Post on 01-Jan-2016
Fashion Merchandising
Lecture threeVisual Merchandising
Learning Objectives
• Understand the use of visual merchandising as a promotional tool used by retailers to attract and entice consumers to become a customer.
COMPONENTS THAT MAKE UP THE STORE ENVIRONMENT
Store ImageAnd Productivity
Visual communicationsRetail identityGraphicsPOS signage
Store planningSpace allocationLayout Circulation
Store DesignExterior DesignAmbienceLighting
MerchandisingFixture SelectionMerchandise presentationVisual merchandising
What is visual merchandising?
• The presentation of a store and it’s merchandise in order to sell the goods and services of the store
It is their silent salesperson!
Visual Merchandising
• consumer’s final decision• vital communication
What are the benefits of good visual merchandising?
• Creates interest• Attracts customers• Ease of selection for the customer• Promotes stock• Maximises sales• Creates a desire to buy• Creates a suitable store ambience• Can reinforce corporate identity
• Projects a store image• Win confidence, to give the customer faith
in the store and product• Assist in add-on sales• Monitor stock levels• Shows how product is used• Communicates to the customer
What are the benefits of good visual merchandising?
Visual merchandising
• Is at the heart of retail design – the fine art of persuasion
• Includes window and displays but also takes in the entire in-store environment
• It may go even further into the realms of graphics, audio-visual media, point of sale (POS) material, all the way to the store as the total embodiment of the brand – the 3D brand
Floor Layout
• retailers need to identify areas that will maximise sales for the store
There are three spots:• Hot Spots• Warm Spots• Cold Spots
Floor Layout
• Merchandise in most stores can be broken down into the following components* Best sellers * Speciality goods
* High profit items * Seasonal lines
* Basic stock * Advertised lines
* Problem stock * Others
* Impulse lines
Each component can be strategically placed to enhance sales
Best sellers
• In the best position possible to give the greatest opportunity to sell
• Prime position within its classification
High profit items
• Position within their classification• Know what they are (all staff)• Position close to best sellers (consider
supermarkets and how they position generic products close to leading sellers)
Basic stock
• Position within their classification• Prime position• Readily available position• Never hidden
Problem stock
• Never give problem stock your best selling positions.
• Problem stock should be identified quickly and dealt with quickly
PROFIT BUILDERS• Profit margins are high but sales turnover is low•Adjust space allocation focusing on quality of space rather than quality in order to increase sales• Consider rationalising range of products in category
STAR PERFORMERS•Sales turnover and profit margins equal or exceed targets•Allocate large amounts of goods quality space•Consider increasing product assortment within category
SPACE• Low profit margins and low sales turnover• Reduce space or eliminate product
TRAFFIC BUILDERS • Products have a good sales turnover rates, but profit margins are small• Place close to higher profit/impulse purchase goods. Use to pull customers through store• Work on improving margins. Consider introducing own-label variation
Impulse lines
• Easily accessible and in high traffic areas (ie POS, entrance, or in major traffic aisle). Rapid turnover
Speciality goods
• More complex product requires more explanation in selling features and benefits
• Positioned away from main traffic area
Seasonal lines
• Relate to merchandise affected by season• Usually given a high traffic area as limited
time to sell
Advertised lines
• With related classifications• Highlighted• If to draw attention to other merchandise
then it should be visible but not best aisle or fixture
• Opportunity for additional sales
Other factors
• No hard and fast rules in merchandising only helpful guidelines
• Practical factors can change positioning of items such as– Size of product– Security– Constraints with fixtures and available space
Dominance displays
• Attractive displays have a centre of attention or dominance
• Without a dominant display feature, the shopper’s eye will be attracted elsewhere
• A display element (eg red) or display component (eg merchandise) is made dominant by subordinating all other elements and components
• Dominance within a display allows the retailer to emphasize a single promotional message or focus on a direct purchase incentive
The ‘classification dominance’ display allows a retailer to show that it has a very deep
assortment of merchandise within a classification or category
Proportion
• The effective arrangement of parts of displays in terms of the display elements– Colour: the extent of darker colour to lighter– Line: the layout of small object to large
objects– Texture: the area of differing surfaces– Shape: the amount of open space to closed
space
Grouping the display arrangement
• Grouping display arrangement is organising display merchandise into interesting, pleasing and stimulating patterns
• Haphazard arrangement of merchandise can substantially reduce a display’s effectiveness
• Selection displays are simple arranged in some well-organised fashion, but special merchandise is frequently presented in one of four definite arrangement patterns:– The pyramid– The zigzag– The step– The fan arrangement
Balance• a retail display should exhibit a sense of equilibrium or
balance• each part of the display has equal visual weight• Balance can be achieved in either a formal or informal
sense• Form and balance is created when both sides of a
display are exactly alike in terms of type, size, colour, shape and placement of merchandise
• Each side is a mirror image of the other side
Some tips for visual merchandisers...
• Less is more• Apples with apples• Visual cues• Change your displays• Consider lighting• Focus your display
Store layout
• Grid• Free form• Boutique
The grid layout
• Makes sure shoppers covers as much of store as possible• Easy to install and maintain• Boring and regimental• More often associated with‘pile it high, sell it cheap’discount buying
The free flow layout• Different shapes,sizes, Height of fixtures/fittings• Tries to stimulate shoppers totake their time browsing• Shoppers can browse in any order they choose• Does not use available spaceas efficiently as grid layout• Can look chaotic
The boutique layout• Perception is one of anumber of discrete, separatespaces• Typical in dept stores (lots ofdepartments/concessions)• Useful when a high level of personal selling is required, or merchandise range is limited• This layout surrounds the customer, most of which is displayed on or on wall fixturing• In larger stores, a definite walkway or ‘race track’ is incorporated
• Be wary of where you positionfixtures and the impact thismight have on traffic flow
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The boutique layout• Be wary of where you positionfixtures and the impact thismight have on traffic flow
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The boutique layout• Be wary of where you positionfixtures and the impact thismight have on traffic flow
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Use of customer walkways in large stores
Store layout• Customer traffic can be directed around a
store• Most shoppers are right handed and naturally
prefer to turn to the right • Important to identify where high-density
areas are and whether they match high-turnover areas
If the goods are in the wrong place, theywon’t sell
Store layout
• Primary and secondary points are used to pull the customer around the store or to ‘shop the full shop’
• Lighting, signage, photography and even popular products (KVIs) help the customer shop the full shop
The more you see, the more you buy
Working with colour
• The reason why colour is so important is that people like colour
• It appeals to their emotions and contributes to a more attractive environment
Colour in merchandising• Causes people to buy on impulse• Improves the appearance of merchandise• Provides variety, contrast and harmonising
colours that will create interest• Has immediate and emotional impact
Colour in merchandising• Can enhance the appearance of specific
products• Helps to create sales• Improves profitability• Creates an atmosphere which appeals to
customers
Colour psychology
• by putting the same colour next to one another it makes it easier on the eye to compute what it is looking at
Working with colour• The eye tends to concentrate automatically on
the biggest object• Colour schemes should not be out of date• Need to be aware of trend colours and look to
see what other retailers are doing
Colour blocking hasalways been LeftTo Right
And Light to Dark when working with a multitude of different colours
Working with colour
• In the modern era, retailers are looking to keep their store environment varied
Colour along with displays allows us to offer thatchange in environment so customers think thatthere is always something new and exciting going on
Colour blocking can also be a useful strategy…
Vertical colour blocking
Store image and atmosphere
• The image and atmosphere of a store is a sum of the physical elements of interior and exterior design, and the layout and displays that create an environment and ambience that consumers find attractive
• The store’s exterior offers an opportunity to communicate with the customer
• Clues about the store are often absorbed without our knowing it
Window displays
Window display
The senses• Sight
– the general look of the store can either lift the spirit or underwhelm the shopper
– use of colour stimulates the shopper• Sound
– soft music may relax shopper– loud music may reinforce a stimulating,
vibrant atmosphere that sets out to excite• Smell
– Perfume can help build image and prestige
Lighting
To summarise - Floor Layout
• When deciding on product placement, identify areas that will maximise sales
• Assess traffic flow – where people walk most and where they walk least
• Identify hot, warm and cold spots
Best sellers
• Best sellers– In the best position possible to give the
greatest opportunity to sell– Prime position within its classification
• High profit items– Position within their classification– Know what they are (all staff)– Position close to best sellers
Why is VM important?
• 80% of purchases are impulse• Customers make the final decision to buy
in the ‘last 3 feet’• Store layout and presentation can make
+/- to your business of 40%• Customers shop horizontally, not vertically!• Once the customer has purchased one
item, it’s easier to sell an additional item
Some final useful tips
• Keep to the motto, apples with apples• Don’t be all things to all people• Don’t clutter• Do keep it simple• Change it regularly• Link the activity inside your store