Have you ever been to a supermarket with messed up aisles? Instead of seeing penne pasta in the food section, you see them next to laundry detergents. Or perhaps, in the department store where women’s clothing mixes up with the men’s clothing. If yes, you just experienced a store with terriblevisual merchandising displays.
Visual merchandising displays are a crucial part of retail interior design in Singapore. It is more than concepts and aesthetics or ensuring brand activation will make noise amongst its audience. It helps dictate consumer behaviour in the store by leading them to the hottest merchandise and giving them an impression that your displays are fresh and new.
Unfortunately, small businesses and retail stores see visual merchandising displays as mere displays and not an opportunity to present their products attractively.
It results in an ineffective and poor exhibition of products and wasted opportunity to profit.
The Roles Of Visual Merchandising
Perhaps the primary reason business owners make mistakes invisual merchandising displays is the lack of knowledge about the paramount roles of visual merchandising inretail interior design in Singapore.
Here are the purposes of visual merchandising displays:
1. Attract the consumers
A store cannot sell its product when no customers enter the store. It is the primary role of visual merchandising andretail interior design in Singapore; to convince consumers to see the store. But how can they do it?
Have you ever entered a cafe because you see how aesthetically-pleasing and Instagram-worthy its interior is? Visual merchandising attracts customers through its loud, unique, and compelling interior design.
It could be the loud music, the stark lighting, or simply the spellbinding aesthetics that makes the consumers look back to your store and eventually visit it.
The challenge is how to make your store attractive inside and outside.
2. Educate the customers about the product
If you have ever been to a smartphone store, you will see working smartphone displays that you can use and tweak. Usually, people take one and try to open the camera, run some applications and games, and play music. Usually, there are product descriptions and notes beside each phone display. It details the camera resolution, storage and memory capacity, and other specs.
These smartphone displays help educate the consumers about the product. They learn about the products through first-hand experience without any assistance from a salesperson.
People usually see these kinds of displays duringbrand activation, and an exhibition company in Singapore makes sure they present the products properly.
3. Increase the sales
Imagine being served with two scrambled eggs on two separate plates. The first plate is just an ordinary paper plate with an egg and plastic fork. The second plate is a special one. The china plate has intricate designs, and the fork is gold plated. There is more than just an egg on the plate. There are tomatoes on the side, and parsley and basils top the eggs. Nevertheless, it is the same scrambled egg, just like the first plate.
The question is, which of the two plates would you choose? If your answer is the second plate, then you bought the presentation.
Visual merchandising displays make your products look desirable even if they are the same item from the rival store. And when you convince your consumer that your product is more beautiful and alluring, they will eventually buy your merchandise.
The challenge is how to make your item desirable and seductive?
When retail stores finally discover the purposes ofvisual merchandising displays, they will find ways to improve their retail interior design in Singapore. But sometimes, these attempts often lead to awful beginner’s mistakes.
Common Mistakes In Visual Merchandising
The most common mistake small business owners make in visual merchandising displays is taking the task into their own hands. It is safer to hire aproject management company in Singaporethat can help with the retail interior and exhibition. Otherwise, you are bound to make these mistakes:
1. Forgetting about the target market and audience
If your business is a concept store with teenagers and youth as the target market, it is only reasonable to come up with a retail interior design that will appeal to them. An exhibition company in Singaporeuses loud and popping colours and neon lights to attract Gen Zs.
Dull black and white colours and concepts do not really appeal to the youth.
2. Too much merchandise
Have you been into thrift stores? Perhaps, you notice the overwhelming rows of clothes. You can’t even check the designs of shirts properly unless you remove them from the rack piece by piece.
Too much merchandise looks disorganised and overwhelming for consumers. Instead of making your items desirable, overflowing products put consumers off.
Sometimes, less is more. Retailers must display items they want to highlight and consider balancing their sizes when arranging them on their shelves. It also makes the retail interior design in Singapore cleaner.
3. Ugly window displays
We often see mannequins on window displays of boutiques and department stores. Many store owners pay little attention to them, forgetting that windows are the first thing shoppers see. They won’t bother entering the shop if the window visual merchandising display is unattractive.
4. Displaying the wrong items
Business owners mostly display the expensive stuff. It is a wrong strategy since most shoppers perceive that your store sells pricey products. It is why stores post posters like “Below SG$50 on selected items” to attract frugal consumers.
Another mistake in the visual merchandising display is exhibiting unavailable items. For example, displaying a picture of a sneaker currently not available at the store or has limited stock.
Lastly, most store owners fail to emphasise the hottest product in their stores. If that leather messenger bag is the most sought-after item in your store, display them on a pedestal or centre display where everyone can see it.
Conclusion
Visual merchandising displayscan make or break your store. If done right, expect an increase in sales, and if done wrong, you need to overhaul yourretail interior design in Singapore.
If you are unsure about what to do, the safest bet is to hire a project management company in Singapore that will glam up your shop.
Dezign Format
Dezign Format is an expert in visual merchandising displays and retail interior design in Singapore. Do you have a brand activation event? Hire Dezign Format.