How to Effectively Display Products in Your Store

How we display products in our stores has a tremendous impact on how likely they are to sell. Effective merchandising goes beyond pricing products competitively and considers the numerous psychological factors involved in a consumer's purchasing choices. Displaying your merchandise in a way as to make it look as attractive as possible will go a long way to helping you sell it.

Consumers are turned off by mess and disorganization and are unlikely to even browse areas of your store that are poorly maintained, let alone make purchases from them. The power of consumer psychology should never be underestimated and the better you understand it, the better your chances of effectively selling your products and brands to any customers who visit the store.

There are certain merchandising principles that are universal and others that are applicable to certain types of business. Good merchandising does a big part of your job for you; it sells your products to those who visit your store and encourages customers to come back, thus securing repeat business. Below are some general principles which will be of use in any retail setting.

1. Know Your Customer Base

The first step to effective merchandising is to identify exactly who it is you are hoping to sell your products to. The usual metrics that identify different demographics are only of limited use here. What we’re really interested in are the psychological profiles of your customers.

If your customers are driven by the desire for bargains then you should put the price, promotions, and discounts at the front and center of your merchandising efforts. On the other hand, if your customers are happy to pay a higher price but are interested in more specialized items, then your merchandising and window display should emphasize the range of products you have available, particularly if you are the only retailer in the local area to offer them.

1. Keep Things Organized

Imagine walking into a bookstore and making your way to the science fiction section, only to find it overflowing with gardening books. This is obviously no good to you; you would expect a bookstore to organize their titles in the usual way, by the author’s surname. You would also expect the section labeled ‘science fiction’ to contain only science fiction books. Not all products present an obvious way of organizing them in the same way that books do and not all items are suitable for display on a shelf.

You should consider how you can organize any product ranges, so that a new visitor browsing for the first time will be able to identify the method by which products are arranged and can easily work out where to look for something specific. As an alternative to display shelves, consider investing in retail showcases to provide a work space and keep valuable items visible yet secure.

1. Keep Adjusting Things

If your displays remain static for an extended time, regular customers will assume that you aren’t adding new stock. You shouldn’t undertake too many major reorganizations too often either as this will have the opposite effect; it will make you seem indecisive and make browsing confusing for your regular customers.

Always consider things from the perspective of your customers and strive to put them at the center of any merchandising decisions you make.