Visual Merchandising for Small Retailers

Silent Selling: Visual Merchandising for Small Retailers
Debra Templar: Retail Check ups, Tune Ups & Makeovers....It’s in the bag!

VISUAL MERCHANDISING
Supports sales
Communicates with Customers
Supports Selling by:
Communicating the latest trends
Assisting the customer in making a buying decision, and
Creating an exciting environment
within the shop/centre

IMPACT OF THE VISUAL
83%Sight
11% Hearing
3.5% Smell
1.5% Touch
1% Taste

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
First Impressions are formed within the first
10 seconds.
Customers remember vividly the worst impression, not the best impression.

PREMISES: EXTERNAL
Street Numbers
Signage
Entry
Opening Hours

CRABTREE & EVELYN

L’OCCITAINE Broadway

Light windows, in evening
#win

Way too busy!!!
#fail

Would you get your hair cut here?
#fail

No shop signs for
pedestrian
recognition of
Businesses.
#fail

WINDOWS
If eyes are the windows to the soul
Then shop windows are just as revealing.
They reveal the soul of the shop…

BODYSHOP Broadway

BLOWFLIES
#fail

Too much, too busy.
#fail

Do not stick anything on glass doors or windows with BLUTAK.
It looks TACKY!
#fail

Booooring.
Says nothing!
#fail

Far more interesting. Shows personality!
#win

CUSTOMERS + TRAFFIC FLOW

Every square metre of space in a retail store costs money – all areas should pay their way.
Useful points:
On entering store, most customers skirt around the cash desk.
Beware of what merchandise you place in an Adjustment Space. Customers don’t see it.
Most customers avoid badly lit, neglected or cluttered areas.

Open sight lines are important.
Negative signs on displays about terms of sale deter customers from returning.
Stock left in aisles and pathways can seriously damage your traffic flow.
Friendly staff are important.

Remember, your people are part of your visual appeal. A friendly face or a sourpuss... You choose.
#win

“BUTT’’ BRUSHPaco Underhill

Some product categories require more space, as they are browse products.
People will brush up against product three times before they get the “heebies” and leave.
Ensure there is enough space for people to move around your store without bumping into product, fixtures etc.

Try entering here with your arms full, or with a stroller...
#fail

Point of Sale and Entry to store in same place.
Too difficult to enter the store. Too hard to pay.
#fail

Butt Brush to the max.
#fail

Supermarkets, big box retailers, newsagents, pharmacies...

Department Stores

FIXTURES
&
FITTINGS

Gondolas
Best Positions: Eye/shoulder level and slightly below.
Recognise that the average woman’s height is 5’2” (153 cm)...
Worst Positions: Top shelf if well above eye level and the gondola base on either end is the next lease favoured
Vertical Blocking: Most effective way of presenting merchandise. If sizes are applicable try to position the size you want to sell most of at eye/shoulder level..
Colourful Merchandise: colour block vertically +
colour blend from light to dark – left to right usually within
the colour families. In winter
the reverse colour order is
used.

Shelving
Similar to gondolas plus:
Use a variety of shelf widths to suit different products. Small shelves for small products towards top, graduating down to larger/heavier items.
Avoid wasting space and obvious gaps.
Levels shelves are usually preferable to sloping shelves.
Display product face out to show the style and for ease of viewing and selection

Inconsistent, grubby ticketing, not ordered.
#fail

NO STOCK IS TO EVER HAVE A BIRTHDAY IN YOUR SHOP!!

DUMP BINS + SPECIALS TABLES + RACKS

Don’t over-crowd. But no less than half full. Make everything in Dump Bin/Table/Rack the same price, wherever possible.
Locate in your racetrack and use it to give the impression that it is a price-motivated promotion.
Allocate one product type per bin and display the products as if it were just dumped into the bin.
Always have a price sign to highlight the special price.
Life of a dump bin: Maximum of 1 month. Preferably, 1 week.
Sales will increase by 30% for that specified product

DISPLAYS, COLOURS & SEASONS

Colour Sells
Colour is what customers see first. More than anything else, colour makes people stop and look. For many customers colour is more important than the size or the style of the product.

Notice how each colour in rows 2 through 5 corresponds to the colour above it. For example, pink, in the pastels, corresponds to the bright red in the top row; peach to bright orange, and so on.

The round rack in the correct example features colours from just one colour group, brights, for a harmonious colour arrangement. The incorrect example features colours from two colour groups, brights and pastels, which don’t blend together in a harmonious way.

The four-way fixture in the correct example features from just one colour group, brights, combined with neutrals. The incorrect example features colours from two colour groups, brights and pastels, which don’t blend together.

How to Maximise the Use of Colour
Attract the eye of the customer
Create points of interest
Use contrasts of colour and form
Aim at variety
Create a buying mood

SIGNAGE AND TICKETING
Corporate Signs: Branding signs
Product Category Signs: Direct consumers to specific categories
Promotional Signage: Highlight specific promotions, have short life span, based on the stockturn of the promotion
Information Signage: Identify service + service policies within your business
Product Signs: These educate customers about the specific product

Product Category Signage
The bigger the shop, the greater the need for department signage.
The customer should be able to enter your shop and clearly see where the major departments are situated.
Keep the sign simple so it can be easily read.
Be consistent in the style used on all department signage.

Promotional Signage
Only use the signs in the key, relevant areas (do not promote roses in the herb department);
Give the promotion a lifespan and keep to it (customers don’t want to see dated, faded and ripped signs);
Use promotional material in an exciting way. Rather than just hang up posters around your shop,
group them to catch the customer’s eye.

Floor signs

TICKETING

How well any sign works depends on how easy it is to read and understand.
Signs should look professional. They must be clean & unblemished.
Theme Tickets
Price Tickets
Hard Sell/Soft Sell
Known Value
Unknown Value

Research in USA has revealed that during the same sale period if 100products were sold with no signage:
Then 170were sold when handwritten signs were used
265products were sold when signs were professionally produced to sell the products.

Hard sell tickets (yellow + red)

Way too wordy.
#fail
Here conversational copy has been rendered in a formally balanced layout

This is a bullet-point copy in an informally balanced layout

Known Value Lines
Products that are purchased on price rather than their benefits as the consumer perceives they know the exact price of these products.
Even a 5% increase in price is criticised by consumers but the reverse is that a 5% reduction in price an result in a buying frenzy, eg. cigarettes, petrol, milk, bread…

Don’t be cheaper than anyone else on KV Lines. It will not help your bottom line. You can match your competition, but don’t go cheaper.
Consumers will judge your whole product price strategy based on a few KV lines. Make sure you are aware of the price structure adopted by your competition on these lines.
If you are more than 10% more expensive than the price leader, you will be perceived as being too expensive in your whole product.
Placement of KV tickets is important.

Product Signage: KV Lines
Bananas
$6.50kg
One third of sign
Two thirds of sign
When merchandising KV products, you need your product signage to give the right message

Non-Known Value Lines
Includes 98% of products you sell where the consumer doesn’t know the exact price. They will have some perception of price bands, but they will not argue over the cents. These products will reflect your image and should be of the highest quality.
Rely on non-known value lines to promote your business (Box retailers rely on kv lines to promote their image).
Promote non-known value lines when doing product-driven promotions.

Non Known Value Lines
Pre-shaped
Hamburgers
Perfect bun size
Easy storage
Fast defrost & microwave
6 for $2.50
Great for BBQ’s
Name of Product
3 Benefits
Price of Product
Closing Motivator

A 12 foot planogram presenting cookware

WHY CUSTOMERS NEED IN-STORE SIGNAGE
Identify advertised lines
Explain hidden benefits
Indicate value & price
Highlight new trends & products
Explain difference between look-a-likes
Remind customers to purchase
Clarify policies
Help customers find products

HOW TO CAPTURE CUSTOMER INTEREST
Catch your customer’s eye through repetition.
Step your products to provide variation.
Use a pyramid to sell more product.
Try radiating displays.
Be on lookout for ideas from elsewhere.

Disordered Pyramid
#fail

Ordered Pyramid
#win

BEST SELLERS
Located within their own classification in a PRIMEposition exposed to maximum traffic flow.
THEY MUST BE
IN STOCK.

ADVERTISED AND SELL UP LINES
Must be clearly identified and located in the spot directly related to the sale you want from the advertised line.
Always located within their own merchandise classification.
In a PRIME SPOT if you aim to sell the line in quantity, or
If only being used to generate traffic – at the rear of the classification area to pull
people through.

IMPULSE LINES
Close to the advertised line in PRIME location or in a high waiting area (eg. Close to cash desk).
Must be clearly visible & in a position on the way to the cash desk, not where it can’t be seen until main transaction has been completed.
Merchandise attractively displayed at the aisle line helps promote impulse sales.

SEASONAL AND TREND ITEMS
Understand when seasonal items will sell and merchandise accordingly. Give them every opportunity to sell at the right time.
Use trend items to develop your competitive edge. Be the first with a new idea, if you believe in it.
Locate the stock within its own classification & current seasonal or trend classifications which would be at the front of your store or dept.

BROWSE ITEMS
Items which customers don’t make a quick decision about.
Browse items need time and above all, space.
Never place near high traffic areas, narrow or busy area or in hot spots near cash register.
If you do, it will deter customers from stopping
and the goods won’t sell very well.

HOT SPOTS

HOT SPOTS
Traditionally found on ends of gondolas, shelves where traffic is heavy and in the main view points around the store.
Most impulse sales will be made from these spots.
It is essential that hot spots are identified and known to all salespeople.

CREATING HOT SPOTS
Areas within a store to move aged, surplus stock or specials.
Normally located in high traffic areas WITHIN their own merchandise category.
Eliminate Dead Spots by using strong ticketing and good displays rather than placing top sellers in the spot.

INTERESTING STATISTIC
Research shows a well planned hot spot can increase sales by:
229%

HOW TO MAXIMISE SALES UTILISING HOT SPOTS
Know where to best position your hot spots.
Plan your hot spot displays.
Build your hot spots wisely
Present items at customer eye level.
Must have enough product for display to look FULL and to provide impact.
ALWAYS have a sign or you won’t maximise your return per sq. metre.
Wherever possible try to create a pyramidal shape to the display. Best selling shape.

MAXIMISE VALUE OF HOT SPOTS
Consider:
Products being specially promoted by your store should go on hotspots.
Hot spot displays need to be managed – product level NEVER to go BELOW half full.
Display must be shoppable in the eyes of the customer.
Products should sell three times fasterfrom this display.

COLD SPOTS

COLD SPOTS
Dead corners
Poor lighting
Merchandise out of reach
Merchandise above or below eye level
Too wide a display
Too long a shelf
(Tip: If your staff keep saying “down the back” it is probably a dead or cold spot)

HOW TO FACE PRODUCTS CORRECTLY
Face more than 3 of a product when:
It is a trendy item.
The product is in season.
The item is featuring in the media.
It is being promoted by your store.
Suppliers are doing a major promotion.
Compile Planograms.
Consider Indenting.

MANAGING COUNTER DISPLAYS
See the counter as a profit centre. Sell 2 – 3 items from the counter only.
Select the right products at the counter.
Train the team to sell counter products.
Do not clutter the counter.
Look past the counter.
Make somebody accountable.
Introduce housekeeping standards at checkout.

One of Australia’s leading retailing experts, Debra Templar just hates bad customer service and stupid business practices. So… she’s on a mission to change them – one slideshow, presentation, book, or training session at a time:
"I don't just want to improve how we do business for the customer’s sake but also that we, as business owners, sell more stuff, make lots more profit, and love our businesses back to life!“
E: debra@thetemplargroup.com.auMobile: 0417 532383Skype: debra.templar
www.thetemplargroup.com.au
www.twitter.com/DebraTemplar
www.linkedin.com/DebraTemplar
Pic Credits: http://www.istockphoto.com and http://shoppologist.blogspot.com and Debra Templar

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Visual Merchandising for Small Retailers

by Debra Templar on Mar 04, 2010

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Visual Merchandising for Small Retailers — Presentation Transcript