Retail Trends
Display Marketing
Retailers explore the functional trends of in-store design.
Today’s consumers
have developed extremely sophisticated buying habits. Shoppers keep
in mind that if one retailer doesn’t have exactly what they
want and offer it in the manner they expect, there’s a competitor
within three miles that will try a little harder to measure up.
One way that retailers are winning new customers and strengthening
the bonds of customer loyalty is by making their stores more user-friendly.
Retailers are attempting to streamline their in-store floor plans
by displaying products according to their functional use, rather
than the brand name on the label.
Not only is this a more effective way of organizing the store in
terms of inventory placement and merchandising, it’s less intimidating
for the customer. The result is an empowered customer who can make
buying decisions quickly, easily and comfortably. This renewed manner
of display marketing plays host to a more efficient and patient
consumer audience.
FURTHER FOCUS THE CUSTOMER
This trend of merchandise display can be coupled with a branded
in-store advertising theme to further focus on the needs of the
consumer. Marketing products in-store using colorful, informative
signage helps to guide the consumer to the point of sale. Customers
don’t want to be lost in a sea of brand names and faceless
displays.
If one were to watch the behaviors of retail traffic, one would
notice that most visitors do not enter a store and simply stand
in the doorway. Instead, they take a quick glance around the store
and amble toward a destination that will be a starting point for
their shopping excursion.
If they’re inclined to wander throughout the store and look
at all it has to offer, the retailer must be considered fortunate.
On the average, customers want to locate what they want fairly quickly.
Attempting to predetermine that primary destination and thereby
lead the customer on a specific course throughout the store is a
retailer’s consummate charge. If a retailer can increase the
likelihood of quick product selection and subsequent purchase, the
reward from consumers comes in the form of repeat business.
During peak sales seasons, a streamlined store layout will trim
down waiting lines at the counter and help alleviate that claustrophobic
feel crowded stores often have. Customers will be more inclined
to relax and enjoy their shopping experience.
Here, again, is another perfect example of how customers are affected
by the way retailers display their merchandise and design their
stores’ layouts. The customer must always win. And when customers
win, retailers win.
SAME AS ONLINE
This trend in store layout and display design is not unlike an online
shopping experience. When searching for products online, one searches
by category. “Drapery hardware,” might be a search term
for example. The consumer can then peruse the brands that offer
products to solve their drab hardware problems.
In terms of brick-and-mortar retailing, stores have easily adapted
this new trend with the aid of a carefully designed selling floor
and effective in-store signage. Customers can walk into the store,
locate “Decorative Drapery Hardware” products and choose
which one best fits their needs.
It is essential for a store to be about function, even if to the
customer it seems that’s not the case. For instance, a store
with shag carpet lampshades and man-made ponds would admit that
form and function must still serve a purpose. It comes down to stepping
into the shoes of your customer and identifying their needs. Then,
solving them.
The Nu-Era Group, St. Louis, MO. www.nu-era.com,
is a worldwide supplier of retail fixtures, displays, and in-store
merchandising items.
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