I would like to talk a little about the issue of lighting in retail. And why do I say the " issue" and not the "topic"? Because, there were too many times I couldn't bare the shopping experience purely because of the lighting levels on the shop floor. I have been annoyed by this in the shops so many times and even more when thinking, that most self respecting retailers are consciously turning a blind eye, or even worse - are just unaware of what they are doing.
When you think: visual merchandising is your marketing of the products, tidy and clean displays is a must and your basics, but a correct lighting is important on so many levels, that I would say it could be compared to the oxygen. Yes, it could be complicated to start with and crack all the technicalities, but you could be saving some products' shelf - lives if you are lighting them correctly.
"Lighting has a direct influence on our mood, with 80 per cent of the sensory information the brain receives coming from our eyes. Lighting highlights architectural elements, product qualities and creates virtual spaces - impacting how we feel, what we think of a product, and ultimately the choice of whether to purchase or not." - lighting designer Mihaly Bartha
Just a thought: what can I see on this great grey wall?
I will not start going on this few minute text about all the techniques available to use and make a great sales figures by just avoiding shadow plays or a simple glare. First of all, it needs a clear understanding of the importance from the retailer and a bunch of skillful and dedicated people on the shop floor to achieve striking results just by turning the lights in the correct directions, placing them at the right distances and choosing the correct bulbs to improve customer shopping experience. Ohh...now it's off my chest I can breathe better.
Display at the J.Crew Men's Shop
And what a freaky lightning effect they have achieved here!
As Wally Ollins writes in his book Brand New "...the problem starts when you rely on research to try to tell what will happen in the future. For the most part, people don’t know what they want until they see it, and many are not even sure then."
When you think, only 10 years ago Facebook didn't exist and we didn't need it before, we could live with desktop computers perfectly well until 4 years ago when the iPad appeared in our lives. The forecast predicts that at the end of 2015 there will be more people using mobile internet than desktop computers. Therefore, the web retailing is shooting faster than ever with it's sales figures. There were pessimistic thoughts from experts at the beginning that fashion retail will never perform on line as well as it does at the brick and mortar shops. Well, it grows by 10% every year. During the recession, surprisingly, luxury brands were outperforming while many low value ones went bankrupt.
Where is the secret then?
When retail competition now is becoming global brands need to adjust quickly and those that spot this go "glocal". Another point to consider is that pricing is just a permission to play and no longer an advantage. A great example is a furniture retail giant IKEA. To each and every country it goes with it's swedishness as a foundation, but at the same time local needs are highly important and adhered to. Also, when in the early 2000 the "you do your part we do ours and together we save money" was a very popular tag now picking and delivering services are an important part of a usual IKEA business.
As the figures show, it cost 6-7 times more to acquire a new customer then retain an existing one.
These days more and more companies are taking a new approach in reaching out to consumers. A consumer experience based shops are becoming not a novelty in a retail world any more. Regardless of the type of product, stores have become multi-functioning places that not only offer customers a great shopping experience but also provide them with a space to relax, enjoy beverages and meals, admire works of art and be entertained. All of these additional activities are aligned with brand concepts, so they reinforce brand values.
A well known UK brand Lush is now not only selling handmade cosmetics but operates spa centres. This way visitors can fully immerse themselves in the brand concept and retain loyal for a long time.
An essential component of a shop where customer experience is a top strategy, an attractive visual merchandising display is crucial. Most of the time it is embedded in the foundation of every luxury brand strategy.
And to finish, it is a notable behavioural change when pressing a door bell in generation Y (what Generation am I?) apparently due to thicker developed thumbs. And it is likely to stay like this. Just check this video to find out what changes the Z generation we will encounter when the Big Data will pick up a full speed.
As a VM you have four main objectives on a daily basis:
1. ATTRACT customers when they pass by
2. ENTICE them to enter
3. RETAIN customers in the store
4. PERSUADE them to buy
As every m² in a store has its value in money the decision which product goes where is a tricky one.
And in most cases senior management (usually from Sales) decide where products go. If a clear communication isn't established between VM and Sales it ends up in conflicting interests on both sides.
Happy shop, Berlin
Changing people's habits is very expensive and time consuming. It is natural to human nature to do a lot to solve troubles and issues, but do little to prevent them. In retail, the clear path is that any question or argument can be solved cheaply and quickly just by joining both viewpoints and embracing the testing technique.
However, the most successful retailers do not view visual merchandising as just the display of products on the shop floor or a store front. They see it as a marketing tool and include visual merchandising in the marketing mix process.
When walking the high-street no matter of the country you can easily tell which retailer takes his business seriously enough just by looking at his shop window.
Let's start with a simple question "Why do we shop?"
And usually there are 3 main reasons, not considering the gender differences and etc.,
A need for a solution, result or relief from something
Therefore when marketing your product at your prime spot, a shop-window, it is crucial to address one of the above.
But if it's so simple, why do we see some displays that literally destroy the products and the brand and some that are real attraction points that bring lots of money for the company?
Once again it is simple.
A visual merchandiser needs to always look at the product's benefit behind the benefit.
Let's see the practical side of all this.
Louis Vuitton Dublin. The display clearly talks about the benefit of fitting many shirts in a suitcase, as well as the eye catching white shirts are seen from afar.
Now here, it's a display disaster. Trying to appeal to women with exposure of a beautiful lace, the product is concealed by a VM's proud moment to make lace balloons.
I will leave these two, a food for your thought...
What is VM? (refer to Visual Merchandising)
What is it made off?
Who does it?
Why do we need VM specialist?
These are the most often asked questions whenever I tell anyone this is what I do for living.
In
this part of my blog I'll be answering these and many other similar
questions. I'll be analysing and looking into the examples to figure
things out for you out there and I presume I'll learn things from this
too. Otherwise why should I do it...
Visual merchandising is the activity and a profession of developing the floor plans and three-dimensional displays in order to maximise sales.
This is the description you will get on Wikipedia. But on the last word there is a little "1" taking you to a ton of references and a list of literature on VM stuff. The best and most simple description I have have ever found was in this book of Romeo Richards "Visual merchandise display"
He relates VM to the horror film director: "When someone goes to watch a horror film, they already know someone is going to die. Therefore the directors understand that the killings no longer scare the audience, it is the events leading to the killing that are intriguing."
Therefore he says "It is not about the merchandise; it is the presentation of the merchandise that matters to the customer. A good visual merchandise display captures the imagination of its targeted audiences just like a good film does. The store is a theatre where customers come to watch spectacular displays of merchandises. If they like the display they will buy; if they don’t like the display, they will leave."
In my opinion with this explanation even a 5yrs old would understand what it's all about. One thing and the most important I have learned in my job is to keep things clear and simple, and most of the time working this way saves your ass, with tight deadlines in retail being a very common thing. Unfortunately, there are plenty of examples out there of exactly the opposite.
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