 Someone once said, "Shouldn't you say, Today's Displays are Today's Dollars?" It's an ongoing process. Keeping your store merchandised and products moving is what you do today so that you always have them generating income day after day! Whenever my clients call and say, "After you were here our sales were amazing and now everything has gone back to what it was before." First I have to ask them what they've changed around since I worked with them and most of the time they haven't changed anything, which means there must be gaps or vacant spots in the displays. When I ask them if they have restocked, or made brand new displays out of the unsold products I get a variety of answers. "Yes, well, we didn't want to mess up the displays you did, so we've tried to leave them but we can't add in the same things because that inventory almost sold out. " This tells me that they are putting too much importance on the exact displays I did as demonstrations and illustrations of ONE way to display those products. When I'm in a client's store and working with them and their staff, my purpose is to "show 'n tell" so they see the steps in action and will duplicate those steps with other products and spaces. Larger or smaller, then test the results with active sales. If they aren't selling or things are slow for traffic. Change them up! Use that time to be creative, crazy, and try things you've never done before. There's magic in doing that. First the energy level in the atmosphere of the store increases. Even if you are in the middle of changing a display and shoppers step in, they can see that there's action in your store. Things aren't stagnant. Regular customers often respond to products as if they are seeing them for the first time. They slow down. They explore. Some of them are now on the hunt to see if that one item they have had their eyes on is still there or has been sold!!! SECRET: I tell my clients, "If someone comes in and sees an item you've had for years and says, "Wow, when did you get this in?" You are to reply, "I just put it there!" Do not reply, "Oh. it's been here for ____ years!" I show clients how to build tight displays and how to 'cozy up' and condense a display with a LOT of product in one place, so that as the items sell, they just have to do a little rearranging. I also am a fan of having a feature display, with some props and cross merchandising in a key spot and then having generic shelves of back up stock near by and within view.  Whether it's on top of a fixture taking up the entire space, or just on a shelf at eye level for the buyer, a feature display means less moving of products around in order to keep it looking fresh and interesting. This saves time and reduces shop lifting when you don't have to go back into your storage area to bring more product for display.
When it's 80% sold out, it's time to change up the entire theme on that fixture or shelf and move "onsies" into other cross merchandised feature displays. Don't discount... DISPLAY!
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 w This is a picture of me on stage at a trade show talking about Sources and Trends of Color. I'm showing you this because the two color boards I'm holding up are exactly 20 years apart for the forecast trends of those years. Which years, you ask? One is 1980 and the other was the predictions for 2000. Colors cycle and in a specific order. They cycle from dark to light, meaning black and white added, and around the color wheel. We are now in the 2020's so I'm expecting all these colors to show up again... and they are! When a new color is introduced into the market, it always appears in it's darkest form and as an accent color. Gradually you will see more and more of it until it's available in large quantities and coverage like carpets and wall paper in home decor, and all over the fashion, gift and tableware. When I was doing research for the trends for the turn of the century, I found a magazine from Australia that predicted that by the decade we are living in now we would be "cyber slaves" to our electronic devices. And as I look around, the current color trends are showing up on digital watches, cell phone covers, and lap top finishes. So even though we have indeed become "cyber slaves" we are also making personal statements with the colors of our preference for our devices.
In my teaching on merchandising and display, when it comes to color, the trends are less important than the placement of the products you have in stock. Color closes sales and color counts in terms of avoiding visual confusion. Showing more products in less space works when you Group 'n Space based on color, pattern, and style, then shape and size, in that order. When colors are scattered and not organised for specific focal points and features that tell a clear story and help the shopper to focus, then there is visual confusion, chaos, and conflict. The shopper is distracted or unable to make the right distinguishing difference to make a choice and a purchase. Look at the illustrations below and see how they are color blocked. Does it make it easier for your eye to land on just the right group and then move around comfortably in that group to make a selection? Do you notice how the colors enhance the patterns and the styles? Take the table ware for example and notice the color, pattern, and style of the sets. This kind of merchandising and display, regardless of which decade we are in right now works to increase traffic, sales, cash flow and profits. Shoppers love it when they can browse with enjoyment and no stress to find what they are looking for, or fall in love with an item they didn't know they wanted and make an impulse purchase. This is all good for you, but more than that, when your store is organised around color it makes it easy to find the perfect homes for new items coming in, or those 'onesies' left over from a line. SO... don't discount, DISPLAY... and do it with color!
On the Home Page of my website you will see these Quick Notes for sale. As is! They are from consulting, instructing and public speaking, for clients, including International Gift Shows. These are the topics my clients ask for. I developed them using my trademark Merchandising Methods. Usually with no more than 60 minutes to present, I chose four page handouts with sketches which people seem to love! They were never left on the seats and often asked for to take back to shops for employers or staff. Since I am now an Online Course Creator and am looking at all the content I have taught for many years, I have decided to turn them into FREE videos on YouTube and expanded On Line Courses for a FEE on the Thinkific Platform.
These Quick Notes are in the most summarised form possible and are available to download for instant readable basic notes, or steps for each topic. For the next more expanded version with some details noted from me, you can go to YouTube and search "today's displays" and check out my channel. Then when the courses are online and ready to go, if you Subscribe, or download any FREE offers with your contact email, I will be happy to let you know when each course is available. Happy Selling... and check out your Image today for Improvement. |
Linda McKendryVMP Display Consultant for over 3 decades. Coaching, Consulting, Instructing, Public Speaking and Writing. Archives
August 2024
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