Have you ever walked into a store and felt transported to a specific world or moment? For the atmosphere, the clothes, the sets. Or even from the lack of atmosphere or decoration? Was this experience helpful? Did it make you spend more or less? Chances are you answered yes to many of these questions and the person in charge of merchandising (merchandising) and the visual marketing did a good job.
What is Merchandising?
Behind the organization and look of a store, there is a whole team working to develop themes to showcase the collections and transport customers into the stories, thereby enhancing their experience.
While high-end branded stores are obviously very different from higher volume stores, the approach remains the same. Before even thinking about the organization of the store, companies have guidelines to follow and key elements to consider for successful merchandising: the visual balance of colors, especially at the ends of the store, for example. Quantity: Will it be a high-volume boutique where all the pieces will be shown, or do we want to show only one piece per style to maintain a certain minimalism and exclusivity, like high-end boutiques?
“The role of merchandising is to create magic with the product,” she says Neil Barnabasa merchandising expert with over 30 years of experience who has worked for banners such as Rudsak, Best selling in Canada And Dynamite group. How is magic created? With capsules, stories highlighting articles or collections. To create these capsules, products are staged in decorations or with accessories (if the budget allows), or even simply by layering multiple items.
The main story, or theme of the moment, is normally found at the front of the shop and as you progress through the shop the customer is transported through the previous capsules/themes and through the different product categories, all the way to the back of the shop. , the sales section.
Strategic investments
Different investment strategies are used to help sell the products. Yes, it’s confirmed: items placed in front of the cashiers are sold! This placement increases the number of units per transaction (UPT)**, a sales metric used in store performance tracking.
Different strategies and techniques are also used in the center of clothing stores. The wardrobe technique, that of arranging garments in repeated sets. This guides the clientele and therefore makes them more independent in the choice of clothing and accessories.
Then highlight the best items from the collections, in front of them, and continue with the others to the side. The eye is then drawn to the most beautiful pieces and attention is then focused on the rest of the collection.
Finally, some products are purchased in larger volumes. For example, a simple sweater will be purchased in multiple colors and variations and should be sold on a promotion. This sweater would be used in some capsule or layered styles with other pieces to show off its versatility. These items can become high performance products!
And if we go a little further
Good visual marketing goes far beyond merchandising and strategic placements. Visuals are often created and integrated into store walls to support themes and capsules. Lighting, especially its color and positioning, also plays a very important role in the way products are perceived. Not to mention promotional posters, explaining prices and promotions, placed on tables and displays or “sale” posters for the discounted products section, often at the back of the store.
To be even more up-to-date, more and more companies are using screens on which information and images are displayed to support the visual material present in the rest of the store. All the atmosphere and visual work done in the store must obviously be consistent with the website.
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