Visual merchandising is a marketing practice that involves creating a presentation of products or experiences using floor plans, colour, lighting, displays, and technology to attract customer attention. It is a crucial aspect of retail success, as it sets the tone for customer experience and drives sales.
At Nova of London, we understand the art of visual merchandising can make all the difference in creating an inviting atmosphere that keeps customers returning. By the end of this guide, we will have covered the importance, online and different ways of visual merchandising, meaning you’ll be fully equipped with the knowledge to transform your store and showcase your products in the best light.
Why is the visual merchandising of stores important?
Visual merchandising is vital when it comes to enhancing and showcasing a retailer’s brand identity. Customers are more likely to connect with a strong brand image that distinguishes the store from competitors when it is implemented consistently and cohesively through visual merchandising.
Showing all of your stock in the best way is very important! By having good visibility, you are boosting the quality of your retail merchandising, and therefore more likely to engage with consumers and maximise sales. When a store displays all its stock, it sends a message to customers that there is a wide range of products available, increasing the chances of finding something that appeals to them. This can also help to build trust with customers, as they feel confident that the store has a comprehensive selection of products.
Different ways to merchandise your store...
There are many examples of how to visually merchandise your store successfully. The trick is to design a space that is visually appealing, simple to navigate and presents products in a way that encourages people to buy.
Window Displays
Window displays are a massive factor in attracting customers from the outside as it is the first point of contact between the store and the potential customer. A front window should be looked at as like an invitation, if it is catchy and provides enough details, the receiver will be more inclined to participate. Therefore, a shop window needs to be bold and attractive as well as interactive to entice the customer in and immediately grab their attention as they walk by.
Store Layout
A store’s layout is a strong example of visual merchandising. The arrangement of furniture and shelving within your store determines how customers travel through it, traffic flow and how they shop. Store layout affects the duration customers are in the store for, what products draw them in and how they move within the space. This plays a crucial role in capturing attention and creating visual impact- aisles, walkways, and product clusters should be arranged strategically to reduce traffic and increase product visibility.
Branding
Visual merchandising encompasses more than just attractive product placement and window displays. It’s also an effective way to convey to your target audience your values and company identity. It’s about choosing visual elements such as your logo, imagery, typography, colour palette, signage and lighting that align with what your brand stands for. These factors are important because it is essentially going to be how customers resonate and remember your brand. For example, if your business is sophisticated and elegant, you could choose clean neutral colours, classic fonts and minimal props but if it is fun and quirky you could select bright colours, whimsical props, unique fonts and bold imagery.
Lighting
Lighting can be used to create focal points, for example, placing a spotlight or using accent lighting on a particular area will capture the customer’s attention which will also help with guidance around the store. Retailers can create a dynamic, welcoming environment or a vibrant and bold ambience using different lighting strategies such as warm or cool tones.
Signage
Proper placement of signage is essential, as it enables customers to effortlessly find what they are looking for; without it, customers may become disorientated or lose interest. Signage is possibly one of the most important aspects because it highlights key product features, promotions, new arrivals and captures overall attention.
What about online and digital visual merchandising?
Online visual merchandising involves the process of creating visually engaging and appealing digital displays, presentations and experiences on websites and through social media. This is a great way to showcase products and services to boost sales, increase customer engagement and enhance brand identity. It has the same ideas and concepts as physical visual merchandising, but it is elevated by tailoring visual identities to every person that interacts with your brand, giving it a personal touch.
At Nova of London, we strive to make sure our website is showcasing the latest products and using personalisation to target specific customers with certain products they may like. We have used our brand colours giving it a simplistic elegant look that fits in with our identity as well as using exciting engaging imagery to show off the season’s latest trends.
Why is online visual merchandising so important?
Online visual merchandising can be extremely personalised. It can show products to the right customers at the right time, improving average order value and conversion rates. By using the most relevant products, for example, new arrivals or biggest trends of the season, as well as exciting news and offers at every touch point, this will effectively capture user attention increasing engagement and time spent on the site. You can also create a strong coherent brand identity by using visuals in a specific way giving retailers the opportunity to exhibit their brand’s personality and tell their story. Online visual merchandising can also provide data-driven insights by using analytics that can provide useful visible insights into customer behaviour, helping businesses optimise their online strategy.
To conclude...
Visual merchandising is an extremely powerful tool for influencing customer behaviour, enticing them in and driving sales. By effectively using visual elements such as colour, lighting, display fixtures, signage and layout, retailers can create an immersive and engaging shopping experience that communicates a brand’s message, highlights key products and encourages customers to make purchasing decisions. However, this is now not only restricted to physical stores. With online retail becoming more and more popular, online visual merchandising is crucial for e-commerce retailers as it enables them to create a seamless and engaging brand experience that mirrors the physical store environment yet adapts to digital space.
At Nova of London, we have 2 shop showrooms, one located in London and the other in Manchester. When visiting, you can view all of our available styles, make purchases, and take them away with you as well as booking in for delivery! We also have beautiful window displays, to showcase all of our products, as well as a successful engaging website to give our customer’s everything they need without having to travel. This presents our new arrivals and is well categorised to keep your businesses fashionably stocked.
