Welcome to the Creating Retail Magic spell book of inspirations and ideas. This is a series of articles that will give you professional tips and confidence to create your own amazing window dressing themes, special events, in-store displays and styled photos for your social media posts. You'll also get lots of ideas for home-styling and themed party decorations.
So, let’s start with understanding what exactly is Visual Merchandising and its importance.
Visual Merchandising optimises the retail floor layout, the shelving layout and the product displays so as to maximise sales. Lighting and signage are included, as are other stimuli such as sound and scent. Visual Merchandising also, very importantly, utilises consumer behaviour patterns to create an attractive and exciting shopping experience – what we at Creating Retail Magic call Retail Theatre.
“Take yourself back to your childhood, to a chilly winter's day, wrapped up in a scratchy festive scarf, when you went to see the Christmas shop windows. The sparkling displays were a portal to a magical and ethereal world, full of promise & anticipation, laden with a mesmerising abundance of toys, games, teddies and dolls. Remember how you pressed your nose to the cold glass, brimming with excitement and expectation, fervently hoping that Santa got your letter, and, hopefully, that one special toy would be under the Tree, just for you. This is Retail Magic!”
To get you started on creating your own bespoke Retail Magic, we suggest that you grab a cuppa in your favourite mug, your favourite pen (we love those ones with lots of different colours that pop up and down) and a nice big blank sheet of paper. Then, spend a little bit of time jotting down your responses to the key points below - and remember to capture the magic of the moment and memories as you reflect and respond.
my Retail Magic inspiration
· Your Retail Story: How did your business come into being? A lifelong dream, a family inheritance or perhaps a response to circumstance.
· Your Brand Personality: What sets you apart from competitors? What is your identity (colours, fonts, imagery, culture)? What are your values, your causes and your passions?
· Your Customer: What are their wants,needs and expectations? What is their lifestyle and frame of reference? And most importantly, how will you excel at your Customer Experience?
· Your Visual Merchandising Inspiration: What brands and customer experiences inspire you? Who do you follow on social media? What is your personal style and what type of design, display & decor makes you go all tingly?
Using this information above, you can now go on to take a fresh look at your Visual Merchandising strategy, and to create a plan that will enable you to 'merchandise to maximise' your business's full sales potential.
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Contact us at anytime for a chat at 07586 355 355
