“Good visual merchandizing is a mix of art, inspiration and science. While great visual can sell lousy product, poor visuals can do nothing for great merchandise.”
– Paco Underhill in Why We Buy

We know that visual merchandizing inside your retail store has been one of the major motivations for customers to purchase your products. Your window display has the potential to attract customers, reel them in and ultimately lead to purchases. Here are some effective techniques to establish an interesting visual display that every merchandizer should keep in mind.

1. Show less, focus more
The human mind has a limited attention span and therefore it is advisable to keep the display simple and uncluttered. Leave a lot of space around. The most common mistake in visual merchandizing is trying to show too much at the same time. Props should be simple in shape, preferably something that provides a large mass of color or texture, such as blocks, covered boxes or risers.

2. Use odd numbers
Always place an odd number of elements in a group. It’s always easier for the brain to zone in on the middle of the arrangement, which is only made possible with an odd number of objects. A slightly off balance arrangement will cause the eyes to move around and look at each frame or object. Visual merchandizing with an even number of objects is dull to the eye.

3. Repeat, repeat and repeat
You should always use variations of identical elements since that creates a very powerful display mechanism. It’s a simple idea that can have a lot of impact on the mind of the consumer- and it’s also hard to miss such a display in your retail store.

4. Contrasting colors is key
Make sure the items or frames you want to focus on clearly contrast with the background in your visual merchandizing. This includes color contrast as well as material texture contrast. For example, don’t put a metal frame on top of a glossy background. Perhaps try making the background dull and repeated so that the frame that displays important information stands out.

5. Attract first, provide choice later
Place one element at the top of the display which is clear and focused. Below that, in the form of a pyramid, place other elements which provide choice. It’s hard to go wrong with a pyramid display in your visual merchandizing.

6. Depend on the best
Always hire a good agency to execute your campaigns for your retail store. An idea is only as good as its execution- and that goes with visual merchandizing as well. So while your presentation might look fabulous in your laptop, it may look completely different in your retail store.

Author: Maniraj Singh Juneja, is a director at Amitoje India, a store branding and execution firm based in New Delhi, India. You may write to him at maniraj[at]amitoje.com.

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Have other advice on visual merchandizing? Let us know in the comments below!

Image Credits: Air Images/Shutterstock, IR Stone/Shutterstock, Kondor83/Shutterstock