Partner Article

Creating Powerful Shop Displays

Creating a powerful shop display that both attracts the attention of your target market and inspires them to shop in your store is a complex undertaking. There are so many different components to consider that an entire sub-industry of shop fitters, visual merchandisers and commercial interior designers has emerged to handle the problem.

Of course, these professionals come with a professional price tag that might not be accessible to all shopkeepers. Especially if you are running a boutique store or a temporary pop-up shop where it doesn’t make sense to invest in an interior you are going to discard in a few months. For these and other reasons you might decide to create your own displays. For you, here are some basic principles to follow that will help you create a powerful shop display:

Make it stand out

You need to catch the attention of your customers. In a world where everyone is trying to do the same thing this can be difficult. Customers have learnt to phase out a lot of marketing and advertising stimuli. If you want to break through the barrier you need to offer something original, something unique.

A great way to do this is to use something in a way it was not intended to be used. For instance you could you old doors to make shelf tops or use wood clamps as shelf-ends. Find a unique use for something and customers will be surprised and intrigued.

Make it practical

It is possible to go overboard when attempting to make a powerful shop display. If products can’t interact with your products properly you know you’ve gone too far. For this reason, old shop fitting favourites, like slatwalls and slatwall hooks, can still be very useful for display the bulk of your products. You only need a few catchy display items to lure your customers in and convince them of your shops distinction.

The rule of three

The human eye tends to ‘rove’ around rather than stay still. If you place a product alone in a display customers will instantly begin to look around the product rather than focus directly on it. If you add a product either side of your main item then the customers roving eye will see more options either side. Placing things in threes also has the added benefit of focusing the eye to the centre. Therefore it is wise to place higher value products in the centre.

Nourish all the senses

Finally, don’t forget that your customers have ears and noses as well as eyes. Play the appropriate must to attract your target market and try introducing a subtle scent to improve your customer’s experience.

It’s important for customer to be able to try out products before they purchase them. Make sure they are able to, as far as possible. This even extends to foodstuffs, let customers sample your goods. Allowing customer to touch try and taste creates trust and certainty. This can lead to more sales, as customer will be more willing to part with their cash.

For more advice on creative and practical advice on shopfitting check out the blog at slatwall hooks.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by chris glave .