ado, here are the steps you must take before planning the visual merchandising of your business:
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Define a target for your Visual Merchandising: what do you want to sell?
The main advantage of Visual Merchandising over other marketing techniques is that it allows the planner to direct the buyer’s attention to where he is most interested.
But a successful aesthetic will be useless without a clear goal. Do you want your space to look spectacular? Hire an interior designer!
If you’re looking for results that translate into lots of zeros in your bank account, you’ll need a strategy. Once you are clear about the focus of your Visual Merchandising (place a certain stationary stock, attract more consumers to your physical space, guide the purchase process…) we can continue.
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Meet these 5 fundamental requirementes when planning
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Draw attention
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The decision to highlight some products above others, or to camouflage the catalog that you least urgently need to sell, will have an impact on consumer behavior. A well-placed product will shine above the rest like a highlighter pen on a notary’s desk. But beware! Do not go overboard with flashy elements. You know what they say, “if we are all special, none of us are”.
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Make your audience want to buy
It appeals to the emotions, to the need. And if it doesn’t exist, create it! Nobody buys a car for 100,000 euros because they need its benefits; most vehicles fulfill their function: transport you. We yearn for expensive cars because at the time of purchase they provoked in us the feeling of desire for the product.
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Contribute to brand image
You already have a specific sales objective and you have displayed your products in an attractive and striking way, now what?
It’s time to review the layout of your products and ask yourself the following question: does it follow the line of my business in terms of aesthetics and tone? If the answer is no, I’m afraid you’ll have to start from the beginning, because apart from generating interest and a pleasant sight, your Visual Merchandising must show harmony with your brand, a subtle identification that contributes to expanding its visibility.
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Make shopping easy!
If you are going to distribute your product according to a Visual Merchandising plan, it better be accessible to the public. The available space will delimit the location, but as far as possible, try to favor the circulation of consumers towards the chosen place.
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Get performance out of your assortment by educating the consumer
Some products are obvious in their design (a cushion, a pair of jeans, a notebook). To find out the function of others, imagination is necessary. But in both cases, the probability of sale increases when the consumer understands what is being offered, what it is for and what benefits it brings.
If you sell lipstick, be sure to place it near products that draw the audience’s attention to the makeup. It doesn’t matter that the packaging is quirky and looks like anything but a cosmetic; by association, the consumer will know what to expect.
The same happens with novelty objects, especially in the field of technology: we end up not distinguishing one device from another unless we have seen a physical example of its use.
Trust us!
It is worth stopping for a few minutes to plan the perfect Visual Merchandising; you’ll thank us later!
