VISUAL MERCHANDISING

Achileas Fotios Gkanos

Unit 30: Visual Merchandising

27/02/2020

Achileas Fotios Gkanos

Unit 30: Visual Merchandising

27/02/2020

In this assignment I will be describing the visual merchandising and the wide variety of display techniques that are used by the retail outlets which I have chosen. The 3 different outlets which I have decided to discuss about are Sainsburys, WH Smith and JD. Visual merchandising is how a business decides to present their store and its goods/services so that it will attract the attention of any potential customers.

There are many reasons to why a business uses visual merchandising. One of the main reasons is to raise awareness of any products or new products that have just been released. The second reason is to attract customers with the nice and well put interior as well as the products placement. The third reason is to usually create an image and provide customers with an idea of what does a business offer in terms of the products.

There are a number of visual merchandising techniques that a business uses in order to achieve their aims and goals.

1. Micro-merchandising: This technique is used when a business aims on drawing attention to a specific product in the middle section of an aisle by using colours, fixtures or different kind of shelving.

2. End cap: Displaying an item on the end of an aisle facing the main aisle so that it can grab the attention of the customer as they wander around the store. A common end cap technique is

Achileas Fotios Gkanos

Unit 30: Visual Merchandising

27/02/2020

cross merchandising. Cross merchandising is when related items are all grouped together to encourage customers to buy even more add on items that are on sale.

3. Technology: Usually a flat screen TV to broadcast messages such as offers, sales or any discounts.

4. Proper space and theme: When a business displays product based on any seasons coming up or any events, for example, Christmas, winter etc. A business would display red turkeys.

An example of Proper space and theme on Valentine’s Day by WH Smith.

clothing

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5. Fixtures and fittings: There are many kinds of fixtures that can be used for a store. For example, hard-line fixtures are usually used as small tables for items that are not branded.

6. Types of furniture: Furniture is used to help show the main goods off to the customers.

7. Place of dummies: This is when companies decide to use mannequins in order to show how a garment would look on one.

An example of place of 8. Fragrance of the stores: Stores will use fragrances mannequins by JD. to lure customers in.

9. Pyramiding merchandising: This is when stores decide to place the largest item at the center and have other related smaller products on the outside making it looks like a pyramid.

An example of placing other relatable items close to the main product used by JD.

10. Consistency and Repetition: This is a technique that allows a customer to read everything in a shot period of time.

11. Vertical and Horizontal merchandising: This is An example of vertical when a business places their products in a and horizontal horizontal or vertical line. merchandising used by Sainsburys.

Achileas Fotios Gkanos

Unit 30: Visual Merchandising

27/02/2020

12. Cross merchandising: This is when a business decides to place products close to each other in order to deliver an idea of which products match well together.

Another example of cross merchandising used by JD. They have placed items that would match together.

There are also different types of retail outlets; 1. Department stores: A large business which offers a variety of products in different categories known as “departments�.

2. Malls: A large retail that contains a number of businesses and usually restaurants as well as other food shops connected in a series of buildings.

3. Speciality stores: A small retail business that aims on selling specific products. For example, Toys R Us. 4. Supermarkets: A large company that sells household products and a variety of goods (often food) and services. For example, ASDA. 5. Discount stores: A department store that sells items at a lower price than any other retail store. For example, Poundland or TK Max. 6. Warehouse stores: A large store that sells quantities of products usually at a lower price to the public. For example, IKEA. All three organisations have used and still use a variety of different visual merchandising techniques which usually do encourage customers to enter the shop or purchase products on the shelves.

JD mainly use the place of mannequins in order to catch the eye of the public outside and inside of the store. Not all stores use mannequins, they are usually used in clothing stores such as JD and are often placed behind the windows of the store as well as in the store so that customers can receive an even closer look of how the clothing would look. This technique provides customers with a chance of seeing the clothing on a human body imitation which could definitely make one buy it or even trying it on.

Another technique that nearly every clothing shops uses and especially JD is cross merchandising. JD tends to place clothing near other clothing which may match well together if bought. This is done so that customers are able to feel even more intrigued into buying the product as well as the one which is placed close to the main product. It makes shopping even more fun and it encourages customers to buy even more than what they were expected to buy.

Achileas Fotios Gkanos

Unit 30: Visual Merchandising

27/02/2020

Sainsburys also use a very common technique for supermarkets, end cap.

Sainsburys tend to put their products at the end of the aisles to help customers into noticing the products which they want to sell easier. For example, the picture on the right has “Big Deals” in a white, bold font. Sainsburys tends to place products at the end of the aisle in order to promote the main products just like the picture on the right. This is done so that customers notice the products straight away, by grabbing their attention, the customers will usually proceed into buying the product.

Another technique used by Sainsbury is consistency and repetition as well as colourisation to support customers into noticing the products easier. This technique is usually combined with another technique named fixtures and shelves. Sainsburys use micro merchandising by using colourful and attractive fixtures and shelves to sell items such as big packets of crisps or beers as they are one of the most bought products in supermarkets.

Additionally, Sainsburys and WH Smith use proper space and theme when an event or a season/celebration is coming up. For example, Easter is very close and already Sainsburys have decided to place Easter eggs right at the front of the entrance where every customer will be able to see them and easily grab them in order to purchase them.

WH Smith also use vertical and horizontal merchandising as they place items such as books and newspapers in a horizontal or vertical ling, usually on shelves.

I will now proceed on analysing the visual merchandising techniques used to present a variety of goods by Sainsburys and JD. Visual Merchandising is important as it is used for the benefit of the store at a full effect by displaying products in key places.

There are a number of differences in the techniques that are used by the two organisations. For example, Sainsburys uses a lot of colourisation to greatly intensify their displays of goods and make them more appealing to the customers. Colour has a lot of influence on the mindset and the level of attractiveness that a product/shelf/fixture can provide a customer or potential customer with.

Moreover, Sainsburys certainly uses colour on their aisles and utilise them in a way that the aisles do not look plain. This instantly attracts and engages the customer’s eyes with the product as bright colours do stand out.

Whereas, JD do not use a variety of colours, they usually tend to use black and yellow as well as grey which are the main colours of the logo of the organisation. It would be even more appealing if JD were able to make their shelves more exciting by providing a colourful background which will lead into the customer’s eye to be attracted even more than before.

Achileas Fotios Gkanos

Unit 30: Visual Merchandising

27/02/2020

In addition, Sainsburys tends to use end cap to draw the attention of customers to the goods who they want to sell. This also makes customers compare the regular shelves to the main ones at the end which are placed there on purpose. That instantly gives a feeling of specialness as the item being on the nice and fancy shelf looks even more attractive than the other products. Sainsburys additionally uses this method in order to encourage add on sales by cross merchandising. This is used to boost the sales of impulse goods. That is a very effective way to sell these kind of goods as they are not placed with any items next to them to be compared or overlooked by.

JD does not necessarily use end cap. They usually place every item in a regular shelf. However, they do tend to wear new released items into mannequins. They like displaying goods such as tracksuits, jeans and coats in on large wide shelves usually next to pictures of a model wearing them. JD tend to use technology and big wallpaper posters as well as vibrant screens with a video of models advertising upcoming or new released clothes. They use technology as an attractive way to appeal to customers through the high-quality videos of models advertising their products which creates an even bigger interest on the clothes for the customers wandering around.

A similarity of these two organisations would be that they all use the rules of three. The rules of three is when a business decides to display products of the same model for example, a Nike tracksuit next to a nice hoodie or a Nike coat. Both organisations use this as it is known that looking at clothes from the same brand tend to make it more attractive on the eyes as well as easier for the customers to purchase an item. This also enables customers to make easy comparisons with other items around the shelves, by judging them for themselves and concluding. Sainsburys uses the same rule especially with Kellogg’s, coffee, crisps and drinks. Consumers would eventually visualise and analyse on which item is more suited to their wants and likings based on what the item offers.

Another similarity that these two organisations have is that they both use a lot of repetition and consistency, specifically horizontally in order to express the broad variety of products which they have available. Sainsburys but also JD have aisles of t shirts and DVD’s as well as crisps and other items which are frequently bought by their customers, providing the latest flavours and trends available.

To conclude, I believe that visual merchandising techniques play a massive role on catching a potential customer’s eyes as well as increasing a businesses’ sales. They are effective on grabbing the attention and making customers buy more than what they were planning on before entering a shop.

All businesses should be aiming on using techniques that will benefit their interior of their stores as well as how people would perceive one. If the store contains bright colours with exciting and flashy technology to show off the businesses’ items, it is more likely for one to enter and become interested on what they can find. Whereas, if a shop has just aisles and aisles of products without any mannequins or any main trending products, customers would eventually become bored and will try and find a better option.

Reference Links: https://blog.compliantia.com/2018/04/25/7-visual-merchandising-techniques-to-increase-sales/ https://www.repsly.com/blog/consumer-goods/visual-merchandising-display-techniques-toincrease-sales

Achileas Fotios Gkanos

Unit 30: Visual Merchandising

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/visual-merchandising-techniques-10856.html

27/02/2020

Achileas Fotios Gkanos

Unit 30: Visual Merchandising

https://issuu.com/makevili96/docs/p1-m1_3201470773d5d4 https://issuu.com/caitlinwoods/docs/p1-nikki

27/02/2020