Visual Merchandising

Hey Guys!

Welcome Back!

Today I'm going to be talking about how to attract business by making your store more visually appealing to the customer.

There are three main layouts to stores:

There's the spine layout:

 

 

With the spine layout, there's one main walkway you can take throughout the entire store that branches off to other departments.

 

Next, there's the racetrack layout:

For this layout, there's one main loop around the store that branches off into other departments.

By using this floor plan, more people will walk around the entire store and possibly see something that they hadn't even thought about buying that day.

 

Next is the grid layout:

 

 

This layout is popular in places like Target that sell a variety of items from food to clothes. To make their shoppers' experience more convenient they use categories to sort their items.

 

Categories are really helpful in generating more sales because if someone goes to a store to buy a chocolate bar there's a good chance that they're open to buying another piece of candy. So, if the store groups all the candy together they're more likely to make another sale. 

 

Next, I'll be talking about mannequin placement.

 

Mannequins are best placed in odd numbers because an asymmetrical display will keep the eye moving around both the display and the store. 

 

Also, another important aspect of mannequin placement is starting high and building your way down. What that means is to have one tall mannequin and the others being a variety of different heights. This keeps the eye moving around the display.

 

A particularly nice display I found last time I went to the store is shown below:

 

 

 

 

This is an Alice and Olivia clothing display. They used five mannequins, all of which change levels, so the eye keeps looking around the clothes.

 

The store's decoration (i.e. lights, artwork, etc.), was really spectacular and some of it even made me stop in my tracks. I also noticed that instead of the three mannequin rule, or the rule of three, they sometimes used a decoration, such as a bowl of rocks, in substitution for the mannequin, which I thought was interesting and innovative.

 

And, that's how the pros make their stores more visually interesting!😄

 

Tell me in the comments. Where have you seen any of the store layouts I mentioned?

 

As always, thank you for visiting Style Right Up Your Aisle!

 

~ Zaya