Reports shows that 90% of the brain’s information is visual. Therefore, when selling fashion items, your method of presenting your products will influence your buyer’s decision-making. You’re probably curious how you can ensure that they’re prompted to make a purchase every time a buyer passes your store. The best method to achieve that is with fashion visual merchandising.

Fashion visual merchandising is the practice of designing displays in your fashion store in a way that catches potential buyers’ eyes and significantly increases sales. There are different components involved in good fashion visual merchandising, and that’s what this article tackles. This article will explore fashion visual merchandising, how it works, and the principles and techniques for good fashion visual merchandising. Below are the steps to effectively achieve this. 

What is Fashion Visual Merchandising?

It is the retail practice of designing and executing unique designs in your store in a unique way that engages shoppers. It involves strategic planning and laying out your fashion store and products as sensorial and emotionally attractive. This means there’s a need to create an ambiance that reflects the values and identity of the brand. Doing this the right way will effectively capture the attention of the customers. Your visual merchandising also determine your customers’ first impression when they see your shop or explore the inside of the store.

Fashion visual merchandising considers how customers interact with your products in a retail setting. It offers techniques that will make your products more impactful. When it comes to visual merchandising, organizing products, promotional displays, and merchandising data are all part of the tasks involved in achieving your goal. To achieve the proper fashion visual merchandising strategy, you need to appeal to four human senses.

• Sight: This is an essential sense in fashion visual merchandising and is the first since your customer will use it. It is crucial to tell a story with your display.
• Sound: This sense can also stimulate sales. Playing sounds or music in line with the brand’s personality can attract the customer.
• Smell: Certain scents also stimulate the memory of the customer. The right smell can subconsciously lead your customer to make a purchase.
• Touch: This is quite important with fashion merchandising. Your potential customers should be a way to touch and try products to have an idea of what they’re buying.

Taste isn’t a critical sense when focusing on fashion visual merchandising. Instead, it is more common with businesses that sell food and drink.

Why Fashion Visual Merchandising is Important

Now that you understand what in fashion visual merchandising is essential, let’s take a look at why you should consider visual merchandising if you’re in the fashion industry.

It Leads to Higher Sales

The core of fashion visual merchandising is an improved customer experience and more sales. Research shows that the average shopper makes three unplanned purchases in four out of every ten stores they check out. When making these purchases, shoppers usually feel excited, which is the goal. When shoppers work in your store, they’re looking for visual stimuli. You can effectively capture their attention and guide them around the store with fashion visual merchandising. A successful visual merchandising strategy usually leads to higher sales. 

Customers Tend to Spend More Time in Stores

The right strategy will influence how much time your customer spends in your store and their choices. Fashion visual merchandising is all about the in-store experience. It can help create touch moments which include how people interact with your fashion products. This could be trying on clothes, using sample products, and many more. Some fashion retailers even host product demos and Livestream events. They also invite influences and customers to come in, participate and share online.

It Increases Social Clout

Excellent fashion visual merchandising usually inspires buyers to share photos of your products and store online. Sometimes, buyers could post stories or pictures on their feed, getting your brand in front of a broader audience that will be willing to make a purchase. Since 93% of buyers consider user-generated content useful when making a purchase, it is crucial to generate organic social clout. 

Top Fashion Visual Merchandising Techniques to Take Note of

Now that you understand what it is all about and the benefits of implementing visual merchandising techniques, below are some techniques to achieve this. There are different tactics brands implement to drive more purchases. In this article, we’ve gathered the top trends to give you more ideas of what customers are essentially looking for in a brand.

Interactive Display

One of the best methods to engage buyers who might pass by your product is interactive displays. This is crucial in fashion merchandising because people are looking for an idea of what your product looks and feels like before they purchase. To ensure this, set up displays in a way that potential buyers can envision your items in various ways, like wearing them. Another method is to ensure your staff dress in similar clothing to what you’re selling. Finally, mannequins and body forms are also a great way of creating interactive displays.

Mannequins are effective because they mimic the human body, and you can style them differently. You can choose mannequins based on your customer base; this means size, gender, shape, and other factors. Most fashion retailers consider mannequins their best option. Overall, interactive displays give your prospective buyers an immediate point of reference. When your customers can envision and interact with your fashion items, they’re more likely to make a purchase. 

Checkout Displays

Most people don’t consider the checkout a powerful point for implementing fashion visual merchandising. However, it is pretty effective when you want your customers to buy more products. Checkout displays encourage impulse buying, which means more sales for you. Research shows that 54% of US shoppers have spent more than $100 on an impulse buy. One way to drive impulse buys is with the proper checkout display. They are even powerful enough to attract customers who are simply buying buy to make a purchase.

Incorporating Art in Your Fashion Store

Many notable artists are available who would love to collaborate with you on creative advertising campaigns. By including art in your visual display, you’re sure to draw in more customers as it makes you stand out from the crowd. Additionally, you can incorporate art in your business, like adding it to your packaging, clothing organization, posters, etc. By showcasing the creativity of your brand, the visuals will stick to your buyers long after their shopping trips.

Window Displays

The proper window display can make all the difference for your store. It constitutes the first impression shoppers have of you and your products when passing or stepping into the store. Additionally, it provides you with a fantastic opportunity to promote offers and special sales of your products. 

You can get creative with your window display style if you want to attract customers who look beyond the presentation of your products. Note that some factors like your color scheme and lighting can help create the right ambiance in your window display. Ensure you go with a design that supports your brand story and personality.

Cross Merchandising

This fashion visual merchandising trend is also very beneficial and significantly boosts sales when done the right way. It involves placing complementary items next to each other in the store. There are many classic cross-merchandising examples like putting jewelry purses next to jewelry, placing shoes next to bags, etc. There are many opportunities for cross-merchandising; you just need to look at the fashion items you’re selling to know what works. 

Rule of Three

The rule of three is essential in fashion visual merchandising; it is a magic number that works when you group products in a display. The rule of three helps you catch the customer’s attention while also cementing the display in their mind. That’s why many brands implement the rule of three in their brick-and-mortar store. 

You should ensure your group by tall, medium, and short if you’re grouping by height. If you choose to group your fashion apparel by width, grouping by wide, medium, or narrow is always a great choice. To appeal to price-conscious customers, group your items from good, better to the best value. 

The rule of three is effective because buyers’ eyes tend to keep moving when looking at something asymmetrical. However, when they see something symmetrical or balanced, it catches their attention. Therefore, the rule of three will keep your shoppers’ attention for much longer. It also works with the pyramid principle. When you have one item at the top and other items just a step below, the eye is forced to look at the focal point and work its way down. 

Lighting

The proper lighting engages your customers’ sense of sight. You can make your customers experience different moods and emotions based on the lighting in your store. If you want them to feel at home or like they’re on a fashion runway, it largely depends on how you utilize the lighting in your store. For example, you can use spotlights to highlight different products; this will direct their attention to them and ensure shoppers always see your top products.

Color Schemes

This is an important trend in fashion visual merchandising because it expresses meaning while attracting attention and uniting the environment. In many ways, your color scheme influences your customer’s buying behavior. Color palettes are unique to each store and can help a shopper build a connection to your store. Consider the image and feel you want to create when choosing a color scheme. Your target market is also quite crucial as you want colors your target shoppers are attracted to. If you’re lost, consider the colors your competitor uses to give you an idea of where to begin. 

Fashion Visual Merchandising – Final Thoughts

Emotions play an essential role in your decision to purchase an item; that’s why fashion visual merchandising is so important. The way you present your products and store will influence the behavior of potential shippers. You can shape your customer’s behavior with fashion visual merchandising and significantly increase sales. Fashion visual merchandising has so much to offer. We hope the techniques above help you get started with your merchandising.