A customer’s first impression is often influenced by what they see. This is why visual merchandising is deeply valued in retail. When you walk into a store, you’ll almost certainly see well-organized, well-curated product displays. Those things aren’t placed that way by accident. The brand is using compelling visuals to help the merchandise sell itself.
The purpose of visual merchandising is to maximize product aesthetics in order to increase sales. The look, feel, and culture of a brand are all heavily influenced by it, so much so it transforms the space into an extension of the brand itself. When done well, it can increase brand recognition while also increasing brand loyalty. It also puts the brand at crosshairs.
But, the ultimate goal is to bring customers inside the store and close the sale. Retail visual merchandising has lots of strategies infused into it. But what the brand would focus on depends upon their budget. Because in the end, it’s all about that money. They are why companies run and keep running. But you need money to make more money. Therefore, comes the scale of the business. Since a small isolated store would use visual merchandising different from how a chain of stores would do. It would be different from a large company with infinite business. Here’s how the visual merchandising will differ based on the size of the business.
FOR A SMALL-SCALE BUSINESS
A small-scale business is fresh into the market and is fighting for viability. All it needs is a lucky break. Every step will be aimed at ensuring their survival and will focus on making sales, and then solidifying their market footing as they move forward with their business. Once they are done setting up their store, they will display their products in such a way that will encourage a lot of browsing. The focus is on rapid-fire consumption. Since a small business would not have one expert solution, they would want their customers to find more than one product appealing, and for that to happen they will urge their customers to explore.
As a small business, the space might be a constraint. Therefore, they would want to focus on utility. They will have to make sure that their most sold and best products stand out. There is always a small percentage of products that make the majority of the sales. Just how tiny percentage of people cause most of the problems.
Here is when the visual distinction comes into play. It’s defined as classifying things into various categories. It implies that they can find what they’re looking for in the same sets they wish to buy into, even while they’re exploring and browsing through products in the store. That’s how they are going to advertise themselves, through word of mouth.
With a smaller crowd, what customers are saying about the brand will have a huge impact on its reputation and its standing in the market. They would not have the budget for the large advertisements, they would focus on making sure that their store is memorable. When people talk about their store, it gets them more customers.
However, with social media, the lines have been blurred. If a small business has a strong internet presence, it may launch an e-commerce store. Now, the website will function as a store. The homepage will serve as a window display. Images and videos of the merchandise will serve as physical products, and so on.
FOR A MEDIUM SCALE BUSINESS
A medium-sized brand is thriving and is past the survival stage. At this stage, the brand’s attention will shift towards sales and experience. It will lead to a significant shift in the aesthetic of the retail store. They will use visual merchandising to make their brand distinct and ensure that the visual elements represent their brand’s core values. The emphasis will be on continued expansion. The brand will build its social media presence and might convert it into an e-commerce store. Just like a backbencher deciding to move forward enough to hear clearly but not enough to attract too much attention.
When it comes to their retail space, they will give special attention to the small elements, which will lead to the development of a visual merchandising strategy. To put it into practice, they might hire a retail branding agency to help them implement the strategy effectively. The agency will conduct research to determine who the target audience is and what they respond to and incorporate these components into their strategy. Depending upon goals and objectives, they would use various stimuli to influence their ideal and potential audience towards the brand.
FOR A LARGE-SCALE BUSINESS
A well-established brand has a solid foundation and a distinct voice in the market. How visual merchandising would be used for an already well-known brand?
Where a large company is concerned. One that has seemingly infinite resources to achieve their aim. Will also have equally infinite ways to achieve the said goals. But that’s not where more troubles end. that’s where most troubles start. The brand is no longer reacting but needs better direction. More money more problems. And so, at the point where a brand is well established. The “what” behind visual merchandising needs to be re-evaluated.
At this point, the brand would also have the conventional modes of visual merchandising already in play, such ways include window display, interactive design, etc. So, it is best to turn to the customer.
When it comes to gaining the market edge. There is no method as effective, for marketing than a satisfied customer. Thus, now the question becomes of how to make the customer feels special so they work as an extension of the brand. In the end, what matters is how the customer interacts with the brand. Make the customer feel special and distinct while they are interacting with the merchandise and they themselves would make it distinct. Making the brand stand out.
For larger brands, the primary focus would always be the individual customer. However, there are still avenues that the brand can expand in that are more directly controlled such as the technology.
A brand implementing the latest technologies will always be the centre of attention. Everyone wants the sparkling new thing. With the latest developments in robotics, AI, and VR. The visual aspect of merchandising is developing into experience merchandising. Given how versatile these things are. Especially VR, that the brand can create any visual melody that suites their need with the flick of a switch. As AI develops further, the flip of that switch won’t be needing any human intervention in the coming days.
When all is said and done. The primary principle driving visual merchandising is to make it distinct. Make it seen. Make it stay. And different brands or even the same brand on different stages of its life would tackle this differently.
