In the fast-paced world of retail buying, product merchandising plays a vital role in attracting customers, driving sales, and enhancing the overall shopping experience. In this article, we’ll investigate and explore the various aspects of product merchandising.
Understanding Product Merchandising
Product merchandising is the practice of displaying, marketing, and selling products to retail consumers. It involves a variety of activities, such as:
Product Selection
Choosing the right products to sell based on factors such as demand, profitability, and seasonality. For example, selling Christmas products in July isn’t the best idea as it’s completely out of season. Items such as swimwear and holiday clothes are more likely to be at the forefront of people’s mind, especially if they have upcoming holidays!
Product Pricing
This involves setting prices that are competitive and profitable. If you want to remain competitive, you’ll have to monitor your competitors to see what they are charging for similar products. Product pricing is about finding the balance of being competitive whilst remaining profitable. Strategies like bundle pricing, psychological pricing, and discounting can influence consumer behaviour.
Product Placement
Product placement is deciding where to put products in the store to maximise visibility and sales. Placing items such as sunglasses, jewellery, hats and sandals in the summer section of a retail store to compliment other items of clothing can boost sales. Placing similar items in the queue and near checkouts can also have the same impact, leading to impulse purchases. Easy navigation and clear signs improve the overall shopping experience, leading to customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Product Promotion
Creating marketing campaigns to generate excitement and demand for products. This is very effective for trending or new products that are sought after and have built a lot of hype ahead of their launch. A good example of this could be a new game or technology coming to the market.
Product Presentation
Designing product displays and packaging that are visually appealing and informative is an effective method for drawing users in to look at your products. Bright signage and LED display or animations can help spark an initial interest with people nearby.
Visual Merchandising
Visual merchandising involves the strategic arrangement of products, colour schemes, lighting, and signs to create an engaging visual impact. It guides customers through the store, highlights promotions, and encourages exploration. Window displays, mannequins and themed displays are popular choices for visual merchandising.
Tools and Technologies in Product Merchandising
In today's digital age, technology plays a significant role in product merchandising. Retailers use data analytics to understand customer preferences, AI-driven recommendations for personalised experiences, and even virtual reality for creating immersive shopping environments.
AIS Product Merchandising Experts
Whether you’re looking for help with product merchandising or analytics, our expert team is on hand to help guid you through your journey. As a member of Associated Independent Stores, you’ll benefit from an abundance of industry experience and expertise to help elevate your independent store to the next level. For more information, contact us today by completing out online contact form, calling 0121 711 2200 or emailing info@aistores.co.uk.
