Marketing Visual Merchandising Essay

How visual merchandising helps improving sales and its effects on retailing? ABSTRACT Visual Merchandising is the way or art of displaying goods and products in a manner that is appealing to the eyes of the customer. It sets the context of the merchandise in an aesthetically pleasing fashion, presenting them in a way that would attract the attention and convert the window shoppers into prospects and ultimately buyers of the product. A creative and talented retailer can use visual merchandising to breathe in new life into his store products. Passion for design and creativity are essential and the key to be a good visual merchandiser. A perfect design process and the ability to create ideas that are different are required. Awareness of happenings in fashion world is needed so as to keep up-to-date with the dynamics of the market constantly to ensure whatever merchandise displayed make a good comeback to attract shoppers. Keyword: visual merchandising, window displays, signs, interior displays, cosmetic promotions. 1. Introduction Visual Merchandising has been gaining more importance and attention from retailer of late as part of the emerging marketing industry. Research shows most of the people who went to shopping centre did not have an idea of what to buy or which shop to go, most of them get attracted by the display inside or outside the retailer. â€Å"Seventy percent of consumers in-store purchases are unplanned, which means they came to the store to buy something else,† says Greg Smith, director of communications for the Chicago-based Point Of Purchase Advertising Institute (POPAI). The main goal of display is to showcase the products within the overall display area to attract customers to give in three to five seconds of their attention to the window display The retailer visual message should be conveyed to the customer in that short period of time. It should not be like an unsuccessful TV advertisement, where the product is forgotten altogether and only the concept of the commercial remains in the mind of the viewer. The arrangement of window display should go with the product and should not suppress them to make it discernible to the eye. According to Dolan and Thomas G (2012), It’s important to realize that no matter how much advertising you do on a particular product or brand, most shoppers can be swayed by the in-store display. It is why nowadays it had become a popular trend among retailer to apply visual merchandising in their stores and retailer outlet. 2. Consumer Emotion and Affective Response Emotion is the core factors in affective perspective. It affects an individual’s luminal and subconscious level, and serves as the internal motivator that attracts us to the things that makes us feel good or positively associate with our minds (Williamson, 2002). Individuals tend to focus on information selectively, which is consistent with one’s mood state and later, recall the information that is mood-consistent (Mattila and Wirtz, 2000). Mood-based evaluations are common in individual judgment of products or services (Schwarz, 1997). Russell and Geraldine (1980) assumed that affect is an individual’s internal state comprising of both pleasure and arousal. 3. Visual Merchandising and Consumption Visual merchandising enhances the attractiveness of a store and its perceived image from the viewpoint of customers. A positive mood serves as a contextual cue for evaluating the perceived quality, image of a product and store, and purchase intention (Bakamitsos, 2000). The impact of a pleasant store atmosphere is also positively related to customer satisfaction (Spies et al., 1997). Atmospheric stimuli which please the actual and emotional needs of consumers enhance the degree of consumer participation in a store, leading to favourable purchasing behaviours (Wright et al., 2006). In general, the store exterior and interior are the two major areas covered in Visual Merchandising and a variety of components (colour combination, product placement, lighting arrangement, layout and highlight design, mannequin and props selection, fixtures and fittings selection) are involved in creating a favourable shopping atmosphere. For instance, Babin et al. (2003) found that the combination of colours and lighting plays a critical role in influencing the purchase intention of consumers and store patronage. Intangible store elements, such as sprayed fragrance, can stimulate one’s affective state and help boost mental imagination (Fiore et al., 2000). Chebat et al. (2001) found that appropriate music can affect the cognitive activity of consumers. A positive imagery also helps in associating a better cognitive experience between consumers and products, and intensifying purchase intentions (Macinnis and Price, 1987). However, consumers’ responses can be affected by cultural difference. Chan and Tai (2001) found that Chinese Hong Kong people rely on culture values (e.g. practical realism) to evaluate store displays and less susceptible to environmental cues than American consumers. Also, Chinese cultural values had a direct relationship with store atmosphere evaluation in apparel consumption (Fok and Chong, 1996). For Vietnamese consumers, hedonic shopping motivations were directly related to store atmosphere evaluation in supermarkets (Nguyen et al., 2007). For Korean consumers, different cultural expectations were found in store environment expectations in discount stores (Park, 2005). Therefore, cultural difference is important to influence store atmosphere evaluation. 4. Visual merchandising and Sales Today, customer walks through any mall or large stand-alone store where they moves through a continuos themes promotional mix of visual merchandising. The visual campaign starts with the outside window and continues through the use of end-aisle displays, layout, fixtures, and signage, continuing to the point of purchase displays where one final push is made ( Bell and Ternus, 2002). Once considered ‘’making the store pretty,’’ visual merchandising has become its own department in larger stores. The visual merchandising process promotes sales without the need for a sales associate ( Bell and Ternus, 2002). Research confirms the importance of visual merchandising (Janiszewski, 1998; Mckinly, 2003); it has been found effective in increasing sales (Edwards and Shackley, 1992) and imperative in enchancing store image. Visual merchandising that can be effective include exterior displays, window displays (Edward and Shackley, 1992; Gubernick, 1986), in-store display as well as the separate display components of signage ( Edward and Shackley, 1992) and lighting. Given the possilities of visual marketing, one might expect that all retailers would use it. For many small business owners, however, the need to create visual displays is just one more task (Yu and Muske, 2003). Successful visual merchandising and brand delivery is all about understanding and satisfying customer needs. So the more that a company understands its consumers, brand and competitors, the better it can define and refine its own visual merchandising practice to deliver better solutions instore to improve the customer experience (Mckeever, 2007). 5. Physical In-store Environment It has frequently been suggested that â€Å"good† interior design within a store can maintain customer interest, encourage customers to lower their psychological defences and make a purchase (Kotler, 1974). In examining this potential, the physical in-store environment has been examined in relation to various elements, for example, orienting factors, signage (Bitner, 1992); spatial factors (Bitner, 1992); and ambient conditions (Bitner, 1992), which Kotler (1974) termed â€Å"atmospherics†. These elements are in many ways redolent of the facets of merchandise display identified above. This high degree of congruence between merchandise display facets and the elements identified when concerning the physicality of the in-store environment would appear to add further weight to the use of such â€Å"borrowed† approaches in this research. The work regarding the physicality of the in-store environment focuses on the â€Å"communication† of elements through cues and stimuli that the customer digests through a number of sensory modalities (visual, aural, olfactory, haptic and taste). Within the research on in-store environments it has been suggested that some people are better at â€Å"digesting† environmental stimuli than others (Bitner, 1992). Given that up to 90 per cent of the cues provided by an environment are digested through sight (Edwards and Shackley, 1992) it follows that many environmental cues in the retail context are visually communicated. The twin threads of visual communication and legibility highlighted in the environmental literature echo the sentiments raised in the definition of visual merchandising above. This then further strengthens the links between the visual merchandising and considerations of the physicality of the in-store environment. Therefore, from either perspective, understanding how to communicate product and brand images to customers through individual visual stimuli is vital. 6. Aims of Visual Merchandising They are several aim of the usage of visual merchandising. Successful way of using visual merchandising will be able to send out quality message to potential and prospective customer and also enticing them to buy from the store(Kerfoot et al., 2003). Visual merchandising not only function as a configuration of space, layout and consumer flow, but visual merchandising itself is also a powerful communication and experience enhancer for the customer(Kotler, 1974). * Generate Experience Experience generation pertains to stimulation and management of the entire domain of the consumer’s senses and managing sensuality so as well as to be congruent with the consumer’s desires Visual merchandising able to manage the visual senses whereby affect experience generation in retailing. * Maximize Sales Effective visual merchandising helps in increasing sales through facilitation of consumer sampling and exposing the best of merchandise to the consumer . * Strengthen the Brand Visual merchandising can add brand strength to the retail store brand where the experience occurs if being properly managed. For example, Apple store who use visual merchandising have been a successful icon in the technology market and been known for their merchandise being visualized in their store. * Help Expansion of Product Categories Through Optimizing Display Effective visual merchandising also packs more through optimum display of merchandise. Thereby devouring empty spaces in the retailer where it is not necessary, making it feasible to display larger number of products and product categories, enhancing higher total spending and hence contributes to the profits of the retailer. 7. Diccusion Visual Merchandising was conceptualised in the western countries around the 60s. The basic tenet was to â€Å"differentiate† the brand in question, build â€Å"tactile† attributes at the point-of-sale which will reinforce the product attributes (directly or subtly) & act as a â€Å"call for action†, for the favourably disposed customer to â€Å"touch & feel† the brand experience. By the 90s visual merchandising had scaled the status of â€Å"art† & spilled on to a scientific territory. Organised retail contributed a lot to this development, as they were open to experimenting and it was an adding to the consumer purchasing experience. Visual merchandising is the art and science of retailing. It’s the thoughtful design of the store. It’s the aisle layouts, product adjacencies and the product sets themselves. Visual merchandising understands the target customer’s needs/desires and delivering an environment that encourages spending and increases purchases. Visual Merchandising aids customers’ buying decisions by placing the product where customers expect to find it. VM provides information about the product where it can easily be seen. Seeing, Smelling, Tasting, Feeling, Selling and Merchandising is all tied together. Often time, about a 250% sales increase when retailer offer a â€Å"try before you buy† type sales process and in this condition where visual merchandising had fulfilled all the condition. In this case, visual merchandising definitely has an impact on sales and helping increasing the fortunes of retailer. 8. Conclusion This research investigates how visual merchandising plays an important role in upgrading the fortunes and sales of retailer and the relationship of it between visual merchandising and retailer. It is found that attention should be paid to the overall store displays which include in-store and out-store display to attract consumer and products should be displayed at area which could easily catch up potential and prospective consumer view. Visual merchandising is known as a very common strategies that be used in the trend nowadays as research shows that more than 70% of people who went to a mall haven’t decided what they want to buy so it is important how visual merchandising play a role in luring potential buyer to the retailer. Visual Merchandising is everything that customers sees, both interior and exterior, that creates a positive image of the business and results in attention, interest, desire and action on part of the customer. Creative and great visual merchandising attracts attention, creates interest and invites customer to the store, directly gives impact on the sales of the whole retailer. So it is important how a retailer present the interior and exterior of the store. Furthermore, a good display is also act as a silent salesperson. When salespeople are busy with other consumer or the shop is closed, a strong window display showcases spoke to the consumer itself. 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