Enhance your shop window: Visual merchandising tips for UK businesses.

8 ways to improve visual merchandising in your shopfront.

If you’re a small business or brand in the UK, there’s plenty of things you can do to add some pizazz to your store. We’ve laid out some top visual merchandising tips to help your shop stand out from the rest and increase the number of people entering your store.

Make the most of your space.

Making the most of your space is a good place to begin. You don’t want your store to feel too crowded or too empty. If you have a relatively small space, think creatively about the ways you can showcase your stock. Look at businesses with similarly sized spaces for inspiration and consider how you want your customers to move through and view your products. Think especially about what they need or want to do when on your premises.

Use directional signage throughout your shop.

If you have a wide range of stock spread across multiple floors or in a large space it can be difficult for customers to find what they need. One quick and easy way to address this is to include signs pointing visitors to where things can be found. Try an eye-catching “2 for 1” flyer in the window or a “Last chance to buy” rack by the fitting rooms.

Consider the ways you categorise your stock too, and the things people ask for. If no one can find your paperclips, maybe it’s worth having a sign pointing to stationery. Don’t be afraid to experiment either, you can always take down or add new signs if needed.

Keep your shop theme fresh and inviting.

Like experimenting with signs, wider innovation can be appealing to customers. Changing the theme of your shop with the passing seasons or calendar events can give a sense of relevancy. It can also encourage customers to come see your latest stock.

An easy way to update your space could be a seasonal banner in the window, or some fun decorations by the till. However, it’s important that you don’t change your business beyond all recognition, you still want your loyal customers to be able to identify your brand.

Make shopping an enjoyable experience.

You want to make sure whoever is in your shop is having a pleasant time. Even if they don’t buy anything, you don’t want someone to leave feeling underwhelmed or unhappy. While the basics such as being polite and helpful are essential, it’s also important that your visual merchandising contributes to this too. Think about the lighting in your fitting rooms, the number of mirrors in your shop or the layout of your restaurant tables.

Show the customer why they need your products.

Mannequins were first introduced in the 15^th century to help design dresses, but soon became a way of showing off the available fashions. Today, mannequins work just the same and are a key part of visual merchandising. It’s much easier for shoppers to visualise themselves in your goods if they can see someone (or something) modelling them. The same can be said for furniture or home goods. When arranged in a way that resembles a living space, it’s easier to see how your products might fit into a home.

Choose where you place your products carefully.

One common marketing tactic is to develop a customer persona. This would be your ideal customer, the kind of person that hangs on your business’ every word and loves your products. With this persona in mind, imagine what would appeal to them and where they might work best. For instance, try to place low-cost impulse buys near the till area.

Similarly, look out for any cross-merchandise options. Say you run a coffee shop. Cross merchandising would mean stocking the till with at-home coffee essentials, like a cafetiere, branded mugs or even bags of your own coffee beans.