SALES TALK
Retail
tales
Ways To Transform
Retail Store Displays Into Sales
THERE ARE A LOT OF WAYS IN WHICH YOUR
RETAIL STORE DISPLAYS CAN BE YOUR SILENT
SALESPERSON. THE TRICK IS TO MAKE SURE YOUR
DISPLAYS INCLUDE SOME OF THE BASICS, WHICH
INCLUDE:
Change your displays monthly
You’ve got to keep your customers guessing – a little, anyway.
Every couple of weeks move displays around to keep them from
getting stale – and certainly move them when new merchan-
dise comes in. Since the fairly new products will still be selling,
switch your displays two weeks after their arrival. Move one
display from the front to the middle of the store and another
display from the middle to the back.
Try a little tenderness
In merchandising, as in life, the best things are the things you
want, not what you need. So give your customer that as well.
Put the fanciest, newest, most expensive, dream-worthy items
in the most prominent place in your store. Be sure to have seve
ral levels of height and enough products so that the customer
can pick up and touch these desired items without having to
totally dismantle your beautiful display.
Never, never, never, EVER build a
monochromatic display
Generally speaking, group items by product use or two or
three colours – you’re looking for the one thing that makes it a
group. Unless you run a grocery store, your grouping shouldn’t
be entirely made up of one product. That’s warehousing, not
merchandising. You can create a display by product sue, such as
all items related to brewing and drinking tea, for example. Or
display by colour but make sure you use another strong colour
to pop out against the one. Think white and red or red and
black. Avoid monochrome displays because, although possibly
chic, the human eye quickly gets the point and moves on – fre-
quently without buying.
Don’t ever put up a sign that says DO NOT TOUCH
Don’t even do that in a glass store! Why? Because you might
as well be putting up a sign that says DO NOT BUY. Displays
are supposed to get messed up. Think of your displays like you
think of your kitchen table – nobody’s eating if there are never
any crumbs. Don’t fear customer interaction with your goods;
just make sure to straighten up constantly.
Trust in lagniappes
Lagniappe – pronounced lon-yop – is the New Orleans term for
“little surprise.” A merchandising lagniappe would be a totally
unrelated item used as a fun prop, such as a soup bowl with a
sweater collection, or a stuffed animal with your kitchenware
display. While adding a prop to every display is overkill, the
possibilities should always be in the back of your mind.
Light up your display like it’s a meteor shower
You’ll probably have to adjust overhead lighting to do this. But
if you have a particularly dark display with no way to highlight
it from above, consider moving it to an existing light source or
light from below with small portable spot lights. Remember,
proper lighting can make your merchandise seem wondrous.
Put tags on everything
You know how much you hate asking how much something
is? Your customers are just like you, so make sure all of your
stock is priced. No one wants to have to ask a clerk how much
something costs.
In Summary
Visually merchandising your retail store correctly allows your
merchandise to silently sell to every customer who walks past.
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