Visual merchandising techniques
Cont ents What is visual merchandising
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House of fraser Lighting
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Colour
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Store design
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Technology
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Asda Cap out
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Store layout
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Technology
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John Lewis Lighting
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Store design
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Mannequin
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P2- range of goods
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P1-Visual merchandising techniques Visual merchandising which is the use and manipulation of goods on sale and a retail floor plan, is used to engage customers and help to boost the sales activity of the business. The products are mainly displayed to a certain way in order to help catch the eyes of customers of the intended market so that they are contemplating and forced to buy the goods of the product retail outlets do this by showing off the best features and benefits as to why they should buy the product. There are various different types of visual merchandising techniques that businesses use in order to attract customers and draw them in to buying the goods of the outlet. The first strategy which is used by businesses is interior displays, this can be used to help capture the attention of consumers and make the product more eye catching whilst they are in the store, which is essential in the buying decision-making stages. To capture their attention the retailers must think of the different features such as the store layout, item display and store design. These factors can help persuade the customers so that they meet the needs of consumers and help tip their attention to buying goods. Lighting helps the customers decision as they can be more drawn to the product in the way of how the lighting is used correctly, for example by highlighting the area or object can help illuminate the entire store and keep the focus on the good to help draw customers towards it. Mannequins are used mainly in the clothing market of the retail outlet to help display and show off their products in stores and in shop windows. This is a tool which can be used to show consumers how the design and the fit of the clothing would looked on a fitted doll. This helps to draw in the customers as it allows them to get a quick glimpse but is also effective as the customers can see the designs of clothes on a something rather than having to lift it up and seeing if the clothes would look good on them. Another visual technique used can be technology for example cars as in showcases technology is used to spin the car so that customers can receive a mesmerising view of the car as it turns slowly. Technology is used to make a good or product more eye catching so it can leave an imprint on a customer’s mind. End caps are displays of products which are placed directly at the end of aisles. This is sometimes known to give a brand an advantage as it helps products to sell faster rather than if they were not at the end of aisles. These goods or items are sometimes known as features in the terms of business. Furthermore the type of furniture can help a business to catch the eyes of customers for example Ikea use this a lot as a way to gain customers and improve the sales of businesses as it can help customers feel
Different types of retail outlets
House of Fraser House of Fraser is a British department store which includes over 60 stores across the whole of the UK and Ireland. The store is the third largest group of traditional stores in the UK. House of Fraser is a chain outlet as there is more than one located around Britain. However the stores are allocated targets for only certain types of goods and products as the Doncaster, Swindon and Leicester departments sell goods at a reduced price and are known as the discount department store environment.
Visual merchandising techniques: 1) 2) 3) 4)
Lighting Mannequins Colour Store layout 5) technology
Lighting/colour
House of Fraser use lighting as a visual merchandising technique because the store only highlights certain goods inside the store in order for it to gain attention and make it look eye catching. House of Fraser not only apply lighting but a coloured lighting also rather than just painting the walls. This helps so that the colour can illuminate and make it look more eye catching depending on what part of the store you are in for example in the clothing section, the store uses a blue colour lighting to make the brands and goods intensify, meaning that this can help the goods get the attention they need from consumers. This technique helps improve and makes the
goods eye catching by making the main focus of the goods bright and the surrounding fade away with the colour but still gets attention as customers will visit there.
Mannequins
Mannequins are used by House of Fraser as a visual merchandising technique because this allows customers to see the fit and full silhouette of the goods making it more interesting for customers to see, this strategy helps because as the customer sees a jumper on a mannequin they may also see a jeans or shoes that they feel would go with the outfit and thus help the business as a visual merchandising technique because it persuades the customer and makes them feel that the outfit and how the clothes fit on the mannequin whether they were looking at one item, can force them to buy more due to the style and how the goods look together.
Store layout The interior design of the store is very beneficial to attract customer for House of Fraser as the business uses certain features for certain parts of the store, for example House of Fraser has a certain crystal, ballroom and elegant theme to the store on the first floor which makes the goods more appealing and more eye catching to customers because it is the part of the store that has the perfumes and women’s wear suggesting that they want the customers especially the women to have a princess feeling of classiness as they walk in and look at the different perfumes and jewellery which can persuade customers to feel like they are in a trance and must look at what else the store has to offer. However in the men’s section it has a more gentleman type theme with wooden racking’s and a simple but smart carpet, kind of like it is an old 1900s British tailor store but the store follows the design of the brand and applies it to the way how they lay out there products.
Technology Technology can be used by the business for example in House of Fraser they use billboards which show different slides of what they have in store so that they are able to reach different people and expand to a broader range of customers. This helps the business as they are given the opportunity and chance to reach out to customers and with the bright colours makes it eye catching and more appealing to people as visual merchandising.
ASDA
Asda is a British chain supermarket which is headquartered in Leeds. The business was taken over by the giant American retail company Walmart for a £6.7 billion deal in July 1999. The company offers a wide range of goods such as groceries and food but surprisingly services as well because the business also offers financial services and a mobile phone service which is partnered with EE. Asda’s marketing promotions are mainly focusing on price and follow along the same guidelines of Walmart such as the same slogan.
Visual merchandising techniques: 1) cap end 2) store layout 3) technology
Cap End Asda uses cap end visual merchandising techniques to help the business sell their goods and services as this helps the store to sell their products a lot faster than usual. Due to them being at the end these products are the ones which sell faster because these are the products that will be seen first by the customers, so Asda could put all their goods which are not selling well to the front so that customers can buy these goods as they can be marketed to make it more interesting to consumers.
Store Layout Asda’s store layout is their visual merchandising tool which can benefit and help boost the business, the stores are put as rows with specific goods and items between them for example a bread aisle, however Asda use their visual merchandising technique as a benefit because this helps the business to get rid of certain goods and services. The store layout helps customers to reach through certain features such as other goods which they have to navigate through and reach, so this allows customers to be distracted through the layout and look for other goods which may be eye catching.
Technology Asda use technology as a way to improve the services of their business by modernising their visual merchandising and planning for their George range. This helps the business to expand and increases their visual merchandising as they can now improve productivity allowing that the clothes which become out of order can come back and stay in sale which can be more appealing to customers as they will continuously be bought.
John Lewis
John Lewis is a branch of upmarket department stores active in the whole of Great Britain. The first ever store had opened in 1864 and from since then has seemed to be growing stronger and stronger to now. With a net worth of £4.060 billion, it is recognised as the UK’s top prestigious company with over 46 active stores throughout the country. The business has won many prestigious awards such as the royal warrant and the queen’s award as suppliers of haberdashery and household goods which they had won in 2007.
Visual merchandising techniques: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
lighting store design colour mannequins fragrance of the store
Lighting/colour John Lewis use lighting as a way to draw in customers to the store which is a good idea and beneficial for their visual merchandising technique as it makes the store more eye catching and can draw in customers. However what John Lewis especially uses is seasonal lighting for example the store would have a dimmed Christmas fire lighting for the lead up to Christmas whereas in summer the store would be brighter for a much more warm feeling. This helps attracts customers through lighting as it helps the business to look more appealing to viewers so that customers can come in.
Store Design The store design of John Lewis has different level floors such as a floor for every department or specific brand which is catering for something such as a furniture section. The store also cater to the different themes of the seasons by going along with the themes for example during Christmas the store is decorated with tinsels and has trees with bright lighting to show that the store is in the Christmas spirit. This makes the store look more appealing and can help to draw in customers as if consumers feel the Christmas spirit due to the design and theme of the business then it will attract people who may stumble across goods they want rather than what they need. Furthermore the business would use micro merchandising to make the Christmas feeling more attractive for consumers.
Mannequins John Lewis caters to the needs of customers by providing clothing to them in one of their departments, meaning that they are going to need mannequins for the business to develop and to promote their clothing. The use of mannequins is again a visual merchandising technique used by the business as they can do this to draw in customers in order to help and expand the clothing in the business. For example customers as I explained for House of Fraser (showing that both businesses have a similar design) can catch consumers off guard by displaying goods which match with what they are looking for appealing to their as they may want the trousers to go. This is visual merchandising as the business is trying to catch the customer’s eye to force them into buying the other goods also.
P2- understanding different ranges of goods and visual merchandising techniques used to display Impulse goods Impulse goods are goods or items which force you to purchase them without having any planning or interest of doing so before being sighted. So a customer may walk up to an item and just pick it up and buy it without having any need to do so. Many businesses do it for example House of Fraser would use impulse goods and place them as a micro merchandising tool in the centre of the store so that customers can witness the items and say I must buy it for example a new dress they feel looks nice will force them to buy the item although they may have intended to buy a perfume but because of the layout a dress would be an impulse good as on sight and due to it being central the customer would feel like they have to buy it. The same applies to John Lewis but they may have lip balms or socks by their tills to force customers into buying the goods. However with Asda it is different as there impulse goods may be placed by the tills such as the small chocolates or drinks they sell to force customers into picking up the confectionary goods and buying the items this causes an impulse as the customer on sight will be tempted or feel like he has to buy this now.
Convenience goods Convenience goods are the items or goods that you need and are part of everyday essentials such as toothpaste of toiletries in order to help with the care and looking after of a person. This only applies to Asda as the business may place their toiletries and items in a certain aisle. House of Fraser only target the clothing and fashion market whereas the John Lewis market cater for living such as beds and household items such as a table, whereas Asda cater for the needs of everyone’s living essentials.
Search and compare lines Search and compare lines would be used for very different things as each business caters for different needs and living essentials of different people, however the search and compare line can be used for all businesses for example all of Asda’s customers may do a search and compare with Asda’s competitors to find the lowest price of an item which can affect the business. The same also applies to House of Fraser and John Lewis as the business may have customers who search for their items but compare it with other competitors to find the lowest price so that can result in all the businesses losing customers due to the matter of price
Speciality goods Speciality goods are items which are either limited edition or need to be bought with a certain limited amount of time before they are bought or stopped from being produced such as a limited edition car. Speciality goods don’t really apply to Asda or even John Lewis but specifically does apply to House of Fraser as the businesses would have maybe a limited edition perfume from one of their brand names or a limited edition clothing which has a limited amount of time. House of Fraser would visually merchandise this by having a good or item micro merchandised, at the end cap of goods or even as a pyramid to help persuade customers into buying their goods and by encouraging them to also have an impulse of wanting to buy the good.
Seasonal goods Seasonal goods is the selling of goods at a specific period of time or season, for example selling at Christmas or during the winter period in order to help encourage customers into buying their goods as it is suited to the season. Asda would sell turkeys or Christmas food during Christmas and keep the items at the front of the store to catch the eyes of the
customers and force or persuade them into buying the items due to it being suitable to the season, however with House of Fraser and John Lewis they would keep all items and goods in a very Christmas or seasonal theme with the use of lighting to highlight certain goods which people may be interested into buying as a present or even as an item for themselves. The goods and items would be vertical for the business because the tops hang meaning it would have to be a vertical display
Complementary merchandise placement Complementary merchandise placement goods are items or goods which are suited and go along with other goods or items such as bread and butter. Asda accommodates to these needs by sometimes keeping the goods close together so that customers may look and think that they need that as well for example fish and chips as both goods are in the frozen section together and even jam and bread would be close to each other. However House of Fraser would not apply this to their store as people may get confused so they would keep the goods and items of jeans separate from the shirts although suits and shirts would be close to one another. With John Lewis they would keep the tableware, cutlery and plates close by so that customers can see the items and be interested into buying the goods. This makes it easier and can be used as a way to persuade customers into buying and wanting the goods.