Have you ever gone into a store to buy a single item and
left with a cartload of things you hadn't intended to buy? Congratulations! You
have fallen victim to some other retailer's merchandising strategy. When a
store is merchandised well this becomes a common occurrence.
Take Target, for example. The average Target store isn't
fancy, it's just a big box lined with basic gondolas. But what they do with the
merchandise on those gondolas is magic. At Target it's not about the fixtures
or the décor, the product is the star.
And how do you make your product the star? It's easy when
your merchandising involves each of your customer's five senses.
Hearing: Audio Architecture
If your store is quiet, then you may be missing out on
sales. The music you play in your store does more than entertain shoppers, it
provides a background that entices them to stay longer and buy more. We like
music that gives shoppers a psychological lift; maybe that's why we're obsessed
with disco. When played in a store, disco is the sound of money. Young or old,
it makes shoppers smile. Another plus: the right music can make your associates
more efficient, so if they're dragging at the end of the day, crank up the
tunes. Muzak Corporation has made background music a science. Visit Muzak to learn more.
Taste: The Flavor of Success
You know our motto: Food is Good! And not
just because we like to eat, which we do. A lot. Food is good because it's
another tactic to entice shoppers to buy. Grocery stores serve veritable feasts
in their aisles each weekend for two reasons: to get shoppers to try new
products and to keep them in the store longer.
If you sell food this is a no-brainer. But even if you
don't, it's not a problem if you make food part of your store experience. Place
a pitcher of cold lemonade near the front door to welcome shoppers on hot days.
Do the same thing in the winter, replacing the lemonade with hot coffee or
cocoa. Offer free bottles of water customized with your store's own label.
Place a plate of cookies in the area where female shoppers park their guys.
Implement our Kids Cookie Credit Card. Host a wine tasting. Partner with a local
restaurant for an in-store event. The ideas are endless. Just remember that
when customers try, they usually buy, so while their mouths are full, stick a
cool product in their hands. (Drop us an email for our free, easy-to-customize
Kids Cookie Credit Card template.)
Smell: Aromatherapy and Aromacology
Remember that old retail adage: "If it smells, it
sells"? Turns out it's true: researchers have found that a
pleasant-smelling environment has a positive effect on shopping behavior. We
all respond to good scents, maybe because they have the power to evoke memory.
Who hasn't gotten a whiff of something familiar and been instantly transported
to another place in time? That's what made aromatherapy so popular.
Now we have Aromacology: the science of scents and their
effect on our minds and moods. Grapefruit, for example, will give shoppers more
energy, vanilla will calm them when the store is hectic, pine inspires positive
feelings, and cinnamon is said to attract money. So put out the potpourri, or
better yet, purchase scent diffusers and place them throughout the store. Visit
ScentAir to learn more about the
science of smell and how to use it in your store.
Touch: Please Play with the Merchandise
Some stores set such intricate displays that shoppers are
afraid to touch them. Even worse are the sales people who follow shoppers
around the store re-folding sweaters and fluffing the displays customers have
the audacity to touch. Give us a break: shoppers are supposed to mess up the
store!
Make sure our displays invite customers to play. Instead of
an intricate stack display of product, create a tabletop display the way
department stores display expensive designer product. Add these small displays
throughout the store with open product so shoppers can try before they buy.
Choose an "Item of the Day" that store associates carry around with
them as they work. Encourage them to show the item to customers, inviting them
to take a look or try it out. Make a visit to your store a fun and interactive
experience – not just a place to buy stuff!
Sight: Visual Merchandising
Much of what happens on your sales floor is visual; all of
that wonderful merchandise is eye candy to a shopper. You can place product on
your shelves and hope it sells, or you can use Visual Merchandising techniques
to make sure that it does.
Make a Vertical Move
You've just opened a box of new product and are about to set
up an end feature display. There are two ways you can merchandise this product
on the shelves: horizontally or vertically. If you choose a horizontal
presentation, placing just one product per shelf, then you limit the amount of
items a shopper is likely to see as she scans a shelf. If she only glances at
the second shelf, she will only see that particular product. That's why a
vertical presentation is the better bet.
Any time you display product in a vertical slice, you expose
shoppers to a greater variety of the assortment at any eye level. We're
naturally inclined to read from left to right, so Vertical Merchandising
encourages shoppers to see your entire selection of merchandise, regardless of
which shelf they choose to gaze upon.
Small Left, Large Right
Say you sell Product X in two sizes. A popular trick of the
trade involves displaying the small size of a product on the left, and the
larger size on the right. This technique works because most customers are right
handed, and will unconsciously reach for the item closest to their right hands,
rather than reaching across their body or shopping cart. Walk your aisles –
you'll find endless opportunities for this trick in your store.
Find the Hot Spot
Every single section of every single fixture has a "Hot
Spot," the part of the fixture that sells the best. Most shoppers tend to
stop and look at the center of a product category or display, so the Hot Spot
silently points out – sells – important merchandise.
You can locate the Hot Spot on any fixture by simply drawing
an imaginary cross through its center. In the case of a 12' gondola, that's 3'
on center, you will find a Hot Spot in the center of the fixture, and a Hot
Spot in each of the four individual sections.
Another merchandising tip: Since most customers will reach
for product with their right hand, the position just to the right of the center
of the cross is an equally hot display area. This technique is called "Hot
Spot and One to the Right." It's the perfect place to display items you don't
want shoppers to miss.
Throw 'em a Curve
Any time you display product on a slanted shelf, you
increase what's known as the shopper's "Strike Zone." It's called
Visual Curve Merchandising and it increases the amount of product a shopper
sees in just one glance because they look up and down at a display, as well as
forward.
You may have great product gathering dust on flat shelves.
Try a new slant! Call your favorite fixture company and invest in inexpensive
plastic "fencing" that will hold the product in place when you slant
your shelves. Once you try this technique you will be amazed at the difference
it makes in presentation and sales.
Pile it high and watch it fly? Not in your store! Instead
choose to engage shoppers and all their senses. Create an in-store experience
that's uniquely your own. And if you need help, we're just a telephone call
away!
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