Visual merchandising’s (VM) reach is expanding whereas it’s not just limited to more conventional and traditional ways followed by merchandisers for decades. It’s a false conception that it’s only limited to fashion and clothing stores.
Visual merchandising encircles everything from the façade of the store to how the products are displayed within the retail space, be it a departmental store or a specialty store.
Visual merchandising is not just limited to make the store look better. It’s more than that. It encapsulates the concept of making the customer enjoy the experience that leads to them being comfortable to return back to your store and eventually become your loyal customer. That in turns make more sale and that’s one element of visual merchandising that’s often ignored while implementing it.
Nobody wants to see their store display a messy look. Retailers not only want to make sure that their windows display cool stuff but they would love to have the interior of their store designed perfectly to capture the senses of their customers.
One thing that greatly influences visual merchandising is the atmosphere and the environment of your store. According to Dunne and Lusch (2005), the store environment is an important element in retailing given that 70% of the purchase was impulse buying or unplanned purchases.
A critical review of the effects of store environment on shopping behaviors conducted by Shun Yin Lam (2001) shows that there are many factors and elements to consider in having a good store environment. These elements include music, color, scent, lighting, visual information, consumer density, and much more.
In this first part of our merchandising series blogs, we have elaborated on how visual merchandising works and what elements it hinges upon. In our next part of the series, we’ll fill you in more on visual merchandising tips and ideas. We will provide you with tips that are certain to get the expected results. We will explain what we mean by having a good environment in your store. So, to stay updated with the latest trends in visual merchandising watch this space for our series of visual merchandising blogs.
(This is part 1. Part 2 next month)