Your retail store windows can be a very effective form of promotion. It does not matter if you sell a product (clothing, cupcakes, flowers or electronics) or provide a service (real estate, travel, shoe repair), your retail store windows are like billboards announcing your brand to all that past by.
And just like billboards, your store windows can either blend into the surrounding retail landscape and ignored by passerby or they can entice, encourage or trigger the customer to check you out. And if your store windows are your dominate form of advertising, then it is critical that have eye-catching store windows.
I interviewed veteran visual merchandiser ChadMichael Morrisette for suggestions on what independent retailers can do to create interesting window displays that drive traffic into their store. He has 10 Visual Merchandising tips for retailers (regardless of industry) that will give them a competitive edge for their window displays. I will be posting each tip once a day in this blog. Each tip has photos from real-life scenarios to illustrate the point.
How to Create Memorable Retail Window Displays – Tip #1
1) The product does NOT speak for itself.
Unless you are selling a highly coveted technology product like the Apple I-phone, simply putting the product in the window is not enough to capture the attention of shoppers.
A window display with a single mannequin wearing a dress is appealing if the store’s name is something on the scale of Louis Vuitton, Prada or Chanel. Stores of this caliber have reached a plateau through their marketing and advertising so that the product speaks for itself. This is not the case with independent retailers – you have to add more visual interest. And it does not cost a lot to do this, but it does require creativity.
