Visual Merchandising Techniques: How to Highlight The Benefits of Your Business

When customers walk into a retail store, they make purchasing decisions before they even pick up a single item. It’s similar to the “people eat with their eyes first” concept - if the store or products look unappealing, a customer is less likely to buy anything.

This is why, in successful shops, everything from the lighting and color choices to the curated product displays is intricately implemented using visual merchandising techniques. 

Using these tried and tested techniques, you can create positive in-store experiences that attract customers to your products and motivate them to buy.

What is visual merchandising?

Visual merchandising is the strategic marketing practice of creating product displays to attract and engage shoppers. It aims to accentuate the features, benefits, and aesthetic appeal of a product in order to entice them into making purchases.

But effective visual merchandising does more than just make your products look nice. The practice extends to the entire interior of your store, from your floor space and color scheme to your lighting and props. All of these elements work together to showcase your brand’s personality as well as your products.

The benefits of visual merchandising

Visual merchandising aims to optimize the in-store shopping experience - which, by the way, is still very popular. 

According to a recent study by Raydiant, 48% of customers prefer to shop in a physical store. And 47% say they made more than half of their retail purchases in physical locations.

Visual merchandising is critical for attracting and retaining physical and hybrid customers. There are three main ways it benefits your business.

Makes a memorable first impression

You’ve probably heard that it takes around 5-7 impressions before someone will remember your brand. Unique, eye-catching visual merchandising techniques make an impactful first impression, driving brand recognition and helping you stand out from competitors. 

Improves in-store shopping experience

Done right, visual merchandising creates a more convenient and engaging in-store shopping experience. With the help of a customer journey map tool, you can create optimized visual experiences tailored to the behaviors of your target buyer personas. This helps guide them smoothly from your storefront to your checkout.

Additionally, if you have a CCaaS solution, making sure that your customer service contact details are on display in your store can improve your customer’s omnichannel experience.
​​​​​​​

Influences purchasing decisions 

Visual merchandising techniques, like strategic product placement, window displays, and promotional signage can drive impulse purchases. Even better, an immersive, visually stimulating in-store experience can eliminate the buyer guilt that’s often triggered by impulse buying.

Types of visual merchandising

Window displays

Window displays are one of the most traditional visual merchandising techniques around. They’re used to catch the eye of passersby and the casual “window shopper”, enticing them to come inside and delve deeper into your store.

Even if the passer-by doesn’t come into your store, a creative window display leaves a memorable impression that may encourage them to check you out online
Mannequins 

Perfect for displaying clothes and accessories, mannequins give shoppers an accurate idea of what an item might look like on them without needing to try it on. 

Placed in shop windows, they immediately communicate your brand’s personality to passers-by. When styled mannequins are placed in-store next to the product they’re displaying, they ease your customer’s journey and create a more efficient shopping experience.

Get creative by using lighting, props, and mannequin positioning to make you stand out from the crowd. You can even use promote inclusivity by using mannequins that represent, for example, fuller figures or the disabled.

Checkout displays

Instead of having your employees cross-sell at the counter, use visual checkout displays to create a more subtle approach. 

Placing small, low-cost items near the checkout area encourages customers to browse while they wait in line, improving the chances of an impulse buy. Affordable items work particularly well because they don’t significantly increase the shopper’s purchase total.

Designing a presentable checkout area with your brand colors and even a funny slogan can leave a lasting impression as well. Take this example from Staghorn Mercantile. Not only is their checkout area aesthetically on brand, but the “because plants are cheaper than therapy” quip communicates their values in a funny, memorable way. 
​​​​​​​

Interactive Displays

One of the newest retail trends in visual merchandising is the interactive display (aka, touchscreen display). By using technology to unite physical and digital shopping, interactive displays encourage engagement and provide customers with a personalized, educational consumer experience. 

Paint manufacturer PPG built interactive displays which enabled customers to view color selections in a VR showroom, receive complementary recommendations from an AI chatbot, and save favorites that can be viewed on home devices. 

Sephora’s interactive displays let shoppers take beauty quizzes to receive personalized product recommendations.

It doesn’t matter if you create extravagant smart mirrors or simple interactive displays for educational purposes. They offer unique, tailor-made experiences that engage and excite customers.

Another effective way to showcase your visual merchandising techniques is to create infographics that highlight your strategy, product displays, and customer journey. These can be used on your website, social media channels, and even in-store to educate customers and attract new ones. 

By providing a visual representation of your visual merchandising efforts, you can communicate your brand's message more effectively and demonstrate the value you bring to your customers. Consider working with a designer to create eye-catching and informative infographics that will enhance your visual merchandising strategy.

Visual merchandising best practices

What are some key things to remember as you’re putting your visual merchandising strategy together?

Create a Multi-Sensory Experience

In the rush to perfect the visual aesthetic of their product display or shop front, many businesses end up neglecting the other four senses. One of the lesser-known advantages of visual merchandising is that you can create a truly immersive, multi-sensory experience by paying attention to all five senses.

• Sight: You can do more than create an attractive product display. For example, colors have psychological connotations and triggers that you can use to influence buyer behaviors. You can also manipulate elements like floor space, lighting, and contrasts to strategically guide customers through your store and urge them toward products.
• Sound: The music you play should reflect your brand’s personality and resonate with your customer’s interests. So, if you were an alternative clothing store, it makes sense to play alternative music! Sounds can also influence shopping behaviors - mellow music can encourage customers to relax and spend more time browsing.
• Touch: The opportunity to touch and try on merchandise is one of the biggest selling points of the in-store shopping experience. It doesn’t only work for clothing brands, either - providing testers or demos of your products is an opportunity for brand-customer interaction.

• Smell: Scent marketing is a popular, research-backed practice that involves placing ambient scents at customer touchpoints. When executed strategically, this can attract customers to your store, evoke positive emotions, and even improve brand recognition.
• Taste: If you’re selling consumables, why not dish out some free samples of your products so customers can try before they buy? It works like a charm for enticing people to engage with your brand and makes a positive first impression.

Tailor to your target market

It doesn’t matter how eye-catching your visual merchandise is. If it doesn’t attract the attention of a customer who’s actually likely to make a purchase, then it’s no good. 

To execute an effective visual merchandising strategy, you need to become a customer-focused brand. This involves taking the time to get to know your target market and using these insights to tailor your strategy to their specific preferences and interests.

So, using your knowledge of your customers, focus on creating visual merchandise that resonates with them. If you’re targeting children and families, for example, a store that’s bright and colorful is much more appealing than a dim, moody setting. 

Maintain brand consistency

Are your in-store visuals consistent with your brand’s website, messaging, and other online marketing materials? When it takes up to 7 impressions for your brand to make an impact, ensuring that your marketing is consistent across your online and offline channels can accelerate brand awareness and recognition.

And remember, even brick-and-mortar retail stores need online marketing and communication channels like a website, email, and VoIP phone number. What is a VoIP number? It’s a virtual phone number that allows you to use freephone numbers, vanity numbers, local dialing codes, and more. 

Cross-merchandise strategically 

Effective cross-merchandising involves displaying complementary products next to each other in your store. One effective way to enhance your visual merchandising strategy is by using media monitoring tools. These tools can help you keep up with the latest retail trends and competitor activities, allowing you to stay ahead of the curve and adjust your strategy accordingly. 

For instance, you can monitor social media channels to track customer feedback on your visual merchandising displays, identify popular products, and gain insights into what your customers are saying about your brand. By leveraging media monitoring, you can optimize your visual merchandising efforts and improve the in-store shopping experience for your customers.

Along with driving more sales by reminding customers of additional items they need to purchase, cross-merchandising creates a positive in-store experience by delivering convenience and personalization.

Research shows that customers admit to spending more per visit when they have a positive in-store experience.

If your boutique sells wax melts, for example, placing wax melt burners and unscented tealights next to them can drive more purchases.

Get Started With Your Visual Merchandising Strategy

Brick-and-mortar stores need to balance art with science to perform effective visual merchandising. It’s similar to how ecommerce website architecture needs to balance creativity with technology. 

On one hand, your retail displays need to be creative and eye-catching enough to deliver your brand’s message and stand out from the crowd. On the other hand, they need to be carefully curated to appeal to your specific target market, taking your customers’ preferences, pain points, and behaviors into account.

Using these visual merchandising techniques, you can devise a strategy that helps you do both.