What is Visual Merchandising?
Visual merchandising is the art and science of creating visually appealing displays and arrangements of products and merchandise in a retail or commercial environment to attract and engage customers, and ultimately increase sales. It involves the strategic use of design principles, lighting, colors, textures, props, and other visual elements to create an immersive and memorable shopping experience for customers.
Visual merchandising aims to create a strong brand image and identity, enhance the store’s ambiance, and communicate the product’s value and unique selling points. It involves planning, designing, and implementing window displays, in-store displays, product layouts, and signage that reflect the brand’s personality, style, and aesthetic.
Effective visual merchandising can capture customers’ attention, create a desire to explore the store, and encourage them to make purchases. It also helps retailers to differentiate themselves from their competitors, build brand loyalty, and increase revenue.
Visual merchandising is the art of techniques that displaying the fashion, apparel and other products with innovative or creative designs or ideas to increase the retail store’s customers and also to maximize the sales. Visual merchandising and attractive window display creates enduring relation with the consumer.
For this display merchandising, use seasonal and occasional themes and displays with related props to introduce new arrivals to the purchaser. It includes different techniques like, store layout, window dressing with mannequins, signs, Eye catching banner, graphics, photography or brand image and signage, props, and other sales promotional display inside or outside of the retail store.
Visual display is playing one of the vital roles for small boutiques or fashion retail business. To playing these roles, visual merchandisers apply different techniques, tips and ideas to attract window shoppers. Visual merchandiser established a relationship between the merchandise and the customer. If the merchandiser is experienced enough, then all the visual merchandising benefits are worked successfully.
Objectives of Visual Merchandising:
All the following objectives are helping the fashion retailers to improve their own retail, fashion house or boutiques sales and popularity.
- Visual merchandising helps to promote fashion merchandise.
- Visual merchandising is a desire to attract customers.
- To display and express detail about new products.
- It helps to create eye-catching product displays and store layouts for retail shop.
- To attract customers about product in an effective and creative way and encourage them to buy.
- Developing an innovative medium to present product in 3D environment, there make able long lasting impact and recall value.
- It helps to promote overall retail store image in consumers mind.
- Make merchandise easily to locate in the retail shop
- It helps to show merchandise assortment easily.
- To express store decoration exterior and interior presentations are used.
- To get an exclusive position for company or fashion brand.
- Build a relationship between fashion, product design and marketing by keeping the product in leading focus.
- It is the combination of creativity, technical knowledge and operational aspects of merchandise and the business.
- It helps the customer to take purchase decision within shortest time.
Basic purposes of visual merchandising are to create an immersive and engaging shopping experience for customers, drive sales, and build brand recognition and loyalty. Below are some of the key aim and purposes of visual merchandising in fashion industry:
1. Attracting customers: The primary goal of visual merchandising is to attract and engage customers with visually appealing displays and arrangements. It aims to capture the attention of potential customers and encourage them to enter the store.
2. Creating a strong brand image: Visual merchandising helps to create a strong brand image and identity by using design elements that reflect the brand’s personality, style, and aesthetic. It reinforces the brand’s messaging and values, building brand recognition and loyalty among customers.
3. Enhancing the store’s ambiance: It creates a welcoming and pleasant shopping environment by using design elements such as lighting, colors, textures, and props. A well-designed store environment can enhance the customer’s overall shopping experience and encourage them to spend more time in the store.
4. Communicating product value: Visual merchandising helps to communicate the unique selling points and value of the products by highlighting their features, benefits, and uses. It can help customers to understand the product better and make informed purchase decisions.
5. Increasing sales: It can drive sales by encouraging customers to make impulse purchases, promoting specific products or product lines, and creating a sense of urgency through limited-time offers or promotions. It can also help to cross-sell and upsell products by displaying related or complementary items together.
6. Differentiating from competitors: Effective visual merchandising can help retailers to differentiate themselves from their competitors by creating a unique and memorable shopping experience. It can help to highlight the retailer’s strengths and advantages, such as product quality, customer service, or pricing.
By understanding the objectives of visual merchandising and using design principles and strategies effectively, retailers can achieve these goals and succeed in today’s competitive retail landscape.
How Visual Merchandising Impact on Retail Business?
Visual merchandising can have a significant impact on retail business in several ways. Here are some of the ways visual merchandising can affect retail business:
a) Increased sales: Well-executed visual merchandising can attract more customers to a store, encourage them to stay longer, and entice them to make purchases. Effective visual merchandising can lead to increased sales by promoting specific products or product lines, creating a sense of urgency through limited-time offers or promotions, and making it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for.
b) Brand awareness: Visual merchandising helps to build brand awareness and recognition by creating a consistent look and feel throughout a store. This can reinforce a brand’s messaging and values and make it more memorable to customers.
c) Customer experience: Visual merchandising can improve the customer experience by creating an inviting and engaging shopping environment. This can make customers feel more comfortable and encourage them to spend more time in the store, leading to increased sales.
d) Create a good first impression: Imagine, if you are invited to a friend’s place, and the house is not up to the mark. You wouldn’t want to revisit them or would prefer meeting them elsewhere. In the same way, if you are inviting customers over to your store, make sure the store is beautiful and attractive. Remember: First Impressions matter. As right said, “First Impression is the Last Impression”
e) Separate from competitors: Effective visual merchandising can help a retailer to differentiate itself from its competitors by creating a unique and memorable shopping experience. This can be achieved by using creative displays and arrangements, highlighting the retailer’s strengths and advantages, and showcasing unique or exclusive products.
f) Improved employee morale: Visual merchandising can also have a positive impact on employee morale. When a store is well-organized, clean, and visually appealing, it can make employees feel proud of where they work and more motivated to provide excellent customer service.
The outcomes of this study will help the policy makers, government and entrepreneurs to make their fashion stores gorgeous. This study would enable fashion retailers to build more insightful, engaging online shops, which will then boost retail sales online.
References:
- Visual Merchandising: Windows and In-store Displays for Retail, Third Edition By Tony Morgan
- Careers in Fashion and Textiles By Helen Goworek
- https://textilelearner.net/visual-merchandising/
- https://www.orderhive.com/blog/visual-merchandising-affect-store-sales
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Editor of Fashion2Apparel. She is a fashion designer and ex-lecturer in Fashion Designing. She wants to spread fashion knowledge throughout the world.
