Windows, Signs and Visual Displays –

Stewards of Your Brand

Windows and merchandizing are more than simply the arrangement of products on the shelves. It is an integral component of the business image. It should be considered when you design your logo, business cards, brochures, letterhead, packaging, and product mix.

7 Things Your Business’ Appearance Tells Your Customers

1. Will it be a worthwhile experience?

2. Is there something unique happening?

3. Business pride

4. Financial stability

5. Commitment to a category

6. Is this a business of the future?

7. Is it worth returning?

Functions of On-Premise Signage

• Develops a memory for a location and the products or services available at the location.

• Reinforces memory and extends recall of

other advertising efforts.

• Attracts new customers by prompting first-time or impulse visits.

• Modifies customary purchase decisions

or habits.

Signage

• Visibility/conspicuity

• Legibility/readability

• Size, scale, location

• Cone of vision & angle

• Graphic (color, contrast, white space)

• Contrast/brightness

• Letter style & capitalization

• Letter heights

• Length of message

• Illumination/lighting

Exterior Presentation

• Exterior Signs

• Marquees

• Banners

• Awnings

• Walks and Entries

• Landscaping

• Window Displays

Signage

• Each town has different rules

• There is an absolute need for guidelines, to stay within the tradition and culture of your town

• http://property.naiisaac.com/flash/The%20Lex%20Sign%20Guidelines.pdf

Is it Important?

Yes. It’s all about enhancing the

customer’s experience and maximizing your sales so that the customer returns.

So, you need to know your customer!!

Does it cost money? Yes, but . . .

Windows & Doors

• Posters and Announcements

• Fingerprints and Dirt

• Hand lettered Signs

• Hours

• Lighting

• Sun Light

Sidewalk or Passing Vehicle?

• If sidewalk – displays can be smaller and more intricate but the focal point should still be at eye level

• If a passing vehicle, displays need to be larger and the use of banners becomes effective

• Either way you have 3 to 5 seconds to catch their attention

Cautionary Note

• Posters covering the doors and windows, hand lettered signs, scotch tape, lack of lighting and untidy displays send a message that your business isn’t serious.

• If the window portrays “bargain basement” the customer will expect bargain basement prices regardless of the products in store

The Planning Process

• Create a focal point

• Use lines and shapes to plan your design

• Will your layout be horizontal or vertical

• Will the products be arranged in straight or curved lines, in a pyramid or circular shape

Visualizing Your Space

• To experiment with this draw a rectangle roughly the same size as your display space

• Sketch geometric shapes to get a sense of an appealing layout

• Large triangle = represents an arrangement of giftware

• Long vertical rectangle = would represent signage placement

Know Your Customer

• Merchandising is also about understanding the way customers shop

• You need to create an environment that attracts the customer, is comfortable to shop and encourages the customer to return

• Creating a retail store display that will grab customer’s attention can make all the difference in the world

Store Traffic Patterns

Store Penetration

First Location Shopped

Hot Spots - % Who Shop Each Section

Create a Retail Environment that:

• Communicates an image, lifestyle or value system for the product and your business

• Draws customers in because it reflects their own image, lifestyle or value system- OR one they’d like to adopt ̶ that’s what

they are responding to

• Select an image, and the message you want your products to convey

Putting It Together

• Look at other windows and store displays for inspiration

• Be on the lookout for props at flea markets, antique shows and yard sales

• Use two colors, with a third as an accent

• Use many units of the same item in rows or groupings

• Create small groupings at different levels

• Use “pyramid” formations

• Use props that connect with the theme of your product line and the image you are trying to create

Merchandising Standards

• No merchandise in the decompression zone

• Use the prime real estate for your best selling, highest margin product

• No one shops below 12 inches

• “Sweet spot” is from your belt buckle to 6

inches above your head

• Use large products toward the back of the store

Merchandising Standards

• Use your “spot lights” to highlight product

• Use your cash wrap for “add-on” products

and impulse products

• T-shirts should be folded with a folding board

• Clean, straighten, and replenish all day long

• “Activity breeds activity!”

Common Display Mistakes

• Too much merchandise

• Too little merchandise

• Lack of underlying theme

• Too many props

• Poorly selected props

• Displays changed too seldom

• Limited or no display budget

• Lack of attention to detail

• Mistakes in applying the principles of display

Focus

• Whatever display design or fixtures you use for your retail store displays, remember to keep it simple.

• Slatwalls are easy for any customer to locate when they are trying to find and to quickly understand how your products are arranged.

• Always have a major focus point for every display, whether it is in a shop window or on a back wall.

Stores with Handmade Products

• Merchandising is storytelling with handmade goods

• Materials and fabrication

• Celebrate the artist

• Flaws and all

Visual Balance

• Colors that are lighter toward the top of the display along with smaller products

• Darker shaded products that are larger in size should reside in the lower parts of the display

• Horizontal balance creates an atmosphere of order and comfort

Visual Balance

• A grouping of many items on one side of he display can be balanced by one heavy item in just the right place on the other side

• We all respond emotionally to visual stimuli

• A lack of balance creates an impression of instability and anxiousness

Retail is Dynamic

• You must grow and change to make the customer feel that there is always something new for them to see or experience

• You don’t need a big budget – start small but be sure to include a plan for growth

Retail is Dynamic

• You don’t have to overhaul the entire sore, but rotate merchandise, change displys, and change signage to make the customer feel that there is always something new for them to see or experience.

• Including merchandising in your marketing plan and budget makes sense. It can make the difference between selling a product or having it sit on shelve.

Tips

• If they stay longer, they spend more

• 70% of shopping is done after 5 pm

• Keep lights on until 10 pm

• Open doors get 10 times more traffic

• Windows and front/center = 40% of business

• Target zone – belt buckle to 6 inches above the head

• Add your Website URL to your front window

Merchandise for the Holidays

• Is the store full?

• Is it clean?

• Best gifts and holiday items prominently displayed?

• Highlights?

• Hotspots vs. dead spots?

• Is signage effective?

• Traffic flow?

Merchandise for the Holidays

• Display sale products in a creative way

• Use accent lighting to feature products

• Change displays weekly

• Color matters

• Merchandising themes

It is all about image!

Imagine your store as a stage the products are the “Stars”