Effective and affordable changes which make a difference to your sales figures are something every retailer dreams of. The risk, however, of wasting money in endless pursuit of these simple saviours can be incredibly high if you don’t learn what works in your retail space and what doesn’t.
Whether you’re giving your existing store a facelift, moving into a new one, or just looking to boost sales, a successful retail display is essential – and here are our top 10 tips for making sure yours becomes your best salesperson without the bumpy beginning:
1. Have your customer in mind – are you putting the right product in the right place? You might feel rather patronising simplifying your customer to this extent, but it really is as basic as having toothpaste next to toothbrushes, grab and go items at the till. The crucial questions to ask yourself are; where does awareness of need happen? What preconceptions do your customers enter your store with? How can we position the product to best facilitate their awareness of need?
2. Get inspired by stores you yourself really enjoy being in! Once you’re focusing on the in-store experience as a money-maker, it is really incredible how much you can learn from your own tastes, sentiments and instincts to buy.
3. Appeal to all the senses, not just visual ones! Textures, movement and sound should all be factors you consider in the design of retail displays.
4. Appeal to the customer’s imagination too. Your display should give them solid ideas about what your product does without limiting their excitement to use it in their own way. A simple example of this would be displaying similar clothes styled each in a different way, simultaneously showing product versatility but also how it can show the customer’s personality.
5. Ensure your store is a good setting for your displays, otherwise you could well be pouring money down the drain. Good lighting, thinking about traffic flow, and shelf organisation are all critical.
6. Having similar branding elsewhere is also vital as this will ensure your displays actually fit visually in your store – no one likes an eyesore. There’s a delicate balance between standout and unsightly!
7. Use high quality materials for the displays and get them professionally designed and made. You might think cutting corners won’t compromise much, but in the long run the only corners cut will be your customers walking around to the next store who did invest!
8. Move displays around if you can, as a shop that always looks the same feels boring. This is where having display units which are complimentary are crucial. At the very worst if you can’t move your display units, move products around on the display stands themselves (provided they are not brand specific).
9. If you have a new product or one you need to push, consider specific displays just for that product to make it stand out more. Just make sure you factor this into your profit margins.
10. Get advice! More than anything, the biggest waste of your time and money will be in a retail display which does nothing to your sales figures. Display designers have seen and heard it all before – use their experience to your advantage by choosing a company that listens and advises in equal measure.
If you’d like to see what our display designers can do to boost your sales, make sure you visit our Contact Us page to get in touch.