Retail strategy store development: Visual merchandising

Toolbox Revisited

Within a succesfull branding process, a clear basic idea and the uniqueness of the products offered are not enough. The result should also be attractive in its elaboration. The quality of the translation of the basic principles into the store image is therefore an extremely important succes factor. In order to carry out this process in the best and most complete way possible Jos de Vries The Retail Company has developed a practical toolbox. This toolbox contains all the tools to create a complete and distinctive store concept. Using this toolbox, you will avoid making random decisions about the store´s image. They will always be rooted in the basis principles of the formula.

The various parts included in the toolbox are:
Tool 1. Store lay-out

Tool 2: Store design

Tool 3: In-store graphics

Tool 4: Visual Merchandising

Tool 5: Shop front Design

Tool 4: Visual Merchandising

One of the most underrated, but also most decisive parts of the store formula is product presentation or visual merchandising.

It is also a part of the formula that cannot be developed and supervised by others, but which you should create in the store in collaboration with the employees. Even if you have successfully linked a fantastic layout to an attractive store design with the best possible lighting, your store will not achieve the desired result without a proper presentation. So this part of the formula also entails an additional difficulty.

The purpose of store formula management is to think in processes as much as possible and to develop systems in order to manage the store by remote control at low management costs. Visual merchandising should be created by experts in the store. This requires vision and skill on the part of the employees. However: you also want to keep the costs under control!

To this end, good visual merchandising concepts always combine two factors.

First, they are developed on the basis of a system, whereby the presentation can be created using the product itself, without using too many tools. Secondly, the concept is connected to a training programma for employees focusing on the use of the system created and its application in the store.

The costs of a good visual merchandising concept are always recovered. Examples are known where, without any further adjustments to the store formula, a 5% in turnover was realised plus a remarkable margin improvement, merely by enhancing the formula. Just by offering the right combinations of products. And this, without investing a penny in hardware!

In actual practice, a good visual merchanding formula jeans:
- that the focus is on the product in the store;
- that the desired ambiance in the store is created by ´merchandise pressure´
- that the consumer is almost unable to avoid buying the product;
- that impulse buying is stimulated in this way (´it really looks delicious´,´what a great offer´ or ´what a fantastic product´. I want… no I have to have this!)
A good visual merchandising concept provokes this emotion in the customer.

Therefore visual merchandising does not only determine the ambiance in the store, but is also the driving force behind the turnover. When a store designer starts to work on a new store formula, he first has to think about how to fit in the visual merchandising concept when he draws the initial sketch. This is because the desired result will only be achieved if the store design and the visual merchandising concept are approached in an integrated manner.

This chapter is part of the Book "Let me tell you a store" Please contact Jos de Vries The Retail Company or m.vanderkooij@josdevries.eu for further information.

Since many years Jos de Vries The Retail Company is a well-known organisation in the retail business. We are specialised in analysing, designing and realysing shop concepts all over Europe. We know for a fact that the successful presentation of shops and products can not only bring about a positive image but also achieve above-average successes.

Retail architecture - creating success in the retail sector

By Ir. Jasmijn Prinssen, architect with Jos de Vries The Retail Company

For many architects, ‘commercial architecture’ is a dirty word. ‘Commercial’ is linked to ‘compromise’ in the minds of many; the art and architectural vision must make way for commerce. People rich in money but poor in taste have the last word, and many spatial artists view this as selling your soul to the devil.
But I see this extra dimension as a challenge. In addition to the fact that a building must harmonise with the urban planning and meet reasonable requirements for prosperity, each building should strike a perfect balance between space, form and function. The challenge in designing a shopping mall is not only about seeking this balance, but also about adding that extra layer allowing it to become a commercial success. So, what factors come into play?

Attractiveness
The building must be accessible, stimulate a certain degree of curiosity and be inviting. The goal is to encourage people to visit the building more often, how dynamically and flexibly can the building be used?

Addressing the desired target group
Awareness of your target consumer is no different than for any other public building. But the design may appeal to a certain group more than others. Modern or traditional? Show the visitor what he can expect, or will it remain a surprise, hidden behind a shining façade?

Experience
People are not only destiny shoppers, heading straight for a single store. Some of them are just looking for a day out; the shopping mall in lieu of the amusement park. Larger shopping malls often integrate services from other sectors, such as cinemas, performance spaces, metro stations, etc.

Routing
What retailers will be in line of sight, which ones can you hide away? Seduction and surprise begins with interesting routing. It must be varied, stimulating, but also provide easy shopping. A boring layout does not create return customers, while an exciting view is the key success.

Plenty to think about and play around with. It is important that a retail architect is involved in the early stages of developing larger buildings, hypermarkets and shopping malls. The success of the design can be determined at this stage, success that will ultimately be reflected by the turnover figures.