Visual Merchandising Evolution

Nowadays customer are more conscious, they are used to information at their fingertips. Crafting a relevant message to consumers and telling an emotionally driven story effectively in-store is key to creating successful displays.

While you may know your target customer inside and out, the fact of the matter is that consumers continually expect more.

You can acknowledge this and reinvent your communication with the customer - become a trendsetter, or you can wait and be... a follower.

To retain loyal customers and capture new sectors of the market, brands should check out the five trends in virtual merchandising:

1. Go Digital: getting the third dimension, interacting with customers

Engaging graphics, colorful video footage and electronic flat screen displays work well together to create a consistent brand image around multiple product offerings.

Inbuilt monitors, LED screens, and almost frenetic levels of digital content are becoming VM staples, especially in tech heavy markets like Asia and the US.

It can offer the opportunity to increase engagement with the shopper by adding value to their shopping experience through entertainment or education.

2. Sustainable Décor: flexible arrangements

Eco-friendly designs are being acknowledged not only for their long-term positive effect on a utility bill, but also for their ability to increase brand recognition and strengthen customer loyalty. Since most brands have online sites as well, it’s easy for customers to quickly search and read about its environmental commitment.

Related to the constant evolution trend is a growing demand for malleable and flexible hardware from retailers, shop fitters, and merchandisers. Flexibility is becoming more important, with this making sense from both a design and budgetary point of view.

3. A Focus on the Five Senses

Another way that brands have been differentiating their stores from the vast online market is through the use of visual merchandising that appeals to the five senses. When customers are browsing a site’s online product offerings, they are only observing the merchandise with their eyes. In stores, however, vendors can appeal to touch, hearing, smell and even taste.

Scent marketing is becoming more widely utilized as a result of research that connects smell with emotion and memory, two prominent factors behind brand choice. 

According to a report compiled after the 2016 Global Shop event, multi-sensory user experiences encourage more comprehensive interaction with merchandise, and interactive elements let products speak for themselves.

4. Mannequins With Personality: fun, quirky and impactful

With the rise of ecommerce and online shopping, traditional brick and mortar stores have been forced to think outside the box when it comes to getting consumers in their doors.

The next-generation consumers want to see a story, and the mannequin becomes part of the sell. Stores are realizing that mannequins offer more than just a practical purpose, and are great vehicles for branding and engaging on a deeper level with consumers. 

5. Tell a story

Keep connection between designs, runway show and in store presentation.

Shop window should to reflect the main idea of the collection – message have to be clear. In-store presentation can be more sensitive, can walk consumer through design processes, inspiration, final results. Each and every detail is important: tag, hanger, display material, music.

Everything should be consistent with main theme of the collection. Should tell the same story.  

Designer work in the atelier creating the collection while visual merchandiser work in the store creating a story.

When people will be surprised by window or instore installation they will make photos and spread online the message - Brand awareness and PR gratis.

This is about drawing the shopper’s attention through movement. It makes them wonder ‘how does that work?’.

At the end of the day, visual merchandising decisions are a mix of scientific research, an eye for aesthetics, and good luck. Not every retail merchandising trend will be a perfect fit for every brand. 

As long as results of visual merchandising practices are tracked carefully, there will be easy choice to ditch the one which don’t work and stick to the ones that do.