Visual Merchandising

Retailer's Decalogue // Within the commercial strategy

merchanlab Shopping experience, Training, Visual Merchandising , , , , ,
Decálogo del retailer // Dentro de la estrategia comercial

Being assertive helps you more than being quick..
Speaking of fashion, it's volatile and unpredictable. What's popular today may not be popular tomorrow. That's the risk faced by retailers when they fill their stores with fashion that's no longer what they're looking for. You have to take care of every aspect of the business, keep it impeccable, and believe in customer satisfaction as the company's hallmark.

That's why I present you with a decalogue that will make you successful in your daily decisions in the fashion retail business.

IS THE STORE REALLY ATTRACTIVE? To perform this analysis, you need to stand in front of the store and ask yourself this question: If you were a customer, would you come in? Does what you have in the window displays invite you to come in? We need to find an excuse to get people into our store. Appropriate visual merchandising can be the solution to this lack of attraction.                                                         

CONGRUENCE Both outside the store and inside. It's sad to see big brands with impeccable, vibrant, ever-changing catalogs, but still have a store they haven't renovated in years. I think the same love and enthusiasm that goes into making some things should prevail in all others. It's important not to disappoint the consumer, who expects you to be the same as you are on the outside.

REAL PROMOTIONS Are your customers accustomed to constant discounts? Consider why customers don't buy at full price. Are your prices high? Are your campaigns always discounted? Overwhelmed by discount messages. Be careful how you speak to customers. Often, you can subtly suggest a promotion and avoid being discounted.

TAKE CARE OF EMPLOYEES SO THEY CAN TAKE CARE OF CUSTOMERS Richard Branson of the Virgin Group recommends that employee care directly impacts how they treat customers. It's unpleasant to be served by an unmotivated salesperson or to enter a store with a conflicted staff. As a consumer, you immediately notice this in the service you receive, and you never return.

AVOID IMPROVISATION There's nothing worse than a series of untimely actions in a store. All it does is create conflict among staff, jeopardizing sales success. Improvisation doesn't bring clarity and only causes a store to be inconsistent with other branches. If this is your case, you need to implement a standardization project and involve buyers and store owners. Everyone should know a week in advance what's going to happen in their store, or this will depend on the size of the actions.

PLEASANT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Taking care of the details that add value to the brand experience. Neuromarketing authors explain that a pleasurable shopping experience is achieved when we engage the senses in different ways, starting with sight and then hearing. Make sure that what your customer sees is aesthetically appealing and then offer them audio that matches the environment. The most common mistake is thinking that music is made for salespeople, but that's not the case. Everything should be customer-focused to make them feel good and spend more time in our store.

THE COMPETITION. We mustn't lose sight of it, how is it? What do they have that I don't? How do I communicate to the customer that I have products that are different from my competitor's? We must always be clear about who the competition is or what brand, indirectly, is our competition. There must be a record that says week after week what the competition has, at what price, in what composition, in what colors, what quantity, etc. And everyone in the brand must be aware of it. Not just a cursory review, become a mystery shopper of the competition, all brands do this, look at their window displays, their pricing strategy, the colors, what they have at the entrance, etc. Feel calm, everyone does this.

THE HISTORY A retail business without sales records is a ship adrift. The past must be firmly in mind. Last year's success will be a headache for the following year, as you must exceed sales expectations, maintain healthy inventory in good condition to drive sales, and do more with the same amount of space. For these reasons, history informs future decisions; current sales failures must be taken into account to develop well-founded strategies. In retail, there should be no assumptions; we must take calculated risks.

LOSES LOVE FOR STOCKThis can be your worst enemy if you don't really know it. You must monitor it constantly, day after day. Know its size, what it's about, and how long it's been on the sales floor. Numbers can be your best tool, but working sessions with sales floor staff and purchasing teams are a good strategy for gaining information about stock performance for decision-making and ensuring sales success.

TRAIN YOUR STAFF. Develop a sales-minded approach in your staff. Sharpen their eye so they can recognize macro trends and, above all, see the business as an opportunity for professional development and know they're part of a growth that's alongside the brand. Make them proud of it, even if they aren't customers.

Retail has many perspectives, many nooks and crannies where business can be done, and it would be difficult for 10 points to achieve brand success. But here are the ones that involve the POINT OF SALE, PRODUCT, and STAFF, which are key elements for creating a driving force for good results. I believe all brands always have the same objective in mind: to sell. What good would an attractive store do with poor products, or vice versa?

Pablo Román is the founder of the Merchan//LAB agency, where a team of industrial, fashion and graphic designers with expertise in fashion collaborates.  “Shopping experience "It's the new guiding principle of fashion. Consumers are no longer satisfied with just purchasing products; they now want something more. Something the brand is willing to share with customers to encourage them to return to the store." Customers don't quite know what they want, but when they see it, they recognize it. PR.

Execution, the biggest challenge for visual merchandising

merchanlab Retail News, Shopping experience, Visual Merchandising , ,
La ejecución, el reto más grande para el visual merchandising


It's almost 11:00 am and the store is about to open its doors, everything must be in its place and placed as planned, nothing out of place.

This sounds logical and simple in a work meeting, but in reality, many people are involved, all of whom must have the same "chip" as the entire team, a mentality that the impact of having the store ready by a certain date and time is fundamental.

Therefore, all actions must be combined with a single goal: to ensure that the client understands what we want to convey with the collection or product launch.

That's why, from my visual perspective, I'm listing these practical tips for you to implement in your organization.


Stock to receive. It's the key element of the display, having prior knowledge of the quantities of pieces, as well as their variants, that will be received in the store. This ensures that the impact in the store is what the entire team envisioned.


Furniture available. You need to know how far the furniture you have will cover your display needs, or perhaps it's time to consider redesigning your existing furniture.


The surprise factor. You should always make room for a positive surprise for your customer. Create a memorable detail so they might not remember every item from the launch, but they'll remember the details that surprised them. This could be with the POP material or a stylish piece on the mannequins that helped reinforce the main concept.


Store guidelinesJust like instructions for assembling a Lego brick, so should the instructions provided by the stores. If you need a folding detail: explain it. If you need an item to go first: explain it. If you want a mannequin dressed a certain way: explain it. It's important to remember that our team is often 100% visual, so this guide should be more graphic than written.


Anticipate what is going to happenNot everything in stores is rosy, so we must be mindful of what we need to improvise, from the simplest to the most complex. For a garment to reach a store, it must go through many people and processes, and some parts may break down or fail. But always be clear in advance that everyone involved must be informed so they know what to do.


Timming. This concept should be ingrained in everyone. There's no sale without merchandise, but even more so, there's no impact with a complete merchandise.

As we mentioned in the previous point, the client only sees the tip of the iceberg formed by having a store ready and a collection displayed. Simply put, the execution of what was planned will always be the priority of the visual and operations teams; no one is more responsible for ensuring that things are well explained in the stores than those involved in execution. From a numerical perspective, operations, design, logistics, purchasing, and visual create a chain that must be clearly defined, and everyone must be familiar with it in order to react.

 

What a visual merchandiser doesn't like to do but must do

merchanlab Shopping experience, Training, Visual Merchandising , , ,
Lo que no le gusta hacer a un visual merchandiser pero lo debe hacer

The visual merchandiser is the person responsible for the display of a store or a chain of stores to boost sales.
The practice of visual merchandising (VM) dates back to the earliest retailers who grouped, separated, and arranged their products to suit the customer; this, in its core sense, is a characteristic of the discipline. Over time, the stage setting or representation in certain businesses transformed it into a pure aesthetic, taking the product to unexpected places that invited or gave customers an idea of ​​using it.

This allowed artists, designers, and interior designers to find a space for professional development in the practice. Thus, inspiration and aesthetic sense reign in the industry, seeing professionals designated for this profession as individuals with a keen aesthetic and artistic sense.

With this background, we dare say that visual merchandisers are often seen as people full of the inspiration and aesthetics necessary for setting up a store or window display, leaving aside other skills necessary for today's business.

Here we will try to describe at least four aspects that a visual merchandiser should have or try to develop to understand the work from the conception and planning of collections.

NUMBERS // A good visual merchandiser requires the ability to analyze and plan their day based on a sales report. This is essential in their day-to-day work, as is knowledge of sales metrics, KPIs, statistics, purchase projections, etc. A visual merchandiser with this knowledge is an element that enriches the process of stocking a store and achieving sales goals.

IMPROVISATION // Be reactive in favor of the concept. You shouldn't just sit idly by and wait for purchasing or distribution to fix the problem. The customer shouldn't realize that something hasn't arrived or is still in the process of arriving at the store. Transnational companies and leading retailers consider improvisation a highly sought-after and valued attribute in their vimmers.

FRUSTRATION MANAGEMENT // Since these are people with a high artistic sensitivity, it can sometimes be frustrating when the strategy changes course. This can lead to complaints and a lack of confidence when modifying what has been done. That's why it's important to be willing to listen and experiment to find the best exhibition or promotion strategy.

DEFINITION OF METRICS // While the store is primarily a place to sell, it's also a place to develop strategies and conduct tests to determine successful guidelines and verify their effectiveness. Therefore, vimmers should keep in mind that they will need to run tests with setups to see which ones best respond to sales and define brand metrics to advance the maturity of the discipline. Remember, if it can't be measured, it doesn't work.

Finally, if you're a visual merchandiser or manage a team with these characteristics, encourage them. A visual merchandiser with a numerical mindset and a sense of improvisation is more beneficial for achieving the organization's goals, and this is a plus for their expertise as visual specialists.

Sales Season: Let's Learn From Them Too

merchanlab Shopping experience, Training, Visual Merchandising , , ,
Temporada de REBAJAS: Aprendamos de ellas también

We're in the middle of the sales season, and from items that were once top sellers to those that didn't meet their sales targets, this is also a key time to visit stores and see them as opportunities for constant learning, observing best practices and the most common mistakes made in stores.

While this may be a paradise for customers looking for better deals and opportunities, it can mean stocking up on something they'll be storing in the back of their closets, waiting for the next season. But for brands, it means getting rid of cluttered stock that affects store profitability, as well as preparing for the next arrival of new-season merchandise.

We believe it's worth taking a tour of the stores and, above all, analyzing different aspects of retail:

  • If you are a Fashion Designer: What new silhouettes are being discounted on the racks?
  • If you are a Buyer: To what price point is a garment or product you have in mind for next season discounted?
  • If you are Visual Team: How is the store arranged? What items are on display? What are the window displays like?
  • If you are a Planner: How much discount on sale do they handle in stores?
  • If you are a Store ManagerHow many boxes are open? What's the ideal roster for this season?

The sales season could be considered a period where a store's profitability could decline, but the secret lies in being able to overlap the arrival of new merchandise with the optimal performance of the clearance merchandise.

Remember that early-year sales must be aggressive because maintaining a stock of heavy clothing and warm garments will be a major challenge for the new season.

At the consumer level, sales are a good excuse to get something new at an affordable price. This is when the search instinct is ignited and opportunities are everywhere, so if you have a store and don't have SALES, the sales opportunity during this time is considerably reduced.

Customers have open selective perception,
Where they see a red sign with "SALE" they enter without
no matter where he is, his search is constant.

DESIGN AND INNOVATION in retail: When the investment returns

merchanlab Retail News, Shopping experience, Store Concept, Visual Merchandising , , , , ,
DISEÑO E INNOVACIÓN en el retail: Cuando se retorna la inversión

The trend in physical stores is changing, and now there are stores without warehouses and we are increasingly seeing smaller but profitable stores.
What size is the ideal store? 1,500 m2 or 500 m2? The trend is to optimize space to achieve sustained and consolidated expansion, smaller checkouts, employees with mobile devices for off-site payment, etc. All of this is wrapped up in a strong application of design and adaptation to constant change.

In terms of store concepts, we see lightweight furniture that can carry a larger quantity of garments or items, optimizing costs from the design perspective, modular walls that grow and shrink according to the store's architecture and stock, allowing the store to renew itself daily, creating a dynamic sales floor.

Light, striking stores with a brilliant lighting system and no wasted space. Visual merchandising teams work overnight while the store is closed, completely changing the sales floor, constantly offering customers a fresh look.

Window displays and advertising have become much more focused and targeted, implementing new, more dynamic and effective elements such as digital screens, replacing old resources like billboards. The development of digital applications and strategies offer new possibilities for optimizing resources.

It's important to view these improvements and new practices as an investment that can have a medium- to long-term impact on reducing operating costs, improving customer experience, optimizing inventory management, and generating valuable information for business planning and management.

The Mannequin: A brand storytelling

merchanlab Shopping experience, Store Concept, Visual Merchandising , , , ,
El Maniquí: Un storytelling de la marca

Many years have passed since the first mannequin in history emerged, replicating the silhouette and making everything it wears appealing. Now we can see that it's relatively easy for a store to find an affordable mannequin, but it's difficult to create a striking silhouette. Many mistakes are made when handling them. Here we list the five most important points when setting up a display with mannequins.

1. LOVE ME TENDERMost mannequins are made of fiberglass, which is very resistant to the passage of time, but it's also a delicate material. You have to be careful when dressing a figure. The first thing to do is clean the place where the assembly will take place, and of course, keep your hands clean. Never undress a mannequin if you don't know where you're going to put its pieces.

2. ASSEMBLY AND DISASSEMBLYAlways ensure that the people who handle the mannequins know how to dress and undress them, not just those specialized in visual merchandising, as this is where the pieces can become damaged. It's also important to plan the clothing options for dressing them with a defined and effective concept.

3. WITHOUT STRATEGY THERE IS NO PARADISETo attribute a percentage of sales to mannequins, it's necessary to understand the sales strategy you're trying to capture, and this metric is essential for understanding the lifespan of the mannequin. It's important to keep in mind that mannequins help drive what we want to sell, but we can't attribute sales success or failure to a mannequin alone.

4. COMPOSITION, COMPOSITION & COMPOSITION. Sometimes the budget for display is limited, and brands choose to present only two or three window displays per year. Others are more dynamic, making more than 15 or 20 changes per year, experiencing spikes in traffic, sales, etc. What truly enriches window displays in any strategy is the position of the mannequins in the space. If you have a limited budget, you should rely on different compositions throughout the life of the display, as well as different outfits. The window design should allow for varied positioning of the mannequins.

5. FITTING IS A MUST HAVE, If the garment doesn't look good on a mannequin, we can't expect the customer to like it. We have to consider the silhouette we should choose; sometimes the arms or legs are too long for the garment, or the torso has a high waist. It's important to test garments before purchasing our mannequins. The sizes of the garments they should wear are just as important. Remember that the difference is in the details, so observe the silhouette to know which wrinkles need to be framed and which garments need to be molded to make it look as realistic as possible.

We can list more aspects that the mannequin's composition should have, taking them into account in detail, keeping in mind that the more detailed the setup, the more impactful the message. Be consistent with what you display and the environment, and you'll have a doubly powerful and memorable display.

Dare to do something that others say "can't be done"

merchanlab Visual Merchandising , , ,
Atrévete a hacer algo que los demás dicen «No se puede»

Every morning in 1909, Mr. Selfridge found the front of his store a disastrous scene, with many people passing by, noisy carriages, horses defecating on the sidewalk, etc. This whole scene was part of the decision to gather his store collaborators and present them with the following strategy.

– “I want to remove the perfume from the pharmacy and put it at the front of the store.”

Some of his collaborators said:

– In plain sight? But perfume is a lady's secret, that's impossible. 

And he said to them:

– The store's exterior is a mess; the smell of horse manure is pervasive. Let's change the customer's environment as soon as they enter the store. What better way to offer perfume and all the beauty-enhancing products? Do you know why we don't sell our creams well? If women use them every day, why don't they know where to find them in our store? Let's put a perfume and cosmetics department at the front of the store.–

Back then, beauty products weren't bundled together as we know them now; they were all gathered in the pharmacy at the back of the store. Women used cosmetics at their discretion because it was considered vulgar, which is why Selfridges' employees reacted by saying, "That's not allowed."

Many times the shopping experiences are based on that established «it can't be done«

Imagine a store without checkouts: It's impossible. Here's Amazon Go.
Imagine delivering packages without personnel: It's impossible. Here are DHL Delivery Drones.

Countless shopping experiences began with a it can't be done, porque siempre la innovación en el punto de venta desafía la lógica común, hay que aventurarse y experimentar para salir y dejar atrás lo establecido, revisar las áreas de oportunidad y lo que hace que realmente desafía al retailer como al consumidor.

We highly recommend the 2013 British series Mr Selfridge which tells the life of entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge and the creation and evolution of the Selfridges department store in London at the beginning of the 20th century.

Intermoda #IM65 // Conference "The Retail Decalogue"

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Intermoda #IM65 // Conferencia «El Decálogo del Retail»
Captura de pantalla 2016-06-17 a las 1.42.32 p.m.

It's always a pleasure to spend time with the people at INTERMODA. Now, in their #IM65 broadcast, we'll be able to address a different perspective on visual merchandising with our talk "The Retail Decalogue," given by Pablo Román. This practical and easy-to-understand talk will focus on offering ideas and concepts that can be applied in stores the next day.

Find event information and details at:

https://www.facebook.com/events/994844437298075/

With or without visual?

merchanlab Shopping experience, Store Concept, Visual Merchandising , , , ,
¿Con visual o sin visual?

The term may sound very current, but it has existed throughout human history, from merchants displaying their harvest at the market to large chain stores displaying their collections in their stores.

Visual merchandising (VIM) is an activity that has always been practiced, but the best part is when it's mastered and becomes part of the brand's commercial strategy. There's no VIM without a strategy behind it that can justify it. We can't improvise in stores; that would be complex and lack added value for the brand.

Consistency is a determining factor for the Store Concept that emerges across brands; each space, each display must be measured by its results. But let's not make the mistake of leaving the VIM solely responsible for good or bad sales.

Each product or product category has its own story and performance, but the visual focus that VIM provides enriches and enhances the sales generated by the item itself. This justifies window displays tailored to the product, visual merchandising focused on sales results, and the execution of store staff.

Customers must be immersed in a welcoming and pleasant atmosphere, making them spend more time in the store looking for things they weren't looking for. They must find a haven in the brand where they can have a good time without complications and have a shopping experience that's both enjoyable and enjoyable. shopping experience satisfactoria y sobre todo presumible con sus amigos.

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