What is Visual Merchandising?
Visual merchandising is a vital aspect of any retail business, especially in the fashion industry. It is the practice of creating an attractive and eye-catching display of products to draw customers' attention and encourage them to make a purchase. Effective visual merchandising can improve the customer experience and boost sales.
In this article, we will explore the best practices of visual fashion merchandising and how they can help businesses to succeed.
Create a Storytelling Experience
The first step in visual fashion merchandising is to create a storytelling experience. This means creating a theme that aligns with your brand and products. For instance, if your brand focuses on sustainable fashion, you can create a display that showcases eco-friendly products.
Use Colour and Lighting to Your Advantage
Colour and lighting play a significant role in creating an engaging display. Use bright colours to draw attention to specific areas of your store and use lighting to highlight specific products or displays. Consider using natural light or warm-toned lighting to create a welcoming atmosphere.
Use Technology to Enhance the Experience
Technology can help to enhance the customer experience in-store. Consider using interactive displays or virtual try-on tools to engage customers and encourage them to make a purchase. Be as creative as possible. The more creative you can be with window displays, the higher the chance it will turn heads and make passers-by look twice. This can be achieved by using unusual props or devices to stand out on the high street.
Product Placement is Key!
Strategic product placement can help to increase sales. Place high-demand products at eye level and use attractive displays to showcase new or seasonal products. Group complementary products together to encourage customers to purchase multiple items.
Knowing where to place certain items in your store is a key piece of information as it can make a difference to your product sales. Think of retail stores with long queues and the products they have placed along the way. These items may seem like small purchases, but they all add up. Fashion items such as bracelets, hair bobbles and other jewellery will soon fill the baskets of people waiting for a vacant checkout.
Cross Merchandising
Cross-merchandising is effective within fashion retail stores and this strategy can boost sales dramatically if done correctly. In your retail store, it’s important to consider placing complimentary items next to each other to entice the customer to double up on their purchase. Think about displaying shoes next to bags, or jewellery purses next to jewellery.
There are many ways of cross-merchandising in your retail store, you just need to take a deep look at your products and think about what customers will need together when they buy this item. Take advantage of data too. You’ll find it a lot easier to understand your customers if you have the necessary reports set up within your POS system. For example, you could find the 2 items that are purchased together the most or what items sell the best in specific seasons. This data is key for your cross-merchandising strategy.
AIS - The One-Stop Solution for Visual Fashion Merchandising
From fashion merchandising to sales reporting, AIS offer all services to assist you with your visual fashion merchandising needs. Our team boast many retail industry experts on hand to support your business with all these needs. AIS bring together best industry practices across the fashion industry to help you drive success and improve margins.
How do I receive these benefits, you ask? It’s simple. Apply to be a member today to start reaping the benefits of many other fashion retailers! Alternatively, contact us today by calling 0121 711 2200 or emailing info@aistores.co.uk.
