The best visual merchandising doesn’t just happen. Effective visual merchandising results from careful planning, curation, and strategic implementation. So how do you do it? In other words, how can you be sure that your visual merchandising efforts are poised to create an alluring store experience that will in turn help you sell more? 

 

We’re here to help you optimize your visual merchandising efforts, from your layout to your displays and more, with these five visual merchandising ideas designed to help your retail establishment succeed!

1. Identify Your Sales & Merchandising Wins

There’s no need to fix what you’re already doing right! Take a look at your inventory and sales history. Note which items are selling well for you and identify common themes. Are they all in displays or are they hanging near the register? Do they tend to live in the front or back of the store? Are there items that customers frequently purchase at the same time?  Once you figure out which visual merchandising techniques are working in your store you can start making improvements to what’s not working.

 

2. Place New Products Strategically

A well-thought-out floor plan is a vital aspect of effective visual merchandising and overall store design. Placing new products at the front of your store or displayed in your windows is a great way to get more customers in the door! You can also use new, popular items as breadcrumbs to lead customers through your existing inventory.

It may help to think about product placement less in terms of where to put things, and more about lifestyle sales – after all, “the aim of retail trade is to sell lifestyle, not things.” Think about how and when your customers will use each product and try to group related items together. You might not think to feature loungewear and books in your travel section, but you sure look for comfortable clothes and a book to pack when taking a trip. Get inside your customers’ mind and try to cross-merchandise accordingly.

3. Curate a Shopping Experience

It’s not just new products that should get your attention while developing a visual merchandising plan, or even product placement for that matter. Think about the overall customer experience you’re trying to curate.Sensory adds like scented candles and music are great ways to enhance the visual appeal of your store and create a full experience for your customer. 

 

Don’t forget to design and place products around focal points, color schemes, or groups of products. This strategy is also great to employ with seasonal items in window displays, trending products, or last-minute buys placed near your cash registers.

4. Keep it Simple

Don’t try too hard to grab your customer’s attention by creating overly complex displays. You could wind up turning them away. Veteran visual merchandiser David Whitesel said it best in his LinkedIn piece “The Five Elements of Visual Merchandising”: 

 

“Simple is better. It is easier for the consumer to understand and [it] makes a better statement. A few quality elements will have a bigger impact than complex displays that are harder for the eye to take in. If you make a customer work too hard to see what you are selling, you give them a reason to move on.” [emphasis added]

 

In food visual merchandising as in apparel visual merchandising, the goal is straightforward: create eye-catching displays that draw someone to the product – nothing more, nothing less.

5. Remember the 5 R’s of Merchandising

When generating retail, the bottom line is that you want to ensure that you:

• Stock the right items
• Put them in the right place during the right time of month or year
• Purchase an movable optimal amount
• Sell for a price that maximizes your sale potential as well as your revenue
• Remember that you’re curating a shopping experience not just placing products

 

Looking for trending products to add to your retail shop? Browse our collection of new products today! DM Merchandising is the one-stop shop for retailers looking for shelf-ready impulse brands created for stress-free visual merchandising.